Archive for April, 2011
Bottle Drops, Utilities and Water Dealers
I read this article and it reminded me of two issues we still encounter in our industry:
- Water Quality Improvement dealers and water utilities still don’t get along as well as they should..
- Certain water quality improvement marketing techniques are outdated and borderline deceptive.
Water is the lifeblood of all industry, our very civilization hinges on the quality and quantity of water that we have available. Water utilities are tasked with a difficult job: Deliver lots of water at a cheap price. Since the vast majority of water delivered by a utility is never used within the home or consumed by humans, it makes no sense to deliver extremely clean water throughout a city; it would be cost-prohibitive and illogical. It makes far more sense to deliver a “utility-grade” water through the entire system; water that meets or exceeds minimum standards and is generally usable. Individual users can then (at their own expense) improve their water quality to meet their specific standards or requirements for drinking, bathing, cleaning or business/industry. Utilities live in constant fear of being sued by consumers, so they never want to even hint that their water isn’t “perfect” and “pristine”.
It is time for us all to be realistic: Utilities do the very best job that they can within the operational and financial restrictions placed upon them. Utility-grade water in the United States is better than many other nations but it is NOT perfect and there is nothing wrong with educating end-users about products/services to make their water better. Utility managers need to acknowledge that they provide a utility-grade water, and that there is indeed room for improvement in quality and even aesthetics like taste, and odor.
Water quality improvement dealers need to realize that the utility is their friend; delivering good water that can usually be significantly improved without spending too much of their customer’s money. I wish more dealers would do business the way that Intermountain does, and spend more on water quality training, research and education than they do on marketing. Be the best, don’t just tell people that you are!
Bottle-drops and other similar water-quality marketing techniques frequently concern consumers, especially when the water dealership has words like “environmental” in their name. There are better ways to do business in the 21st century, and certainly better ways to begin your relationship with a prospective new customer.
There are many ways to market yourself to prospective customers, but the best way is to so a good job at a fair price.
The WQA‘s Code of Ethics is very helpful to dealers who need guidance in these matters.
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Confusion Over Water Bottles Left At Mailboxes
Published: April 07, 2011
A company selling water filtration systems is leaving water bottles, asking residents to fill them up. But now neighbors are full of questions.
Ann Wilson says, “There was a bottle. It was in a plastic bag.” Wilson came home and found a water kit hanging on her mailbox. She says, “That’s when we realized there was a problem out there.”
Wilson found a flier with instructions attached, telling her to fill the bottle up with tap water, to answer some questions, and hang the sample back on her mailbox for pick-up.
Wilson was already familiar with the bottles and fliers. She works as a customer service representative at the Powdersville Water District. Wilson says, “We had had customers to call our office saying they didn’t understand, or they didn’t know if the water was safe.”
The Powdersville Water District did not send out the water bottles. A company named Environmental Progress, headquartered in Lexington, distributed the water kits. The company’s general manager Frank Sansone told News Channel 7 over the phone they don’t think anything is wrong with the water in Powdersville and that the company is using the bottles to test the water quality, in order to sell water filtration systems.
News Channel 7 asked Dyke Spencer, General Manager of the Powdersville Water District, “What would you say to somebody who got one of these (the water kits)? Should they do it? Should they send their water off? Spencer replied, “Save your money.”
Spencer says the water district tests water quality routinely. He says there are no problems. As for Environmental Progress, Spencer does not like the way they’re testing the waters in Powdersville. He says, “I question more the way it’s being solicited and causing alarm to our customers.”
Environmental Progress says they’ll notify the town or county where they do business and get a license to hang the water bottles on mailboxes.
We checked out Environmental Progress with the Better Business Bureau. The BBB says the company is in good standing. Over the last three years, environmental progress has had 8 complaints. The concerns were related to water filtration equipment and not solicitation. The BBB says all 8 of those complaints have been resolved.
Common Pesticides Disrupt Crucial Human Hormones
Recently, results were released from studies conducted at the School of Pharmacy’s Center for Toxicology under the auspices of the University of London. Studies evaluated in vitro reactions between mammalian cells and commonly used pesticides. Based on their testing, many common pesticides (frequently found in food as well as milk and drinking water) can disrupt testosterone production and uptake in humans and possibly even other mammals. The researchers strongly recommended that all pesticides in use today be carefully screened to check if they block testosterone, which is critical to male (and female) reproductive health and general development. Scientists, however, are uncertain what actually happens in the human body at the concentrations of chemicals that people encounter in water, fruits, vegetables, eggs, meats and milk. Fetuses and infants may be at a significantly elevated risk when exposed in the womb or through breast milk and formula. The presence of growth hormone and growth hormone releasing peptide in massive amounts in youngsters’ bodies can certainly compound the problem even further. Thirty out of 37 pesticides studied by the University of London team altered or inhibited male hormone activity, including 16 that had no previously reported hormonal effects. Most are fungicides applied to fruit and vegetable crops, including strawberries, corn, wheat, & lettuce.
“Our results indicate that systematic testing for anti-androgenic activity of currently used pesticides is urgently required,” wrote the scientists from University of London’s Centre for Toxicology, led by Professor Andreas Kortenkamp. Funded by the European Commission, the University of London scientists selected the pesticides to test by identifying those found most often in European fruits and vegetables. They are approved for use in many countries, including the United States.
Traces of pesticides and herbicides are known to remain in fruits and vegetables; these same chemicals can migrate into the ground and contaminate groundwater while also contaminating surface water. Interestingly, certain pesticides and herbicides will travel with water vapor when it evaporates, so that the contamination can travel hundreds or even thousands of miles from where it was originally applied. The researchers noted “a clear disparity” between today’s most widely used pesticides and the current knowledge of their risks, “with the majority of the published literature focused on pesticides that are no longer registered for use in developed countries.” Of the tested compounds, the most potent in terms of blocking androgens was the insecticide fenitrothion, an organophosphate insecticide used on orchard fruits, grains, rice, vegetables and other crops.
Others with hormonal activity include fludioxonil, fenhexamid, dimethomorph and imazalil, which are all fungicides. Fungicides (chemical compounds or biological organisms used to kill or inhibit fungi or fungal spores) are often applied close to harvest, so they are frequently found as residue in food. Fungicides “are typically applied as mixtures in order to increase effectiveness and prevent development of resistant strains and therefore, human exposure to mixtures of these in vitro anti-androgens may be considerable,” wrote Kortenkamp and the other study authors, Frances Orton, Erika Rosivatz and Martin Scholze.
To learn more about pesticides, herbicides, funcicides, rodenticides, and other nasties that might be in or on your food, visit the Pesticide Action Network’s excellent resource at whatsonmyfood.org.
For six of the pesticides that showed hormonal activity for the first time, the authors said that they strongly recommend the next round of testing, using live lab animals. “Due to estimated anti-androgenic potency, current use, estimated exposure, and lack of previous data, we strongly recommend that dimethomorph, fludioxonil, fenhexamid, imazalil, ortho-phenylphenol and pirimiphos-methyl be tested for anti-androgenic effects in vivo.” For the first four pesticides, they called it “a matter of urgency.” They are used on strawberries, lettuce, grapes and other numerous fruits and vegetables in many countries around the world.
The research findings were released while the US EPA continues to face strong opposition from the pesticide industry after expanding its Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program, which mandates testing of certain chemicals found in foods and water to determine if they interfere with androgens, estrogens, or thyroid hormones.
US EPA announced the initial list of chemicals to be screened for their potential effects on the endocrine system on April 15, 2009 and the first test orders were issued on October 29, 2009. Testing will eventually be expanded to cover all pesticide chemicals. Now that screening is underway, US EPA is reviewing test order responses and making available the status or test order responses and/or any decisions regarding EPA testing requirements.
None of the 16 pesticides with the newly discovered hormonal activity are included in US EPA’s program, which means they are not currently screened and there are no immediate plans to do so. The agency’s program has been incredibly slow to fully implement, mostly due to a longstanding dispute over analytical testing methods and selection of compounds to be tested. Environmental groups criticize US EPA for taking so long to require manufacturers to test such a small group of compounds, and chemical industry representatives contend that the tests could cost up to one million US dollars per chemical and that the techniques have not really been fully validated for repeatability and accuracy. Chemical industry representatives also stress that positive results don’t necessarily mean that the pesticides are actually harming human reproduction or development (which reminds me of the Big Tobacco arguments a few years ago). Once again, we are forced to balance long-term human health and genetic survival with cheap, plentiful supplies of food. These are difficult decisions to make, since it can mean the difference between starvation and satiety to many communities, especially in developing nations.
Some research has linked pesticide consumption to abnormally formed genitalia in baby boys, such as cryptorchidism and hypospadias, and even decreased sperm counts in men. Male fertility is reported to be declining in many countries, and testicular cancer is increasing. Some scientists have dubbed this compilation of male disorders Testicular Dysgenesis Syndrome, and suggest that man-made endocrine disrupting chemical compounds play a significant and long-lasting role. Pesticides, herbicides and other man-made contaminants are a lingering residue of our industrialized society; we will be reaping the repercussions of our rampant chemical use for decades to come. Chemicals sprayed into the air or onto the ground can linger for decades and travel far distances. The negative impact on groundwater and surface water supplies is cumulative and inevitable.
The water quality improvement industry can play a significant role in helping consumers protect themselves from immediate and future waterborne pesticide consumption by providing POU/POE water treatment systems. Many proven technologies like granular activated carbon absorption/adsorption, nanofiltration, distillation, and reverse osmosis (hyperfiltration) purification are able to address numerous chemical compounds that can be found in water. Naturally it is beyond the scope of expertise of a water quality expert to remove contaminants from food, but the old mantra “The solution to pollution is dilution” comes to mind… the more good-quality water you drink, the better job you body’s own alimentary system will do in removing unwanted contaminants consumed in food.
As a water quality improvement professional, it is your responsibility to learn and understand the relationship between water quality and the quality of your customers’ lives. Consumers are becoming increasingly concerned about contaminants in the foods they eat and the water that they drink. Helping people deal with hard water is simply not good enough anymore; people look to you – the certified water specialist as a true water quality expert. You need to be able to address consumers’ concerns about emerging contaminants like pesticides, herbicides and other pollutants.
Helpful Resources & recommended reading:
Orton F., Rosivatz E., Scholze M., Kortenkamp A. 2011. Widely Used Pesticides with Previously Unknown Endocrine Activity Revealed as in Vitro Anti-Androgens. Environmental Health Perspectives:-. doi:10.1289/ehp.1002895
Environmental Health Perspectives Magazine (A free resource from the US National Institutes of Health). http://ehp03.niehs.nih.gov/home.action
USE EPA Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program – http://www.epa.gov/endo/
Myers, Our Stolen Future: Are We Threatening our Fertility, Intelligence and Survival? A Scientific Detective Story. Theo Colborn, Dianne Dumanoski and John Peterson
David Steinman and Samuel S. Epstein. The Safe Shopper’s Bible: A Consumer’s Guide to Nontoxic Household Products, Cosmetics and Food.
Soft Water not for Drinking? – Is softened water corrosive?
An end-user forwarded a link to me last week and she had lots of concerns…
She saw it on a website for a company touting a “salt-free” softener/scale control system. Naturally the salt-free company was using the material to “bash” softened water and ion exchange systems in general…This is a common tactic employed by uneducated and sometimes even unethical people. She is in the process of purchasing a Patriot Twin Analyst softener from her plumber and she wants to make sure that her buying decision is a wise one; the concerns raised by this article caused her to rethink even wanting to soften her water at all.
Hard water contains calcium and/or magnesium ions. These ions make soap hard to lather, giving hard water its name. For water to be called “soft”, it must be devoid of these hardness ions. There is a significant difference between “naturally soft” water and “ion exchange softened” water.
Naturally soft water is water that generally tends to be aggressive, since it has no significant buffering mineral content to begin with. Naturally soft water usually contains carbonic acid (derived from carbon dioxide), tending to lower the pH of the water, which contributes to corrosive conditions and can cause significant problems in homes, business, and industry. Since naturally soft water is so potentially detrimental, many people will recommend adding calcium/magnesium hardness to water to protect from corrosion. When water is acidic, it makes logical sense to add hardness to balance the pH and raise the total alkalinity to protect from corrosion. This is the essence of the Langlier Saturation Index (LSI), which essentially draws a correlation between calcium hardness, and water’s tendency to be “corrosive” or scaling”.
Some well-intentioned, but uneducated people feel that keeping water “hard” is the safest for building operations and possibly even for human consumption. This is a counter-intuitive approach, since hardness can cause issues like scaling and soap interference; and water hardness is comprised of inorganic minerals, not the organic minerals that the human body requires for proper nutrition. Scaling can be addressed in a number of ways, including novel technologies like Next ScaleStop without actually removing it from the water. The calcium/magnesium hardness will still interfere with soap though and still be present to cause issues when evaporated.
Hard water scale used to only be considered an aesthetic issue, but in today’s climate of energy efficiency and environmental sensitivity, one would be foolish to overlook all the benefits of softened water.
Softened water can:
- Reduce the energy costs to heat water
- Reduce the amount of soap/detergent required to clean clothing
- Reduce or eliminate the use of dishwasher rinse-aids
- Reduce or eliminate the use of harsh chemical cleansers
- Minimize bacterial growth in washing machines
- Prolong the working life of faucets and fixtures
- Prolong the working life of appliances like dishwashers, steam irons, humidifiers, washing machines and ice makers
- Prolong the working life of water heaters and boilers
- Lower the overall carbon footprint of a home or business
There are a number of ways for hardness to be removed/isolated from interfering with soap:
- Evaporation/distillation (potentially corrosive)
- Sequestration (generally not corrosive)
- Membrane Separation (potentially corrosive)
- CDI/EDI (potentially corrosive)
- Ion exchange softening (generally not corrosive)
A water quality improvement process can only be called “softening” if it physically removes of completely sequestrates the hardness ions to a level at or below 1 grain per gallon (17.1ppm). All methods of softening (except sequestration and ion exchange) will remove both the hardness ions as well as the buffering carbonates attached to them, and that is where the potential for corrosion can begin. Without buffering alkalinity, softened water can become corrosive, especially if it contains dissolved carbon dioxide.
The most cost-effective method currently is simple ion exchange, where calcium and/or magnesium ions are exchange with sodium or potassium ions to form relatively benign byproducts like sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate which contribute to the taste and feel of ion-exchange softened water. Langlier’s hypothesis is accurate until one brings ion exchange into the equation. Ion exchange softening doesn’t remove the carbonates and bicarbonates from the water, thereby not making the water more acidic or corrosive. Once this principle is understood, one can see the significant difference between “naturally soft” and “ion-exchange softened” water.
Ion exchange softened water is not generally corrosive. Why do I say “generally”? – In certain conditions, if the conductivity of the water is already high, such as water with 50gpg of hardness or higher, the softening process will contribute enough sodium/potassium to the water that is becomes very conductive which can indeed accelerate galvanic corrosion reactions.
So what do this mean? – Softened water is safe, softened water is good for the environment, softened water is good for your home, softened water is good for your business, and softened water is good for your pocketbook.
This little gem was published back in 2006 by the Nashville Water district: http://softwateradvice.com/showthread.php?t=52&highlight=nashville . It is obvious the the city of Nashville didn’t have all the facts and the article was probably posted by an over-zealous employee who was missing some information. The WQA acted swiftly to address the issue and published the following:
http://wqa.org/sitelogic.cfm?ID=850#2000anchor
“Each year, WQA communicates with cities, regulators, newspapers, and other media to correct misinformation about our industry’s products and services. In January 2006, the focus turned to Nashville, Tennessee. Their Metro Water Services department posted false and misleading information about consumption of softened water on its Web site. WQA contacted the agency in writing, refuted the aritcle’s claims, and requested the misinformation be removed from the Web site. After receiving no response, an article was published in the January 2006 issue of WQA Industry Update. That WQA article was later picked up by another publication, which further directed the spotlight on Nashville’s Metro Water Services. As a result, the public information officer for the water agency pulled the article. She has since asked her staff to work with WQA to clear up any misleading or inaccurate information about softened water. WQA members: If you are dealing with a municipality that is making false or misleading statements about water softeners or other technologies, contact WQA immediately, and we will work to correct the information. ”
This is just another good reason to join the WQA if you haven’t already done so.
Here’s the original article for your entertainment:
“Soft water is neither healthy nor desirable for drinking! If you were a steam iron or a washing machine it would be great, but we are neither! There are good reasons you should not be drinking soft water!
Water is a universal solvent. Most materials, especially metals, are partially soluble in water. If that water is heated or softened it becomes much more aggressive at leaching metals from water lines. Lead in soldered joints and copper in pipe are particularly vulnerable and these are two of the heavy metals which shouldn’t be present in significant amounts in your drinking water.
WATER HARDNESS
Calcium and magnesium are two minerals which make water “hard.” Both of these minerals are classed as “contaminants,” but that’s a poor choice in terminology, for calcium is essential in our diet! A softener merely exchanges one group of non-toxic elements for another group of non-toxic elements. Water hardness is measured either in grains per gallon (GPG) or as calcium hardness in milligrams per liter (mg/l) or parts per million (ppm). GPG is based on calcium hardness. To convert from calcium hardness ppm, just divide by a factor of 17.2 and this gives you hardness in GPG. A soft or slightly hard water has up to 3.5 GPG; moderately hard water runs from 3.5 to 10.5 GPG; and very hard water is greater than 10.5 GPG. If your water is over 7 GPG, you might want to consider a softener just for the laundry.
Metro water is on the low side of moderately hard at 4.1 GPG (that is 70 mg/l of calcium hardness. This is an excellent value and highly desirable! Cities which have soft water are having difficulty meeting the new lead standards in tap water. Metro has had none of these difficulties in meeting the new standards!
SOFT WATER
A soft water is aggressive at leaching metals (like lead) from your lines and faucets. Most faucets are solid brass (with a relatively high lead content) and are chrome plated. This means that if you have soft water, there is a great chance that your initial drawing of cold water will have a higher lead content than normal. Hot or warm water from the tap should never be used for cooking, shortcuts, drinking water, beverages, or infant formula as it could be higher in heavy metals like lead!
WATER SOFTENERS
Besides making the water more corrosive and aggressive at leaching metals from your lines and fixtures, the zeolite beads from water softening systems may back-siphon into your toilet tanks, and the soft water may attack vital plumbing parts. While supposedly solving one set of problems, the softener could possibly introduce other problems which you may or may not be aware of! A water softener, besides leaching lead and other metals from your plumbing, can increase your sodium intake. In a water softening device hard water flows through synthetic resin beads. Sodium ions (salt) are loosely attached to each bead and the water exchanges hardness ions (calcium and magnesium) for the soft sodium ions. These devices can also be costly to run since they can waste up to 120 gallons for every 1,000 delivered.
A water softener is not designed (nor is it effective) to remove lead and other metals, chlorine, taste/odor compounds, nor chlorine by-products. Its purpose is only to make a hard water soft. Water treated to remove chlorine may encourage the formation of black rings in toilet bowls!
IN CONCLUSION…
Soft water is great for laundry, bathing, steam irons, and auto batteries, but definitely not for anything else. If you are contemplating installing a softener, there are serious questions you should ask: who will test the effectiveness of the softener, how often will these tests be run, and how will my drinking water quality be affected?
Metro Water Services does not test any home water treatment device, including softeners, and does not recommend the use of particular devices!”
Soft water is neither healthy nor desirable for drinking! If you were a steam iron or a washing machine it would be great, but we are neither! There are good reasons you should not be drinking soft water!
Water is a universal solvent. Most materials, especially metals, are partially soluble in water. If that water is heated or softened it becomes much more aggressive at leaching metals from water lines. Lead in soldered joints and copper in pipe are particularly vulnerable and these are two of the heavy metals which shouldn’t be present in significant amounts in your drinking water.
WATER HARDNESS
Calcium and magnesium are two minerals which make water “hard.” Both of these minerals are classed as “contaminants,” but that’s a poor choice in terminology, for calcium is essential in our diet! A softener merely exchanges one group of non-toxic elements for another group of non-toxic elements. Water hardness is measured either in grains per gallon (GPG) or as calcium hardness in milligrams per liter (mg/l) or parts per million (ppm). GPG is based on calcium hardness. To convert from calcium hardness ppm, just divide by a factor of 17.2 and this gives you hardness in GPG. A soft or slightly hard water has up to 3.5 GPG; moderately hard water runs from 3.5 to 10.5 GPG; and very hard water is greater than 10.5 GPG. If your water is over 7 GPG, you might want to consider a softener just for the laundry.
Metro water is on the low side of moderately hard at 4.1 GPG (that is 70 mg/l of calcium hardness. This is an excellent value and highly desirable! Cities which have soft water are having difficulty meeting the new lead standards in tap water. Metro has had none of these difficulties in meeting the new standards!
SOFT WATER
A soft water is aggressive at leaching metals (like lead) from your lines and faucets. Most faucets are solid brass (with a relatively high lead content) and are chrome plated. This means that if you have soft water, there is a great chance that your initial drawing of cold water will have a higher lead content than normal. Hot or warm water from the tap should never be used for cooking, shortcuts, drinking water, beverages, or infant formula as it could be higher in heavy metals like lead!
WATER SOFTENERS
Besides making the water more corrosive and aggressive at leaching metals from your lines and fixtures, the zeolite beads from water softening systems may back-siphon into your toilet tanks, and the soft water may attack vital plumbing parts. While supposedly solving one set of problems, the softener could possibly introduce other problems which you may or may not be aware of! A water softener, besides leaching lead and other metals from your plumbing, can increase your sodium intake. In a water softening device hard water flows through synthetic resin beads. Sodium ions (salt) are loosely attached to each bead and the water exchanges hardness ions (calcium and magnesium) for the soft sodium ions. These devices can also be costly to run since they can waste up to 120 gallons for every 1,000 delivered.
A water softener is not designed (nor is it effective) to remove lead and other metals, chlorine, taste/odor compounds, nor chlorine by-products. Its purpose is only to make a hard water soft. Water treated to remove chlorine may encourage the formation of black rings in toilet bowls!
IN CONCLUSION…
Soft water is great for laundry, bathing, steam irons, and auto batteries, but definitely not for anything else. If you are contemplating installing a softener, there are serious questions you should ask: who will test the effectiveness of the softener, how often will these tests be run, and how will my drinking water quality be affected?
Metro Water Services does not test any home water treatment device, including softeners, and does not recommend the use of particular devices!