Tag: garage

Tapping Our Water Supplies

Source: Flickr

H2o. Two atoms of hydrogen and one atom of oxygen, are all that make up the most important substance to all living things on earth.
Water, as it is more commonly known, has a slight hint of blue in its most pure form and is known to be the most universal solvent. In its three states, water takes on many different forms: water vapour and clouds in the sky, waves and icebergs in the sea, glaciers and aquifers on land to name a few.
Earth’s water is 97% saltwater and undrinkable by humans. The other 3% is freshwater or potable water but of which, 2% is frozen in glaciers and polar icecaps. Our bodies are made of about 65% water making it vital our health. To function properly the body requires between one and seven litres of water per day to avoid dehydration.
By means of evaporation, precipitation and run-off, water is constantly changing from one state to another, in what is know as the hydrologic cycle. Run-off is the flow of water after rain which recharges ground water or aquifers. In many countries water is becoming scarcer as human population in those places increases, and its availability is a major social and economic concern.
Increasing pollutants in water are also becoming a greater cause for concern as more contaminants, such as fertilizers and chemical waste, are found in our water supplies.
Gone are the days, in many developed nations, where municipal tap water is considered safe for drinking.
Here are a just few commonly found, unwanted contaminants:
Chemical
Lead – Found in water supplies with lead solder or pipes, especially when water is soft or corrosive. While lead is never desirable, concentrations greater than 15 micrograms per litre (15 ug/L also known as parts per billion or ppb) can cause brain, nerve, and kidney damage, especially in young children.
Nitrate Nitrogen – Nitrate nitrogen is commonly used lawn and agricultural fertilizers. It is also a chemical formed when decomposing waste materials, such as manure or sewage.
Fluoride – Added to water to reduce tooth decay but controversy surrounds exists over its benefits and dangers. In low quantities fluoride is use commonly in health applications but levels found in water should be monitored and known.
Bacterial and parasite
Cryptosporidium – is a parasite commonly found in lakes and rivers, especially when the water is contaminated with sewage and animal wastes.
Escherichia coli – (usually abbreviated to E. coli) is one of the main species of bacteria that live in the lower intestines of warm-blooded animals and are necessary for the proper digestion of food. Its presence in groundwater is a common indicator of fecal contamination.
Bottled Water
Today, because of a much increased awareness of water contaminants, more often people are drinking bottled water, or filtering water for consumption. Bottled water can be categorised into three sources:
Spring water – Derived from an underground aquifer from which water flows naturally to the earth’s surface. Spring water must be collected only at the spring or through a borehole tapping the underground formation feeding the spring. If some external force is used to collect the water through a borehole, the water must have the same composition and quality as the water that naturally flows to the surface.
Mineral water – Water from an underground source that contains at least 250 parts per million total dissolved solids. Minerals and trace elements must come from the source of the underground water. They cannot be added later.
Purified water – normally comes from municipal sources – in other words – the tap. Municipal water is usually treated before it is bottled.
As can be seen, there arises many questions to the authenticity of bottled water label advertising. If you drink bottled water, always read the small print to see where it came from or what it “claims” to be.
Another way of removing unwanted contaminants in water is by filtration.
Filtering and Purification
Filtering and purification don’t need to much explaining as to what they do but what must be pointed out, is the many different types and their effectiveness against different contaminants.
Boiling – Water heated to its boiling point for one minute kills micro organisms that normally live in water at room temperature.
Carbon filtering : Carbon with a high surface area due to its mode of preparation adsorbs many compounds, including some toxic compounds. Water passed through activated charcoal removes contaminants.
Distilling : – Involves the boiling of water producing water vapour, leaving behind contaminants. The water vapour then rises to a cooled surface where it condenses back into a liquid to be collected. Although this method does not completely purify, it produces 99% pure water.
Reverse osmosis : Pressure is applied to contaminated water forcing it through a semi-permeable membrane. Reverse osmosis is said to be the most thorough method of large-scale water purification.
There are many more water purification methods which are also effective but depending on which geographic location they are used, each one must be studied before making a decision on the best one.
Earth’s water, more than ever is becoming an important subject, especially when 1 in 6 people on the planet do not have access to safe drinking water.
Maybe before studying water on Mars, we should take a closer look at what is happening to our own – right here on earth.

Enjoy Freshwater All The Time With Watermakers

Source: Flickr

Advanced technology has truly helped make people’s lives easier, more convenient and even healthier. Just take the case of the water we use every day whether for personal, commercial or industrial use. Thanks to the technology of watermakers, we are now able to savor pure, fresh water without having to worry about its effects on our health and on the things we use them for.

An important use of watermakers is for sea vessels like sail or power boats and yachts. The marine water maker makes use of the desalination system to remove salt and other substances from water and make it suitable for use on board from washing down the boat, cooking, drinking, washing the dishes, making ice, bathing and doing the laundry. Marine desalinators can produce around 170 to 6,800 gallons per day while commercial watermakers can produce a maximum of 50,000 gallons per day.

A marine watermaker also known as sea water desalinator is very inexpensive but the benefits you can get is enormous. Besides being economical, it can also save time and effort and most of its running costs is actually just for the cost of electricity. And if used properly with the right routine maintenance, this device can last up to 20 years.

A desalinator on board can save the boat owner money as he no longer needs to buy purified water elsewhere for use while on his vessel. Also, he does not need to store several gallons of water on board which would otherwise just add on weight to the boat, take up much space and increase its fuel consumption. This, of course, allows the vessel to take longer voyages and at a faster speed to boot.
In addition, a desalinator on board is very convenient as it allows you to do many things similar to what you do at home like cooking, bathing, washing dishes and clothes without having to worry about contamination or conserving water. And with fresh water always available, washing your boat is easy and requires little effort in drying it. Fresh water also helps protect the boat’s rigging and hull.

A desalinator utilizes the reverse osmosis system in purifying seawater. Fifty years ago, this system was originally developed to make clean water for industrial use. It is considered the most rigid method of water purification in a large scale. But through the years, its usage has expanded to marine watermakers and home water purifiers. Reverse osmosis takes place when pressurized seawater passes through a semi-permeable membrane where up to 99 percent of salts, contaminants and pollutants are removed. The semi-permeable membrane allows only water to pass through but not ions or larger molecules such as bacteria, glucose or urea. So at the other end of the membrane, fresh, potable water is produced from either seawater, salty bore water or recycled water.

A reverse osmosis desalinator is normally operated for only part of the day from four to six hours depending on the amount of fresh water needed. To determine the gallon per hour rating, first find out where pure water will be used and the daily amount needed then divide the total gallon usage by the number of hours the watermaker will be used.

How Much Will It Cost To Enclose Your Carport So It Will

How much will it cost to enclose your carport so it will be a garage?
If you live in the southern United States, there’s a good chance that your house has a garage because back in the 60’s and 70’s builders were trying to save money anyway they could so instead of investing additional money in a garage door and door opener, they built carports.
If you want the security and privacy of a garage and you currently have a carport, I have good news. You can enclose a carport very easily and for less money than you might think.
Before you run to the Home Depot to buy the materials, there are a few things that you need to consider first.
You need to look at your carport to determine how many walls you will need to build. If your carport is enclosed except for the back, then you will only need to build one wall and your job will be much easier and less expensive.
It’s pretty obvious if you need to build one wall or two. All you need to do is to look at your carport and see if the back and one side of your carport is open. If they are then you will have to build two walls instead of one. If you only have one side open, you will need to build one wall and your costs will be significantly lower to do the work.
But don’t get discouraged if you do have to build two walls because the good news is that you don’t have to add additional roof or foundation. These areas are the most expensive parts of any structure. So when I say two walls double your cost, it does not total up to more than $400 – $600 extra.
Once you’ve decided how many walls you need to build to enclose your carport then you are ready to develop an estimate of what it will cost to complete your project.
Estimating the cost of your project is really easy. First you need to make a list of the materials that you will need and then send your list to a local lumber yard to get prices.
Here are some items that you will need to convert your carport into a garage:
2 x 4’s or 2 x 6’s- for studs in walls
Pressure treated 2 x 4s – for bottom of wall (bottom plate)
Garage door complete with track and opener
CDX plywood or chip board-for sheathing (to enclose garage)
CDX plywood, pegboard etc – for inside of wall insulation
Vinyl siding or brick veneer
Once you get the price for the materials add approximately 25% for profit and don’t forget to add tax for your area.
Now you need to calculate how much time (labor) it will take to enclose your carport. The number of hours needed will depend on how complicated your project is. You can reasonably expect the project to take 3-4 days for 2-3 men. A good framing carpenter should easily be able to frame and sheath your project in this time. You can use $30-35 per hour for each man hour that is worked.
Get a price from a garage door installation company to install the garage door because it requires expertise and special knowledge for the garage door to operate properly. It will be worth the money you pay them, trust me.
Next you need to call a garage door company to get a price to provide and install the garage door. A garage door can be a little tricky to install and you don’t want to take a chance on installing it incorrectly and having it come down on your car or injure somebody. You’ll be glad you hired a pro to do this part of your project. You aren’t going to save much money anyway because they get wholesale pricing on the doors and you won’t.
All you have to do now is add the labor, materials and subcontracted cost (the garage door installation) and the profit, you will get a good picture of how much the project to enclose your garage will cost.
If you have a a contractor do the work turnkey for you, expect to pay from $3000 to $8,000 depending on what area of the country you are in and the construction of your house.

What Is In Your Camping Water?

If you are a camper, you may already know that the water is probably unsafe to drink. Generally, campgrounds get their water from a well in the ground and you can bet, it’s not filtered. But that doesn’t mean you can’t have safe water for cooking and drinking while enjoying the beautiful outdoors.

A good portable water purifier is essential. The type of water purifier that uses Ultraviolet Treatment in the final stage of the process are highly recommended.

When shopping around for a portable UV water filtration system, keep these things in mind. You want a system that uses pre-filtration to screen out large debris. Sediment filtration is also important to remove any unseen sand or dirt. Carbon filtration is also recommended, every molecule of water is forced through the microscopic pores of carbon, effectively straining out particle matter. These three stages of the water filtration lead to the final purification process, the Ultraviolet Treatment. After the carbon filter has cleansed the water, it is exposed to intense dosages of UV light. This exposure effectively destroys viruses, bacteria, fungi, algae and protozoa. A 12Volt DC Power Supply is needed. This type of system can be expensive but well worth the cost.

A Portable Reverse Osmosis System is another good choice and less expensive than the UV system. The Reverse Osmosis type of system works in stages in much the same way as the UV system. A sediment filtration, a carbon filtration and in the last stage, water travels through 50 GDP TFC Reverse Osmosis Membrane, which removes lead, sodium, cyanide, ammonium, mercury, bromide, cadmium, trivalent chromium, magnesium, fluoride, nitrates, nitrites and many other water contaminants. This system is very easy to use, just hookup to a sink faucet.

It is important not to overlook how important filtering the water is. Many people have gotten sick while camping and thought that food was to blame when actually it was the water they were cooking with and drinking.

Fresh Water With Water Purifier

Many developing and under developed countries in Asia and Africa do not have pure, potable and safe drinking water. Bacteria and virus cause serious diseases like typhoid, polio, gastro enteritis to name a few. It is a matter of great concern as water borne diseases are rampant in the poorer parts of the world claiming many lives specially of children. Water purifier is a necessity in most homes in these parts of the world.

Good quality water purifier will give water that is pure in all respects like physically, microbiologically and organically without any chances of being contaminated again. Installing a water purifier ensures that we get pure water right from the tap. Water purifiers are available in many sizes to cater to different needs.

Portable water purifiers have the lowest price. Other varieties are point of use purifier, purifiers for large buildings/houses or commercial organizations and cooler systems. The advanced purification technique of these systems tackles most of the harmful and toxic chemicals, metals and minerals, microbes and bacteria or virus.

Purifiers also use the reverse osmosis process. This is a very common method of water purification and can be used in small portable or camp purifiers as well as big systems in big houses or other places. The reverse osmosis membranes remove most of the harmful elements. They can also put up with extreme pH pressure without leaking or bursting. But for this durability, the system has to be manufactured with an eye on the quality.

Installing a water purifier is totally hassle free. Large manufacturers give the option of buying online and display their products with complete details. This is a boon for very busy persons who are unable to visit the store within stipulated hours.

After choosing the water purifier brand, all that remains is buying the system be it online or going over to the store physically and having it installed in the designated place.

Most manufacturers give warranties. In case of part replacement or breakdown, the service in most cases is prompt and up to the mark. Maintenance is equally easy without any headaches. Affordability is always a big issue, but most of the systems are very cost effective.

Water purification systems are a necessity not only for domestic purposes, but they are widely used in nursing homes, hospitals, and in research laboratories. All these places require pure clean water and only the very best systems are installed as there is no compromise when it comes to quality.

Water Purifiers – How Safe is the Water You Drink?

Source: Flickr

The Latin expression ‘Aqua pura is Aqua vitae’ perhaps best expresses the value of pure water. Translated into English, it literally means ‘pure water is the water of life’.

Water is life’s mater and matrix, mother and medium. There is no life without water, but water in its raw state is not suitable for drinking. It contains numerous contaminants, which can be dangerous to human health.

But, thanks goes to Science that has invented devices to shield civilization against such aqua ailments. A water purifier is one of such devices that purify our drinking water. A water purifier is a wonderful device that converts raw water so that it tastes like nectar; therefore by this process it makes ordinary tap water perfectly suitable for drinking.

Health Benefits of a Water Purifier:

A water purifier is very beneficial for healthy living. Ordinary untreated water can contain numerous contaminants including bacteria, algae, viruses, fungi, minerals, and man-made chemical pollutants that cannot be seen with the naked eye. These contaminants are very pernicious for one’s health.

A water purifier kills these organisms and filtrates the contaminants to make the water perfectly fit for drinking. Thus water purifiers save us from numerous dangerous bacterial and viral diseases that easily spread when water becomes contaminated.

Water Purification Techniques:

Different water purifiers use different techniques of purification. The common techniques used to purify water include boiling, carbon filtering, distilling, reverse osmosis, ion exchange, electrode ionization, water conditioning and plumbo-solvency reduction.

Carbon filtering: This technique is commonly used in home water filters. Charcoal, a form of carbon with a high surface area due to its mode of preparation, adsorbs many compounds, including some toxic compounds. The water is passed through activated charcoal to remove such contaminants. Granular charcoal filtering and sub-micron solid block carbon filtering are the two types of carbon filtering systems.

Granular charcoal is not very effective for removing contaminants such as mercury, volatile organic chemicals, asbestos, pesticides, disinfections byproduct (trihalomethanes), mtbe, pcbs etc. The sub-micron solid block carbon filter is the better system that removes all of the contaminants.

Home water filters drinking water sometimes also contains silver. These small amounts of silver ions can have a bactericidal effect.

Reverse osmosis: The reverse osmosis water system is the technique in which mechanical pressure is applied to an impure solution to force pure water through a semi-permeable membrane. The process is called reverse osmosis, and is theoretically the most thorough method of large-scale water purification.

Ion exchange: Most common ion exchange systems use a zeolite resin bed and simply replace unwanted Ca2+ and Mg2+ ions with benign (soap friendly) Na+ or K+ ions. This is the common water softener. A more rigorous type of ion exchange swaps H+ ions for unwanted cations and hydroxide (OH-) ions for unwanted anions. The result is H+ + OH- → H2O. This system is recharged with hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide, respectively. The result is essentially deionized water.

Electrodeionization: It includes passing the water through a positive electrode and a negative electrode. Ion selective membranes allow the positive ions to separate from the water toward the negative electrode and the negative ions toward the positive electrode. It results in high purity de-ionized water. The water is usually passed through a reverse osmosis unit first to remove nonionic organic contaminants.

Water conditioning: This is a method of reducing the effects of hard water. Hardness salts are deposited in water systems subject to heating because the decomposition of bicarbonate ions creates carbonate ions that crystallize out of the saturated solution of calcium or magnesium carbonate. Water with high concentrations of hardness salts can be treated with soda ash (Sodium carbonate) that precipitates out the excess salts, through the common ion effect, as calcium carbonate of very high purity. The precipitated calcium carbonate is traditionally sold to the manufacturers of toothpaste.

Plumbo-solvency reduction: In areas with naturally acidic waters of low conductivity (i.e. surface rainfall in upland mountains of igneous rocks), the water is capable of dissolving lead from any lead pipes that it is carried in. The addition of small quantities of phosphate ion and increasing the pH slightly both assist in greatly reducing plumbo-solvency by creating insoluble lead salts on the inner surfaces of the pipes.

The Benefits Of Desalination Systems

Source: Flickr

Water provides so many benefits to people’s lives and to the various things they use in their home, at work or in their businesses. However, it’s not always that we get pure, clean water for personal, commercial or industrial use. And this is the reason why we have today water makers such marine water makers, water purification and commercial sea water desalination systems to help us enjoy clean and potable water in our daily lives.

At home, people normally use the portable water purifiers or water makers. This is an important device especially for families with babies who are very particular about the water they drink every day. Purified drinking water can be achieved in three levels depending on the consumers’ needs. Minimally purified water makes use of a carbon filter, partially purified water utilizes the reverse osmosis system while steam distillation along with carbon pre-filtration is done to achieve a completely purified water. It is important to note, though, that the type of water purifier a family needs may depend on the area they live in as water sources also vary from one location to another.

Marine water makers, on the other hand, are vital to boats and other sea vessels. This device utilizes a desalination system or the reverse osmosis desalinator which allows sea water to be free from salt and other minerals for use when the boats are running. This is not very costly to use and in fact can save time and money.

Desalinators on board benefits boat owners in several ways. First, they provide natural water that makes cleaning boats hassle free and leaves their boat spotless thereby protecting the rigging and hull. Secondly, with marine water makers, the boat owner doesn’t need to buy purified water so it saves him money. Thirdly, with a desalinator on board the boat, there’s no need to store gallons of water which may only put on much weight on the vessel and increase fuel consumption. Finally, fresh and potable water can readily be available on board for use in cooking, washing the dishes, ice making, bathing or doing the laundry.

Water makers have the reverse osmosis method as their common factor in purifying water. The reverse osmosis system dates back 50 years ago and was originally developed to produce clean water for industrial use. By theory, it is considered the most extensive way to purify huge amounts of water. It is often used in residential and commercial water filtration.

A reverse osmosis desalinator removes the salt from seawater to make is safe to drink. Its purification process entails high mechanical pressure to force the water through a semi-permeable membrane which rids the water of algae and other minerals. The membrane used here is quite advanced as it can actually extract pure water from salty borewater, seawater and even recycled water. In other words, when water passes through the membrane at high pressure, only the water molecules go through it and no other substances. So this only means that with a reverse osmosis desalinator, people can have all the fresh water they need.

Forward thinking with Reverse Osmosis

Reverse Osmosis is a system of filtration that is highly effective at removing even the smallest particles from a liquid. It is also known as Hyperfiltration. The Reverse Osmosis process can remove particles as small as a dissolved individual ion. The most popular use for this process is in the purification of water for human consumption.

Reverse Osmosis uses a semi-permeable membrane that allows the water to pass through it, while ensuring that contaminants do not. Reverse Osmosis systems have come a long way in recent years, and many people have installed them in their homes to ensure that their family is drinking clean, pure, healthy water.

Many families are rightly concerned about the quality of water they are consuming. As evidenced by various stories in the press, people cannot always be sure that their tap water is clean and free from contaminants. One of the best ways to ensure that your family has clean drinking water is to take matters into your own hands and invest in a Reverse Osmosis system. There is no other commercial system available that is as effective as Reverse Osmosis.

While a Reverse Osmosis system does effectively clean water, it does not disinfect it. The membrane that is used for filtration can and will remove biological contaminants, but it should not be relied upon solely to treat contaminated water for human consumption. If you are concerned about biological contaminants, you could always add an ultraviolet light to your water system. Intense ultraviolet light systems will destroy biological contaminants before they reach your RO system, therefore ensuring only the best possible drinking water.

Reverse Osmosis systems effectively remove dozens of contaminants from water, including chlorine, benzene, chloroform, barium, and countless others. These systems essentially strip water down to its most basic form. We installed one in our home a few years ago. A manufacturing plant on the edge of town contaminated the local water supply and, although we were not affected, it served as a much needed wake-up call. Within days, we had a Reverse Osmosis water treatment system installed. We added the UV light system a month later, when we learned some more about it. Clean water is essential for health and survival. Contaminated water can kill you. Do you really have a choice in the matter? Think smart. Plan ahead.