While a bit off from our normal discussions pertaining to water, we would HATE ourselves if we did not at least take a few seconds to remind people that perfect pool water also makes for the perfect cause of accidental death…

No one wants to think about a loved one such as a child or family pet drowning in the family pool, but it HAPPENS every year and most experts agree that a swimming pool alarm might have prevented the tragedy.

Common sense says to keep an eye on kids and pets around the pool. The LAW requires you to take steps to prevent children and pool jumpers from accidentally falling in your pool.

• Inground pools MUST have a fence around them… and above ground pools security measures such as safety ladders

Safety ladders and fences work well to keep out most unwanted pool visitors, but what happens when a someone accidentally leaves a gate open, a ladder down… or when a child slips away from a parents’ watchful eyes because the phone rings or a visitor rings the doorbell?

• AlarmsForPools.Com
• AlarmsForYards.Com
• AlarmsForGates.Com

When we got this question about salt water pools we did not know what to do… because it made us laugh a LOT. You will understand why in a minute, we assure you.

Thank you, Nina from New Jersey, for making us laugh!

Can you help me settle an argument with my stupid husband? He insists that we don’t use chlorine in our new pool because we have what he calls a ‘salt generator’. Um, hello.. If it generates SALT, then WHY did the pool company have to ADD SALT when they set up the pool? My husband says we have one of those chlorineless pools. Can you PLEASE shut him up for me?”

Wow. We don’t even really know where to begin… so we’ll start by saying that salt water pools use devices called chlorine generators which converts the ‘Cl’ portion of salt (NaCl) into sanitizing chlorine molecules using a an electrolytic process.

So, Nina, to answer the question(s) we think you asked…

• Salt water pools use chlorine generators, do not ‘salt generators’.

• Salt water pools do technically have chlorine in them.

For a slightly more detailed explanation of the topic of salt water pools and chlorine generators, you might want to read Salt Water Pools & Chlorine Generators Explained on the Pool Water Testing Blog

A naturally occurring reddish metal that appears in rock, water, soil, sediment and in the air, copper has unique physical properties which make it perhaps one of the most commonly used and important metals. You can find copper in pennies, as part of electrical wiring systems, and in plumbing. You can also find it used in some pesticides and algaecides.

As humans we require a minute amount of copper to live, but as with anything, too much copper in a short period of time and prolonged exposure to excess copper can have detrimental effects on our health.

For that reason health officials suggest testing your drinking water for copper, and other things obviously, on a semi-regular basis… especially if you live in an older home, in an area that has older water delivery lines, or if you have well water.

How can you test for copper?

Previously you would have to use a test kit that used drops, tablets, powders, etc. or have your water tested by a water testing laboratory. As usual we suggest that people use water testing labs if they have serious reason to suspect drinking water contamination and that owners of wells have their water tested by a certified water testing lab at least once a year, for occasional testing needs you can use copper test strips such as the John’s Copper product manufactured by SenSafe.

If you think you may have a need to test your water for copper, then you may also want to test for other metals such as iron, manganese, mercury, and lead.

A test kit such as the Well Driller Master Test Kit has all those tests and more.

Bottled water back in the news… again. This time in Canada.

A Montreal laboratory is raising worries about bacteria in bottled water, noting they’ve found “revolting” levels that could put certain vulnerable people at risk.

Researchers from C-crest Laboratories in Montreal decided to randomly test bottled water for bacteria after a fellow employee complained of a foul taste from some bottled water and became ill.

They tested a handful of popular brands (which they did not name) and found that more than 70 per cent of the samples contained bacteria at levels that far exceed recommended limits in the U.S.

Some of the bacteria were at levels dozens of times higher than those permitted by the United States Pharmacopeia (USP).

“There were so many that at first, we couldn’t count. We had to dilute the samples,” Sonish Azam, one of the researchers in the study told CTV News.

…

The types of bacteria they found were heterotrophic, a category of bacteria that includes those that survive by consuming organic matter.

Regulatory bodies such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Health Canada have not set limits for the heterotrophic bacteria counts in bottled drinking water.

According to the USP, no more than 500 colony forming units (cfu) per milliliter of bacteria should be present in drinking water. The C-crest team found counts in some of samples at 100 times those levels. In comparison, the average count for different tap water samples was 170 cfu/mL.

…

The researchers stress that the bacteria they found “most likely” do not cause disease, but Azam says that’s still unclear. She suggests it’s possible that the bacteria they found could be pathogenic and pose a risk for vulnerable populations such as the elderly, pregnant women, infants, and immunocompromised patients.

“I cannot rule out that these organisms might be harmful, but I do not know,” Azam said. “But in microbiology there is a rule: guilty until proven innocent.”

…

Michel Lavelle, of the Canadian Bottled Water Association, calls the study “unnecessarily alarming.” He says commercial bottled water is not meant to be sterile, so the presence of bacteria in itself is not news.

“When you say the word bacteria it sounds like it is dangerous. But you eat bacteria on salad and fruits all day long. And these are the same bacteria found in the water,” he told CTV News.

He notes that the bacteria detected are non-coliform and non-pathogenic and don’t do any harm, which is why regulators haven’t set limits on these bacteria.

…

Still, Azam’s team concedes that while bottled water is not expected to be free from microorganisms, they were stunned at the high levels of bacteria they found. ( source )

So… Should Canadians rally at the Courthouse and demand that bottled water companies make restitution for distributing bacteria-laden product? Nah. We don’t think so.

We do, however, all agree that an independent group needs to take a closer look at the bottled water industry’s overall bacteria levels and set some guidelines defining acceptable and unacceptable bacteria levels — regardless of whether or not science currently deems a particular type harmless.

Remember: ‘Germs’ and ‘bugs’ that scientists originally thought harmless have killed plenty of people throughout history because we simply didn’t know any better… yet.

Testing for Potentially Harmful Bacteria

The following test kits can help you test well water, tap water, spring water, pool water and even bottled water for potentially harmful strands of bacteria.

Once upon a time, as in just a few years ago, the water division of Nestle boasted some of the largest sales numbers of any bottled water company in History — until opponents of bottled water began asking questions about claims made by bottled water companies that bottled water offered health benefits that tap water could not.

It also did not help that other folks started pointing out (and publicizing) the growing problem of what to do with the billions of empty water bottles winding up in landfills.

Needless to say Nestle’s sales plummeted and ever since then the company has struggled to regain marketshare by creating lower-priced, more environmentally conscious bottled water products such as its Pure Life product whose .5L container claims to use approximately 35% less plastic than an earlier .5L water bottle made by Nestle.

Nestle has not stopped there, though, it seems. In fact, they started an interesting experiment whose results they hope will change the public’s opinion of bottled water… and it involves trout.

You read that correctly. We said, “Trout.”

Nestle is testing the health of fish – trout, to be exact – in Cascade Locks, Oregon, in an effort to prove that municipal water can replace spring water in their Arrowhead brand. Key to the year-long test is showing that the Idaho Sockeye, an endangered species, can survive in hatcheries supplied from municipal wells.

Resistance from local environmentalists is so strong – Nestlé put the 1,700-gallon tank under lock and key and added security cameras. So far, three of the fish have died and will be autopsied. ( source )

We don’t know if we really have much to say after that. Nestle wants to know if municipal water from a well can sustain the health of trout and somehow if the water can keep the fish healthy for a year, this proves… What exactly?

Undoubtedly we missed the point of Nestle’s 1,700 gallon trout experiment, but regardless of the results their product will require bottles for packaging that will clutter landfills and deplete the planet’s dwindling resources.

While we applaud Nestle’s creativity in trying to revive bottled water’s image, we think they will fall short of the mark… and most people will not switch from their very economical refillable water bottles, sports bottles w/ built-in water filters, etc.

We came across another story pertaining to the natural gas drilling taking place along a stretch of the New York – Pennsylvania border. As part of this article, though, a scientist who studies the effects of natural gas drilling on water resources had a few pieces of advice for residents in areas where the drilling takes place:

Bryan Swistock, Penn State water resources specialist, is studying connections between brine water, water used for the drilling process and drinking water supplies.

One thing he recommends is that property owners get it stated in their lease that the drill site has to be at least 500 feet from a water supply. He added Pennsylvania law states it only has to be 200 feet, but that may not be enough.

After the permit is issued, the only notice given about the commencement of drilling will be to anyone with their drinking water supply within 1,000 feet of the drilling location. They will be notified within 24 hours of the drilling to begin.

Another tip he gives homeowners is to get their water tested by a state certified water testing lab prior to drilling, even if the site is not on their property and even if they are outside of the 500-feet zone. He said that will be the only way to prove something happened to the supply during the drilling.

After the drilling is complete, get another sample taken and tested.

Brine water disposal. Swistock also talked about the use of brine water at the drilling site and storage of the liquid on the property. He said it is very important to keep it away from drinking water areas.

He said millions of gallons of water will be needed for the drilling process and it is important to plan ahead and find out where the company plans to store the fluids.

Swistock added only 30 percent of what the company uses to drill will resurface within a couple of months and not enough studies have been completed to find out when and where the remaining water will resurface in the future. ( )

In a nutshell, Swistock seems to believe we do not know enough about the effects of natural gas drilling on water supplies in the region to safely say that ‘nothing bad will happen’ and that only testing of local and semi-local water supplies before, during and after the drilling will have the ability to demonstrate proof of changes in water quality — if any show up.

Note that he mentioned using a ‘state certified water testing lab’ for the testing. Not only will this help to ensure the testing gets done by qualified water testing analysts, but it also pretty much guarantees impartiality… which could come in handy if the test results ever need to get entered as data in a Court case down the road.

For a list of certified water testing labs in your area, contact the State Certification Officer in your state. You can find each state officer’s contact information listed on this page.

As another option, you can always contract out with an independent water testing company such as National Testing Laboratories which uses EPA and standard methods to test drinking water and has certification in most US States.

A few days ago we talked about keeping swimming pools properly maintained so that mosquitoes would not decide to turn it into a hatchery for their young. Today we want to talk about water quality in places many people don’t ever think about… because mosquito hatching time has arrived, folks, and even the smallest bodies of stagnant water serve as ideal hatching grounds for the little blood suckers!

Don’t believe us? Take a look at these excerpts from an article posted in the Galveston Daily News on May 21st, 2010:

Get ready for mosquito season — the little critters are about to descend on the unwary living near the county’s beaches and southern bayside areas.

Nurtured by high tides at the beginning of the month that were reinforced by last Friday’s heavy rains, the insects’ larvae are about to hatch for the first serious swarm of salt marsh mosquitoes this year.

Fortunately for humans, salt marsh mosquitoes do not carry the West Nile virus or St. Louis encephalitis, but their bloodsucking still can be a major source of discomfort. ( source )

For all of you thinking, “So what? A Few mosquitoes buzzing around won’t make anyone TOO miserable, right?”

John Marshall, the director of Galveston County’s mosquito control program begs to differ:

He said that expression describes official estimates of the average number of insects landing on the lower half of human bodies in any one minute during the swarm.

“Most people in the affected areas will have six or seven mosquitoes per minute landing between their belt buckle and their ankle from this evening through Monday evening,” he said.

“But some could experience about 15 and, at the upper limit, the number could reach 25.” ( source )

Did you read that? Between 6 and 25 hungry little mosquitoes landing on a person’s leg in a minute’s time. Yuck!

What Does Water Quality Have to Do With Mosquito Control?

Simple: If you have no stagnant water around, the mosquitoes have to find someplace else to lay their eggs. Also, since mosquitoes like to hide out during the day, preferably near water, it reduces the number of mosquito hideouts on your property.

• Get that pool open promptly, or at at the very least make sure it has some sanitizer in it so the mosquitoes will want to hang out and hatch their young’uns elsewhere.

• Go around your yard and make sure no unused pots, water buckets, old tires, children’s play things, etc. have water sitting inside them. even the smallest amount of stagnant water makes for an oasis for mosquitoes.

• Keep grass in the yard trimmed neatly so mosquitoes have one less place to hang out during the day.

As far as avoiding the blood thirsty heathens after they have already hatched, well, experts suggest staying indoors about an hour or so before sundown. For folks who need to venture out at that time, experts suggest wearing long sleeve shirts, wearing long pants, and using a good quality insect repellent on all exposed areas of skin.

What About Mosquito Traps and Mosquito Netting?

Both excellent ideas for outdoor activities in areas where mosquitoes like to hang out. As humans we can spray areas suspected of harboring mosquitoes all we want, but we will never get rid of them all and devices like the SkeeterVac, which users set up away from their outdoor gatherings, and Mosquito Netting, which users drape over their backyard umbrellas to create a ‘safe zone’, make it possible to enjoy the great outdoors anyways.

In the past we have talked about reverse osmosis water filtration units and now we want to talk about them again… because apparently Crystal Quest, a leading manufacturer of drinking water filtration products has decided to take things to the next level by coupling some of their RO units with Ultra Filtration and UV Sterilization devices.

These Reverse Osmosis/Ultrafiltration systems produce up to 100 gallons of highly filtered water per day and remove up to 99.9% of undesirable contaminants and filter particles as small as 1/1000 of a micron.

Then, as if not pure enough, the water can, depending upon the system selected, pass through a UV Sterilizer where any remaining biologicals get wiped out.

To put all that in layman’s terms, these RO/UF drinking water filtration systems remove pretty much everything you would want taken out of your drinking water. The manufacturer even claims they remove phramaceuticals and pharmaceutical residuals from the water they treat!

• What is Reverse Osmosis?
• How Does Reverse Osmosis Work?
• Why Install a Reverse Osmosis Filter?

At one time if you lived in an area and your water contained high levels of elements like calcium and magnesium your only option for water softening systems involved the use of salt-based water softening systems which worked well, but required periodic draining… which meant the discharging of brine water into the environment.

States such as California noticed the damage done to the environment by this unnatural adding of heavily salted water (brine water) and attempted to enact legislation to BAN the sale and use of salt based water softeners. Though not successful as of yet, efforts to get salt-based water conditioners banned continue to this day.

Do Alternative(s) to Salt-Based Water Softeners Exist?

In recent years a ‘new’ technology has emerged which makes it possible to soften water without the use a salt tank. This technology makes use of specially designed media which either absorb the calcium or convert it into a ‘harmless’ form which gets collected and backwashed out of the system at a later date.

Below you will find three examples of salt-free water softening systems:

When last we checked, FilterWater.Com offered FREE SHIPPING on all three units to locations w/in the Continental United States… and given that each unit easily weighs more than 100 pounds, well, that offer of free shipping sounds like a pretty decent deal!

Testing for Water Hardness?

Now you KNOW we can’t let this blog entry come to a close without telling you how you can test the hardness of your water.

Water Hardness Test Strips work well for on-the-spot testing of water hardness and typically cost less than $10 for a bottle of 50 strips.

… for mosquitoes unless pool owners maintain proper pool water quality. It only takes a few days for most pool water to become the perfect place for a female mosquito to drop off a few (hundred) eggs.

Culex mosquitoes lay their eggs on the surface of fresh or stagnant water. The water may be in tin cans, barrels, horse troughs, ornamental ponds, swimming pools, puddles, creeks, ditches, or marshy areas. Mosquitoes prefer water sheltered from the wind by grass and weeds.

Culex mosquitoes usually lay their eggs at night. A mosquito may lay a raft of eggs every third night during its life span.

Culex mosquitoes lay their eggs one at a time, sticking them together to form a raft of from 200- 300 eggs. A raft of eggs looks like a speck of soot floating on the water and is about 1/4 inch long and 1/8 inch wide.

Tiny mosquito larvae emerge from the eggs within 24 hours. ( source )

If pool owners keep a constant chlorine or bromine residual in their pools, mosquitoes will seek other places to lay eggs because the presence of chlorine/bromine in a body of water makes the water unusable as place for their young to hatch and develop.

So… in the interest of keeping mosquito populations down this Summer, we urge all swimming pool owners to test and maintain chlorine/bromine levels in their pools on a regular basis. It only takes a few days for some species of mosquitoes to go from eggs to full-grown bloodsuckers!

Suggested Testing Methods for Chlorine/Bromine Levels

So by simply making sure you have an adequate chlorine or bromine residual in your swimming pool, you can do a lot help reduce the number of bloodsucking mosquitoes in your neighborhood this Summer.

Need a Chlorine or Bromine Dispenser for Your Pool?

Take a look at the selection of automatic chemical feeders available from In the Swim a leading online retailer of swimming pool equipment, parts, and chemicals.

You can also get granular chlorine, chlorine sticks and calcium hypochlorite granules at In the Swim.