Water Filter Blog

World Initiative for Clean Water and Toilets for All by 2015

There are a few natural resources that are obviously vital to our survival. These vital resources at the most basic level include food, water, and air. Air is the direst being that humans can only approximately 3-6 minutes. The longest thing we can go without is food and it is estimated that we can survive without eating something for 3 weeks. Water is in the middle and it is estimated we can survive 3 days without it.

As we all know we are far from “clean drinking water equality” and there are many regions of our planet. World leaders, a few years back signed a pledge of clean water and toilets for all by 2015. Here are a few facts about the current state of clean water access for people.

- In Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, nearly 1 billion people in rural areas have no access to improved water supplies.
- Polluted water is estimated to affect the health of more than 1.2 billion people, and to contribute to the death of an average 15 million children every year.
- In 1994, WHO estimated the number of people without access to clean drinking water at 1.3 billion. By 2000, nearly 1.2 billion people lacked access to clean water, while 2.4 billion lacked access to adequate sanitation services.
- To achieve 2015 sanitation targets in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, an additional 2.2 billion people will have to be provided with sanitation facilities.

Below is a video from wateraid.org using a cleave method to make others think about this global issue and get involved.


There are small steps that are being made with the use of charitable donations and a emerging water filter technology. Ceramic water filters have proven equally effective, and the choice must be made on other factors which include, for example, effectiveness, availability of materials, costs, ease of transportation, longevity, and preferences of the beneficiaries.

If interested in helping in this global initiative, below are a few organizations that are dedicated to helping solve this possible looming world crisis.
http://watercharity.org
http://www.wateraid.org

Japan Tsunami Disaster Relief – FreshWaterSystems.com

We at Fresh Water Systems are deeply saddened over the events of the Earth Quake and subsequent Tsunami in Japan. If you are interested donating to relief efforts, getting alerts, health information, and more visit Google Crisis Response Japan. Not only are the people of Japan dealing with catastrophic damage, homes destroyed, millions without power, clean drinking water, and now the threat of several nuclear power plants experiencing a meltdown. This crisis has spread worldwide and created a panic where people are purchasing iodine pills and personal Geiger counter and radiation meters.

Below are a few additional resources that offer information about donating, news, and a dramatic before and after the tsunami satellite images of Japan.

• Google Crisis Response
• Red Corss
• Unicef
• CNN Interactive Before and After Images

Green Water That Doesn’t Need to be Filtered

From FreshWaterSystems.com, Why is the Chicago River Green for St Patrick’s Day?

Would you jump into a pond or lake if the water was green? Would you drink water from your water faucet if it were green? Well people not only swimming, playing, but are flocking from miles around to see the Green river. Over the last 40 + years this tradition has taken place in Chicago where is holds it’s annually St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

In 1961 a Chicago plumber was wearing a pair of overalls that were stained almost a perfect Irish Green color. The plumbing business owner, who by the way was a bit obsessive about being clean, asked his employee how his uniform way dirty with green stains. When the employee was questioned about where he has been, he responded that he was out in the field trying to trace a disconnected water waste line was located. In order to find the line the plumber poured green dye into the water system and was checking the river’s edge to see where the source of the leak might be.

For some of us who think that this might have been causing pollution to the river, you are right. After the first few years environmental groups raised the issue that the oil based die could be harmful to the rivers ecology. To keep the tradition alive, Stephen M. Bailey the inventor of the green river idea, experimented with several new dyes to settle on a vegetable dye that was truly green (as in eco-friendly). See more about the history of the dying of the Chicago Green for St. Patrick’s Day.

The river and all that water colored green is really a sight to behold, but it is not something you would want to see coming out of open a faucet for your drinking water. Green water, when not dyed, is more than likely inundated with algae growth. Typically the factors that contribute to algae growth in water is excess sun light, phosphates, and nitrates. In many cases people who use surface water can experience issues with algae growth. Here are a few algae water filter tips with you are dealing with excessive algae growth.

1. Spin Down Filter: A Rusco sediment trapper filter can be used as a pretreatment before water entering your whole house filter.
2. Pleated Water filter Cartridge: Harmsco pleated polyester filter cartridges, which outperform conventional cartridges by lowering filtration costs, Increased dirt holding capacity, and no additives or binders, which may cause foaming
3. Is your filter housing Clear? Algae need sunlight to grow. If you are using clear filter housing and it is exposed to light this might be part of the issue. A suggestion to correct this is to use opaque filter housing such as Pentek Big Blue Filter housing.

Now that what cause water to be green, let’s look at some “Green” Eco-friendly water filters and filtration systems.

• UltraFiltration Systems: With an Ultrafiltration water filter system there is no waste water, no holding tank, and it reduces many of the same contaminates a RO system does. Learn more about how UF drinking water filtration systems work, or see the NEO Pure TL3 system.
• Swift Green Filters: What makes Swift “Green” is in the filter media and materials used during their manufacturing process. From the coconut carbon filter media to the recyclable packaging, learn why using a green replacement refrigerator water filter does not have to cost more.
• UV Water Purification: Ultraviolet (UV) water disinfection technology is more effective than chemicals in destroying certain waterborne contaminants without altering the taste of water. Unlike other water purification types that often use chemicals to disinfect drinking water there are No by-products with the use of UV which is safe and chemical free. Plus, UV water system does not alter water chemistry and its constituents, such as pH, taste, odor, or color. See and learn more about UV Water Filter Systems

Happy St. Patrick’s Day from the leader in water filters and water filtration systems, FreshWaterSystems.com

A $1000 Water Bill? Residents of Several Large Cities See Huge Spike in Water Bill

Somewhere along the line, most of us have been told about the scarcity of water. Even early in schools we are taught the basic principles that although our planet is 70% water only, 2.5% fresh water, and only 1% of the Earth’s total water content is useable for humans. Those numbers in of themselves is enough to understand that 6 billion people and growing there is just not enough to sustain its demand.

Is it possible to think fresh water would be worth its weight in gold? One day the possibility is there to have a home water bill of a $1000 per month, but not in 2011 right? Well the residents of Atlanta GA., Cleveland OH., Charlotte NC., and other cities across the United States are being sent bills in excess of $1000. CNN.com has posted a story on their website that discusses the issue and why this is happing. Below are excerpts from their story, and the full story can be seen online here http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/03/01/water.bills.war/index.html?hpt=C1

Residents throughout Atlanta are outraged by hundreds, even thousands of dollars in monthly spikes in their water bills, and have questioned the legitimacy of the charges for years. Now, they're demanding answers. A woman in Atlanta was not only shocked when she got her bill but immediately created concern for her that she had a major water leak that could cause major damage to the foundation of her home. Her monthly water bill was averaging $200 to $250 per month and then last summer skyrocketed to $1800 for July and $1084 for August. The problem did not stop with residents of Atlanta but bussiness too have had issues. Operators of Lenox Square Mall and Phipps Plaza, two large shopping malls, complained about water billings "nearly $300,000 over last year for this same period of time," according to another e-mail obtained by CNN.com

While similar complaints about huge water bill spikes have popped up in Cleveland, Ohio; Charlotte, North Carolina; Tampa, Florida; and Brockton, Massachusetts; it appears that the issue has lasted the longest in Atlanta, but if you want to see how your city ranks see the CNN story to see how the top 50 US cities rank.

Most people in these areas started noticing problems with their water bills after the installation of new, automated water meters. The new metering systems began being installed about five years ago, and involved contracts for meter installations, the electronic meters and software equipment. This automated water meter-reading systems eliminates the need for city workers to manually check every meter. Instead, they retrieve the data by driving by each property, and then the water meter electronically transmits data to their car showing the amount of water used. From the beginning, there were problems reported with the use of these new meter systems. In 2007, city auditors found they were "unable to verify electronic meter readings" because of "meter read errors, equipment failures or human errors." Specifically, the audit said "about 9% of the meters could not be read due to broken or malfunctioning equipment."



There are several things that you can do if you feel this is an issue for your home or business. The first is to contact your local water authority and let them know that you suspect there is an issue with your bill. In most cases the city will install another device to track daily use of water while you dispute the charges on your bill. Not in all cases the problem is a malfunctioning meter there could be a leak also. You can install a leak detector. Here is a good resource that can assist you in how to determine and where to look to see if there is a leak present in your home or business http://www.wikihow.com/Find-a-Water-Leak-in-Your-House .

FreshWaterSystems.com encourages you to keep water conservation in mind, and to make sure you are checking your water bill, it’s not on auto pay, to ensure you are not being over charged and your home or business does not have a water leak.