Sometimes it is best not to rush into a decision on the correct water treatment for your home. I visited a new customer who has a hydrogen sulfide odor in his well water. Upon inspecting his water softener I found that the previous water treatment company did a disservice by not including any type of pre-filter. The water has 1 part per million of ferrous iron and 1/2 part per million of ferric iron as well as some sediment and hardness.
The first thing that needs correction is the lack of pre-filtration because the ferric iron is bleeding through the system and causing a little staining. But this can wait to see how the odor problem will be addressed, since my best method for treating hydrogen sulfide would take care of the sediment too.
So why didn't I sell this customer a system to deal with the odor that really bothers everyone in the house so much they would pay anything to fix it. Well, I wanted to determine part of the true nature of the problem first. The part of the problem I want to know about is whether the odor is a temporary or permanent problem. I hate selling a permanent system when the problem may only be temporary. So what I did is chlorinate the well. This will knock out the odor. If it knocks it permanently, then the only thing the customer needs is a cartridge filter. If the odor returns within a couple of weeks, I then know that the odor is persistent and will need a more elaborate system.
So if you call a water treatment expert and he decides that your water needs more testing or analysis before moving forward, he may really be an expert. Of course there are many situations when an expert can immediately determine what equipment you need, but try and read between the lines and see if the salesman is more interested in the sale or in you getting the correct equipment.
Ted Mullen, a licensed contractor, is President of Clean Water Man, Inc. in Danbury CT. If you have a water problem and would like another opinion, please email Ted at tedmullen@hotmail.com
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Sunday, April 27, 2008
How to extend the life of your water softener for years at little or no cost!
After servicing water treatment for a decade, I have found two things that homeowners must do if they want to extend the life of a water softener for many more years of faithful service. These two actions are simple. They should be done from the beginning when your water softener is new, but even if your system is old, you could start now, and it will add some life to your system.
The first action is to make sure the water softener is preceded by a sediment pre-filter. Even if you have never seen it, sediment and debris are present in your water. Water softeners do not take out sediment and debris, and they can either make their way through the softener to your plumbing and therefore the fixtures, or worse yet, they can clog and abrade the many seals and orifices in the control mechanism of your softener. If you have any iron in the water, you should be using a 5 micron pre-filter, since sedimentary (ferric) iron is between 5 and 10 microns in size and it can clog or foul water softener resin. Even if tests show that all the iron in your water is dissolved (ferrous), expect that some will occasionally sit in the well or pipes or well tank long enough to drop out of solution and become the clogging sedimentary type of iron.
Should every softener be installed with a pre-filter? Here is what happened last week to a new service customer of mine; they have municipal water and so when they paid their plumber to install a water softener, nobody recommended a pre-filter because it was assumed that the water was relatively clean. All went well for 3 years, but a couple of weeks ago, there was a fire on a nearby street and the firemen hooked up to the municipal hydrants and used water that flowed at a very high rate through the underground supply pipes. This disturbed a significant amount of sediment that had accumulated in the supply pipes over who knows how long. When the customers took showers in the next morning they noticed a huge drop in pressure. The softener was clogged so bad that the resin had to be dumped out and replaced along with the distributor tube. Had a pre-filter existed, it would have clogged too, but that cartridge would cost a few dollars to replace compared to the couple hundred it cost the customer in materials and labor to replace the resin.
The second thing is really a DON'T do, so it should be easy. Do NOT fill the brine vat. Only put enough salt in your brine vat to last a month. This is especially important if you use the potassium type of salt, since it drops out of solution very easily at the slightest temperature drop, and does not re-dissolve. I have seen cabinet model softeners (most big box units are cabinet models) ruined because the salt or potassium had packed and solidified so hard that it was impossible to dissolve with hot water or to break up with blunt force. When the salt solidifies like this, it will stop getting drawn into the softener during regeneration and the softener becomes useless. It is good to allow the salt to almost empty before you put another bag in, and the more efficient your system is (like Kinetico or Ecowater) the more important it is to follow this guideline.
The first action is to make sure the water softener is preceded by a sediment pre-filter. Even if you have never seen it, sediment and debris are present in your water. Water softeners do not take out sediment and debris, and they can either make their way through the softener to your plumbing and therefore the fixtures, or worse yet, they can clog and abrade the many seals and orifices in the control mechanism of your softener. If you have any iron in the water, you should be using a 5 micron pre-filter, since sedimentary (ferric) iron is between 5 and 10 microns in size and it can clog or foul water softener resin. Even if tests show that all the iron in your water is dissolved (ferrous), expect that some will occasionally sit in the well or pipes or well tank long enough to drop out of solution and become the clogging sedimentary type of iron.
Should every softener be installed with a pre-filter? Here is what happened last week to a new service customer of mine; they have municipal water and so when they paid their plumber to install a water softener, nobody recommended a pre-filter because it was assumed that the water was relatively clean. All went well for 3 years, but a couple of weeks ago, there was a fire on a nearby street and the firemen hooked up to the municipal hydrants and used water that flowed at a very high rate through the underground supply pipes. This disturbed a significant amount of sediment that had accumulated in the supply pipes over who knows how long. When the customers took showers in the next morning they noticed a huge drop in pressure. The softener was clogged so bad that the resin had to be dumped out and replaced along with the distributor tube. Had a pre-filter existed, it would have clogged too, but that cartridge would cost a few dollars to replace compared to the couple hundred it cost the customer in materials and labor to replace the resin.
The second thing is really a DON'T do, so it should be easy. Do NOT fill the brine vat. Only put enough salt in your brine vat to last a month. This is especially important if you use the potassium type of salt, since it drops out of solution very easily at the slightest temperature drop, and does not re-dissolve. I have seen cabinet model softeners (most big box units are cabinet models) ruined because the salt or potassium had packed and solidified so hard that it was impossible to dissolve with hot water or to break up with blunt force. When the salt solidifies like this, it will stop getting drawn into the softener during regeneration and the softener becomes useless. It is good to allow the salt to almost empty before you put another bag in, and the more efficient your system is (like Kinetico or Ecowater) the more important it is to follow this guideline.
The biggest mistake homeowners make when purchasing water softeners and water filters.
The biggest mistake a homeowner makes when purchasing any type of water equipment is to allow the salesman to be in charge of the sales call. How is the salesman in charge in most water treatment sales calls? The water treatment salesman is the one performing the water tests, and that puts him in charge.
HOMEOWNERS - put yourself in the driver's seat; get your own test done at a state certified lab before you contact water treatment companies, and you will save money and aggravation. With results from a certified lab you can call several water treatment dealers and feel them out first and then have 2 or 3 send a salesman (or even better, ask for a service technician instead of a salesman). Lab tests will be more accurate than the test kit the salesman brings, and by having your own independent results, you will cut out a lot of the spiel that the salesman will be trying to tell you.
HOMEOWNERS - put yourself in the driver's seat; get your own test done at a state certified lab before you contact water treatment companies, and you will save money and aggravation. With results from a certified lab you can call several water treatment dealers and feel them out first and then have 2 or 3 send a salesman (or even better, ask for a service technician instead of a salesman). Lab tests will be more accurate than the test kit the salesman brings, and by having your own independent results, you will cut out a lot of the spiel that the salesman will be trying to tell you.
The Matchstick Men Are Real! I have worked with them.
Anyone see that movie with Nicholas Cage called Matchstick Men? I am a big fan of Mr. Cage, but the beginning of the movie made me wince because many people I have worked with in my industry (water treatment) sound like Roy and Frank. The opening scenes of the movie solidified my dislike for those in my industry who sell overpriced products to the unsuspecting public. I am embarrassed to admit that I know companies that routinely pay $600.00 wholesale for a softener and turn around and sell it for $3600.00 retail. Then they have the nerve to go back to the customer the next year for scheduled maintenance and charge $179.00 just to walk in the door (and that doesn't include materials).
I challenge retailers in water treatment to watch Matchstick Men and reconsider how customers are treated by many in our business. It is time to treat our customers with respect and stop trying to get all their money just because they want to fix a water problem.
I challenge retailers in water treatment to watch Matchstick Men and reconsider how customers are treated by many in our business. It is time to treat our customers with respect and stop trying to get all their money just because they want to fix a water problem.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Water Treatment and Softeners - Who should you buy from?
Who should you buy water treatment from? There are several choices. Before you start searching, you should get a water analysis done at a state or county certified lab. A basic chemical / physical test and a bacteria test should be less than $150.00 if you draw and deliver the test yourself. Make sure you contact the lab before you bring samples there since many may require you to use their sample bottles (especially for the bacteria test). While $150.00 may seem like a lot, this test could save you thousands by helping to prevent you from getting the wrong equipment.
Now you have your test results and you are wondering where to go. There are 4 choices. First is the local water treatment dealer, second is the big box store, third is your plumber, and fourth is an internet store.
Pros and cons of each:
Now you have your test results and you are wondering where to go. There are 4 choices. First is the local water treatment dealer, second is the big box store, third is your plumber, and fourth is an internet store.
Pros and cons of each:
- The water treatment dealer is usually a specialist in fixing water problems. Many dealers are true water treatment experts, people who live and breath the actual processes of making your water better. Unfortunately, there are many dealers that are really just marketing companies that are out there to sell stuff, be it used cars, windows, siding, or water treatment. To make sure you have a company devoted to water treatment, look for a company with licensed technicians, and tell the salesman that you are going to ask the installer to see his license when he comes to install your system. This will help you eliminate fly by nighters and other incompetents.
- The big box store will be significantly less expensive than the water treatment dealer, but does an in store appliance salesman really have the background to help you get the correct equipment? If you got recommendations from the lab, you may be able to go this route and save cash, but you need to be aware of the fact that the regular appliance technicians are usually not qualified to work on water equipment and many dealers will not work on big box systems. Ask the store for the technician they recommend for service when there is a problem. If they can't recommend a technician, don't go this route.
- Your plumber can help you. He is usually somewhere between the big box price and the water treatment dealer price. Unfortunately, he may not be able to perform service on your equipment, and it may fail sooner unless you can find a technician to service it once a year. Find out if he recommends a technician to service the equipment or if he is truly confident that he can service it and remember to contact you to schedule service on a yearly basis.
- The internet dealers can bring you huge savings, but you may want to make sure your plumber will install the equipment and that a local water treatment dealer will be willing to service your equipment on a yearly basis. The internet company should also be willing to have you fax your water analysis and then design and sell you the correct application.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Blue and Green stains from my water, what causes them?
It amazes me when I step into a home where someone has lived for a long period and I see blue or green stains in sinks, tubs, and toilets.
"When did you first notice the stains?" I will ask.
"Oh, they have always been there." is a reply I hear much to often.
Blue and green stains are almost always the result of copper depositing on surfaces of water using fixtures in your home. There are three major causes:
"When did you first notice the stains?" I will ask.
"Oh, they have always been there." is a reply I hear much to often.
Blue and green stains are almost always the result of copper depositing on surfaces of water using fixtures in your home. There are three major causes:
- You have naturally acidic water from your well or municipality. Acidic water eats the copper pipes from the inside and leaves deposits wherever water can sit and dry off. In this case you will need to have a whole house neutralizer installed to raise the pH.
- Your water district is adding chlorine to the water to keep it micro-biologically safe. Chlorine can oxidise the inside of copper pipes and that water can leave deposits wherever it has a chance to sit and dry off. A whole house carbon filter can remove the chlorine, but if your home is supplied with a copper line from the main, that copper will have a chance to oxidize because it is before the carbon filter. You may get an improvement, but in this situation, you may never be able to remove all the copper.
- The plumbing or some or all of the electrical system is mis-grounded. Enough electricity flowing along copper pipes can peel atoms of copper off of the pipe and leave them in the water where it will have a chance to leave a stain when that water is able to sit and dry. If you suspect this, don't call a plumber, call an electrician.
Why should you care about blue and green stains? Because the copper being deposited in places where it makes stains used to be the inner part of your copper pipes. Unless you have naturally occurring copper mineral deposits coming up from the water in your well, blue and green stains are a sign that your copper plumbing is thinning out and will eventually leak. It may leak in the basement, but it may also leak in a wall or somewhere else. If you see blue and green stains, you should at least get a water test so that you can begin to determine what the cause is.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
The dreaded question "Do I NEED a water softener?"
Got a call from an old acquaintance who found out I was in the water business. He and his wife had been contacted by a water treatment "dealer" via a "bottle drop" campaign. This is where a water treatment company leaves a small plastic bottle and an official looking questionnaire at your mailbox or front door, asking for the bottle to be filled with water and the questionnaire be filled out. Many people mistake these official looking items as being from the town or water district. This is very advantageous for (if not deceitful of) the water treatment company who uses your answers on the survey to try and sell you water equipment. One question I almost always see on any variation of this scheming questionnaire is "Would you like to improve the quality of your water?" My answer to that is "Who wouldn't", and almost everyone says that they would like to improve the quality of their water.
After the bottles and questionnaires are collected, the water treatment company takes your water samples and does a very rudimentary couple of tests and will excitedly call you with the "results", of course having your filled in questionnaire right in front of them when they call. Bordering on the edge of what is legal, they will scare or entice you into allowing a "technician" into your home for further "tests". In this case "technician" means well trained salesman.
Now back to my old acquaintance - the salesman came out and got the wife so worried about the quality of the water that she and the salesman pressured the husband into a purchase. Luckily Connecticut and many other states have a 3 day cancel law which gives people the right to cancel a purchase like a water system without penalty. This gave the husband enough time to find my number and give me a call.
Here is what the salesman sold the folks: A super high end water softener for $3295.00 plus installation and a reverse osmosis system for $1995.00, installation included. Of course, at those prices, I can understand why anyone might ask for a second opinion.
"Ted" he asked "do you know if I really need this system?"
Now, I sell and service water treatment systems for a living, and have helped many people get the correct water treatment system for a home, and many times, that has included a water softener. But here is a little secret about water treatment that water treatment marketing companies (as opposed to licensed water treatment service companies) don't want you to know - IN MOST CASES, UNLESS YOU SEE SOME SORT OF STAINING OR BUILD UP OF WHITE OR BROWN CRUD, YOU MOST LIKELY DO NOT NEED A WATER SOFTENER. My acquaintance had lived in the home for 18 years and never had an issue with the water. There was no cruddy white buildup, no brown staining, the dishwasher and clothes washer worked fine, and he had only replaced the water heater once.
Of course, the salesman had tested and found that the water was 6 grains hard, which is moderate in my area and MAY warrant a water softener but there is another secret about hard water that you need to know - PROBLEM HARD WATER IS A FUNCTION OF TWO ISSUES and the amount of hardness is only one of those issues. The other issue is the pH of the water. You could have a good amount of calcium and magnesium hardness in the water, but if the pH is slightly acidic (say between 6.5 and 6.9), then the hardness will never show up on faucet spouts and shower curtains and other places. On the other hand, I have customers with only 2 grains of hardness and a pH of 8, and they had to get a water softener because that small amount of hardness clogged the domestic hot water coil in their boiler and coated the faucet spouts. Acidic water keeps minerals from depositing while base water will encourage a lot of depositing.
I tested the water and found that the pH was 6.7, just as I thought it would be. I told the husband that he didn't need a softener. After discussing the water a little further, I found that the wife's concern was really the drinking water and that she was tired of dealing with the water bottles she brought home from the store. I suggested an industry standard reverse osmosis system for significantly less than the $1995.00 price of the other company, and everyone was happy (except the salesman who's sale was cancelled).
If you have questions about water or are in the greater Danbury area and would like to have me speak to your group about water, email me at tedmullen@hotmail.com
After the bottles and questionnaires are collected, the water treatment company takes your water samples and does a very rudimentary couple of tests and will excitedly call you with the "results", of course having your filled in questionnaire right in front of them when they call. Bordering on the edge of what is legal, they will scare or entice you into allowing a "technician" into your home for further "tests". In this case "technician" means well trained salesman.
Now back to my old acquaintance - the salesman came out and got the wife so worried about the quality of the water that she and the salesman pressured the husband into a purchase. Luckily Connecticut and many other states have a 3 day cancel law which gives people the right to cancel a purchase like a water system without penalty. This gave the husband enough time to find my number and give me a call.
Here is what the salesman sold the folks: A super high end water softener for $3295.00 plus installation and a reverse osmosis system for $1995.00, installation included. Of course, at those prices, I can understand why anyone might ask for a second opinion.
"Ted" he asked "do you know if I really need this system?"
Now, I sell and service water treatment systems for a living, and have helped many people get the correct water treatment system for a home, and many times, that has included a water softener. But here is a little secret about water treatment that water treatment marketing companies (as opposed to licensed water treatment service companies) don't want you to know - IN MOST CASES, UNLESS YOU SEE SOME SORT OF STAINING OR BUILD UP OF WHITE OR BROWN CRUD, YOU MOST LIKELY DO NOT NEED A WATER SOFTENER. My acquaintance had lived in the home for 18 years and never had an issue with the water. There was no cruddy white buildup, no brown staining, the dishwasher and clothes washer worked fine, and he had only replaced the water heater once.
Of course, the salesman had tested and found that the water was 6 grains hard, which is moderate in my area and MAY warrant a water softener but there is another secret about hard water that you need to know - PROBLEM HARD WATER IS A FUNCTION OF TWO ISSUES and the amount of hardness is only one of those issues. The other issue is the pH of the water. You could have a good amount of calcium and magnesium hardness in the water, but if the pH is slightly acidic (say between 6.5 and 6.9), then the hardness will never show up on faucet spouts and shower curtains and other places. On the other hand, I have customers with only 2 grains of hardness and a pH of 8, and they had to get a water softener because that small amount of hardness clogged the domestic hot water coil in their boiler and coated the faucet spouts. Acidic water keeps minerals from depositing while base water will encourage a lot of depositing.
I tested the water and found that the pH was 6.7, just as I thought it would be. I told the husband that he didn't need a softener. After discussing the water a little further, I found that the wife's concern was really the drinking water and that she was tired of dealing with the water bottles she brought home from the store. I suggested an industry standard reverse osmosis system for significantly less than the $1995.00 price of the other company, and everyone was happy (except the salesman who's sale was cancelled).
If you have questions about water or are in the greater Danbury area and would like to have me speak to your group about water, email me at tedmullen@hotmail.com
"Will they glow in the dark?" - Uranium in water!
I just returned from giving a short seminar at a friend's real estate agency in Brookfield, CT about water issues that can effect a real estate transaction. I discussed the issues that are the most common problems that pop up during a home inspection, with E. coli contamination of a well being the most common I have encountered. Then the conversation turned to URANIUM in the water. Uranium is showing up in some local wells in the area including Brookfield.
The most important thing to know about uranium in well water is that it is a naturally occurring mineral (metallic) that will occur in many areas that have a good amount of granite in the underground environment. New England is one of those areas. The next most important thing to know about natural occurring uranium is that it is not the radioactive nature of uranium that will make you ill from ingesting it. Natural uranium is not very radioactive and it must be refined to make it radioactive enough to be useful. The problem with ingested uranium is the chemical nature of it. Uranium damages kidneys. One chemist friend told me that it is because it is so large (the uranium molecule) that it clogs the pathways in kidneys. He was a chemist and not a biologist, so I am not sure about his assessment, but it makes sense to me.
Here is a great page from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln about uranium in drinking water: http://www.ianrpubs.unl.edu/epublic/live/g1569/build/g1569.pdf
No one will glow in the dark from this problem, but it should be addressed.
I prefer two methods to treat uranium in water. The first is an anionic softener system installed to treat all the water in a home. This works on the same principal as a regular water softener, except that the regular water softener uses cationic resin which will remove calcium, magnesium, ferrous iron, and dissolved manganese, among other things. Uranium is removed with anionic resin. It (anionic resin) tends to be more expensive than regular cationic resin, but the actual softening equipment is mostly the same. Of course, since the hardness is not being removed by this device (only the uranium) it is technically not a softener, but it is easier to refer to it this way.
I recommend that even though you will install an anionic softener to remove uranium you also install a reverse osmosis drinking water system to catch as much uranium as possible, since you may occasionally forget to put the regenerate (salt) in the water softener brine vat, or there might be another problem with the water softener. The reverse osmosis system will be a safety device to be more sure of uranium removal. The side benefit is that you will have great tasting, purified water from the reverse osmosis system. It is usually mounted under the sink and a special faucet is mounted near your regular faucet. You will get any water you will ingest (drinking, cooking, and even food washing) from this special tap.
If you have questions about water quality, water treatment equipment, or are in the greater Danbury, CT area and would like to schedule a water seminar for your group, e-mail me at tedmullen@hotmail.com
or check my website at www.cleanwaterman.webs.com
The most important thing to know about uranium in well water is that it is a naturally occurring mineral (metallic) that will occur in many areas that have a good amount of granite in the underground environment. New England is one of those areas. The next most important thing to know about natural occurring uranium is that it is not the radioactive nature of uranium that will make you ill from ingesting it. Natural uranium is not very radioactive and it must be refined to make it radioactive enough to be useful. The problem with ingested uranium is the chemical nature of it. Uranium damages kidneys. One chemist friend told me that it is because it is so large (the uranium molecule) that it clogs the pathways in kidneys. He was a chemist and not a biologist, so I am not sure about his assessment, but it makes sense to me.
Here is a great page from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln about uranium in drinking water: http://www.ianrpubs.unl.edu/epublic/live/g1569/build/g1569.pdf
No one will glow in the dark from this problem, but it should be addressed.
I prefer two methods to treat uranium in water. The first is an anionic softener system installed to treat all the water in a home. This works on the same principal as a regular water softener, except that the regular water softener uses cationic resin which will remove calcium, magnesium, ferrous iron, and dissolved manganese, among other things. Uranium is removed with anionic resin. It (anionic resin) tends to be more expensive than regular cationic resin, but the actual softening equipment is mostly the same. Of course, since the hardness is not being removed by this device (only the uranium) it is technically not a softener, but it is easier to refer to it this way.
I recommend that even though you will install an anionic softener to remove uranium you also install a reverse osmosis drinking water system to catch as much uranium as possible, since you may occasionally forget to put the regenerate (salt) in the water softener brine vat, or there might be another problem with the water softener. The reverse osmosis system will be a safety device to be more sure of uranium removal. The side benefit is that you will have great tasting, purified water from the reverse osmosis system. It is usually mounted under the sink and a special faucet is mounted near your regular faucet. You will get any water you will ingest (drinking, cooking, and even food washing) from this special tap.
If you have questions about water quality, water treatment equipment, or are in the greater Danbury, CT area and would like to schedule a water seminar for your group, e-mail me at tedmullen@hotmail.com
or check my website at www.cleanwaterman.webs.com
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