Has anyone noticed that it’s starting to get really cold out there? My tires were frozen this morning, that’s right frozen! I had to drive about ten minutes before they stopped making a racket. Another sign of really cold weather is dry skin! It never fails around this time of year my skin gets so dry from the arid arctic air and forced hot air heat in my home. It actually starts to itch. Which is something I don’t usually discuss in public too much, but it’s all to make a point. Soft water can help your dry skin.

By removing the Hardness in the water that attaches to your skin you can actually reduce some of that itch. The Hardness actually plugs the pores in skin stopping the flow of natural skin oils. Softening the water can allow the oils to emanate from your skin and that’s a good thing in the Winter. In addition to the benefits of Water Softening, Carbon Filtration to remove Chlorine from the water can also help with dry skin itch.
So if you were trying to make your mind up about investing in a nice new Water Treatment System for your family here’s one more good reason to make the move now. In fact if you would like to learn more about Water Softening go to our website at www.secondwindwater.com. There is a wealth of information to be found there.

It’s important to remember that although improving your water quality can help your dry skin it is not a cure all. Hot water on dry itchy skin can still create a stinging sensation. This is not necessarily because of poor water quality. Everyone and every home is different. However, removing unwanted contaminants from the water like Hardness and Chlorine is a great first step.

Thank you for your continued support of Secondwind Water Systems. We truly appreciate your business and referrals. If you have any Water questions please visit our website at www.secondwindwater.com or call 1-800-287-5767. Until next time this is Chris Saltmarsh CWS-6 saying, “Thanks for reading!, and remember that Soft water can help your dry skin, enjoy your great water”…

I see it a lot in homes where people have point of use Drinking Water Filters and Reverse Osmosis Systems. People will try to save money by trying to get two years out of their Cartridges between exchanges.

The important thing to consider here is how long will the Water remain at a high quality level. Cartridge Filters are designed to remove certain contaminants from the water. During the life cycle of the Cartridge Bacteria will attach to it. This is not necessarily Coliform or E-Coli the really harmful Bacterias. Most likely the Bacteria will be of the less harmful variety referred to as HPC or SPC Bacteria. Given enough contact time in the Cartridge these Bacteria will reproduce and form Bio-Slime. The Bio-Slime is usually clear, or it can be the color of Iron or Manganese if they are present in the water.

The average U.S. family uses about 500 gallons of Drinking water a year. The WQA recommends replacing Drinking Water Cartridges at least once a year. Following this guideline will reduce the risk of Bio Slime in your Drinking Water System.

Presently there is no USEPA Primary Maximum Contaminant Level for HPC/SPC Bacteria. However there is research being conducted into the affects of high level HPC/SPC Bacteria on the auto-immune system of Humans. As for Bio-slime lets just say that once you have seen first hand you definitely wouldn’t want to take a big gulp of it. Lastly, these contaminants can make the water smell and taste terrible, which is the total opposite of what you are trying to accomplish.

As always, remember that these recommendations are for Water in the Northern New England area.

Thank you for your continued support of Secondwind Water Systems. We truly appreciate your business and referrals. If you have any Water questions please visit our website at www.secondwindwater.com or call
1-800-287-5767. Until next time this is Chris Saltmarsh CWS-6 saying, “Thanks for reading!, and remember to change you Cartridges on time, enjoy your great water”…

Water Filters containing Carbon Media deserve special attention. Carbon is one of the best absorptive medias in the Water Treatment Industry due to its natural design. The Carbon is full of holes and passage ways called Macro-pores. Inside of those holes and passage ways are even more holes and passage ways called Micro-pores. As the water flows through the Filter system gasses and contaminants are trapped inside of the Carbon. This will result in great tasting sparkly water! This has been a very brief description of how Carbon Filtration works, believe me, there is much more to it. However, this basic description will help you to understand why Carbon Filters require special attention.

As Carbon Filters treat the water there comes a point of saturation, where the carbon is full of contaminant, and will begin to dump back into the Water Stream. Quite often Carbon is used to control for or Chloramine in water, a mild rotten egg odor, or off taste. Once the Media begins to dump you will notice the increased taste and odor quickly. What many people don’t realize is that Carbon Filters also trap other types of contaminants that you may not be aware of like Bacteria and Radionuclides.

Before you install a Whole House Carbon Filter it is best to test the Water thoroughly. Carbon should not be used if Bacteria is present unless proper sterilization has been applied. Even if bacteria is found to be low, it is not assurance that the water is totaly bacteria free. Secondwind recommends the replacement of Carbon media every 3 years to control bacteria, for any customer on a well. Following this simple 3 year rule will usually assure that there will not be an over accumalation of Radioactivity in the media, but testing for Radon and Uranium up front just makes sesnse. Carbon Cartridges, being so small, are not of concern because they don’t allow for enough contact time and are exchanged frequently.

As always, remember that these recommendations are for water in the Northern New England area.

Thank you for your continued support of Secondwind Water Systems. We truly appreciate your business and referrals. If you have any Water questions please visit our website at www.secondwindwater.com or call
1-800-287-5767. Until next time this is Chris Saltmarsh CWS-6 saying, “Thanks for reading!, and remember that Carbon Media deserves special attention, enjoy your great water”…

Treating water is not just a science, it is also an art form. Different areas of the world have different water characteristics. How you approach those characteristics will quite often define you as a Water Treatment Company. One of the things that we have learned here at Secondwind is that Water Filters are not always the best solution for Iron.

Filters work well at removing solids from water. Some Filters will even oxidize soluble Iron into a solid particle that can be filtered out. However, at some point the Oxidized Iron can overwhelm the plumbing, causing it to plug.

Our approach has always been to work with the existing chemistry of the water, rather than to use oxidizers. Water Filters remove the solid (Ferric) Iron, any remaining soluble (Ferrous) iron is removed by a Water Softener. Water Softeners work well at removing soluble Iron as well as Manganese which is a problem in New Hampshire water. Secondwind has been very fortunate to have the luxury of carrying the Kinetico Water Systems product line. The unique Kinetico design allows us to remove huge amounts of iron from water. Far more iron than what is removed by standard equipment, especially over a long period of time.

I have seen many, many cases where new Customers have an existing Filter and no Softener, or vice-versa. All that they need to do to solve their staining problem is to team up their existing system with its appropriate counter part. Of course these judgements should be made with the help of a WQA Certified Water Specialist following a complete site assessment.Thank you for your continued support of Secondwind Water Systems. We truly appreciate your business and referrals. If you have any Water questions please visit our website at www.secondwindwater.com or call 1-800-287-5767. Until next time this is Chris Saltmarsh CWS-6 saying, “Thanks for reading!, Have a great Holiday Season, and until we chat in 2010, enjoy your great water”…

Thank you for your continued support of Secondwind Water Systems. We truly appreciate your business and referrals. If you have any Water questions please visit our website at www.secondwindwater.com or call
1-800-287-5767. Until next time this is Chris Saltmarsh CWS-6 saying, “Thanks for reading!, Happy New year everyone, enjoy your great water”…