Category Archives: calcium

Edmonton City Water Quality

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We performed a filter change service call on a reverse osmosis system this afternoon.  The "before" and "after" images really show the difference between filtered water and plain old city water.  It never ceases to amaze me how the government says the water supplied through the municipal system is clean and safe, "some of the best in the world" I keep hearing…

The image shown here shows what the filtration equipment does.  During the maintenance, I changed all the filter cartridges, the "pre" filter, a "post" filter and did some other service.  The "pre" filter is exposed to water coming directly from the city of Edmonton.  If the water is so good, what is all the gunk all over the filter?  The "post" filter is also shown – it was installed at the same time as the "pre" filter, the only difference is that the "post" filter only has water that has been treated by reverse osmosis running over and through it.

The difference?  As you can see, other than the fact it is wet and showing a little bit of the carbon block filter it is wrapped around (think of a wet, clingy t-shirt, and how it can become translucent) it is clearly still in like-new, "white" condition.  A brand new, still in the wrapper filter cartridge is shown in the middle for reference.

My question is simple – if the water quality in Edmonton, Sherwood Park, St. Albert and the entire Greater Edmonton Area is so good, why do the filters turn this horrible colour after being exposed to our pristine water supply?

Treatment is quick, efficient and easy to use, requires very little maintenance and gives peace of mind – we get rid of the gunk!

Seasonal Water Changes -Oooh oooh that smell!

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If you’re like most people in Edmonton, you’ll soon notice a change in the taste and a change in the quality of water as we move into spring.  Why is that?  Edmonton's water comes from the North Saskatchewan River which flows right through town.  All winter long, snow accumulates on the banks and in spring, as temperatures rise again, that snow melts – carrying with it organic material, debris, bits of leaves, twigs and bugs and anything else that may be on the banks of the river.

Chlorine is added to clear up the water, and ammonia is added to help preserve the chlorine, as well as to mask some of the smell.  (Mixing the two together creates "chloramine" -the legal name for this type of disinfection.)  Because contaminant levels are higher in spring, more chemicals are added to the water.

The result?  The water still looks clean and clear, but has more odour to it, as well as increased "disinfection byproducts" -these are the chemicals which form when chlorine and ammonia react with the materials in the water.  These byproducts have been associated with some health concerns which is beyond the scope of this article, but suffice it to say that although they are kept to reasonable levels, they are present in the water and are not good for you.

Many clients, especially this time of year, choose a treatment system that removes the odour, taste and chemicals from the water in the home, resulting in better tasting, healthier water that isn't exposing you to harmful chemicals when you bathe, shower, wash in or drink the water.  The result is water that tastes great, is better for you, your hair and skin, and leaves you refreshed, not dried out, itchy and looking for moisturizer.  Treated water helps appliances last longer and saves you money on heating, detergent usage and plumbing maintenance.

What’s this Build Up??

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I visited with a gentleman yesterday in Sherwood Park. He called me over out of frustration. He’s lived in his home for 20 years and has constantly been battling scale build-up, especially in recent years. Edmonton’s water (Sherwood Park gets its municipal water from Edmonton) used to be quite a bit softer, but in the 1990′s, that changed and the water is, according to the Water Quality Association, hard. But what does that mean???

Hardness in this area is mostly dissolved limestone rock. Water, a “universal solvent,” picks up a bit of everything it comes in contact with. As it runs over the rocks in mountains and all the way here via the North Saskatchewan river, it picks up limestone and dissolves it in the form of “water hardness.” Hardness is measured in “Grains Per Gallon” -an old measurement of weight, but the one still used today in industry. 7000 grains is one pound, and by comparison, an aspirin tablet is about 5 grains.

Testing his water, we found the hardness in his home to be 10 grains per gallon, or for every gallon of water going through the home, about two aspirin tablets worth of dissolved limestone rock. With two people in the home, and an average of 150 gallons per day of water being used, that’s about 1/5th of a pound of rock going through the home’s water system every single day. (That’s more than 75 pounds a year!!!)

Dissolved calcium is a bit of a different creature – unlike most things dissolved in water, it actually is LESS soluble with increased temperature. That means that when water is heated, it causes even more of the dissolved rock to come out of the water both coating anything it comes in contact with, and building up in the bottom of things.

If you’ve ever had to change your hot water tank, you know what I’m talking about – one small person can carry in and install a new hot water tank, but because of the several pounds of rock that builds up in the bottom of a “used” hot water tank, it takes two grown men and usually a cart to remove it…

Anyway, his staining and damage from hard water was quite extensive. His humidifier, which had just been cleaned recently, was already caked with white scale. The floor under his humidifier (beside the furnace) also had white rock formations on it, as did the inside of the furnace where the water connection was made.

He also pulled out the aerators on his faucets and showed me the little white pebbles and chips that were getting caught there. This is another area where hard water buildup can accumulate – not just as the white pearly/seashell kind of effect you see around most sinks and faucets. These are all evidence of hard water damage. He showed me how his faucet would sputter and spurt as the water fought to get through the clogged up system.

The prognosis here was quite simple, we discussed two options to fix this issue. The Watermax City Water Conditioner, as well as the “Puratech” system – basically the Watermax’s little brother. Both will do an excellent job and remove all the hardness from the water going through all the plumbing in the home – this will eliminate the cause of the buildup my client was concerned about. The Watermax goes a step further and removes all the chlorine and disinfection byproducts that come from the chlorination of water. Health Canada has shown this to be cancer causing at certain exposure levels. Unfortunately, most municipalities don’t test for these levels, and those that do test them, NEVER publish them.

In this case, the gentleman’s concerns were strictly over maintenance, not specifically over health, so we decided on the Puratech system which will solve the problem and do it using the least amount of salt and water possible. PROBLEM SOLVED!

My Well Water is Bad & the Well is Going Dry – Help!

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I received a call last week from a person that was in a panic about their well water. They have a lot of hardness in the water, but have another problem – many wells in the area are going dry. They’ve noticed that running water constantly for an hour or more depletes the well and are concerned about the trend in the area.

The water is so hard, they have to replace their fixtures about every two years. They have made arrangements for a trickle system to be installed (this is a set up where city water from a nearby municipality is delivered at low pressure and flow rate into an atmospheric holding tank at the property, from which the water is then pressurized and delivered much the way someone with a cistern’s is.) The problem is, that water is at least a year away, and when it comes, it still will be hard water, and will have the added problem of chlorine. What to do, what to do???

We visted the gentleman on Tuesday afternoon and tested the water. Sure enough – its very hard water. There wasn’t much for iron or other contaminants, but there was a fair amount of sediment coming thru. This made the diagnosis rather simple – a Hague Watermax water conditioner.

The system recommended for this gentleman will filter out sediment down to 20 microns (smaller than the eye can see) for the whole home using a built-in “Ultra-Fil” module – whole-house dirt and sediment filter that never needs replacement filters or maintenance; it cleans itself automatically each time the conditioner regenerates – slick, eh?

Using Hague’s patented “Zero Soft” approach, all hardness will be completely removed by the fine mesh resin, and “Bacteriostat” inhibits growth in the resin bed, keeping the Watermax fresh and clean for the life of the appliance.

Next year, when they migrate from their well water to a city water supply, “Chlorostat” is added to completely remove the clorine, and activated coconut shell carbon will be installed into the empty media chamber to remove organics and disinfection byproducts – an unwanted result of the chlorination system that has been linked to cancer.

The nice thing about working with the Hague line-up is the flexibility. With this system, when water conditions or even water supplies change, there’s a good change Watermax can change with you. Two days after the initial visit, he had spoken with the other water companies in the area (I was the first one to come out) and liked what he saw with Hague. We’re welcoming him to the Hague family next Friday when his system is going in!