Constant Pressure is a Thing of Beauty

Last week, we had a failure at our home - our water pressure system (bringing water in from our cistern and pumping it up through our entire home) failed. We knew it was coming - we had been limping along with the system that came with the house (sort of an "if it ain't broke, don't fix it kind of thing.) This was a "Canadian Tire Special" kind of deal - a small 1/2 Horsepower Jet Pump attached to a 4 gallon pressure tank. This is the kind of system you'd expect to find at a cabin that sees a few visitors every couple of months, not for a family of three with a baby (lots of laundry, baths, etc.)

Anyway, the old system was loud, ran WAY too often (because of the under-sized pressure tank) and the lights dimmed every time ole Betsy kicked in (about every 20-30 seconds of running the water. To be honest, I was glad it happened. It gave us a chance to try out the new technology from Grundfos - a "constant pressure system." This is still a Jet Pump system, but with their new technology, it no longer requires a pressure tank.

For those not familiar with rural water systems, here's a quick overview. (Well water or cistern, the process is similar.)

Water is drawn into the home by a pump (either a submersible, or in our case, a "jet pump.") The water is pumped into a storage tank under pressure where it accumulates. The tank has a pressure switch that controls the pump based upon how much water (and therefore how much pressure) is in the tank.

When the water pressure reaches a maximum point (usually 50 PSI) the pump kicks off and the home is ready to use water directly from the pressurized tank. The water is drawn down from the tank until it reaches the minimum pressure point (usually 30 PSI.) At that point, the pump kicks in and runs until the pressure tank again reaches 50 PSI.

In theory, this is designed to run the pump for fewer but longer cycles (instead of having it kick in and out every time any water is drawn and burn out the pump.)

The new Grundfos technology eliminates the need for the pressure tank as it is set up to provide a constant pressure to the home and runs the pump in an manner to keep that pressure constant. Installing the pump was relatively simple - I got to cut out a lot of archaic looking plumbing connections and run brand new PEX from the pump to the Watermax conditioner.

I also replaced the disgusting looking supply plumbing that connects the cistern to the inlet on the pump with brand new braided vinyl tubing. I should have taken a "before" picture - my apologies. You can tell from the picture here what a large "footprint" the former setup had.

(The black tank you see there is for our Hague H3500 Reverse Osmosis system - a separately-installed drinking water system we have to purify the water for drinking and cooking. Cistern water tends to be GROSS! We had ours cleaned just 2 years ago and there were leaves, mice and frogs in the tank. I truly get scared when I hear people drinking that water - or having a false sense of security because they use a Brita filter, or there is some sort of filter in their fridge - YIKES! Those do NOT eliminate bacteria!!!)

So the end result???

We went from a loud pump that cycled all the time, dimming the lights each time it kicked in (and kicked out) to one that is quiet, runs continuously at different speeds to ensure constant pressure. The old system would cycle between 30 and 50 PSI. The new Grundfos pump is supposed to deliver a constant 60 PSI. I put a gauge on the system upstairs to measure what was actually being delivered (not just the pressure at the pump itself) and measured a "city-water-like" 62 PSI. That, my friends, is a THING OF BEAUTY!

The only "down side"??? We'll have to go out and put "low flow" showerheads on the system now. Previously, the pressure was so low that it was not only unnecessary, but also impractical. Now, the pressure is almost enough to peal off your skin. I love this thing! If you have a pressure system for your home, when the time comes to replace a jet pump, I would strongly consider you take a look at this new technology. Contact us for more info on this amazing new system.

"I am against Water Softeners...."

I was just out at the Chamber of Commerce "After Hours" -this week it was held at Albert's Restaurant. Unfortunately, due to a check up that took (WAY) too long, I was late for the event and missed most of the attendees (and my MC duties - SORRY Karlee!!!)

I was, however, lucky enough to meet a new member representing a new company operating in Sherwood Park. After the typical exchange of greetings and "What do you do?'s" he made a comment to me, one that I could immediately tell by the look on his face, that he regretted. I'm not one to force issues, but when he told me, "I'm against water softening" I was a bit taken aback. I'm used to the concept of people making comments about not seeing the purpose, or arguing that salt usage for this purpose is an environmental issue, but I felt like finding out what he was wanting to say.

Apparently my tact wasn't quite right as he seemed somewhat apologetic at the possibility of having insulted a perfect stranger. (It takes a lot more than that to insult me, and to be honest, I was intrigued by the comments. In my line of work, dealing with "objections" is just part of the territory.) Anyway, when I pressed a bit, searching for what it was that he was against, he commented that he didn't like the idea of adding things to the water.

At this point, I was captivated - softening removes things (mostly calcium, magnesium and iron) from water. It does, depending on the overall water's hardness, add a bit of sodium (or potassium, if that's the regenerant used) to the water, but the industry has come a long way from the 1950's where you could literally taste the difference. Now, with the Hague "Absolute Brining" technology, you literally would need a TDS meter to determine the change in sodium content.

Unfortunately, my new colleague was already on his way out, and didn't seem too interested in elaborating on his comments, so for now, it remains a mystery. At any rate, I absolutely love to hear new reasons why something won't work or is a bad idea. I'm open-minded enough to have that conversation and if something comes up which is a legitimate concern (as opposed to one of the millions of urban myths out there) then I can change my views and adapt.

In the meantime, my opinion remains that the trace amounts of sodium introduced to the water are well-worth the energy and savings in chemical additives that are required to offset the effects of hard water, not to mention the time, convenience, and "soft" advantages like time saved cleaning, smoother (not itchy) skin, whiter whites, brighter colours, and spotless dishes....

Some interesting facts: (all based on the current levels of "hardness" of Edmonton city water)

-Softened water requires 29% less energy to heat. (21% less if you have electric hot water heating.) All that dissolved rock in the water has to be heated, in additoin to the water. There is also the scaling that builds up on the heating elements in the hot water tank. This in effect coats the elements, causing them to use a LOT more energy to heat the water (picture your stove, then put a brick on the heating element. then place a kettle on the brick and turn on the stove... you get my point.)

-Softened water requires 75% less soap and detergent. It also allows for natural products to work. If you've seen the new Tide commercials, they PROUDLY explain how their "concentrated" product has more detergent in it - now almost half the container is detergent. (the rest being chemical water softeners, acids, dyes and phosphates.) -Did you think they were just adding water to boost their profits???

-Water using appliances last twice as long! Again, back to the build-up mentioned above in reference to saving energy heating water. That accumulation of calcium (dissolved limestone rock in our case) builds up at the bottom of hot water tanks, steam irons, kettles, dishwashers, toilets, refrigerators/icemakers, kettles, etc. The appliances with smaller internal plumbing benefit the most, but the shear volume of water processed by a hot water tank makes that appliance the most noticeable. (Try lifting a new hot water tank - they are very light. Then try lifting your "failed" hot water after all the water has drained out into your basement - with all the dissolved rock in them, they weigh a TON!

There are a lot more advantages, but for now, I feel I've gone on long enough. Stay tuned for more!

Soft Water for Dry Skin?

Friday morning, I had an appointment with a family living in rural Alberta. They operate a trout farm and live in a log cabin - not the "typical" clients I bump in to on a regular basis, so right off I should have realized I was in for an interesting day.

The husband and wife had some concerns about their well water quality and wanted recommendations for what could be done. That always leads to a water test - without checking the chemistry and composition, its pretty near impossible to make any recommendations (regardless of what any patented "iron eater" system salesman tells you!!!)

Walking through their concerns, the home owners were unable to use their well water for cooking and were going thru a LOT of bottled water from a nearby supplier in Tofield. I tested their bottled water too and had an interesting discovery. The water tested at 17 parts per million (ppm) of total dissolved solids (TDS.) That's a measure of the purity of the water, and 17 is kind of in "no mans land." Reverse Osmosis (RO) water, off a properly-selected water source, should be lower than that - probably should be under 5 ppm. "Spring water" really isn't regulated, so its all over the place. Usually it tests higher than city water does - typically 250-300 ppm, so that leads me to believe this was "low quality RO water" the family had.

Anyway, the last company out to make recommendations had suggested putting a well chlorination system in, followed by a dechlorination system, and a filter to remove any oxidized contaminants. This family really wanted to remove chemicals from their lives, not add them in. After reading about all the carcinogens in city water (including chlorine, chloramine and the 'disinfection byproducts' like trihalomethanes and other poisons,) this family was not interested in looking at a system like that.

Our recommendation here was to go with the "Watermax" system from Hague Quality Water. Because of the type of media deployed, it would not require chlorine or any other oxidizer added to remove all the iron, and the same unit will also remove all their hardness. Hague offers what they refer to as "zero hardness" water. That is water with ALL the dissolved limestone rock and magnesium removed. Even a little bit of this will forfeit your soap savings, and start to accumulate on the skin and in clothing and linens. The rock causes soap to stick, and that leads to dry skin and eczema, something the the wife was having problems with.

Another great benefit of this system is the whole-house sediment filter. Included in the same unit is a media that filters all the home's water down to 20 microns - smaller than the human eye can perceive. This filter never needs replacement or maintenance, instead it just purges sediment each time the iron and hardness components regenerate - very slick!

I have a mini version of this system and let her try washing her hands with the tap water, then washing them after running thru the miniature conditioner. She could immediately tell the difference.

This system would do everything they need, removing all the iron, all the dissolved rock, and filtering their water down to 20 microns, and do it all without adding, storing, or handling chemicals like chlorine.

The fact that Hague stands behind the system with the industry's longest warranty - a 25 year warranty (including all the media) made this an easy decision!

To finish my visit off, they walked me thru their trout farm. I'd never seen an operation like this and I would never have guessed they had something like this going on from driving up to their home. What a neat setup!

If you've got some problem water, or just not sure what to do - give us a call at 780-410-0837 or contact us through the website: www.douglasenviro.ca -we don't charge for these analysis, so whether you are looking for a solution, or just trying to figure out what's coming out of your taps, we're happy to help!

Septic Failures for Residents to Move

I read an article last week about 3 houses in California where the residents have been forced to move from their homoes because septic systems had failed and the owners were unable to repair them.

These people are victims of a system that doesn't completely understand how this natural process is supposed to work. Without having inspected the situation, its impossible to tell, but it sure sounds like a case where these people could be helped out rather inexpensively.

We became interested in the septic/wastewater treatment industry the way most people would, I guess - because we had a septic system that had some problems. We searched out a solution that didn't involve a backhoe and a $25,000 price tag. What we found was an invention by Mr. Jerry Fife in California, a system called "Pirana." Since installing, our field has been remediated to the point where we no longer have the pooling in the grass area above our septic field.

The problems with the biomat were not all that difficult to resolve and now, as long as we keep the system maintained annually, the septic tank and drainfield connected to it will have an indefinite life span. The Pirana system worked so well, that when we found out the Northern Alberta dealership owners had a falling out, we jumped at the chance to take over where they left off.

Now, for under $4000, costly replacement and repairs to septic tanks and the drainfields connected to them can usually be avoided. In fact, within just a day or two, all odours in the tank are almost completely eliminated, and within a few months, repairs propogate into the drainfield and the system repairs itself back to a normal operation.

With minimal upkeep, this aerobic system should keep a septic system operating smoothly pretty much forever. Depending upon conditions, owners may even expect to reduce the frequency of "honey wagon visits" when they get the solids in their tank pumped out!