Why is this such a difficult concept for home inspectors? Don't touch what you don't know about!!! A customer who is selling his home called worried when the building inspector's water test results showed problems with the water. These were the same problems that the customer had paid me several thousand dollars to fix. I could understand the customer's frustration with me, because when I spend money, I want to see results too.
I visited the home and tested the water, finding no problems. Checking the almost new water filtration equipment, I found no reason to suspect an intermittent problem. It was then that I called the home inspector and asked about his test procedure. He told me the first step was to by-pass the filters and proceeded to tell me the rest, but I cut him off and ended the conversation. I was confidently able to tell my customer that there was no problem with the filtration system, there was a problem with the home inspector.
Here is the deal. IF THE CURRENT HOME OWNER SPENT THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS ON A WATER FILTRATION SYSTEM, WHY WOULD YOU BY-PASS THAT SYSTEM AND THEN TEST THE WATER? TEST THE TREATED WATER TO MAKE SURE THE SYSTEM IS WORKING. Do building inspectors turn off the heat in the winter to see how cold the home gets? No, they check that the heating system is working. That is what they should do with water systems, test the treated water to make sure the treatment is working.
Selling a home? Watch the home inspector. See my next post to find out how a botched bacteria test made one home sale fall through.
Ted Mullen is a licensed water treatment expert in Connecticut. If you have questions about water issues, email him at tedmullen@hotmail.com
Showing posts with label water treatment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label water treatment. Show all posts
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Why was this water treatment system so complicated and expensive?
Today I consulted at an amazing job. It was for a water system that feeds a large home, guest house, lawn irrigation, and a barn. This was the most impressive home water system I have ever seen, consisting of two wells, a 10,000 gallon storage tank, an industrial size 300,000 grain water softener, an industrial sediment filter, an industrial 50 gallon per minute UV light, and two 300 gallon pressure tanks with industrial re-pressurization pumps.
The most amazing part of the installation is that it is at least 10 times more than what was needed. There are small towns in third world countries that could never utilize the full capacity of this system, but here was this Leviathan of a system. This was a colossal, world class, diamond studded oversold job, so I started asking the property manager some questions, the most important being, what water treatment company sold and installed this system. The answer amazed me. No water treatment company was consulted on the design of the system, it was designed by an engineer.
I proceeded to describe to the property manager why there were so many problems with the system, starting with the fact that the irrigation system was fed by soft water, and that is why such a gigantic softener had been utilized and why the homeowner now had to foot the bill for much more (and much more expensive) potassium chloride, since irrigating with salt softened water could potentially kill grass. Then I pointed out that the $10,000.00 control panel (which has already been knocked out of commission by lightning twice) could have been replaced with a few hundred dollars worth of float valves and off the shelf pressure switches (these are just two of a dozen problems). I then asked what consulting fee the engineer had been paid to design the system, and the answer to why this system was so complicated became apparent: the engineer was paid a percentage of the total cost of the job.
Wow. All I can say is that if you are getting an engineer to design something, you may consider a flat fee, and also, you may consider that an expert contractor in whatever field that project is in should be consulted from day one of the design through the start of contracted maintenance. This wealthy customer was suckered and will continue to pay much higher service fees on this water equipment for years to come.
Ted Mullen is a licensed water treatment contractor. If you have any questions about water quality, or if you are in the greater Danbury area and would like to have Ted speak to your group about water quality issues, please email at tedmullen@hotmail.com
The most amazing part of the installation is that it is at least 10 times more than what was needed. There are small towns in third world countries that could never utilize the full capacity of this system, but here was this Leviathan of a system. This was a colossal, world class, diamond studded oversold job, so I started asking the property manager some questions, the most important being, what water treatment company sold and installed this system. The answer amazed me. No water treatment company was consulted on the design of the system, it was designed by an engineer.
I proceeded to describe to the property manager why there were so many problems with the system, starting with the fact that the irrigation system was fed by soft water, and that is why such a gigantic softener had been utilized and why the homeowner now had to foot the bill for much more (and much more expensive) potassium chloride, since irrigating with salt softened water could potentially kill grass. Then I pointed out that the $10,000.00 control panel (which has already been knocked out of commission by lightning twice) could have been replaced with a few hundred dollars worth of float valves and off the shelf pressure switches (these are just two of a dozen problems). I then asked what consulting fee the engineer had been paid to design the system, and the answer to why this system was so complicated became apparent: the engineer was paid a percentage of the total cost of the job.
Wow. All I can say is that if you are getting an engineer to design something, you may consider a flat fee, and also, you may consider that an expert contractor in whatever field that project is in should be consulted from day one of the design through the start of contracted maintenance. This wealthy customer was suckered and will continue to pay much higher service fees on this water equipment for years to come.
Ted Mullen is a licensed water treatment contractor. If you have any questions about water quality, or if you are in the greater Danbury area and would like to have Ted speak to your group about water quality issues, please email at tedmullen@hotmail.com
Monday, May 12, 2008
Water Softeners - Don't forget this hidden cost!
I got a new customers today. They were upset with their previous water treatment company after only two years of service. Why? The cost of doing business with them was excessive and was not part of what was explained when they bought the filter system two years ago.
I am in the northeast, and it is an expensive place to do business, but it is also an expensive place to live. I feel my service call rate ($95.00 per hour) is actually a little high when compared to other areas in the nation. But what my new customer was paying to the old company was obscene. $149.00 just for the first 1/2 hour, then $40.00 for every 15 minutes after that. The customer has a neutralizer, and the dealer sells the calcite refill for $90.00 for a 1/2 cubic foot bag. The labor and materials added to over $400.00 plus tax. Whoa! That is a yearly cost. My charge for the same job is $225.00 plus tax, which isn't cheap, but is obviously more reasonable.
Before you buy a water treatment system, find out how much the yearly service cost will be. If you have reservations, get the yearly cost in writing. When the company starts jacking up prices, start shopping for a more reasonable company.
I am in the northeast, and it is an expensive place to do business, but it is also an expensive place to live. I feel my service call rate ($95.00 per hour) is actually a little high when compared to other areas in the nation. But what my new customer was paying to the old company was obscene. $149.00 just for the first 1/2 hour, then $40.00 for every 15 minutes after that. The customer has a neutralizer, and the dealer sells the calcite refill for $90.00 for a 1/2 cubic foot bag. The labor and materials added to over $400.00 plus tax. Whoa! That is a yearly cost. My charge for the same job is $225.00 plus tax, which isn't cheap, but is obviously more reasonable.
Before you buy a water treatment system, find out how much the yearly service cost will be. If you have reservations, get the yearly cost in writing. When the company starts jacking up prices, start shopping for a more reasonable company.
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