Archive for the 'Plumbing' Category

Jan 22 2010

Water Purification Technology 101

Published by Arlington Designer under Plumbing

Water purification technology may be complicated, but the general idea is simple: Remove contaminates to make the finished product safer to drink.

In order to do this, there are many methods of water purification to choose from. Some accomplish more than others. Here, we present the basics – you might call it Water Purification Technology 101.

Distillation is one of the oldest known methods of water purification. Water is boiled and steam is collected in another container. The vapor cools, condenses, and turns back into water.

The driving idea is that any contaminate will have a higher boiling point than water, and any bacteria will be killed by the heat.

This water purification technology was developed in ancient times. The flaws did not become apparent until much later.

Anything with a boiling point near or less than water will simply pass to the second container, meaning most chemicals will be unaffected by the process. Also, certain strains of bacteria will not be killed by boiling.

The most obvious problem though, is minerals.

Distillation was designed to remove anything heavier than water, including essential minerals. The distilled water ends up without nutritional merit, as well as being contaminated with chemicals… and possibly microbes.

Much later, methods of water purification were invented for more efficient desalination. This resulted in the development of Reverse Osmosis.

In order for RO to work, water is pressurized mechanically and pushed through a semi-porous membrane to achieve clean water.

While faster than distillation, the reverse osmosis process is still slow. It’s also very wasteful, requiring four gallons of unfiltered water to get one gallon of filtered water.

The design is also prone to algae growth, requiring regular cleaning. Water purification technology has advanced beyond RO, no matter what the salesmen say.

One of the newer methods of water purification is known as Sub-Micron Filtration.

Water is passed through a synthetic or ceramic membrane to completely remove chlorine-resistant bacterial cysts and E Coli. Either type of membrane can be reused up to fifty times with regular cleaning, but the design cannot remove chemicals.

Electro-Deionization is another of the newer methods of water purification, although it must be preceded by additional steps to be effective. It is considered to be an advanced water purification technology, because it can transpose toxic lead into a harmless substance.

While this system has a definite impact on chemicals and heavy metals, it has no effect on non-ionic contaminates, such as microbes, bacteria, or cysts. It is also very expensive.

Yet another of the newer methods of water purification is known as Ultra-Filtration. A chemically-constructed membrane is custom created to target specific types of microorganisms. Quite an advancement, but mostly irrelevant to the home market.

We’ve talked a lot about progress in water purification technology, but one of the most effective methods of water purification was developed decades ago, during World War I.

Based around activated carbon, it removes most chemicals, heavy metals, bacterial cysts, and infiltrates. Variations referred to as GAC – or Granular Activated Carbon – add silver to the design, releasing silver ions to kill any bacteria living in the membrane.

The system was not originally invented to purify water, but to negate the effects of chemical weapons. It took many years to apply the idea to water purification technology, and even longer to adapt it for home use.

Sherri Stockman is a Naturopathic Practioner who believes in spreading the news about the healing power of pure water. Visit her site now at http://www.Pure-H2O.net to discover which water purification technology she recommends for her clients.

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Jan 21 2010

How Big is a Whole House Water Filter Replacement Cartridge?

Published by Arlington Designer under Plumbing

When you first hear about water filter systems, you tend to think that a whole house water filter replacement cartridge will be about as big as your house. Some of the first point of use water filter systems for the home were indeed massive. But, like the computer, solar panels and chocolate chips, water filters systems have become smaller and just as powerful as their larger ancestors.

On the whole, the contraption is only about the size of your kitchen sink. And the whole house water filter replacement cartridges are even smaller.

How Many Do You Need?

Many water filters that connect to all of the water faucets in your home will come with a multiple filters. This pushes the water through a couple of filters before sending it out of the tap. In some brands, these filters are called the pre-filters and the main filters. The pre-filter will usually be smaller than the main filter. You need different whole house filter replacement cartridges for the pre-filter and the main filter.

Some of the best manufacturers of whole house water filter replacement cartridges (which also make the rest of the system, too, luckily enough) will offer you email or snail mail reminders about when it’s time to replace your filter cartridges. For a fee, they will automatically mail the whole house water filter replacement cartridges out to your home every six months.

That’s one less thing to worry about!

Do You Really Need To Change Them So Often?

If you want to have healthy water to drink and shower in, yes, you do have to change the whole house water filter replacement cartridge when the manufacturer suggests. Otherwise, what’s the point of having a whole home water filter system?

Think about it this way – aquarium fish are dependent on the water chemistry in their tank. They can’t jump out of the tank and drive of to the store to get more or better water. They are stuck with whatever is in their tank. This is why the filtration media in aquarium filters need changing so often. If that filter material isn’t changed, the fish will die.

Although we are not as dependent on water as fish, we still need our water to be as clean and pure as possible. Drinking or showering in water with heavy amounts of metals, chlorines or other pollutants can cause nasty health effects in the long term. For example, all of those chemicals can really irritate your skin and your hair. You need to get healthy water somehow in order to have a better quality of life. If you don’t stick to a regular whole house water replacement cartridge schedule, then it’s as good as living in a dirty fish tank.

In the long run, it’s a lot cheaper to get a whole house water system and twice a year get more whole house water filter replacement cartridges than it is to drink and bathe only in boiled or bottled water.

So, in the long run, your entire water filter system, let alone the whole house water filter replacement cartridges, is just the right size for you.

Jim Riley is a passionate spokesman about the health benefits of purified drinking and bathing water. Visit his site now at http://www.water-purification-site.com to discover the purification system he endorses and why.

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Jan 20 2010

How to Find the Best Countertop Water Filter For You

Published by Arlington Designer under Plumbing

Water is a very important ingredient to your overall health. So, you should never rush into a choice of countertop water filters. Your health (and your bank account) is too important. You need to do comparison shopping to find the best countertop water filter, but what things do you need to compare? I’ll tell you right now, price is actually one of the last things you should consider.

How Easy Is It To Work?

Have you ever received a great new time saving, life improving tool – only to have it sit on your basement and gather dust? This was because this wondrous gadget took a Master’s Degree in Quantum Physics to understand. Who has time for all of that hassle?

Don’t let this happen to your countertop water filters. There’s no pint in getting one if it’s just going to sit in the box. The best countertop water filters can be easily installed, uninstalled and maintained. They shouldn’t need any special tools or the every expensive labor of a plumber. You should also be able to easily understand how to take the filter cartridges in and out of the filter canister.

You should be able to get a hold of the instructions either online from the manufacturer or from the store you want to buy your prospective countertop water filters from. If you are doing your comparison shopping online, try to get a hold of the customer service email or phone number and see how long it takes for them to get back to you.

Any Recommendations?

You might already have the name of the best countertop water filter that was right for your friend, relative or business associate. Ask them about how they like their filters and if it’s easy or hard to maintain or any other questions you might have.

Although countertop water filters are getting more and more popular, chances are that you might not know of anyone who has one. Then, what do you do to find what other customers think of particular brands or kinds of water filters?

You could try “Consumer Reports”, which did an extensive comparison of the best countertop water filters a few years ago. They have a free website now that holds most of their archives.

You could also try customer ratings websites like MeasuredUp, Buzzillions or ConsumerSearch.com (which puts together a lot of reviews from all over the web). You can also check out the customer reviews on Amamzon.com. You will certainly read a lot of unbiased opinions about the best countertop water filters – and the worst!

Now, The Price

After comparing all of those and getting a short list of countertop water filters, then you take a hard look at the money involved. Although there is a large payment to get the filter, over time, it will prove to be less expensive than buying bottled water.

Also take a look at any freebies that often go with a water filter system. Does the store offer free shipping, free customer service or free reusable water bottles? The best countertop water filters have a service where you save a lot of money where you get a new cartridge every six months without having to send in an extra order form.

Jim Riley is a passionate spokesman about the health benefits of purified drinking and bathing water. Visit his site now at http://www.water-purification-site.com to discover the purification system he endorses and why.

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Sep 21 2009

Dual Flush Toilet – How to Retrofit and Upgrade Your Old Toilet

Published by Arlington Designer under Plumbing

I’ve always been an environmentally conscious individual and as such have always made some attempt to keep my household eco-friendly. I’ve used compost heaps and recycled my plastics, papers and aluminums, but it wasn’t until recently that I decided to make an effort to try and save water.

I wasn’t quite sure what method I wanted to try in order to cut my teeth on water conservation so I did some research online first. I found low-flow showerheads, HET toilets, tips on how to check various taps and toilets for leaks, and even suggestions on various heavy items to place in my toilet tank, so as to displace water and use less per flush. The showerheads looked appealing at first, but then I stumbled onto something called a dual flush toilet. These dual flush systems, where one lever flushes a full tank and one lever flushes half a tank, caught my imagination. They’re unique, and in my opinion add a certain amount of style to your bathroom.

At first I thought I would have to replace my entire toilet. I consider myself fairly handy but I’m no plumber. I also had no intention of paying someone to tear my bathroom apart. That was when I stumbled across something called a dual flush toilet retrofit kit. These kits are quite cheap and I really had no problem installing one. I’ll leave it up to you to find a kit you want to install, but the following are the steps I took to install my own dual flush kit, and if you would like to try it yourself, they will hopefully be quite easy to follow.

1. Turn off the water supply to the toilet and drain tank. Use a sponge to remove the excess remaining water from the tank.

2. Disconnect the tank’s inlet fitting from the water supply. Unscrew the two bolts that hold the tank down to the toilet.

3. Disconnect the flush handle from the tank. Lay the tank down on a towel and, using a channel-locking plier, unscrew the large flush valve holding nut.

4. Install the dual flush toilet kit valve – the tapered rubber gasket goes on the inside of the tank to prevent leakage. Tighten large nut until secure.

5. Install the two rubber gasket tie-down bolts and their lock nuts to the bottom of the tank. Bolt the tank down to the toilet using the second set of rubber gaskets and nuts. At this stage I recommend using completely new tank tie down bolts. They are inexpensive to purchase at any hardware store.

6. Assemble the new arms as per required length between the handles and the new flush valve. You may cut them with a hacksaw if necessary here.

7a) Insert the small and large handles into the handle-hole in the tank. Insert spacer if needed.

b) Hook long arm into overflow tube, and short arm into release pole.

c) Slide short and long arms into place on the handles and use clip to secure.

d) Connect the refill tube from the fill valve to the nipple on the long arm.

8. Open water supply to the tank. Fill slowly while checking for leaks. You may want to label the large and small handles as “full” and “half”, but that is personal preference.

The way my dual flush kit works I flush my full six-liter tank with the large handle, and the small handle gives me a four-liter flush. I don’t have any problem with the four-liter flush performance and I’m quite satisfied with the way everything turned out. You can imagine that people usually have something to say when they emerge from my bathroom, which always gives me a chuckle.

Save Water With A Dual Flush Toilet Retrofit Kit and Aquastric
Dual Flush Toilet Kit Frequently Asked Questions
Find Out More About Dual Flush Toilets

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Sep 20 2009

Hard Water – Discover the Top 7 Surprising Problems it Causes

Published by Arlington Designer under Plumbing

Hard water problems can have a big impact in and around the home. Here are some of the problems it can cause in different areas of the house.

Bathroom

Showerheads and spray-nozzles can become blocked; they can even clog the small holes completely and reduce their efficiency. The bathtub and sink seem to be the places where there is a visible soap scum build up. Without proper treatment his build up is very difficult to remove and may require a lot of cleaners and many applications. Scale can clog pipes and can decrease the life of toilet flushing units.

Bathing

Bathing with soap in hard water leaves a film of sticky soap curd on the skin. The film may prevent removal of soil and bacteria. Soap curd interferes with the return of skin to its normal, slightly acid condition, and may lead to irritation. Soap curd on hair may make it dull, lifeless and difficult to manage. Similarly, the insoluble salts that get left behind from using regular shampoo in hard water tend to leave hair rougher and harder to detangle.

Laundering

Clothes washed in hard water often look dingy and feel harsh and scratchy. The hardness minerals combine with some soils to form insoluble salts, making them difficult to remove. Soil on clothes can introduce even more hardness minerals into the wash water. Continuous laundering in hard water can damage fibers and shorten the life of clothes by up to 40 percent.

Dishwashers

When washing dishes, especially in a dishwasher, hard water may cause spotting and filming on your crockery. The minerals from hard water are released faster when it comes into contact with heat, causing an increase in the amount of spotting and filming that occurs. This problem is not a health risk, but it can be a nuisance to clean and reduce the quality of your crockery.

Problems in Water Boiler Systems and Pipework

Hard water also contributes to inefficient and costly operation of water-using appliances. Heated hard water forms a scale of calcium and magnesium minerals (limescale deposits) that can contribute to the inefficient operation or failure of water-using appliances. Pipes can become clogged with scale that reduces water flow and ultimately requires pipe replacement. Limescale has been known to increase energy bills by up to 25%

Limescale in Solar Heating Systems

Solar heating, often used for heating swimming pools is prone to limescale buildup, which can reduce the efficiency of the electronic pump and therefore the overall systems performance will deteriorate. There are low cost solutions to this problem which prevents limescale build up and over time will remove existing deposits completely.

In Industry

Hard water contributes to scaling in boilers, cooling towers and other industrial equipment. In these industrial settings, water hardness must be constantly monitored to avoid costly breakdowns. Hardness is controlled by addition of chemicals and by large-scale softening with zeolite resins and ion exchange resins.

Patrick Henry

HardWaterStainsTips

http://www.hardwaterstainstips.com

Email: support@hardwaterstainstips.com

Patrick Henry BEng (Hons), is a recognised industry expert in removing hard water stains. With an honours degree in Chemical Engineering, he teaches people how to remove stubborn hard water stains and limescale using a step by step guide. He is author of the ebook “Hard Water Stain Removal Secrets Revealed”. Complete information on his popular ebook is available from his web site. And while your there, don’t forget to subscribe to his FREE report on the reasons why hard water is such a problem in so many areas of the world.

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Jul 18 2009

Water Softeners Are Easy to Find on the Web, Just Make Sure That You Have Done Some Research First

Published by Arlington Designer under Plumbing

There are many things that people buy for their homes these days and one of the most popular purchases are water softeners. These products can help your water system stay clear of limescale as well as help soften your water and clear impurities such as chemicals.

If you’re interested in buying things like this for your home then you’ll have a few things to think about before you head out to the stores. Firstly, it’s a good idea to do some research to ensure that you’re able to get yourself the best possible deals.

Secondly, you’ll need to think about a budget so that you can prevent yourself from overspending, or worse, under spending. When performing research for a purchase like this, it’s a good idea to have a pen and paper with you so that you can make notes about products and prices.

After you’ve done a bit of research, you should find that buying what you need online, whatever it is, is much easier than you had first thought. Start by heading over to Google and typing in “water softeners” and see what comes up – you will end up with a list of online stores that sell what you need.

You should now be able to use these websites in order to do your research. Research is very important for a purchase like this so it’s essential that you’re prepared with some knowledge and a budget so that you can save money. Saving money online is easy because it’s so easy to compare products.

Overall, price comparison is your best bet when it comes to buying water softeners online. Just make sure that you do some research before you part with any cash and make sure that you’re aware of everything available on today’s market so that you can make informed decisions.

Writer Paige L Harding talks about buying water softeners on the web. http://www.littleplumber.com has a lot of information about this, you should easily be able to find what you’re looking for.

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