Premier Water Blog » Reverse Osmosis

Biaggi’s – Maple Grove, MN gets Pure Water!

admin — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 18:22:14 +0000

Pureoflow has been building a reputation of excellence in the restaurant industry. By providing the highest quality water, Pureoflow is able to not only improve the quality of beverages and ice, but also significantly reduce a restaurant’s water quality related expenses (an average of $415 per month.)

Biaggi's Pureoflow system

Ecolab has a proven track record as the market leader in restaurant chemical supplies like soaps and rinse aids. In Maple Grove, MN they had a problem – no matter how “soft” the water was, they simply could not help Biaggi’s Restaurant achieve the glassware quality they wanted. The problem was not hard water, but Total Dissolved Solids or “TDS”.

There are 1000′s of contaminants that contribute to the TDS level, many of which are in the form of a salt or a metal. 0ppm would indicate “pure water”. 100ppm is the limit for clear ice cubes. Biaggi’s TDS was 565ppm! Their water was soft, the softener was working, but their water was a real problem!

Pureoflow worked closely with Ecolab to help them with Biaggi’s water. Ecolab provided over a dozen water meters throughout the restaurant to precisely measure water use by each faucet, dishwasher, icemaker, coffee maker, etc. Once the data was collected, Pureoflow designed a system that would meet Biaggi’s tight space requirements while providing the volume of water needed.

Crystal clear ice cubes!

The Pureoflow system uses a combination of filters and a patented GE membrane technology that provides salt-free softening and purification. All system components are secured in a tamper-proof locking cabinet. This single system replaced a water softener, and dozens of filters throughout the restaurant.

Biaggi’s high TDS level was reduced to a very manageable 40ppm. Glassware is crystal-clear, the ice looks like diamonds, and their coffee and beverages taste amazing!

Premier Water, Pureoflow, and Ecolab will continue to work together to improve the restaurant industry in the Twin Cities. Customers get a better dining experience, restaurants reduce their costs, and less salt and filters end up in the environment! Learn more about the Pureoflow system!

Premier Water Case Study: Grace Lutheran Church in Deephaven, MN saves money with clean water

admin — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 20:49:33 +0000

Grace Lutheran Church in Deephaven, MN had been fighting with their well water for years. The old mechanical Fleck 2750 water softener used 1,000’s of pounds of salt each year, and did a poor job of removing the iron from the water. Every toilet in the church was orange, and the entire kitchen would smell like rotten eggs when there was heavy water usage.

Bottled Water Cooler

The poor water quality prompted Grace to install multiple bottled water coolers for drinking water and coffee, but that ended up costing the church over $1,600 each year.

5 gallon water bottles

In addition to cost, Grace had problems with storage space and microbial growth inside the water coolers. Several coolers required constant disinfection to eliminate the swampy, musty smell and taste that kept returning. The 5 gallon bottles would routinely pile up and were hard to store conveniently.

After reviewing the different options, Grace Lutheran decided to completely overhaul their water system. Premier Water was chosen as a local company with expertise in problem-water applications.

The new water system was completed in 4 phases:

Remove and recycle the old water softener
Design and install an iron filtration system to remove the iron and odor
Install a high efficiency water softener to treat the hard water
Return the rental coolers and bottles to their owner
Install several reverse osmosis purification systems that would supply pure water to bottle-less water coolers throughout the Church

New Iron Filter System

Hellenbrand H125 Iron Curtain System
We started with a dedicated 2-stage iron filtration system as it would solve a majority of the water problems. In Step 1, water is sprayed through a compressed pocket of air inside a large pressurized aeration vessel. As the water and air mix, the iron molecules and hydrogen sulfide gas precipitate out of the water. In Step 2, a large filter vessel is used to capture those precipitated molecules and periodically flush them away. The unique design of the filter vessel uses 30% less water to clean and gives 40% better filtration than other filters on the market.

Hellenbrand H125 Water Softener
Step 3 of our new water system used the Hellenbrand H125 light commercial water system to remove hard water scale from the now iron-free water. By removing the iron first, we were able to use 37.5% less salt. The new system regenerates on a metered/on-demand schedule and uses variable reserve technology that precisely adjusts to changing water use. The previous system regenerated with salt and water every third day – even if no one was using water! With the Hellenbrand iron filter and high efficiency softener, we were able to reduce salt by almost 60%.

Reverse Osmosis System

Reverse Osmosis Systems and Bottle-less Water Coolers
Step 4 – provide clean drinking water. Bottled water coolers are open environments that collect debris in the air and eventually grow bacteria. Reverse osmosis systems squeeze water through small pores roughly 1000x thinner than a human hair to literally make pure water one drop at a time. Once purified, the water is held in a pressurized storage tank, and pumped to a bottle-less water cooler. The whole system is 100% sealed. The result is pure, fresh water that stays clean! In addition to better drinking water quality, operating costs were cut by 81%!

Conclusion
The system was neatly installed in two mechanical rooms, an office, a choir room, and a commercial kitchen. All iron filter and softener tanks have dedicated bypass valves and can be easily disconnected for future service/cleaning. The reverse osmosis systems were wall-mounted at eye level to make future filter changes a snap. Lastly, the bottle-less coolers are completely sealed for sanitary water storage.

Bottle-less Water Cooler

Grace Lutheran now has soft, iron-free, odor-free water throughout the church. The drinking water for the Parish and Pre-School is pure, clean, and fresh!

“The odor and rust is gone. We used to get complaints about a rotten egg smell but we don’t get those anymore. The drinking water is clean and tastes great.”
B. Hendrickson – Facilities Manager

Water Quality Before
Hardness: 20gpg*
Total Iron: 3ppm**
TDS: 375ppm***

Water Quality After
Hardness: 0.5gpg
Total Iron: 0.0ppm
TDS: 27ppm

*5gpg is the average national hardness
**0.3ppm iron is the limit before staining begins
***100ppm+ TDS decreases ice cube clarity

Click here to download this case study as a PDF

Premier Water is a Chanhassen, MN based company that provides residential and commercial water softening, filtration, and purification solutions. Capabilities range from small point-of-use systems up to high volume whole-house/whole-business applications. Please call (952) 479-4553 for more details.

Arsenic Poisons Millions in Bangladesh—US water problems too

admin — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 17:34:45 +0000

A new study found that tens of millions of people in Bangladesh have been exposed to poisonous levels of arsenic from contaminated groundwater. Millions of villagers get their water from private wells that have naturally high levels of arsenic.

The Lancet study found that as many as 77 million people, or half the population of Bangladesh, may have been exposed to toxic levels of arsenic. They followed 12,000 Bangladeshis over the course of 10 years and found more than 20% of deaths were caused by arsenic.

Chronic arsenic exposure can lead to heart disease and cancers of the liver, kidney, bladders and skin—even at relatively low levels of exposure:

Compared to those exposed to the lowest arsenic levels (less than 10 microgrammes of arsenic per litre of water), those with levels of 10-50ppb had a 34% higher risk of death.

The World Health Organization calls this “the largest mass poisoning of a population in history”. But what’s going on in Bangladesh is not unique. More than 70 countries around the world have issues with arsenic in their groundwater including the U.S.

The Minnesota Department of Health has found that 15% of private wells in Minnesota exceed 10ppb of Arsenic as shown on this map:

Minnesota Arsenic levels

Premier Water has a successful track record of removing both Arsenic III and IV with reverse osmosis drinking water systems, and Pureoflow whole-house/business purification systems. Call us at (952) 479-4553 to find out more.

Case Study: Complete Well Water System Overhaul in Deephaven, MN

admin — Wed, 05 May 2010 21:41:20 +0000

Local author and financial expert Rob Severson had typical Deephaven well water: rusty, stinky, and hard. He had rented a water softener for years, and it kind of worked. They still fought rust stains, cringed at the odor, and they had to buy bottled water. They were ready for an upgrade.

“I was in the middle of a kitchen remodel and didn’t want my new appliances to get destroyed like the old ones. We had constant rust problems that were affecting our home and my wife’s hair too.”

Rob contacted Premier Water to design a water treatment system to meet his needs:

Completely eliminate the iron and odor issues, not just a “partial solution
Minimal salt used by a water softener
Clean, fresh tasting water – without bottles!
Eliminate the lifelong expense of renting, bottled water delivery, and heavy salt use

Of the 3 packages we designed, Rob chose a great package using the following systems:

Hellenbrand Iron Curtain Filter

Hellenbrand H125 Iron Curtain System
We started with a dedicated 2-stage iron filtration system as it would solve a majority of the water problems. In Step 1, water is sprayed through a compressed pocket of air inside a 13”x54” pressurized aeration vessel. As the water and air mix, the iron molecules and hydrogen sulfide gas precipitate out of the water. In Step 2, a 13”x54” filter vessel is used to capture those precipitated molecules and periodically flush them away. The unique design of the filter vessel uses 30% less water to clean and gives 40% better filtration than other filters on the market.

Hellenbrand Water Softener

Hellenbrand H125 Water Softener
Step 3 of our new water system used the Hellenbrand H125 light commercial water system to remove hard water scale from the iron-free water. By removing the iron first, we were able to use 59.6% less salt. The new system regenerates on a metered/on-demand schedule and uses variable reserve technology that precisely adjusts to changing water use. The previous system regenerated with salt and water every other day – even if no one was using water! With the Hellenbrand iron filter and high efficiency softener, we were able to reduce salt by almost 80%.

Hague RO3500 Reverse Osmosis

Hague RO3500 Reverse Osmosis
Step 4 – provide clean drinking water. Private well systems operate at much lower water pressure than city water supplies. Reverse osmosis membranes become less efficient, and produce lower quality water under these circumstances. We used the 4 stage Hague RO3500 because it has an integrated non-electric, water-driven pump. This pump allowed us to overcome the pressure limitation and deliver a steady stream of pure, fresh drinking water.

Complete water system

Conclusion
The entire system was neatly installed along a wall in the basement mechanical room. All 3 iron filter and softener tanks have dedicated bypass valves and can be easily disconnected for future service/cleaning. The reverse osmosis system was wall-mounted at eye level to make future filter changes a snap.

Our client now has soft, iron-free, odor-free water throughout the entire home. The water coming through his refrigerator is pure, clean, and fresh!

“You did an excellent job setting up my system and explained everything thoroughly to me. I now give my water 5 out of 5 stars!”

Water Quality BEFORE
Hardness: 19gpg
Total Iron: 7ppm
TDS: 355ppm

Water Quality AFTER
Hardness: 0.5gpg
Total Iron: 0.0ppm
TDS: 25ppm

Click here to download this case study as a PDF

5gpg is the average national hardness
0.3ppm iron is the limit before staining begins
100ppm+ TDS decreases ice cube clarity

Plymouth Yard and Garden Expo

admin — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 14:51:11 +0000

Come see our booth at the Plymouth Yard and Garden Expo. Register to win a Reverse Osmosis system!

Bioterrorism – city water attacks for 5 cents per death

admin — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 21:02:35 +0000

The vulnerability of our city water distribution systems to disruption and contamination by potential terrorist or malicious acts has been well documented. These potential attack scenarios have the ability, if orchestrated successfully, to produce casualties on a massive scale.

Studies conducted by personnel at Hach Homeland Security Technologies, Colorado State University and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers among others have shown that attacks on drinking water supplies could be mounted for between $0.05 and $5.00 per death, using rudimentary techniques, and could amass casualties in the thousands over a period of hours.

The simplest form of attack that could inflict mass casualties would be a simple backflow contamination event. A backflow attack occurs when a pump is used to overcome the water pressure in the distribution system’s pipes. This is usually around 80psi and can be easily achieved by using pumps available for rent or purchase at most home improvement stores.

After a contaminant has been pumped in, a siphoning effects acts to pull the contaminant into the flowing system. Once the contaminant is present in the pipes, the normal movement of water in the system will spread the contaminant throughout the city water system.

The introduction point can be anywhere in the system such as a fire hydrant, commercial building or a home. See figure 1.

Fig. 1 All systems are vulnerable to backflow attack.

Backflows accidents happen on a regular basis and are of great concern to the water industry. Accidental backflow events have been found to be responsible for many incidents of water borne illness and even death in the United States. According to the USEPA, backflow events caused 57 disease outbreaks and 9734 cases of water borne disease between 1981 and 1998.

To prevent such accidental backflows many systems have been equipped with backflow prevention devices. These means of preventing backflow are very useful in preventing these common accidental events. Unfortunately, these physical devices that can be removed or disabled quite easily by a terrorist, rendering them ineffective in preventing deliberate attempts at contamination by all but the most amateurish perpetrators.

Studies conducted by the U.S. Air Force and Colorado State University have shown that a few gallons of highly toxic material, if injected at a strategic location, would contaminate an entire system supplying a population of 100,000 people in a matter of a few hours.

Using computer simulations, when a military nerve agent material was used over 20% of the population was determined to have received a dose adequate to result in death and when a common chemical was used in place of the warfare agent the result was a casualty rate of over 10%.

Thousands of deaths could result from this very inexpensive and low-tech mode of attack. There is no doubt that this form of assault meets all of the terrorist’s criteria for an attack. It would cause mass casualties, be inexpensive, and actually offer the terrorists a good chance of avoiding apprehension.

These sorts of attacks can occur from any access point to the water system. Wherever water can be drawn out, material can be forced back into the system. Some areas, however, are more vulnerable than others. Access points near high flow areas and larger pipes would be favored because they would disseminate the material to a wider area more quickly.

It should be obvious from the large number of accidental backflows that occur and the fact that terrorist organizations have shown an interest in attacking water, the distribution system is a prime candidate for such an attack.

The fact is a bona fide terrorist is virtually inundated by possible candidate substances and locations that would be very effective in such a role. The possibilities are virtually endless. Protecting against and/or detecting such an attack is difficult.

Recent breakthroughs in the online detection of contaminants have made the deployment of a cost effective early warning system capable of detecting and categorizing such events a reality. The simple truth is that these systems are not widely deployed.

This is a re-hash of an article written by Dan Kroll and Katy Craig of Hach Homeland Security Technologies.

1. Kroll,Dan. 2006. Securing Our Water Supply: Protecting a Vulnerable Resource.
PennWell Publishers. Tulsa, Oklahoma.
2. Hickman, Donald C. 1999. A chemical and biological warfare threat: USAF water systems at risk. Counter Proliferation paper No. 3. USAF Counter Proliferation Center, Air War College.
3. Kroll, Dan. 2003. Mass Casualties on a Budget. Confidential Briefing Paper. Hach HST.
4. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. n.d. Calculations on threat agents and requirements and logistics for mounting a successful backflow attack.
5. Allman, T.P. 2003. Drinking water distribution system modeling for predicting the impact and detection of intentional contamination. Master’s Thesis. Department of Civil Engineering. Colorado State University.
6. USEPA 2002. Potential Contamination Due to Cross-Connections and backflow and the Associated health risks: An Issue Paper.
7. Allman, Timothy and Kenneth Carlson. 2005. Modeling Intentional Distribution System Contamination and Detection. Journal of the American Water Works Association.
January. Note: that the executive summary of this article is still available but the full text has been pulled from the AWWA website for security reasons as it was
determined that the details could be helpful to would be terrorists.
8. EPA. Water Security and You. http://cfpub.epa.gov/safewater/watersecurity/pubs/water-security-article.pdf

Case Study: Arsenic and Iron Removal – Plus Salt-Free Softening in Shorewood, MN

admin — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 19:07:05 +0000

Well water in Shorewood, MN is known for high levels of iron, hydrogen sulfide, and water hardness. In the last few years, a surprising number of wells have tested positive for arsenic levels 3-7 times the legal limit.

Old Water System

Our client had been renting a softener and an iron filter from another company for over 10 years before we met them. Both systems were undersized and required constant service as they were not capable of handling the iron level in the water.

In late 2009, the homeowners heard rumors about high Arsenic in the Shorewood, MN area. After talking to local residents, they contacted
Premier Water to see what could be done.

We collected a water sample and had the water tested at a state certified lab. The results came back with 34.1ppb – 3.4x the legal limit for Arsenic.

“For 10 years, we had been buying organic food, and cooking it in water full of Arsenic. We couldn’t believe it. We wanted to make sure our kids could have a safe drink of water anywhere in the home.”

Why the Previous Water System Failed:

Iron Filter was too small and could not support the water flow rates this family required

Softener frequently ran out of salt

It had ZERO EFFECT on the Arsenic Levels!

New Water Treatment System

Our client wanted to start from scratch and take advantage of the new technology we had to offer. We designed a system with guaranteed iron and arsenic removal, plus salt-free softening.

The system we designed uses a 13”x54” Iron Filter that processes water roughly 7x slower than their previous system. This results in superior iron removal and initial arsenic precipitation and reduction.

We followed the iron filter with a Pureoflow Whole-House System that uses a proprietary membrane designed by GE Water & Process Technology. This membrane is actually designed to soften hard water – something that would destroy a normal membrane. The Pureoflow was successful at softening the water, reducing the TDS level, and the Arsenic levels were reduced well below the EPA limit!

“Our old rental equipment required constant service and used so much salt. We had ongoing problems with iron stains and were not confident the other company could handle Arsenic.

We love our new system – no rust, no salt, and NO ARSENIC!”

System Performance BEFORE:
Hardness: 21gpg
Total Iron: 4ppm
TDS: 261ppm
Arsenic: 34.1ppb
System Flow Rate: 5gpm

System Performance AFTER:
Hardness: 0gpg
Total Iron: 0ppm
TDS: 21ppm
Arsenic: 1.15ppb
System Flow Rate: 22gpm

5gpg is the average national hardness
0.3ppm iron is the limit before staining begins
10ppb is the legal limit for Arsenic

Click here to download this case study

Reverse Osmosis Cures Burnsville, MN Resident’s Water Problems

admin — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:02:07 +0000

There has been quite a bit of press about the poor quality of water that Burnsville residents have been dealing with.

We installed a Hague RO3500 reverse osmosis system for a client several months ago – before the water quality problems were being highly publicized.

Our clients receive a free quality control check after installation as part of our routine service. During our review our client said:

“We are only drinking the water from our system, and have not noticed the bad taste everyone else is talking about.”

The Hague RO3500 was a good choice for this application because of the special “Prolonged Contact Filter” that improves adsorption of organic matter. This filter combined with an NSF certified membrane provide a nice alternative to smelly, distasteful tap water. Read more about the Hague Reverse Osmosis System.