2016 McEllhiney Distinguished Lecturer to present on treatment options for groundwater

2016 McEllhiney Distinguished Lecturer to present on treatment options for groundwater

WESTERVILLE, Ohio — The McEllhiney Distinguished Lecture Series in Water Well Technology is named in honor of the founding president of the National Ground Water Association (NGWA).

WERF awards contracts to explore innovative processes

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Formed in 1989, the Water Environment Research Foundation is a nonprofit, independent scientific research organization dedicated to stormwater and wastewater issues.

New Global Water Intelligence report highlights opportunities in ballast water treatment

AUSTIN, Texas — The report discusses how the ratification of global environmental legislation will lead to a surge in the installation of ballast water treatment systems over the next five years.

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Pure Water Profits blog: The effects of ‘MobileGedden’

BIRMINGHAM — The latest post from Dale Filhaber of Dataman Group discusses how Google’s recent announcement will have an effect on where water dealerships appear in the search results for mobile users.
 
Endress+Hauser acquires Columbian process automation business

GREENWOOD, Ind. — Colsein Ltda.’s process automation business will be transferred to a new Endress+Hauser sales subsidiary on Jan. 1, 2016.

Inside the Magazine

Facts POU/POE dealers should know about wastewater treatment

An introduction to the treatment stages of blackwater.

A Water Dilemma in Michigan: Cloudy or Costly?

By MITCH SMITH MARCH 24, 2015

 

Photo

Vernon White over the Flint River, which replaced Lake Huron as the water source in Flint, Mich. Mr. White says he buys soda to avoid the water. Credit Joshua Lott for The New York Times

FLINT, Mich. — Depending on the day, Melissa Mays says, the water flowing out of her home’s faucets might have a blue tint. Or it might smell like mothballs. Or it might fill her home with the scent of an overchlorinated swimming pool.

Lately, Ms. Mays, who is 36 and works in marketing, has not been turning on her tap much at all. After Flint changed the source of its drinking water last spring, Ms. Mays said, she noticed a change in the water’s color and odor. Then she started having rashes, and clumps of her hair fell out. When the city issued a boil order, she stopped using the water for drinking and cooking. Now her family spends roughly $400 a month on bottled water.

“My cat gets bottled water, our plants get bottled water, our fish gets bottled water,” said Ms. Mays, who has helped organize marches to protest the water conditions and is on a city commission seeking input on how to move forward. “It takes four to five bottles of water to fill up a pot for spaghetti.”

Flint officials insist that the city’s water is safe. They say that the issues of odor and color are separate from the question of whether the water meets federal standards, and that no link to health problems has been proved.

Photo

Tony Palladeno Jr., escorted from a water advisory committee meeting for outbursts, says that the water in this bottle came out of his tap in January. Credit Joshua Lott for The New York Times

“We understand the concerns about discoloration and odors,” said Gerald Ambrose, Flint’s state-appointed emergency manager. “We tell everyone who complains that we would be more than happy to come out to their house and test their water.”

Mr. Ambrose’s position hints at deeper issues in Flint. Though the city has not declared bankruptcy, it has been in state receivership since 2011 and has deep-seated financial problems, which Mr. Ambrose was appointed to help untangle. Add to that a plummeting population and violent crime rates that rank among the nation’s worst, and the water question becomes one headache among many.

The problems, almost everyone agrees, started shortly after the city, in an effort to save money, switched from the supply of treated Lake Huron water it had long purchased from Detroit and started drawing water from the Flint River, treating it locally.

On Monday, Flint’s City Council voted to “do all things necessary” to reconnect to the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department. Mr. Ambrose’s response was swift. Flint water today is safe by all federal and state standards, he said in a statement Tuesday. “Water from Detroit is no safer than water from Flint,” he said. “Users also pay some of the highest rates in the state because of the decreased numbers of users and the age of the system.”

A sign downtown still refers to Flint as Vehicle City. Older residents recall growing up in a place that 200,000 people called home, where good-paying jobs in the General Motors factories were plentiful. Today, many of the auto plants are gone, the population is below 100,000, and once-prosperous neighborhoods are dotted with abandoned homes and vacant lots.

Photo

Tim Bednarski checking water at the treatment plant. Flint has increased chemical monitoring and hired a consulting firm to suggest improvements. Credit Joshua Lott for The New York Times

As Flint has shrunk, its network of water pipes built for a much larger metropolis has deteriorated. With fewer customers, water sometimes languishes in the system, becoming discolored. Moreover, water bills in Flint are far higher than those in neighboring communities. Officials say the switch away from Detroit water saves the city $12 million a year.

Continue reading the main story Continue reading the main story

Continue reading the main story

“It’s a very sore point, particularly when you have a population with a high degree of low-income folks,” Mr. Ambrose said. “To me, the conversation we need to be having is, how do we lower those rates?”

Some residents say they would rather not debate the cost until they are confident that the water is safe. When fecal coliform bacteria showed up in parts of the city last summer, residents were told to boil their water before using it. Officials addressed the issue by pumping extra chlorine into the system, but in solving one problem, they created another.

The high chlorine levels led to elevated levels of total trihalomethanes or T.T.H.M., which required another public notice in January. Residents will again receive a notice of elevated T.T.H.M. levels in the mail later this month, Mayor Dayne Walling has said. Long-term consumption of water with high T.T.H.M. levels can lead to liver or kidney troubles and an increased risk of cancer, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Some here say Flint had been on the verge of a rebound when the water problems started. The walkable downtown area, just steps from the University of Michigan’s campus here, is now home to the Flint Crepe Company and other new restaurants. And perhaps most significant, the emergency manager was expected to leave office in the coming weeks, handing power back to the elected mayor and City Council.

Photo

Melissa Mays said that after Flint changed its water source last spring, she developed rashes and clumps of her hair fell out. Credit Joshua Lott for The New York Times

“We continue to deal with a number of longstanding challenges with concentrated poverty and high crime and expensive, old infrastructure,” said Mr. Walling, a Flint native who returned to his hometown after studying at Oxford as a Rhodes scholar. “But we’re now 30 years past the major General Motors plant closings in the 1980s, and people are ready to move forward, so the new problems with water have been a huge setback.” Mr. Walling said he and his family drank city water.

Mr. Walling and Mr. Ambrose conceded that communication should have been better when water problems emerged. But they say the city is reaching out to residents and answering questions. Officials installed a T.T.H.M. monitor at the treatment plant and hired a consulting firm to suggest improvements there, and they have asked state and federal officials for help. They also note that the switch to the Flint River is not permanent. A new pipeline connecting Flint to Lake Huron is expected to be completed next year.

Many in Flint, though, seem unconvinced. Saterra Hill, 17, a health sciences major at the University of Michigan-Flint, said she and her father purchased several gallon jugs of water each month instead of drinking tap water. Vernon White, 57, said he often bought soda to avoid the water.

For many, the water issue stirs emotions. On a recent weekday afternoon, dozens of people filled the basement of the city’s transportation center for a meeting of a water advisory committee.

Tony Palladeno Jr., who arrived at the meeting in a red Flint baseball cap, was escorted out by a police officer for repeated outbursts. Mr. Palladeno, 53, keeps a bottle of yellowish water with a layer of sediment that he said came out of his tap in January. He said local officials had not acted quickly enough to fix the problems.

“I don’t feel hopeful,” Mr. Palladeno said. “At one time, I loved this town. I still love it. There’s good people here. But the governing is killing us. I think we need a federal intervention.”

Fluoride's Rising Battle

Adding Fluoride -- Dividing Communities

Communities, big and small, have jumped into the fray. Fluoride (F^-) is one of the few chemicals added to our drinking water, but its presence stirs debate on the social, economic, and political fronts.

Here are just two viewpoints swirling around the drain:

• Fluoride is a neurotoxin that lowers a child's IQ and weakens the immune system
• Fluoride protects against tooth decay and saves money on dental care for children and adults

Google News Advanced Search (May 10-May 20, 2014)

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), two-thirds of community water systems add fluoride to tap water. The District of Columbia's tap water is 100 percent fluoridated; Hawaii's tap water is less than 11 percent fluoridated.

 

The graphic above reflects the status in 2006. How this has changed in the last eight years and how it may change in the next two years may show where we are going as a nation.

Many say the key to fluoridation is balance. Fluoride added at 1 part per million (ppm) dilution is the usual concentration used. But, in a study conducted by the University of Nebraska in 2008, 4 ppm can cause discoloration of teeth and other health concerns. Your natural water supply may also contain more-than-acceptable levels. In addition, some foods and beverages naturally contain fluoride (e.g. tea, juices, wine, etc.).

If you are looking for ways to minimize the problem, these are two solutions that will not work:

• Water filters in point of use (POU) containers and tap attachments
• Boiling/freezing water (does not evaporate/eliminate fluoride)

The main questions for water filtration experts from their customers:

1. If fluoride is added to my tap water and they don't want it, can I filter it out? You cannot eliminate, but you can reduce, fluoride concentrations. 
2. Is inorganic fluoride less dangerous than organic fluoride? Probably.

Reverse Osmosis (R/O) Is the Key 

Beside the obvious (not adding fluoride in the first place), R/O systems are the most effective way to
filter and reduce fluoride. Semi-permeable membranes prevent fluoride ions from continuing through the water stream. Ionization is another possibility to lower concentrations.

Paragon Water Systems can build an R/O system that reduces contaminants (including fluoride) in your point of entry (POE).

Contact us today for more information about reducing fluoride and other chemicals in the water supply!

13805 Monroes Park
Tampa, FL 33635 USA

Toll-free 1-800-288-9708
Click here to contact us online

 

Chloramine Reduction -- What Are the Issues?

Chloramine Now Makes Its Move from Water to Food Supply

Read through headlines in any newspaper. Chloramine use to sanitize drinking water is on the agenda for townships and metropolitan areas alike. From Millinocket, Maine to Los Angeles County, California the battle continues with the chlorine/chloramine debate. Many water utilities have made the switch from chlorine to the chlorine + ammonia compound. With this change in formula, comes the necessity to treat drinking water in a more complex way.

It’s not just about carbon block -- that’s not even half the story. To reduce chloramine is to use catalytic carbon adsorption in combination of reverse-osmosis and the addition of ultraviolet (UV) light to reduce Trihalomethanes (THMs) a resultant byproduct formed when organic matter in the water combines with chlorine. These filtration processes make treatment a more complex and expensive prospect. 

Paragon Water Systems and its American Carbon Block division can work with you on the drinking water solution for reducing chloramine levels. This is especially important for people with compromised immune systems.

And now the final question --  will the use of chloramines go even further? The answer came on May 6, 2014 from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA officially approved Halamid® Aqua (a.k.a. Chloramine-T) as a therapeutic drug for use in fish aquaculture (hatcheries) to “control mortality” of salmonids plus “walleye and all freshwater-reared warm water finfish” (American Fisheries Society).

Contact us today for more information about reducing chloramine:

13805 Monroes Park
Tampa, FL 33635 USA

Toll-free 1-800-288-9708

Water Professionals Celebrate Drinking Water Week!

Courtesy of American Water Works Association

 In the ever-changing world of water, education is the first step in understanding a good drinking water solution. The National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) and the American Water Works Association websites have a bounty of good information to help clear up the practical aspects of safe drinking water.

Once you have a foundation of information to work from, you want to find a company that works closely with national drinking water standards and that has multimodal expertise in filtration solutions.

Look to Paragon Water Systems and its American Carbon Block division to answer your questions and to partner with you for an amazing product. When you build a relationship with partners and customers alike, the sky's the limit!

 

13805 Monroes Park
Tampa, FL 33635 USA

Toll-free 1-800-288-9708

Water-based Beverage Scourge: S C A L E

How Do You Take Your Tea? 

Milk/Cream? Lemon? Sugar/Sweetener? 

Scale???

The chemistry of "hard water" starts with the original water source. Groundwater seeps, percolates, and flows over mineral deposits containing limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. Precipitation of this chemical reaction from our water supply is the scale that we see in our kettles, shower heads, and in the water we ingest from an unfiltered tap. In the U.S. map below, the red and white areas identify trouble spots for calcium carbonate, one of two "hardness" indicators (the other is magnesium).

When water is removed from it's source, the more circuitous the piping system from POE to POU, the more opportunity exists for scale to:

• Narrow pipes and cause corrosion
• Create undue pressure on the delivery system
• Trap further contaminants within the system

Although there is no direct research pointing to health risks, the analogy of scale buildup in pipes to cholesterol-clogged arteries is hard to miss.

The aesthetic concerns about hard water -- especially water used in beverage service -- affecting business owners and customers alike.

Real and costly damage can be done to commercial entities and public infrastructure -- again affecting business owners and taxpayers alike. 

Let Paragon Water Systems attack the scale issue with its unique filtration solutions. We are uniquely adept at designing and manufacturing water treatment media to keep scale buildup from ruining the delivery system as well as snag contaminants in the water flow.

Visit our site to send us a request! 

http://www.paragonwater.com/contact_us.aspx

Give us a call today! 

1-800-288-9708

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