PLEASE NOTE - Parts of the process described below involve water and electricity. If you don't know your way around water and electricity, this posting is only a description of what a qualified professional should do to chlorinate a well. My last post described the correct way to test water for bacteria to ensure that there is no false positive readings. Now you may have had a proper bacteria test done and it shows coli-form and/or e-coli bacteria in your water. What should you do? This... Read Full Story
Recently I was called out to chlorinate a well system. The home was for sale and there had been a positive test showing coliform and ecoli in the well water. The potential buyers (city dwellers not used to wells) decided to cancel the sale because of fear of contaminated water. I asked the home sellers if they had seen the test done and they told me how the home inspector had simply turned on the kitchen tap and filled a sample bottle which he then put the lid on and stuck it in his pocket... Read Full Story
Let's be real. The only reason line dancing is popular is so that women who want to dance (who are stuck with men who won't dance) have an opportunity to dance. I hate line dancing. Not only is just a rote learning process, it also allows no room for individual style and form. When I go to a party, ready to dance the swing and hustle, waltz and foxtrot and they start playing "Cotton Eyed Joe", the "Electric Slide", and who knows what else, I leave the floor. When those line dances are... Read Full Story
Why is this such a difficult concept for home inspectors? Don't touch what you don't know about!!! A customer who is selling his home called worried when the building inspector's water test results showed problems with the water. These were the same problems that the customer had paid me several thousand dollars to fix. I could understand the customer's frustration with me, because when I spend money, I want to see results too. I visited the home and tested the water, finding no problems... Read Full Story
Today I consulted at an amazing job. It was for a water system that feeds a large home, guest house, lawn irrigation, and a barn. This was the most impressive home water system I have ever seen, consisting of two wells, a 10,000 gallon storage tank, an industrial size 300,000 grain water softener, an industrial sediment filter, an industrial 50 gallon per minute UV light, and two 300 gallon pressure tanks with industrial re-pressurization pumps. The most amazing part of the installation is... Read Full Story
Can everybody dance? Just about. I help my dance instructor out occasionally. As a man, I am needed to partner un-partnered ladies who take dance lessons. I get extra lesson time for free, I help people, and my dance skills improve greatly. I partner with women of all shapes and sizes, and one thing I have noticed is that a person's size does not impact their ability to dance significantly. Now I am talking about recreational dancing of course, but I have danced with people much larger... Read Full Story
I got a new customers today. They were upset with their previous water treatment company after only two years of service. Why? The cost of doing business with them was excessive and was not part of what was explained when they bought the filter system two years ago. I am in the northeast, and it is an expensive place to do business, but it is also an expensive place to live. I feel my service call rate ($95.00 per hour) is actually a little high when compared to other areas in the nation... Read Full Story
I can't mention any names here, but some of you may be thinking of buying some X, Y, or Z "high end" brand of water treatment and are wondering why they are so expensive compared to a big box brand of water treatment (big box brand being something you would buy at a large department store known for appliances, or a home center). Here is the honest truth: the big box brand is being sold to you at practically the wholesale cost that the "high end" treatment company is paying the manufacturer... Read Full Story
I just came back from a consultation in a ranch style house, but it had two stories. How can a ranch have two stories? His story and her story. The Mrs. called me in because she had concerns about brown stains the water caused in laundry and on fixtures. I tested the water and found 1/2 a part per million dissolved iron and 1/2 part per million precipitated iron. I discussed with the couple the solutions for the iron problem and that is when the Mr. informed me that there wasn't any problem... Read Full Story
Just got back from consulting at a home. The water has petroleum products of some sort in it. Within the last year, a local water treatment company installed a system to deal with the problem. Here are the problems with the $10,000.00 system sold by a bunch of incompetents: The water treatment company NEVER tested the water to determine which petroleum products were in the water. They sniffed it and said "oh that smells like oil" and then proposed a $10,000.00 system.The BACKWASHING... Read Full Story
