Guard Against Microbe Contamination

Microbes, Protozoa, and Cysts…OH MY!

While you sleep at night, protozoa motor around in your water supply. Even in extreme environments, protozoa can flourish and in change from dormant to a thriving motile state as conditions dictate. These parasites can harbor pathogens that thwart treatment with conventional drugs. In this article we will discuss two microbes in particular – Giardia and Cryptosporidium. 

....And yes, their many subtypes attack the gut in developed countries, too. 

Giardia image courtesy of Centers for Disease Control (CDC)

According to the Centers for Disease Control,
giardiasis and cryptosporidiosis are “the most common intestinal parasitic diseases affecting humans.” Infection occurs by ingesting food or water contaminated with the hard-shell oocysts. Private wells and groundwater supplies can both be compromised.  In an article published in Applied Environmental Microbiology, water samples containing Giardia and/or Cryptosporidium cysts have a correlating presence of E. coli.

Acute symptoms cause gastrointestinal upheaval but the protozoa can also hang around to cause vitamin deficiencies and metabolic upset. As with many illnesses, parasites affect the young, the elderly, and the immune-suppressed with increased vengeance.

Chlorination is not the answer. To effectively treat drinking water contaminated with Giardia and/or Cryptosporidium cysts, filtration products must use carbon block media with an absolute pore size of 1 micron or smaller. The National Sanitation Foundation’s (NSF’s) Standard 53 certification requires filtration adsorption effectiveness to remove 99.5 percent of oocysts.

Paragon Water Systems and American Carbon Block partner to create adsorption/filtration products to protect the health of your family. Contact us today to find out how to “de”cyst these dangerous microbes from your drinking water.

Paragon Water Systems and American Carbon Block

13805 Monroes Park

Tampa, FL 33635

Toll-free: 1-800-288-9708

Email: customerservice@paragonwater.com

Heavy Metal U.S.A.: Part 2 -- Lead

New lead emissions usually from airborne contamination

Thank the water transport system for keeping our climate working by redistributing and recycling our valuable H2O resources. Similarly, water (the "universal solvent") takes particulate contamination (like lead) from the atmosphere and moves it back to the ground -- into groundwater or sinking it like a "lead" brick into our wells and aquifers. 

Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

Recently, lead paint was in the news -- this time in an ongoing lawsuit settled against several paint manufacturers.  According to court documents "60,000 children under the age of 6 suffered from lead poisoning between 2007 and 2010 in the affected California jurisdictions."

Lead Reduction Solution

Paragon and American Carbon Block offer a great solution to lead reduction with its SD CB SS -- SD + filter. Check out our filter specifications here.

No matter where contamination occurs in your environment, you can count on our people and products to provide quality solutions at affordable prices.

Visit these links: 

Paragon Water Systems / American Carbon Block 

or call us at 1-800-288-9708 for more information.

New Year -- New Lead Levels in 2014

EPA's New Year's Resolution for Lead Reduction

A recent article in the online magazine Water Technology reminds us that the New Year brings new regulations.

At the beginning of 2014 an amendment to the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) goes into effect. The Reduction of Lead in Drinking Water Act mandates that the amount of lead is limited to a weighted average under 0.25 percent. This includes any "wetted" surface that comes in contact with any potable water point-of-use (POU) systems. Wetted surfaces include:

• Pipes
• Pipe fittings
• Plumbing fittings
• Water meters
• Backflow and check valves

There is no specific terminology that manufacturers need to use in "lead-free" product descriptions and the new regulation does not cover retrofitting.

Read the complete Water Technology story here
Read the complete federal amendment here

***Stay tuned for part 2 of the Heavy Metal U.S.A. post featuring lead contamination and the challenges to remove lead at point-of-entry (POE).

Lead Reduction Leaders -- American Carbon Block SD+ and CYL1 filters use coconut shell carbon for lead reduction when used as part of a complete  Paragon Water system

Solutions for residential/corporate/industrial needs? We can do that!

Visit these links: 

Paragon Water Systems / American Carbon Block 

or call us at 1-800-288-9708 for more information.

United States of Agriculture -- Part 2 -- Lindane

Lindane

Figure 1:  Gamma-hexachlorocyclohexane, (γ-HCH)

Lindane (see Figure 1) is an insecticide that has not been used for agricultural application since 2007. However, it is still manufactured as the active ingredient in a prescription, second-line treatment of lice. Lindane’s use is set to end in 2015. But like many substances used in the past (ag chemical or not), decomposition rates can continue air and water contamination. Because of this slow chemical breakdown process, these organic compounds are still worthy of water filtration discussion.

                                                                                                        

 Forgotten? NOT!

Production/disposal byproducts accumulate in waste sites. As these chemicals bio-accumulate, they can still cause atmospheric loading and leach into ground/water causing contamination.

                                                   Figure 2: NSF/ANSI Standard 53 Compound Reduction Claims (Wordle)

Count on Paragon Water Systems

Reduction of Lindane is covered by NSF/ANSI Standards 53 and 58 Tested and certified by the Water Quality Association (WQA), Paragon Water System’s Dual and Triple Stage PLUS and RO drinking water products reduce lindane and other compounds (see Figure 2) as well as cysts, lead, and atrazine (see blog post for United States of Agriculture, Part 1).

In addition, Paragon’s filter materials and components have met the rigorous safety and structural integrity and strength requirements of the NSF. Service cycles of 500 to 1,000 gallons (product dependent). Our ODM/OEM solutions give manufacturers a chance to promote a quality, label-specific product to their customers. Our new division, American Carbon Block, now manufactures Made in USA carbon block solutions.

Visit these links Paragon Water Systems / American Carbon Block or call us at 1-800-288-9708 for more information.