Another Water Pressure Problem

Dear Clean Water Man:

We also had a power outage and now have a water pressure issue. The strange thing is that for a time, we had air coming out of our faucets. Now when we shower, the water has a strange slow / fast pulsation. Was this caused by the power outage or is it just a coincidence?

Hi and Lowis, Stamford, CT

Dear High and Lowis:

Just like the previous writer, your pressure problem was caused by the power outage, although for a different reason. You do not have a bladder tank. Your pressure tank is the old fashioned bladder-less type and there is a technical reason why you need a non-bladder tank. (I will discuss this in a future blog). The air you experienced was the pressurized air that is supposed to be in the tank to act as a buffer. The fix is simple. Have compressed air added back to the tank and avoid using water when the power goes out. The sooner you get air put back in the tank the better because it will prevent the well pump from short cycling and burning out.

Water issues in Connecticut? Call Ted Mullen, The Clean Water Man, at 203-417-9601.

See my website at www.cleanwaterman.com

Low Pressure After Power Outage

Dear Clean Water Man:

The other day, our power went out for several hours and ever since we have had very low water pressure. What is going on?

Sincerely,

Trickles, Greenwich, ConnecticutDear Trickles:

After I met with you and inspected your water system, I repaired the problem. I wanted to post here so that my readers could know what happened. Your water system consisted of a submersible pump, a Well-X-Trol bladder tank, a backwashing aggregate filter, and a water softener. Here is what happened:

The power went out but your family continued to use water. The Well-X-Trol tank has several gallons of water stored within the air pressurized bladder and is generally enough for a few toilet flushes or turning on other fixtures. As the water emptied out of the bladder tank, a great amount of iron sludge came off of the inside of the bladder and entered the aggregate filter. While this filter is designed to remove this precipitated iron, the huge amount of sludgy iron clogged the filter and all it needed was a few extra backwashes, which I took care of while I was at your home. The pressure improved after the manual backwashes.

The best approach is to stop using water when the power goes off so to prevent this fouling of the filtration system.



Check out my website at www.cleanwaterman.com

Water problems in Connecticut? Call Ted Mullen, The Clean Water Man, at 203-417-9601.

Well water worries. Should I back out of home purchase?

I am moving from the city with municipal water and buying a country home with a well. I am worried about all of the things that could be wrong with well water and have an opportunity to back out of the deal. Am I being unreasonable with my worry about well water?

Most likely you have unreasonable worries. While you are not specific about what concerns you, I can tell you that a local water treatment professional can help you solve all but one water issue, and that one unsolvable issue is no water at all (and even that can be solved by improving or replacing the well). We can add UV sterilization systems to kill bacteria, carbon systems to remove man made chemicals, aeration systems to remove radon, and drinking water purification systems to remove just about anything. So as long as you have an ample supply of water, a system can be designed to help you sleep (and sip) easy.

See my website at www.cleanwaterman.com or if you live in Connecticut, call me at 203-417-9601 to set up a free water consultation.

Acid Water and PEX Tubing

Dear Clean Water Man:

As a follow up to a previous answer you gave to another writer, I was wondering about the need for neutral water in homes plumbed in PEX. Isn't PEX impervious to acidic water? My water is acidic and I don't want to pay to have it fixed since my home is plumbed in PEX.

Frugal, New Milford, CTDear Frugal:

Yes, PEX is impervious to acidic water. No, that does not mean you won't need to address acidic water.

While the majority of your plumbing is PEX, your water heater, fixtures, and appliances are still being attacked by acidity. There is an investment in those items far more significant than what a neutralizer will cost you. Even "Glass Lined" water heaters have some metallic areas that will contact the acidic water and be eaten away.

It is time to be truly frugal and fix the acidity before it damages your expensive fixtures and appliances.

Water problem in Connecticut? Call Ted Mullen, The Clean Water Man, at 203-417-9601.

See my website at www.cleanwaterman.com

Green Hair! What's the matter with my water?

Dear Clean Water Man:

I color my hair blond and it keeps turning green. My hair stylist says that there is something wrong with the water in my home . I am tired of going in to get special treatments to remove the green from my hair and I am wondering, what's the matter with my water?

Lady Liberty, Ridgefield, CT

Dear Lady Liberty:

It is interesting that you would sign yourself Lady Liberty, because your hair is covered with the same thing that gives the Statue of Liberty her green/blue hue, and that thing is oxidized copper. Now, the Statue of Liberty is clad with copper, but in its natural state, your hair is not. The copper in your hair is coming from the plumbing in your home and there are four major causes for the copper plumbing to deposit itself in your hair. Colored hair is the most susceptible due to the fact that it is pre-treated in order to accept color in the first place.

Three of the four causes are what can be termed aggressiveness in the water. The first type of aggressiveness is acidity. When we think of acidity, we think of vinegar or orange juice. Your water, if acidic, is nowhere near as acidic as vinegar or orange juice, but the inside of your copper pipe is exposed to an almost relentless flow of slightly acidic water. The acidity dissolves the copper pipe from the inside and the dissolved copper is carried until it deposits itself in your hair and now that it is exposed to air, it oxidizes and turns blue/green.

The next type of aggressiveness is oxidation, and it is usually caused by chlorinated community water. The chlorine or chloramine will oxidize the inside of the copper pipes and the oxidized molecules peel off and are carried with the water until it deposits in your hair where it is already blue/green even before it is exposed to air.

The next major cause is natural copper in your well. It will deposit in your hair and turn it blue/green.

The last major cause is improper grounding involving the plumbing. Most plumbing systems are grounded by the electrician who does the original electrical work in the home. Sometimes, a grounding clamp is removed for repairs and not replaced, or a phone, cable, electric fence, or other electric device is connected to the plumbing for a ground. Other times, there is a galvanic reaction between many different metals installed in the plumbing and they act in unison as a very low voltage battery. The stray current caused by these issues will suspend copper molecules which will eventually find their way to your hair, oxidize, and turn your hair blue/green.

An experienced water treatment technician can test your water and determine the cause for the greening. Since many women may not be able to convince their husbands to fix this since it is "only hair", husbands have to know that the green hair portends something much worse on its way, that is thinned out plumbing and broken pipes with flooding. Think of your hair as an alarm, telling you to get your water fixed before major damage is done.

 See my website at www.cleanwaterman.com or if you live in Connecticut call me at 203-417-9601 to set up your free water treatment consultation.

The year is 2009, not 1959! Don't put chemicals into your clients' water!!

Clean Water Man, Inc. 203-417-9601. Serving Connecticut.

I can't believe what my competitors are attempting to sell to clients. One of my new installations this week was for a customer who had several salespeople visit. Two salespeople proposed chemical injection systems that utilized highly caustic and dangerous chemicals. These chemicals were supposed to raise the pH of acidic water. While these systems will raise the pH of acidic water, they are almost always designed and installed improperly.

What should be used is a calcite neutralizer that uses natural crushed marble. The reasons many water treatment companies have given up on natural calcite neutralizers are:

• The company gets to sell expensive chemicals to the customer several times a year
• The company gets called for many lucrative service calls due to the finicky nature of chemical injection
• The company has had bad luck with natural methods since they have not learned about them
• The company uses cheap, low grade calcite and filters, and thinks substandard materials are representative of the natural technology, so they give up and move to chemical injection

I have seen the results of chemical injection gone awry, the worst being horrible skin burns caused by a major malfunction. It is heartbreaking to see a pretty woman get chemical burns all over her face and body from bathing after a poorly designed and maintained chemical system malfunctioned. I beg my fellow water treatment salespeople to give up on chemical injection and embrace natural and safe methods.

If you have one of these systems in your home, consider changing it out as soon as possible.

See my website at www.cleanwaterman.com

In Connecticut? Call Ted Mullen, The Clean Water Man, at 203-417-9601.

The Water Nerd

You can contact Ted about water issues in your home or business at water2000@sbcglobal.net
Clean Water Man, Inc. 203-417-9601

I have figured out how to be successful in life, and it is so simple that it should be taught in school. It is not enough to be excited about a field of endeavor. It is not enough to be educated and trained in a profession. What you need to truly succeed is to be willing to become a NERD in your chosen career. Be a proud nerd, be a passionate nerd, be a successful nerd!

I will tell you that I am THE water treatment nerd. Water treatment is what I think about all day. If you invite me to your house, I will talk to you about water quality and improving it until my throat is sore and your eyes glaze over. I am proud of my ability to help my clients in such an important matter.

If you want to be in MY profession, please be a water nerd like me. Water has so many variations that if you are not figuratively immersed in it, although you may be a great salesman or wrench turner, you are going to do great damage to my field of work. You will do fine with the average water problem but when that strange issue pops up, you are going sell and install entirely inappropriate equipment, and it not only makes you look bad, it makes it so much harder for me to sell the correct equipment to the customer and clean up YOUR mess.

These are things you should be thinking about when you are selling water equipment:
What is the customer's concern?
What does the water test say?
What is the size of the pipe?
What is the simplest, most environmentally friendly way to treat this problem?
Is there enough water flow and pressure to properly backwash the equipment I am recommending?
How can I make this a reasonable price for my potential customer?
Is there anything that this customer can truly benefit from buying from me?
Is there enough space to install the equipment so that it can actually be serviced?
Is my proposal actually going to improve the situation?
I would tell you the thousands of other things if I was training you.

These are things you should NOT be thinking about when you are selling water equipment:
Your boat.
Golf.
Softball.
Your Car.
Your next glass of scotch.
Your next 2 week vacation.
How much money you NEED to make on this job.
What extras you can add to pad the bill.

If you are in the water treatment field and you dwell most on the latter list, there may be hope for you. It is most likely the fault of the company you work for. You may email me with any questions you have as long as you are genuinely interested in becoming a water nerd

See my website at www.cleanwaterman.com

First Fluoride, Now This? Read this UPI article.

"Lithium in drinking water lowers suicide rate: study
Monday, May 04, 2009

LONDON, May 1 (UPI) -- Japanese researchers say low levels of lithium found naturally in some water systems may help prevent suicides.
A study at Oita University in Japan, published in the British Journal of Psychiatry, found natural lithium levels ranging from 0.7 micrograms to 59 micrograms per liter in 18 communities in southern Japan, The (London) Daily Telegraph reported Friday.
Researchers found the suicide rate was significantly lower in communities whose water contained larger amounts of lithium.
High doses of the naturally occurring metal are used to treat bipolar and mood disorders.
The findings have led some researchers to call for further study to consider the public health benefits of adding lithium to drinking water supplies, the newspaper said."

This scares me. I spend a good part of each working day to help people remove contaminants from their water, and now I need to worry about another one the government may intentionally add. Currently, lithium is not listed on the EPA's primary and secondary contaminant list, and there have not been many tests on how to remove it from water. If our local water authorities decide to add this and other pharmaceuticals to our water, we need to protest.


See my website at www.cleanwaterman.com

Swine Flu and Drinking Water

Below is an article from Water Technology Magazine. Please read about how a pandemic could affect your water.

"DENVER — People can’t catch the so-called swine flu (H1N1 virus) from drinking properly disinfected tap water, even disinfected water originally drawn from a water source that had been in contact with infected people or animals, says the American Water Works Association (AWWA), the international association for water utility professionals.

In any event, in response to the possibility of a swine flu pandemic, the AWWA has prepared information about the safety of drinking water and resources for utility planning.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the swine flu can only be transmitted through person-to-person contact (such as by inhaling droplets from sneezing) or contact with a contaminated surface.

The AWWA says, “Water that has been treated through conventional disinfection processes does not pose a risk, even if the source water has previously come into contact with infected people or animals. This means that utilities practicing disinfection can assure their customers that treated water coming from the taps in homes and businesses is safe to drink.”

AWWA has reminded utilities that now is a good time to revisit emergency plans that address staffing issues in the face of a pandemic. Many utilities developed these plans during the outbreaks of avian flu in 2003–2005.

With its potential for causing staff shortages at water utilities, a pandemic could trigger water supply disruptions due to interruptions of power, chemical supplies or equipment operations. A January Journal AWWA article, “Water System Preparedness and Best Practices for Pandemic Influenza,” noted that illness and family care issues could create staffing shortages of up to 40 percent.

The Journal AWWA article addresses cross-training for essential positions, sequestering critical employees, and implementing vaccination and other personal protection measures to maintain adequate levels of staffing during a pandemic. The article also discusses best practices and other strategies to improve utility contingency planning.

AWWA said it also has developed information aimed at water consumers at Drinktap.org."

In this case, a few bottles of water stored for emergencies would be a good idea.

See my website at www.cleanwaterman.com

Radon In Water

The Connecticut Department Of Public Health recommends that if the radon the water in your home is 5,000 pico Curies per liter (pCl) or higher you should consider reducing it. There is no current lawrequiring treatment. For information, please click: http://www.ct.gov/dph/cwp/view.asp?a=3140&q=387608

Radon problem in Connecticut? Call Ted Mullen, The Clean Water Man, at 203-417-9601.

Wasting Water To Fuel Cars

The below is an article from Water Technology Magazine. This is a colossal waste of water and what is not even mentioned is the amount of (air and water polluting) fertilizers and insecticides that will be used to grow the biofuel crops.

"ST. PAUL, MN —Scientists from the University of Minnesota are reporting that production of bioethanol — often regarded as a clean-burning energy source of the future — may consume up to three times more water than previously thought.

“Water Embodied in Bioethanol in the United States,” scheduled for publication in the April 15 issue of the American Chemical Society’s (ACS) journal Environmental Science & Technology, comes at a time when water supplies are scarce in many areas of the United States, the ACS said in a press release about the study.

Researcher Sangwon Suh and colleagues point out in the study that annual bioethanol production in the United States currently is about 9 billion gallons, and they note that experts expect it to increase in the near future.

“The growing demand for bioethanol, particularly corn-based ethanol, has sparked significant concerns among researchers about its impact on water availability. Previous studies estimated that a gallon of corn-based bioethanol requires the use of 263 gallons to 784 gallons of water from the farm to the fuel pump. But these estimates failed to account for widely varied regional irrigation practices, the scientists say,” according to the ACS press release.

The scientists made a new estimate of bioethanol’s impact on the water supply using detailed irrigation data from 41 states. They found that in 2007 bioethanol’s water requirements could be as high as 861 billion gallons of water from the cornfield to the fuel pump.

They also found that production of a gallon of ethanol may require up to 2,100 gallons of water from farm to fuel pump, depending on the regional irrigation practice in growing corn. However, a dozen states in the Corn Belt consume less than 100 gallons of water per gallon of ethanol, making them better-suited for ethanol production. “The results highlight the need to take regional specifics into account when implementing biofuel mandates,” the article states."

Any questions or concerns about your water? email me at tedmullen@hotmail.com and see my website at http://www.cleanwaterman.webs.com/ and call me at 203-417-9601

Why should I worry about water quality? Water Infrastructure gets a D-

I found an interesting website today at www.infrastructurereportcard.org/

There are two reasons to worry about water quality. The first is municipal water. The second is well water.

On the municipal water side, I would like to point out something that is not really related to drinking water. It is called the Tapan Zee bridge over the Hudson River, and to me it is one of the most frightening structures in the United States. 136,000 cars cross this bridge every day, and it doesn't take a close inspection to know that it is way past its safe useful life (a 1999 engineering study states that the bridge needs replacement and it is still being used 10 years later). If the people in charge of infrastructure are not concerned that at least 136,000 people a day see how bad the Tappan Zee bridge looks, how concerned are they going to be about the water infrastructure which lies mostly underground? I am not criticizing the wonderful people who work in municipal water treatment who do the best job possible to provide us with safe water. I am criticizing the lack of improvement and replacement on all infrastructure in our country. A colleague who works for a municipal water system in southern Westchester County told me that many water distribution pipes are WOODEN pipes that were installed over a hundred years ago while many others are LEAD. Parts are failing constantly.

I will only drink municipal water if it has passed through a reverse osmosis drinking water system.

Things are also bad for those with private wells. At least in municipal systems there are enforceable standards and there are workers who continuously monitor the water quality at the treatment plant. In a private well, there are no ENFORCEABLE standards and unless you have an environmental engineering degree, you are most likely not monitoring your water quality on a daily basis. A well pump is installed and nobody checks the well for 20 years or so until the pump fails and needs to be replaced. The house is sold and a bacteria test is done to ensure no contamination of the water, and then nobody tests the water until the house is sold again. This doesn't take into account the fact that if the water is good today, something such as animal contamination, flooding, or septic cross contamination can happen tomorrow. And think of all the chemicals you and your neighbors are pouring on your lawn every year to kill weeds and insects and green up the grass.

I only drink well water if it has passed through a reverse osmosis drinking water system. An ultraviolet sanitizing system is also a good addition to any private point of entry filtering system.

One other point to consider is that bottled water either comes from a well or a municipal water supply and the EPA rules allow a small percentage of bottled water to have a "small" amount of bacteria in it.

Any questions or concerns about your water? email me at tedmullen@hotmail.com and see my website at http://www.cleanwaterman.webs.com/ and call me at 203-417-9601

See through water filter housings?

I have had many requests for clear (see through) whole house cartridge filter housings. I don't use them and this is why: they cost more and usually accomplish nothing except cause my customers to waste time and money.

My main dislike for clear plastic compared to regular plastic is that clear plastic housings are generally more prone to breaking, especially if I accidentally drop the housing while changing the filter. Another dislike is that I find my customers changing cartridges much more frequently than needed, just because they see some dirt built up around the outside of the cartridge. In almost all cases, there is still a large amount of filtering capacity left in a cartridge after the outside of it gets a little dark (water is filtered as it flows from outside the filter to the inside, so larger sediment is trapped on the outside). Of course, I sell more cartridges, but it is wasteful. A better way to determine if a filter needs changing is noticing a slight pressure drop.

If you are shopping for a whole house filter housing and are thinking of a clear housing, save your money and buy the regular one.

Any Water Concerns? email me at tedmullen@hotmail.com or check out my website at www.cleanwaterman.webs.com

Smelly Water Caused By Bladder Tank

The question is whether to just sell or to actually HELP the customer.

Today there was an interesting problem. The symptom was typical, but the cause was one that is missed by many water treatment dealers. I had plenty of time to do a full survey of the water system with tests and observations. There was a definite odor in the water, but as with any water issue, I always ask myself, is this a permanent problem coming from the well or is this a temporary problem caused by something else?

Now, your typical salesman is always looking at a problem and thinking about what to sell to fix it, but I am always looking for the root cause. I miss a few unneeded sales this way, but I get a ton of referrals that outweigh my supposed lost revenue. A good technician (as opposed to salesman) will root out the true cause and not just sell. I know how I feel when incompetent diagnosticians sell me more auto repairs than I need, so I don't want my customers to feel the same about me.

Many times, an odor is caused by natural organic debris built up in the cartridge pre filter that begin to build up bacteria and give off a foul odor, and quite often, just telling the homeowner to change the pre filter more frequently will solve the problem. That was not the case today. There was not a filter of any kind. This inclined me towards believing in a well problem, but as I checked the well tank, I noticed a problem. The well tank, which acts as a pressure vessel, was a bladder type. This is different from an old galvanized tank that needs to be re-pressurized yearly. A bladder tank has a rubber bladder that surrounds the water and the bladder is itself surrounded by the pressurized air that pushes water from the tank to the fixtures. This is the set it and forget it solution for water pressure tanks, and what I recommend except in a few situations.

When I checked out the bladder tank I noticed 3 issues. One was that the tank was over filled with water. Another was that when the well pump turned on, there was splashing inside the tank. The last thing I noticed was that when I turned off the well pump and emptied the tank, air bubbles escaped the tank. All of these indicated a hole in the bladder. The tank needs to be replaced.

One cause of odor in this situation is the ability of some water to get outside the bladder and stagnate. Some of this water will leak back into the water side of the bladder and then make its way into the home. This is not the only cause of odor, but the tank is broken, is a potential cause for coliform or other contamination, and needs to be replaced. Replace it first, then chlorinate the system and see if the odor comes back. If the odor is gone, the customer has saved thousands of dollars. If the odor comes back, then there is an odor in the well, but at least you attempted by replacing something that was broken anyway.

Any Water Concerns? email me at tedmullen@hotmail.com or check out my website at www.cleanwaterman.com

FREE WATER TEST

If you are in Fairfield or Litchfield Counties in Connecticut or Westchester, Putnam, or Dutchess Counties in New York, please email me at tedmullen@hotmail.com for a free water test. I have over a decade of water treatment experience and would be happy to serve you.

Any Water Concerns? email me at tedmullen@hotmail.com or check out my website at www.cleanwaterman.webs.com

Boat Payment?

There are still a few of us out here - technicians who won't sell you something unless you need it. Let me tell you about my father. He owned a gas station and repair shop in Wilton, CT. Frequently, customers would come in looking for a second opinion on a repair. At least half the time, the repair that was proposed by another shop was more than needed or warranted by the value of the car. My father had a deserved reputation as an honest repair shop owner, and he could have had lots of extra business, but he would always tell the customer the truth and only do needed repairs. I think that is a great way of doing business, and I follow my father's example in my own water treatment business.

While I was still working for other companies, I would frequently have to install systems that were too big or unneeded altogether. They were sold by salesmen to customers. I would frequently complain to my office about dis-service to the customer, but complaints would either fall on deaf ears or I would be told that someone "needed to make a boat payment".

Let me tell you, I don't own a boat. I have kept my business lean and mean for many years now, and I will not sell you anything you won't benefit from. My strong belief is that water treatment is FREE over the long haul since a well designed and well priced system will pay for itself within 1 to 5 years, depending on the severity of problems solved. This is not the case for $3500.00 water softeners or $2000.00 reverse osmosis systems, but it is the case for my well priced systems. I love what I do, and would love you to email me for free advice at tedmullen@hotmail.com, and I would appreciate the opportunity to serve you NATIONWIDE or locally. If you are in Connecticut or Westchester, Putnam, or Dutchess Counties in New York, call me for a free in home consultation at 203-417-9601.