Disinfecting Pipes After UV Installation

Unlike chemical disinfectants like chlorine and chloramine, ultraviolet does not provide a residual protection: UV disables microbes as they pass the germicidal lamp, but if there is microbial contamination downstream of the UV lamp, bacteria can continue to grow.

It is necessary, therefore, to disinfect house pipes with chlorine when a UV unit is initially installed or when for any reason infection of the home’s pipes occurs.

Here’s how:

Turn the UV unit turned off.  Turn off the water going to the home, then add chlorine–regular household bleach–to the water line upstream of the UV unit. Two cups of household bleach is a good amount unless the home or building is very large. Since the UV unit will normally have filter housing in front of it, the easy way to add bleach is to remove the cartridge from the housing, pour in the bleach, reassemble the housing without the cartridge, and turn the water back on. (Keep in mind that if there is a carbon cartridge between the point of chlorination and the UV unit, the filter will remove the chlorine from the water, so be sure you remove the cartridge.)

With most UV systems, the easy way to add chlorine for disinfection is to remove the cartridge from the filter housing,  pour bleach into the housing, turn on the water and let the bleach circulate past the UV unit into the house pipes.

Chlorinate the house lines by opening each faucet in the home and letting the water run until you smell chlorine coming from the faucet.  Do this for every showerhead, toilet, outside tap, and appliance. Start with the farthest away tap and work back to the UV system. Repeat for the hot water lines. If you run out of bleach (or cannot smell bleach) at a given outlet, turn off the main water supply and add more bleach to the filter housing.

Give the chlorine time to work.  Let the chlorine sit in the pipes for at least two hours.

Turn off the water, replace the filter cartridge, turn on the UV (this is important!), turn on the water and flush the chlorine out of the house lines.  When the chlorine is gone, you can start using the water.

When to repeat the procedure.

This process should be repeated if contaminated water ever gets past the UV system. After seasonal shut-off; after UV by-pass is used; after power outage, if no solenoid present; after prolonged alarm condition, if no solenoid is present. You can safely skip this procedure if you are installing UV on municipal water that has been continually chlorinated.

If performing the above procedure fails to produce a “passing” bacteria test, the first thing to suspect is that your house plumbing has “dead ends.” This would be pipes that have been capped off so that there is no water flow through them. If such dead ends exist, you may have to open them so that chlorinated water can flow through during the disinfection process.

Sometimes hot water heaters require more disinfection time than standard house pipes because buildup of such contaminants as manganese and iron can interfere with the disinfection process.

Keep in mind that with sophisticated UV systems which monitor UV transmittance, excess chlorine in the water can actually trigger a low performance warning and, if the unit has a solenoid, can actually shut the water off. In this case, you will need to override the solenoid to perform the disinfection procedure.

Q

Two Lawsuits Have Been Filed In GenX Pollution of Cape Fear River

Photo Shows Chemours Plant Discharge into Cape Fear River

A utility that provides water in southeastern North Carolina has sued a company it accuses of polluting the Cape Fear River, where the utility gets its water. The Cape Fear Public Utility Authority filed a suit in October 1017  which accuses the chemical company Chemours and DuPont of violating the Clean Water Act and several other federal laws by putting a chemical known as GenX into the water.  This is the second lawsuit filed this month against Chemours for GenX contamination.

GenX, which is used to make Teflon and other items, is an unregulated chemical, and the health effects of long-term exposure to it aren’t well known.

Still, state regulators have ordered Chemours to provide bottled water to dozens of people who live near the company’s plant whose private drinking water wells have shown high levels of GenX.

Bottled water, of course, is a short-term fix for the problem. The water a schools in the area is also being tested for GenX contamination.

Source Reference: WRAL.COM

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Nine Million People per Year Die from Water Pollution

The Lancet Commission on Pollution and Health published research showing pollution causes an estimated 9 million deaths per year. The 2015 study assessed data from 130 countries, noting that low- and middle-income countries are most affected by these fatalities.

Water pollution is a leading cause of death by pollution. According to the study, water pollution killed 1.8 million people in 2015. These deaths are caused by unsafe drinking water sources and limited safe water supplies, which directly affect unsafe sanitation. Children face the highest risk of being affected by pollution, as small exposures early in life can amount to lifelong disease and disability.

Air pollution has the largest impact on global populations. Poor air quality accounted for approximately 6.5 million premature deaths in 2015. Work-related pollution also poses a large risk.

Winterizing  your water softener or large filter

If you keep your water softener or filter in the basement of an occupied home, you normally don’t need to worry about winterizing it.

However, if the softener or filter is an unheated garage, a vacation home that’s closed down for the winter, or a home that’s going to be left vacant during an extended winter vacation, you need to take precautions against freezing.

Insulating jacket for softener or filter tank.

If you live in a milder climate, where the weather doesn’t get extremely cold, insulating your pipes and tanks should be enough to protect your system during the winter. You can purchase pipe insulation wrap at any home improvement store. Heat tape or electric pipe heating cables for the water lines are also a good idea.

The tall tank needs protection from freezing; the shorter brine tank, probably not.

Some homeowners build an insulated box around the main media tank. You can also purchase plumbing insulation in sheets, or wrap an insulation blanket around the tank. There are even special jackets designed for water softener and filter tanks, or water heat insulation jackets can be modified to do the job.

Because of the salt saturation, your softener’s brine tank is only likely to freeze in very cold climates where temperatures stay above zero.  After all, it has to get really cold for the ocean to freeze.

If you are using your water softener year round, the most important thing is to keep it warm enough to prevent freezing, which is why a space heater in your garage or an other unheated space can help. Remember, you only need to keep the temperature above 32 degrees Fahrenheit.

Running water will also prevent freezing. If you are only going to be away for a few days, you could leave a faucet running at a slow trickle to keep things moving in the pipes.  Although not a cure-all, this will at times prevent hard freezing and bursting from freezing pipes.

Draining and Disconnecting

If you do not plan on using your water softener during the winter, and the heat in your residence will be turned off during that time, there are specific steps you should follow to disconnect, drain, and store your system.

It is recommended that you drain the tanks. If there’s no water in the tanks, they can’t freeze.

Probably the easiest way to do this is to put the softener or filter into bypass mode to isolate it from your house plumbing, then disconnect the it physically from the bypass valve so that the control valve can be screwed off the top of the tank.

With the riser exposed, you can use a 3/8″ tube inserted into the open riser to siphon the water out of the tank. You should be able to get almost all the water out of the tank. Although the water in the brine tank probably won’t freeze, it’s a good idea to dip out most of the water that isn’t actually covered by salt.

Unplug the control valve.

With all the water out of the tank, the filter or softener may actually be light enough to move to a warmer area. If it’s too heavy, leave it: it should be safe.

People with remove cabins who shut down seasonally might find it worthwhile to invest in a softener or filter built in a special “bottom drain” tank that makes the job of winterizing easy.  These tanks can be drained completely without removal of the control valve or going to the trouble of siphoning.

We are swimming in a sea of chemicals too numerous to count

by Gene Franks

Since around 1980, when I first started paying attention to such things, the estimated number of different chemicals that find their way into our drinking water supplies keeps going up.  This is to be expected.  What we should really be concerned about is that our ability to monitor and regulate this onslaught of chemicals has not kept pace.

When the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) became law in 1976 there were estimated to be about 62,000 chemicals in commerce. Under the provisions of the law, these 62,000 chemicals were assumed to be safe unless the newly formed EPA found that they posed an “unreasonable risk.” How many of these has the EPA studied since 1976?  About 200.  How may has it banned? Five.  That’s five. With such oppressive over-regulation, it’s no wonder there are constant cries to reign in the EPA.

Now the estimated total has grown to 85,000 chemicals. Can anyone remember when the EPA last banned a chemical?

The following is excerpted, loosely, from an outstanding article by Peter S. Cartwright.  We hope you’ll follow the link and read the full article with the author’s documentation. The italicized text is Mr. Cartwright’s.

Every time water goes down the drain, whether to a sewer, septic system, storm drain or wherever, it carries contaminants with it, which usually end up in someone’s drinking water. Included are unmetabolized pharmaceuticals, chemicals and particles from hand and face washing, bathing, laundry, the toilet—from virtually any and all human activity. The contaminants are in tiny concentrations, but from many thousands of sources and, as our use of pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) increases, our drinking water is becoming more contaminated.

The number of chemicals that surround us has grown beyond our comprehension.  Mr. Cartwright says:

Globally, we now produce more than 85,000 different chemicals, many of which end up in our drinking water. Chemicals are used to manufacture 96 percent of consumer products; the average adult uses nine products per day containing 126 different chemicals.  Fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides and antibiotics are all also used in agriculture and animal husbandry operations. Whether from hand washing, bathing, showering, laundry, dishwashing, toilet use—no matter for what purpose we use water, it carries contaminants down the drain. If this water enters a municipal wastewater treatment system, it ultimately ends up in a body of water (lake, river, etc.), which often becomes a source of drinking water. If the wastewater is directed into a septic system, the treated water percolates into the earth, where it usually enters an aquifer or other water supply. Weather events generating runoff from lawn and agricultural surfaces also contribute to this contamination. It’s a fact of life: virtually every time water goes down the drain, it is carrying some contaminants that end up in someone’s drinking water.

Our drug habit, our consumption of “pharmaceuticals,” has gone far past what can be called epidemic proportions. A study in our area, North Texas, a few years ago demonstrated that estrogen spikes in our wastewater mirror the schedule of our universities: when school is in session, estrogen from birth control chemicals peed into the water goes up sharply.

Many of the pharmaceutical products we ingest are not completely metabolized, pass through the body and contribute to [water] contamination.  America is the largest pill-popping nation in the world, with 70 percent of us taking one prescription a day, 50 percent taking two and 25 percent five or more per day. Additionally, because people are living longer, more pharmaceuticals are consumed and more end up in the water. Opioid addiction has become a crisis. In the US alone, in 2016, almost 4.5 billion medical prescriptions were issued. Other sources of contaminants include food, toothpaste, artificial sweeteners, caffeine, vitamins, as well as cosmetics, lotion, sunscreen, perfume, deodorant—the list goes on and on.

It would be foolish to assume that such vast chemical exposure poses no health risk to humans, although specific cause/effect relationships between chemicals and health are extremely hard to “prove.” Although Americans’ blood levels of glyphosate (RoundUp) keeps going up, singling out the popular herbicide as a “cause” of any specific human ailment has eluded us.

Mr. Cartwright cites plenty of “anecdotal evidence,” however.

A 2008 Canadian study showed that

In 20 industrialized nations, the birthrate for boys has declined every year for the past 30 years. There has been a 200-percent increase in male sex organ abnormalities over the last 20 years. The average sperm count of North American college students has dropped by over 50 percent in the last 50 years. Up to 85 percent of the sperm in healthy males contains damaged DNA. Over the last 50 years, there has been a 300-percent increase in testicular cancer. For many years, there have been reports of feminization in fish and amphibians, as well as documented genitalia deformities in such diverse animal populations as bears, panthers, sea lions, whales, birds, alligators and others. Between 1999 and 2003, in a population of Chippewa aboriginal peoples in southwestern Ontario, Canada, the birth ratio of boys to girls declined from roughly 50/50 to 33/67.

On chemicals known as endocrine disrupters (EDCs) alone there has been extensive research which clearly reveals the association of exposure to EDCS and human disease.  Mr. Cartwright quotes the journal Endocrine Reviews:

“Whether low doses of EDCs influence certain human disorders is no longer conjecture, because epidemiological studies show that environmental exposures to EDCs are associated with human diseases and disabilities.” A follow-up review in 2015 contains the statement: “It simply is not reasonable to assume a chemical is safe until proven otherwise. Clearly, not all chemicals are EDCs, but substantial information needs to be provided before inclusion of a new compound in a food-storage product, a water bottle, health and beauty products or a household product.

A significant hindrance to establishing clear cause/effect relationships with chemicals is that EDCs can have even “transgenerational effects.”  It is not easy to trace a person’s ailments back to chemical exposure to his or her grandfather.

Transgenerational effects of EDCs mean that even if a chemical is removed from use, its imprints on the exposed individual’s DNA may persist for generations and possibly forever. 

Other common chemicals we are regularly exposed to via drinking water include disinfectants and additives like fluoride.

Chlorine, the common water disinfectant used in municipal drinking water treatment plants can chemically react with some PPCPs and produce DBPs, a class of which trihalomethanes (THMs)contains chemicals known to cause cancer. In recognition of this, US EPA has established a maximum limit for THM compounds, listed in the Safe Drinking Water Act. Many municipalities are adding ammonia to chlorine to produce chloramines, which do not generate dangerous DBPs. The formation of these compounds is an example of the complex chemistry associated with PPCP contamination.

Then there are the “emerging contaminants” known as PFAS.

In addition, fluorine-based chemical contamination of aquifers has become a major issue in many areas. Under the general acronym, PFAS (poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances), they are major components of firefighting foam, Teflon^® and Scotchgard^® products, coatings on carpeting, clothing, fast-food wrappers and many other consumer products. PFAS exposure has been linked to cancer, obesity, immune system suppression and endocrine system disruption.

Today there are multiple agencies, including the EPA, the CDC, the US Dept. of Health and Human Services, facing the seemingly hopeless task of keeping up with and reporting on the effects of chemicals on the US population. The EPA, for example, publishes a report every two years. The most recent (2017) report included data on 308 chemicals. Let’s see–308 of how many? 85,000.  Obviously, chemicals are being put into the environment a lot faster than regulators can regulate them.

Nevertheless, there is, as Mr. Cartwright notes, “a continuous stream of news releases on credible scientific studies that address links between common household chemicals and various health effects.”  So many that we can’t keep up with them.

Here are a few:

•  In a 2014 study at Columbia University, two chemicals found in such products as lipstick, hairspray, nail polish, dryer sheets and vinyl fabrics (phthalates: suspected EDCs) lowered the IQ of children born to mothers exposed to them.

•  A recent Virginia Tech study has found a connection between quaternary ammonium compounds (quats) found in cleaners, laundry detergent, fabric softener, shampoo, conditioner and eye drops, and birth defects in laboratory rodents.

•  Again, common household products are implicated in a Washington University in St. Louis study that linked them with ovarian function, resulting in women experiencing menopause two to four years earlier than normal.

It is very important to underscore the fact that, so far, there is no proven link between these trace contaminants and human health. Although many scientific studies are underway, there is lack of conclusive proof that PPCPs are harmful. On the other hand, with so many different chemicals in our drinking water (in this writer’s opinion), it is only a matter of time before a health risk is identified.

Mr. Cartwright’s research points to many unanswered questions involving the relationship of waterborne chemicals with cancer, autism, ADHD, Parkinson’s disease, diabetes, allergies and more.  He suggests that the most vulnerable populations are babies, the elderly, pregnant women, and adults with compromised immune systems. It is unclear if the most dangerous chemicals are those that bioaccumulate in the body or those that break down in the body. And he asks what is probably the most persistent and the most difficult questions: Are there combinations of chemicals that present greater risks than individual chemicals and do they react with each other to produce other dangerous compounds?

Reference: Water Conditioning and Purification Magazine. 

Pure Water Gazette Fair Use Statement

See also on the Gazette’s site: Emerging contaminants are emerging too fast for regulators.

Easy Repair for Fleck 5600 Controls: Pistons, Seals, and Spacers

Replacing seals and spacers in the Fleck 5600 control valve for water softeners and filters is a fairly easy “do it yourself” job that can save you the expense of professional service and the inconvenience of waiting for repair to be done.

Seals,  spacers, and pistons are the control valve parts that eventually need replacement.  They may wear out in a few months or last for many years, their longevity depending mainly on the use the filter or softener gets. Logically, the most fragile valve parts will need more frequent replacement on a well-water iron filter than on a chlorine removal filter running on clean city water,

Whatever the usage, the common symptoms of piston and seal/spacer problems are the control valve’s inability to complete the regeneration cycle because it hangs up in backwash or rinse position. If the filter runs water to drain when it should be in service position and running water only to the home, the problem is almost always seals and spacers. This is a serious problem that not only wastes water and energy, but for well users excess water drain to leach fields and septic systems and lead to very expensive repairs.

Although seals, spacers and piston are inner parts of the control valve, they’re easy to get to and the repair can in most cases be done without removing the control unit from the filter or softener.

Parts needed for 5600 Seal, Spacer, Piston replacement for a 5600 filter or softener control are

FL537 — 5600 Filter Piston, Standard Timer Unit.

FL516 — 5600 Softener Piston, Standard Timer and Electromechanical Meter (Econominder) Unit.

FL539 — 5600 Piston all SXT Units, Softeners and Filters, Including AIO Filters.

FL517 – 5600 Seal and Spacer Kit, all 5600 units.

Mike’s Easy Ten-Step Method for Replacing Piston, Seals and Spacers in 5600 Filters and Softeners

For a parts list and illustration, see pp. 16.-17 of the 5600 Service Manual.

1. Turn off the incoming water and relieve pressure by putting the unit in bypass or by opening a faucet downstream. If the unit has a bypass valve, you can simply put it in bypass. If there is a meter, pull out the cable to disconnect it.

2. Remove the back cover of the control valve.

3. Remove the screw and washer from the drive yoke, then remove the timer mounting screws and the entire timer assembly will lift off easily. Remove the end plug retainer plate.

4. Pull upward on piston yoke to remove the piston from the valve.

5. If you are replacing only the seals and spacers, or the seals and spacers as well as the piston, remove the seals and spacers at this time.  Usually you can pull them out with your fingers, but in dirty filters some brute force may be needed. A screwdriver is a good tool. To replace the seals and spacers, the order is seal, spacer, seal, spacer, etc. Both the top and bottom items will be seals.

6. When the seals and spacers are either inspected or replaced, push the piston into the valve by means of the end plug. Twist the yoke carefully in a CLOCKWISE direction to align it properly with the drive gear.

7. Replace the end plug retainer plate.

8. Replace the timer on top of the valve, making sure that the drive pin engages the slot in the drive yoke. Rotate the control knob if necessary.

9. Replace the timer mounting screws and the screw and washer in the drive yoke.

10. Return the valve to service and check for leaks.

A note about You Tube videos.  There are several good “how to” videos available most of the time that can be found with a simple search. Keep in mind that not all will be about the valve that you have. For example, if you have a 5600 filter, ignore instructions about meters, brine valves, and injectors. Seal and spacer replacement is the same on all 5600 controls.

What is your well’s flow rate capability?

The flow rate capability of your well should be measured accurately because many backwashing water filters require a flow rate that is adequate to keep the media clean. Timing how long it takes to fill up a measured bucket is an inaccurate method of attaining flow rates unless you have a “constant pressure” well that delivers water at a more or less fixed rate.  For conventional pressure tank wells, the single-shot bucket method is not accurate.

The proper well water flow rate is determined by counting the gallons drawn down and the time between cut in and cut off cycle of the well pump. To do this, you’ll need some kind of timing device, like a stop watch, plus a container of known size to catch water in.

1. Allow the well pump to build to full pressure, the shut off the main water valve to the building to assure that no water is being used.
2.  Then, open a spigot below the pressure tank, capture the water, and measure the number of gallons drawn down from the pressure tank until the well pump turns on. You can measure in a small bucket, because it’s OK to turn the water off while the bucket is being empties.
3. When the pump turns on, immediately close the spigot and time the period it takes for the well pump to recover, that is, see how much time lapses between when the pump turns on and when it turns off.

When you have this information, the formula for determining the flow rate is gallons drawn down that were measured above, divided by the seconds required for recovery, then multiplied by 60. (Gallons / Seconds) x 60 = Gallons per Minute (gpm) flow. For example, if 16 gallons are drawn down and it takes 90 seconds to build pressure back up, then: 16 divided by 90 = .177. Consequently, .177 x 60 = 10.6 gallons per minute flow rate.

What you are calculating is the sustained flow rate of the well–the gpm rate that the well can put out over the time necessary to backwash a filter. This can differ considerably from the “first bucket out” rate taken when the pressure tank is full.

Backwashing filters need sustained flow for several minutes to complete their cycle, and a filter should not be installed on a well that will not supply enough gpm flow to backwash it.

To Rake or Not To Rake

by Gene Franks

October’s leaves were dancing ’round

like angels dressed in robes of Red and Gold

but November’s come and gone now

and they’re lying in the gutter out along the road

They’re gonna make their way out to the ditch or someday to the sea,

they’ll get to where they’re going without the help of you or me

and if each life is just a grain of sand

I’m telling you man, this grain of sand is mine.

Iris DeMent, “The Way I Should.”

Serious water issues from cyanobacterial blooms to dead spots in the ocean are regularly blamed on excessive nutrients, specifically nitrogen and phosphorous, that humans put into the water. These result mainly from fertilizers, animal manure (both from feedlots and companion animals), and overflows from sewage treatment plants.

But now comes a report by the U.S. Geological Survey telling us that failure to remove leaves from areas where they can be swept into stormwater collection systems can spike stormwater with phosphorus and nitrogen and greatly compromise water quality.  In fact, leaf removal studies performed in Madison, WI, seemed to show that, at least during the time of year when leaves are most abundant,  “. . .timely leaf removal reduced total phosphorous loads by 84 percent and nitrogen loads by 74 percent.” The conclusion was that phosphorous in wastewater could be greatly reduced if the city would collect leaves and clean streets weekly and before “rain events” between early September and mid-November.

Clearly, the Madison experiment is about big-time leaf harvesting by city crews, not about requiring individual tree owners to clean up after their trees the way that pet owners are now supposed to pick up after their dogs.  At least, as a confirmed non-raker, that’s what I hope it means.

The issue seems to be that, as one writer puts it, “. . .when water managers have run out of other levers to pull, [leaf removal] is an effort that should be prioritized.” I would put it more bluntly: Since we can’t get profit-driven corporate farmers to adopt saner and more earth-friendly growing methods, and we can’t expect people to cut back on the meat and dairy diet that is burying us in animal feces, and we can’t ask people to give up their pets, and since we certainly can’t ask people to pay a bit more for water or to agree to increase their taxes so that our ancient sewage treatment plants can be upgraded, we should concentrate our efforts on picking up leaves.

While we have to applaud any effort to keep water clean, leaf management seems like a pretty tricky business.  For example, if leaf collecting becomes a national nutrient reduction strategy, what are we going to do with all the leaves we collect? Landfills are already bulging. Are we going to inject them into deep wells, like fracking waste, or haul them to leaf disposal sites in the desert? Will we eventually try to genetically engineer leafless trees, or trees whose leaves are permanently attached?

Keeping the streets clean is an essential part of wastewater management. It is certainly better to sweep up contaminants before they get into the water than to remove them from the water later. But on the broader leaf issue, I’m still a non-raker. As Iris DeMent says in her great anthem to personal freedom, leaves should be left to “get to where they’re going without the help of you and me.”

So there!

Reference: The Fall of Water Quality: Blame It on the Leaves.

See also: Street Sweepers Clean More Than the Streets.

By Peter Chawaga

Well before Hurricane Harvey brought torrential winds and stormwater into Houston, the city had a reputation for ambitious construction and sprawling development.

In a project that demonstrates this city’s spirit, Houston will soon be home to the world’s largest water purification facility, which broke ground earlier this month.

“The Northeast Water Purification Plant Expansion is currently the largest water treatment project on the planet — not just in the State of Texas, not just in the United States, but on the planet,” said Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, according to the Houston Chronicle. “Can you imagine this plant just a couple of weeks ago was submerged under water, yet we are still here today?”

The city invested nearly $1.5 billion in the project, which includes the building of a high service pump station, ground storage tanks, and treatment facilities. It is expected to increase treated water capacity in the area to 320 MGD.

“The project includes the design and construction of a new raw water facility, which includes an advanced three-level intake, pumping, and conveyance to withdraw water from Lake Houston and deliver it through two new 108” pipelines to the treatment facilities located about 1.5 miles from Lake Houston,” per Construction Equipment. “The undertaking involves moving water three miles over a ridge and into a 23-mile canal that will feed Lake Houston, then pumped through 17 miles of pipe large enough to drive a car through.”

The ambitious project is expected to meet a growing need for clean drinking water in the area.

“The Greater Houston Water Department says that by 2025, surface water — rather than groundwater — must supply at least 60 percent of the water used by the area,” Construction Equipment reported. “That percentage will rise to 80 percent by 2035. The reason is that with the rapid expansion of the Houston area, groundwater being pumped in Harris, Galveston, and Fort Bend counties has reached a point where the ground has sunk several feet, causing flooding. Some wells in the area have hit salty water and other have hit water that smells like sulfur.”

The project is expected to be complete by 2024.

Source: Water Online.