Any one notice that we have not yet had much rain this spring. We had loads of snow, but really very little rain. The snow is gone and the temperature is going up and down. Without a good rain to wash the decaying organic matter (read mostly leaves here) into the Sound, there will not be a spring algae bloom. the bloom is a bringer of life as many of the plankton eating fish come to feast, spawn and move on, The fish eggs, babies and grown-ups make food for other fish.
The question is, Are we going to have our cycle or not?
I bring this up because there are many things that may affect fish populations and weather is definitely one of them.
Catching winter flounder has been now restricted. This is rather ironic because the gentleman who I call the Patron Saint of Long Island Sound (1, 2, 3 and 4)tried to get winter flounder on the endangered species list a few years back and now it is. They told him was not ever going to happen, they were not endangered. Someone was wrong and it was not him.
I wait with "baited" breath (pun intended).
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Ticks
I promise to finish my "treatment series" in the next post. There is only one or two more things to discuss, but my "adventure" and all the consequences of recovering have left me a bit slow in posting here. However as the temperatures warm up here in Connecticut, the ticks are becoming active. Usually the first batch of ticks waking up from their winter nap are almost 50% infected. Either people are not bringing in those ticks or things changed this winter because we have not had a positive test result out of a number submitted.
We have some complications with testing - the reliable CT agricultural station is still that, reliable, but sending tick there will take several weeks for results. The good news is that they only test ticks which have fed and therefore can transmit Lyme disease. They will not test unengorged ticks.
The Ct Vet Lab has upped prices and required prepayment, so we can't handle them except for special request. They have also added tests for Babesia and Ehrlichiosis. They do have rates that discount if you want all 3 and they will take 5 business days, once they receive the tick.
I do NOT recommending testing ticks as a diagnostic tool, symptoms are a much better indicator, but I recognize that not all doctors follow the CDC guidelines for tick bites and Lyme symptoms.
The following is a general recommendation based on what people who have symptoms have told me.
I want everyone to know I am not an expert on Lyme disease, I can only pass on what others have experienced or discovered.
For those having symptoms and doctors unwilling to treat with out positive tick results, I would refer them to the CDC website with disease and treatment recommendations.
For those who have had the misfortune of having Lyme disease without the benefit of finding a tick bite or a doctor (usually in the past) who would not diagnose or treat, the CDC website will not help. There is lots of information out there, some of it correct, some hype, some confusing.
My own interpretation my not be completely correct, but it fits most of the issues and the people who have followed this (not from my recommendation, I created it from what worked for them) seem to have come out of the long term Lyme syndrome.
Sadly. even the best tests have a time window in which they work. Blood tests do not always tell the story.
1) 3 weeks of antibiotics is enough to kill the organism, but if it has been in your system for more than 3 months untreated, you will still have an immune response and symptoms.
- why i say this is that the organism is similar to syphilis, treating it stops the organism, but you are going to have positive markers for life.
2) Stress, other illnesses, weight loss will make you go through it all over again.
- this releases the markers into your system and no Lyme test in the world will show it.
3) Homeopathic persons and nutritionists can help.
- Some maybe quacks, just like there are good MDs and not so good MDs, find someone who works with you.
4) You are not going to die.
-too many people have been told so much nonsense, they believe they are going to die because of it. You will get better.
5) Make sure you do not get re-infected!
-the ticks are out there, hungry.
My final statement refers to a New England Journal of Health Article on long term Lyme disease and suggests that there maybe another cause. Check my previous post.
We have some complications with testing - the reliable CT agricultural station is still that, reliable, but sending tick there will take several weeks for results. The good news is that they only test ticks which have fed and therefore can transmit Lyme disease. They will not test unengorged ticks.
The Ct Vet Lab has upped prices and required prepayment, so we can't handle them except for special request. They have also added tests for Babesia and Ehrlichiosis. They do have rates that discount if you want all 3 and they will take 5 business days, once they receive the tick.
I do NOT recommending testing ticks as a diagnostic tool, symptoms are a much better indicator, but I recognize that not all doctors follow the CDC guidelines for tick bites and Lyme symptoms.
The following is a general recommendation based on what people who have symptoms have told me.
I want everyone to know I am not an expert on Lyme disease, I can only pass on what others have experienced or discovered.
For those having symptoms and doctors unwilling to treat with out positive tick results, I would refer them to the CDC website with disease and treatment recommendations.
For those who have had the misfortune of having Lyme disease without the benefit of finding a tick bite or a doctor (usually in the past) who would not diagnose or treat, the CDC website will not help. There is lots of information out there, some of it correct, some hype, some confusing.
My own interpretation my not be completely correct, but it fits most of the issues and the people who have followed this (not from my recommendation, I created it from what worked for them) seem to have come out of the long term Lyme syndrome.
Sadly. even the best tests have a time window in which they work. Blood tests do not always tell the story.
1) 3 weeks of antibiotics is enough to kill the organism, but if it has been in your system for more than 3 months untreated, you will still have an immune response and symptoms.
- why i say this is that the organism is similar to syphilis, treating it stops the organism, but you are going to have positive markers for life.
2) Stress, other illnesses, weight loss will make you go through it all over again.
- this releases the markers into your system and no Lyme test in the world will show it.
3) Homeopathic persons and nutritionists can help.
- Some maybe quacks, just like there are good MDs and not so good MDs, find someone who works with you.
4) You are not going to die.
-too many people have been told so much nonsense, they believe they are going to die because of it. You will get better.
5) Make sure you do not get re-infected!
-the ticks are out there, hungry.
My final statement refers to a New England Journal of Health Article on long term Lyme disease and suggests that there maybe another cause. Check my previous post.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
So Your Going To buy a House? Treatment Units:filters
But wait there is more! I know I have not finished this in a timely manner, but I have been going back to work where my expertise is much in need. In two part time weeks I think I have spent a good quarter of it on the phone explaining thing about water and ticks and etc...so with out any more ado, we go into the concept of adsorption and absorption filters.
A carbon filter is a great example of an adsorption and absorption because they collect particles on the inside of the activated carbon (gases like radon, Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) and other larger particles like pesticides. They also adsorb particles like lead and arsenic onto the surface. They are a highly recommended treatment for general safety, radon removal and even reduction of heavy metals. They will remove chlorine and its byproducts.
The issue is that you can not tell physically when they are "loaded" and can not adsorb or absorb any more, in which case they will not work. Changing the filters regularly (once every 6 months) will work, but you maybe going through extra expense. Given the content of the water, an installer should be able to tell you how long it will last and then will shave a couple of months off that to be safer.
Carbon is not the only adsorption filter, there are mangenous rock filters, working on the same concept and they will remove iron and manganese effectively. They will also back wash with water (preferably filtered water) to re generate themselves for a longer life span. these work very effectively and are recommended if you have that kind of a problem.
A carbon filter is a great example of an adsorption and absorption because they collect particles on the inside of the activated carbon (gases like radon, Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) and other larger particles like pesticides. They also adsorb particles like lead and arsenic onto the surface. They are a highly recommended treatment for general safety, radon removal and even reduction of heavy metals. They will remove chlorine and its byproducts.
The issue is that you can not tell physically when they are "loaded" and can not adsorb or absorb any more, in which case they will not work. Changing the filters regularly (once every 6 months) will work, but you maybe going through extra expense. Given the content of the water, an installer should be able to tell you how long it will last and then will shave a couple of months off that to be safer.
Carbon is not the only adsorption filter, there are mangenous rock filters, working on the same concept and they will remove iron and manganese effectively. They will also back wash with water (preferably filtered water) to re generate themselves for a longer life span. these work very effectively and are recommended if you have that kind of a problem.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
So Your Going To buy a House? Treatment Units: Mechanical removal
By mechanical removal, I do not mean some machine with has tiny tweezers to remove things out of the water, I mean filtration. Filtration can be the least expensive and most often needed type of filtration and is the only thing I would recommend even if you have no need.
A simple filter, with replaceable filter, can be used to remove particles from the water. This means sand, dirt, particulate iron and not do often particulate manganese. This is put in an accessible location and changed as needed. You can use it on water company water to remove the particles, when they clean the pipes.
These simple filters will NOT REMOVE lead, copper, radon, salt, chlorine, bacteria or hardness.
After the simple filters, you get into filters that have "micron" ratings. The most common is a .5 micron and that will remove a lot of items, but I have to keep in mind that when I test for coliform bacteria, I use a .45 micron filter to "catch" the bacteria so I can enumerate them. ).5 is bigger than 0.45 and will not catch as much and if I want to catch all the bacteria (or most of it), I would use a 0.2 micron filter (still smaller). So be careful of hype, 99 % removal is not enough!
Some carbon filters are also used and rate as particle filters and have an added benefit of taking out chlorine and nasty organic contaminants. You will see carbon filters rated for removing lead and they will remove some, but most lead is dissolved, not particulate and the get it out you really either need to redo the plumbing or get the next level of filter.
The next level of filter is a reverse osmosis and it basically lets water molecules pass and not much else. The main issue is that home versions only produce about 5 gallons of water a day, so are good for drinking and cooking only. And if there are significant particulate or dissolved metals, require pretreatment so they do not get fouled quickly.
This is actually true of all particle filters (but much more expensive for an RO unit) and so have some limits. An RO unit (reverse Osmosis will take out everything, including viruses, chlorides and sodium and will not add anything back.
RO units have massive use for treating municipal waste for reuse as drinking water (Orange County in California) with good effect, but theinitial cost of such units make home use prohibitive.
I will try to finish the treatment postings soon.
A simple filter, with replaceable filter, can be used to remove particles from the water. This means sand, dirt, particulate iron and not do often particulate manganese. This is put in an accessible location and changed as needed. You can use it on water company water to remove the particles, when they clean the pipes.
These simple filters will NOT REMOVE lead, copper, radon, salt, chlorine, bacteria or hardness.
After the simple filters, you get into filters that have "micron" ratings. The most common is a .5 micron and that will remove a lot of items, but I have to keep in mind that when I test for coliform bacteria, I use a .45 micron filter to "catch" the bacteria so I can enumerate them. ).5 is bigger than 0.45 and will not catch as much and if I want to catch all the bacteria (or most of it), I would use a 0.2 micron filter (still smaller). So be careful of hype, 99 % removal is not enough!
Some carbon filters are also used and rate as particle filters and have an added benefit of taking out chlorine and nasty organic contaminants. You will see carbon filters rated for removing lead and they will remove some, but most lead is dissolved, not particulate and the get it out you really either need to redo the plumbing or get the next level of filter.
The next level of filter is a reverse osmosis and it basically lets water molecules pass and not much else. The main issue is that home versions only produce about 5 gallons of water a day, so are good for drinking and cooking only. And if there are significant particulate or dissolved metals, require pretreatment so they do not get fouled quickly.
This is actually true of all particle filters (but much more expensive for an RO unit) and so have some limits. An RO unit (reverse Osmosis will take out everything, including viruses, chlorides and sodium and will not add anything back.
RO units have massive use for treating municipal waste for reuse as drinking water (Orange County in California) with good effect, but theinitial cost of such units make home use prohibitive.
I will try to finish the treatment postings soon.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
So Your Going To buy a House? Treatment Units Neutralizers
What do you need? Why?
When approaching the issue of treatment, I find the second question the most important. So many people have an interesting response when I ask why they have the treatment unit they do. It usually goes along the lines of, "someone told me I needed it." or "it was there." or "just in case." The number of educated consumers of treatment units is minimal. A number of years ago there was a company (no longer operating in Connecticut because Consumer protection chased them out) who would scare a home owner because of all the potential problems they might have and sell them a unit that this company made that had no chance of fixing the problems that were true to that well. The reality, most well water is very good and healthy.
Okay so lets deal with the most prevalent issue, aggressive water. You might get a hint that you have this problem if you see blue-green staining in the white porcelain fixtures. If you do not notice that, you will notice when your water pipes develop small pinhole leaks and plumbers have to be called. Treatment depends on the water quality and if the water is the cause. The pH is one issue and levels below 6.4 (7 is neutral) might be an issue. I say might because if your water hardness is about 150 mg/L, the calcium will coat the pipes and prevent the acid from hurting them. So figuring out the aggressive index of the water is important. The simplest treatment is a calcium carbonate bed (marble chips) and it will raise the pH modestly and add hardness to the water, all very good. Sometimes this does not do the trick or is not applicable because either the pH is below 6 and/or there is a significant amount of hardness in the water already. In this case a feeder pump must be installed to sodium or potassium hydroxide. Those substances are dangerous and so the water should be monitored.
If the water is not the problem for the blue staining, you will need to call an electrician who knows what electrolysis is. This can be an expensive proposition, but the fix is usually fairly simple, ground the copper pipes.
Again, the first step is have your water tested by a state certified lab, then go on with it.
When approaching the issue of treatment, I find the second question the most important. So many people have an interesting response when I ask why they have the treatment unit they do. It usually goes along the lines of, "someone told me I needed it." or "it was there." or "just in case." The number of educated consumers of treatment units is minimal. A number of years ago there was a company (no longer operating in Connecticut because Consumer protection chased them out) who would scare a home owner because of all the potential problems they might have and sell them a unit that this company made that had no chance of fixing the problems that were true to that well. The reality, most well water is very good and healthy.
Okay so lets deal with the most prevalent issue, aggressive water. You might get a hint that you have this problem if you see blue-green staining in the white porcelain fixtures. If you do not notice that, you will notice when your water pipes develop small pinhole leaks and plumbers have to be called. Treatment depends on the water quality and if the water is the cause. The pH is one issue and levels below 6.4 (7 is neutral) might be an issue. I say might because if your water hardness is about 150 mg/L, the calcium will coat the pipes and prevent the acid from hurting them. So figuring out the aggressive index of the water is important. The simplest treatment is a calcium carbonate bed (marble chips) and it will raise the pH modestly and add hardness to the water, all very good. Sometimes this does not do the trick or is not applicable because either the pH is below 6 and/or there is a significant amount of hardness in the water already. In this case a feeder pump must be installed to sodium or potassium hydroxide. Those substances are dangerous and so the water should be monitored.
If the water is not the problem for the blue staining, you will need to call an electrician who knows what electrolysis is. This can be an expensive proposition, but the fix is usually fairly simple, ground the copper pipes.
Again, the first step is have your water tested by a state certified lab, then go on with it.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
So you want to buy a house?...part 6-metals
Metals and the discoloration they cause! Discoloration problems are the next most prevalent problem in the well water in this area, mostly caused by deposits of iron and manganese that exist in the ground. Now iron in the water gives the water a bitter taste, but will not hurt you and unfortunately is not in a form the body can readily use either,. So irons big issue is that it can cause an orange-brown discoloration that most people will see in a 'clean' toilet bowl. There is also a bacteria which helps the iron look particularly ugly called appropriately enough an iron bacteria. This bacteria does not like humans and will never hurt us, but if it grows without oxygen present (called anaerobic and a condition not uncommon in wells), it will produce a nasty odor (Hydrogen Sulfide) that will make your water very unpleasant. Unfortunately, very few labs will test for this bacteria (The Stamford Health Department Lab does, it was my first introduction to the bacteria world in 1974) and its presence will create havoc on many treatment devices. Most of the time though, this bacteria will thrive in the back of a toilet bowl and will turn the bowl inside rust colored. The good news is that a cup of bleach every week will kill the bacteria and keep the discoloration out of the system. Most worrisome levels of iron are easily seen when you turn on the faucet, but a few have not been oxidized and will not be so apparent.
You notice that I did not talk about manganese with iron even though a low levels it is exactly the same as iron except it stains black-brown. Iron bacteria love it, it imparts a bitter taste to the water, is a stainer, at low levels is not dangerous and even healthful, but at high levels there is a real problem.
This issue was first found in a well water supply in a Japanese village that had been tainted by an industrial source of manganese and document first in 1965 (I believe). The neurological problems have been likened to mercury poisoning and are significant. The original document that I read (not the one I found and sited from the web and talked of levels of 30 mg/L in the water), talked of adults being affected primarily because manganese is essential in growing muscle and that is what growing children do best. Still, Connecticut has a maximum contaminant level of 0.5 mg/L in well water and levels above that should be treated.
Copper is still a different issue because there is very little native copper in the soil and that means any copper in the water is coming from the household plumbing. Copper will stain fixtures at very low, non-toxic levels a bright blue, blue-green or yellow-orange depending on the form it is found. It is considered toxic at levels over 1.3 mg/L.
Arsenic is a significant issue that we are just now coming to grips with. There is an EPA standard (0.01 mg/L) and it is considered a carcinogen. This was actually based on a tragedy that occurred in Bangladesh where wells were drilled to helped residents escape the terror of bacterial polluted water. The ground had significant natural levels of arsenic. It was used as a pesticide for apple orchards, as a wood preservative in pressure treated wood in the United States and there have been wells tested with levels over the USEPA action limit.
The Greenwich Health Department Lab is able to test for arsenic.
Lead is an issue only for older home (before 1977) with either lead solder (most common) or lead pipes (rare). It is a significant toxin for children under the age of 6 and will make the water taste 'sweet'. It is not common to find elevated levels in water in this area in wells, but can occur. It is also not common in water company water, but some homes in the late 1960's and 1970's have been found with elevated levels.
On the whole, serious problems from metals in well water are rare, but do exist. The more common issue is simple discoloration.
If a lab is certified to do metals, there are no testing issues.
I hope my next installment will deal with treatment issues.
You notice that I did not talk about manganese with iron even though a low levels it is exactly the same as iron except it stains black-brown. Iron bacteria love it, it imparts a bitter taste to the water, is a stainer, at low levels is not dangerous and even healthful, but at high levels there is a real problem.
This issue was first found in a well water supply in a Japanese village that had been tainted by an industrial source of manganese and document first in 1965 (I believe). The neurological problems have been likened to mercury poisoning and are significant. The original document that I read (not the one I found and sited from the web and talked of levels of 30 mg/L in the water), talked of adults being affected primarily because manganese is essential in growing muscle and that is what growing children do best. Still, Connecticut has a maximum contaminant level of 0.5 mg/L in well water and levels above that should be treated.
Copper is still a different issue because there is very little native copper in the soil and that means any copper in the water is coming from the household plumbing. Copper will stain fixtures at very low, non-toxic levels a bright blue, blue-green or yellow-orange depending on the form it is found. It is considered toxic at levels over 1.3 mg/L.
Arsenic is a significant issue that we are just now coming to grips with. There is an EPA standard (0.01 mg/L) and it is considered a carcinogen. This was actually based on a tragedy that occurred in Bangladesh where wells were drilled to helped residents escape the terror of bacterial polluted water. The ground had significant natural levels of arsenic. It was used as a pesticide for apple orchards, as a wood preservative in pressure treated wood in the United States and there have been wells tested with levels over the USEPA action limit.
The Greenwich Health Department Lab is able to test for arsenic.
Lead is an issue only for older home (before 1977) with either lead solder (most common) or lead pipes (rare). It is a significant toxin for children under the age of 6 and will make the water taste 'sweet'. It is not common to find elevated levels in water in this area in wells, but can occur. It is also not common in water company water, but some homes in the late 1960's and 1970's have been found with elevated levels.
On the whole, serious problems from metals in well water are rare, but do exist. The more common issue is simple discoloration.
If a lab is certified to do metals, there are no testing issues.
I hope my next installment will deal with treatment issues.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
So you want to buy a house?...part 5-acidity
Last installment I talked about well water and a non-issue issue (water hardness), so what is the major issue facing home owners with well water? Acidity of the water, pH primarily, but there is a lot more to it and that is why I write.
First, the prevalence of acid water is close to 50% in this area, but the main issue with acid water is its aggressiveness to the water pipes in the home and that runs only about 33%. A neutral pH is 7.0 and the average in the area tends to 6.6 (the lower the number, the more acid).
So acid water in of itself is not a health concern, we drink coffee and soda and many other things which are significantly more acid, but because it flows through copper piping, it can corrode the piping, creating pinhole leaks over time and increasing the level of copper to above levels that affect health.
The good news is most acid water conditions do not bring copper to that level and amounts of copper below 1.3 mg/L (milligrams per liter, which is about a quart) are not bad for you (you are suppose to get 1.0 mg per day).
Next, testing for pH is both easy (you stick a calibrated pH probe and measure) and problematic.
Why problematic? One of the main components of acidity in well water is carbon dioxide, a gas and it comes out of the water easily, even in a closed container. The recommended testing time is within 15 minutes. Now that presents a serious problem for most home inspectors who have contracts with labs in Danbury or even Norwalk, there is no way they can get the sample to the lab in that time period and many batch their inspections and bring the samples late, putting them in a holding refridgerator at the lab so they can be tested in the morning. The value of the pH goes to neutral over time. So many pH values are not reported correctly.
The actual problems an acid pH will cause is a combination of many factors, alkalinity (measure of Carbonate), Calcium, chloride and other disolved solids. Some labs will do a TDS (total dissolved solids) with the pH to calculate the corrossivity of the water, others will do an alkalinity and calcium hardness with pH to do the same. The corrossivity calculation will show if the water has the potential to cause problems for your water piping and that is the most important issue, otherwise the number for pH is meaningless.
There are other factors which will cause pipes to corrode that are not related to the water quality at all and that has to do wqith electrolysis due to poor or improper grounding of the home electrical system. This will almost always bring the copper measurements in the water to unhealthy levels, but correction can only be found using an electrician who understands the word (many do not).
My next installment will be on other metals which may cause various problems.
First, the prevalence of acid water is close to 50% in this area, but the main issue with acid water is its aggressiveness to the water pipes in the home and that runs only about 33%. A neutral pH is 7.0 and the average in the area tends to 6.6 (the lower the number, the more acid).
So acid water in of itself is not a health concern, we drink coffee and soda and many other things which are significantly more acid, but because it flows through copper piping, it can corrode the piping, creating pinhole leaks over time and increasing the level of copper to above levels that affect health.
The good news is most acid water conditions do not bring copper to that level and amounts of copper below 1.3 mg/L (milligrams per liter, which is about a quart) are not bad for you (you are suppose to get 1.0 mg per day).
Next, testing for pH is both easy (you stick a calibrated pH probe and measure) and problematic.
Why problematic? One of the main components of acidity in well water is carbon dioxide, a gas and it comes out of the water easily, even in a closed container. The recommended testing time is within 15 minutes. Now that presents a serious problem for most home inspectors who have contracts with labs in Danbury or even Norwalk, there is no way they can get the sample to the lab in that time period and many batch their inspections and bring the samples late, putting them in a holding refridgerator at the lab so they can be tested in the morning. The value of the pH goes to neutral over time. So many pH values are not reported correctly.
The actual problems an acid pH will cause is a combination of many factors, alkalinity (measure of Carbonate), Calcium, chloride and other disolved solids. Some labs will do a TDS (total dissolved solids) with the pH to calculate the corrossivity of the water, others will do an alkalinity and calcium hardness with pH to do the same. The corrossivity calculation will show if the water has the potential to cause problems for your water piping and that is the most important issue, otherwise the number for pH is meaningless.
There are other factors which will cause pipes to corrode that are not related to the water quality at all and that has to do wqith electrolysis due to poor or improper grounding of the home electrical system. This will almost always bring the copper measurements in the water to unhealthy levels, but correction can only be found using an electrician who understands the word (many do not).
My next installment will be on other metals which may cause various problems.
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