My name is Jim Worden and I own a small business called Cove Systems, Inc. in Sevierville Tennessee. We manufacture and sell water filtration systems for recreational vehicles, marine, aviation and home use. This little business grew out of our camping experiences over the past 25 years. My wife and I are avid RV owners and spend as much time as we can in our motor home, enjoying the vagabond lifestyle. We started camping as a way to have quality time with our kids when they were young. Although our children are grown and gone now, RVing is still a big part of our life.
Along the way, I became interested in the subject of good, clean water. There were times that the water available at various parks and campgrounds was not very good. We handled the problem by purchasing and using bottled water. Then I found out that bottled water was maybe not as good as we had assumed. This created a dilemma and set me on the path to find a way of processing our own water. After many years of research and finally getting a better understanding of what I was facing, we developed a system that really works. The same technology was then incorporated in systems for marine, aviation and home use. The following articles were written with a view toward recreational vehicles but they also apply to our other systems because we use the same filter media for all of our filters.
I will be posting a series of articles on fresh water issues on this blog. My hope is that you will find these articles interesting and helpful. The series will consist of four articles.
Article 1. What is water and why is it important?
Article 2. Bottled water. What’s all the hype?
Article 3. Water contaminants – brief discussion and overview.
Article 4. Different methods and suggestions for cleaning water.
Let’s start out with “Who The Heck Is Jim Worden and what makes him Think he is so smart”. Thank You; Thank You…That’s a good question. I have been studying water issues for several years now, primarily for my own purposes. I love to tinker with things and am always looking for a better mousetrap. Our first full-size motor home was a Winnebago we bought in 1983. Up until then we tent camped or used our conversion van. I didn’t have a clue about the problems and dangers of careless management of the fresh water system. We relied on bottled water until the Winnebago came along. When we started using the on-board tank water, our headaches began. Algae, bacteria, iron and other contaminants turned us back to bottled water. Since then I have learned a lot. Today, the water in our RV is excellent, thanks to our filtration system and a small amount of water system maintenance using procedures we developed.
My mind has a natural tendency to drift to the technical side of about any problem I encounter. I have a technical background so I like to look at the “nuts and bolts” of how things work. I originally thought the process to remove harmful contaminants and keep the RV water supply system clean had to be simple. Boy, was I ever wrong! As I found out the hard way, keeping the RV water system clean and safe does require a certain level of care. I also came to realize that as we traveled around the country the quality of available water we encountered varied a lot. There is an amazing amount of science and technology available that directly relates to this subject. Unfortunately, not much of it has found its way into the RV field. My goal is to educate those that have an interest and concern for clean, safe water.
Over the years I have had the good fortune to meet some very smart people. Many of them are scientists in such fields as microbiology and chemistry. I have never hesitated in picking their brain on fresh water issues. From this has come a fairly significant knowledge base for addressing the very real issues you and I face every day in our RV’s.
So, over the course of the next few articles we are going to talk about water, your RV and how to keep you safe. Keep in mind that the information presented is based on my own experience, research and views. There may be other and possibly better ways to do things. What I present to you comes from many years of study and trial and error. The first article will examine water, what it is, where it comes from and the current condition of our water here in the United States. From there we will discuss in the following articles what contaminants you might encounter and various methods to remove or control these contaminants. We will also post methods and procedures for cleaning and maintaining the fresh water system found on most RV’s.
The postings to follow are going to be brief and to the point. I invite you to submit comments or questions as we proceed. I can be contacted at rvwater@aol.com. I always enjoy hearing from fellow RVers. You may want to cruise through our website, located at http://www.covesystemsinc.com/.
Showing posts with label rv. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rv. Show all posts
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Friday, January 18, 2008
BOTTLED OR FILTERED WATER? WHAT'S THE BEST?
In this article we are going to look at an issue I get a little wound up about. The subject matter is bottled water. Let me first state that I have no issue with anybody being successful, even the big bottle water companies. What I do take issue with is being conned. P.T. Barnum once said “you can fool all the people some of the time and some of the people all the time.” In my opinion we are being fooled when it comes to the marketing of bottled water.
To get started with a little tongue-in-cheek humor, take a look at this web site- http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=d71_1189990154. It is supposed to be funny but I refer to this as “kidding on the square.” Bottled water has become a huge part of our lives in recent years. When we travel in our motorhome I see a lot of folks carrying bottled water with them. We used to do the same thing. We would run to the store and purchase several gallons of water before each trip. We still carry bottled water, but we filter and bottle our own now. It takes a few minutes to do it right but the cost is almost zero. I know where the water comes from and that it is fresh and very high quality.
There was a time not long ago when bottled water didn’t exist. When the bottled water industry first started, companies such as Pepsi-Cola and Coke saw a huge potential. We, the buying public, found bottled water convenient and with very little urging convinced ourselves that buying and drinking water in a bottle was good for us. I agree that it is convenient and there is nothing better than an ice-cold drink of water on a hot summer afternoon. Well, maybe a bottle of beer but you know what I mean. The issue is the water we drink out of a bottle is generally no better than tap water with regard to purity and in some cases, worse. Yes, tap water in general can be objectionable due to residual chlorine. Regionally, you may find high sulfur levels or some other contaminant that is offensive. A large number of RV parks get their water from private wells or out of rivers and may not process their water optimally, possibly rendering it distasteful. Other parks are hooked up to municipal water and you will be faced with residual chlorine. But the technology is available today that will process just about any source water by removing or greatly reducing aesthetic and harmful contaminants whether you get water from a private or municipal supply. The cost to do this is but a small percentage of the investment in bottled water.
Give this some thought. Go into any convenience store and check the price for a liter of soda. It may cost around a dollar. Now check the price for a 16-ounce bottle of water from the same bottling company. What’s that? The water is priced at $1.59? But the less expensive soda is made with water and it has to be as good as the plain bottled water, right? And the soda has flavoring and sweetener in it, an expense not required in the plain water. So what is the deal? This is a no brainer if you do the math.
There are approximately 33.8 ounces in a liter of soda. The retail price per ounce for the liter is 2.9 cents or $3.71 per gallon. A 16-ounce bottle of water at $1.59 works out to 9.9 cents per ounce or $12.67 a gallon. Which item would you rather sell? These numbers will vary from place to place but you get the idea. Enough said.
Now these companies want us to believe that their bottled water is healthy for us and comes from pristine mountain springs or some such rubbish. Just look at the label on most bottles of water. Water falls, mountain vistas, bubbles, deer or other scenes all to subliminally send you the message that this water comes straight from Mother Nature, herself. In reality that water probably comes from the same sources as your tap water. Rivers, lakes, wells and an estimated 40 percent of bottled water comes right out of the municipal water tap at the bottling plant. Boy, are we being taken! Take a look at http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0205-01.htm.
Here is another point to ponder. The water we get from the tap is regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency. This organization has a lot of rules and regulations and they inspect our public water processing facilities frequently. The operators of these public plants have to be licensed. Product testing is accomplished several times a day. Reports of their water quality have to be routinely filed with the EPA. There is a lot of work that goes into your tap water. Now here is the interesting twist. The Food and Drug Administration regulates bottled water. Bottled water is produced under a set of rules that the bottled water industry prepared. They have strong lobby presence at both the state and federal level and successfully pushed their agenda through. The rules are entirely different. Little or no testing, no licensing for plant operators and almost non-existent enforcement of the few rules bottlers do have. Did you know that there is no law restricting the amount of some contaminants like fecal matter in bottled water? The bottlers are pretty much free to do what they want. It all has to do with money and profit. You know as well as I do that this goes on in many industries. Money is a powerful motivator. Your health and well-being are not important.
There is an organization called the Natural Resources Defense Council that you may want to check out. They are a watchdog group and boy do they have a lot to say about the water we drink. On their website look for the Executive Summary and take a hard look at Chapter 4. Appendix A is a list of bottled water test results and in Table 1 you will find a side-by-side comparison of the EPA and FDA rules. Of course, the rest of the website is interesting too.
The perfect water will consist of hydrogen and oxygen and have an optimum level of minerals that our bodies require. The perfect water will be at a PH of between 6.5 and 8.5. This water will be crystal clear to very light blue and present a pleasant taste. Unfortunately our water will always be less than perfect. So, we have to do what we can to render it as safe as possible. There are processes and filtering techniques that do work and we will talk about these options in article four of this series.
In the mean time, if you still feel bottled water makes sense, here is a trick you can use to raise the bar a little. Buy bottled water that is not produced in the state you make the purchase. Look at the label. If you are in Virginia, look for water that is bottled someplace other than Virginia. The reason is that in-state water is bottled under that states bottling rules (some states now have some kind of policy on bottled water but may not have the funds to monitor bottled water production. In Texas, for instance, there are around 300 water bottlers. The state has just one dedicated inspector to oversee them.) In-state bottled water is generally exempt from federal rules. If that same water is shipped across state lines, it has to have been processed under both state and federal rules. Now this is not going to make it that much better in view of the FDA’s weak stand, but any reduction of exposure to contaminants is good. Some states have developed significantly better rules for bottled water than the federal government.
Well, if bottled water is not the answer, what is? When we get to the end of this series, you will have the knowledge and the ability to process and enjoy good tasting and healthy water, no matter where you wander. In the next article (number three) we will look at the different categories of contaminants. In article 4 we will review the many different ways to reduce or eliminate these contaminants while on the road. Please feel free to contact me via email at rvwater@aol.com. Oh, one last thought. If you are concerned about the water at home, review the website found at http://www.cleanairpurewater.com/.
Happy Trails - Jim
To get started with a little tongue-in-cheek humor, take a look at this web site- http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=d71_1189990154. It is supposed to be funny but I refer to this as “kidding on the square.” Bottled water has become a huge part of our lives in recent years. When we travel in our motorhome I see a lot of folks carrying bottled water with them. We used to do the same thing. We would run to the store and purchase several gallons of water before each trip. We still carry bottled water, but we filter and bottle our own now. It takes a few minutes to do it right but the cost is almost zero. I know where the water comes from and that it is fresh and very high quality.
There was a time not long ago when bottled water didn’t exist. When the bottled water industry first started, companies such as Pepsi-Cola and Coke saw a huge potential. We, the buying public, found bottled water convenient and with very little urging convinced ourselves that buying and drinking water in a bottle was good for us. I agree that it is convenient and there is nothing better than an ice-cold drink of water on a hot summer afternoon. Well, maybe a bottle of beer but you know what I mean. The issue is the water we drink out of a bottle is generally no better than tap water with regard to purity and in some cases, worse. Yes, tap water in general can be objectionable due to residual chlorine. Regionally, you may find high sulfur levels or some other contaminant that is offensive. A large number of RV parks get their water from private wells or out of rivers and may not process their water optimally, possibly rendering it distasteful. Other parks are hooked up to municipal water and you will be faced with residual chlorine. But the technology is available today that will process just about any source water by removing or greatly reducing aesthetic and harmful contaminants whether you get water from a private or municipal supply. The cost to do this is but a small percentage of the investment in bottled water.
Give this some thought. Go into any convenience store and check the price for a liter of soda. It may cost around a dollar. Now check the price for a 16-ounce bottle of water from the same bottling company. What’s that? The water is priced at $1.59? But the less expensive soda is made with water and it has to be as good as the plain bottled water, right? And the soda has flavoring and sweetener in it, an expense not required in the plain water. So what is the deal? This is a no brainer if you do the math.
There are approximately 33.8 ounces in a liter of soda. The retail price per ounce for the liter is 2.9 cents or $3.71 per gallon. A 16-ounce bottle of water at $1.59 works out to 9.9 cents per ounce or $12.67 a gallon. Which item would you rather sell? These numbers will vary from place to place but you get the idea. Enough said.
Now these companies want us to believe that their bottled water is healthy for us and comes from pristine mountain springs or some such rubbish. Just look at the label on most bottles of water. Water falls, mountain vistas, bubbles, deer or other scenes all to subliminally send you the message that this water comes straight from Mother Nature, herself. In reality that water probably comes from the same sources as your tap water. Rivers, lakes, wells and an estimated 40 percent of bottled water comes right out of the municipal water tap at the bottling plant. Boy, are we being taken! Take a look at http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0205-01.htm.
Here is another point to ponder. The water we get from the tap is regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency. This organization has a lot of rules and regulations and they inspect our public water processing facilities frequently. The operators of these public plants have to be licensed. Product testing is accomplished several times a day. Reports of their water quality have to be routinely filed with the EPA. There is a lot of work that goes into your tap water. Now here is the interesting twist. The Food and Drug Administration regulates bottled water. Bottled water is produced under a set of rules that the bottled water industry prepared. They have strong lobby presence at both the state and federal level and successfully pushed their agenda through. The rules are entirely different. Little or no testing, no licensing for plant operators and almost non-existent enforcement of the few rules bottlers do have. Did you know that there is no law restricting the amount of some contaminants like fecal matter in bottled water? The bottlers are pretty much free to do what they want. It all has to do with money and profit. You know as well as I do that this goes on in many industries. Money is a powerful motivator. Your health and well-being are not important.
There is an organization called the Natural Resources Defense Council that you may want to check out. They are a watchdog group and boy do they have a lot to say about the water we drink. On their website look for the Executive Summary and take a hard look at Chapter 4. Appendix A is a list of bottled water test results and in Table 1 you will find a side-by-side comparison of the EPA and FDA rules. Of course, the rest of the website is interesting too.
The perfect water will consist of hydrogen and oxygen and have an optimum level of minerals that our bodies require. The perfect water will be at a PH of between 6.5 and 8.5. This water will be crystal clear to very light blue and present a pleasant taste. Unfortunately our water will always be less than perfect. So, we have to do what we can to render it as safe as possible. There are processes and filtering techniques that do work and we will talk about these options in article four of this series.
In the mean time, if you still feel bottled water makes sense, here is a trick you can use to raise the bar a little. Buy bottled water that is not produced in the state you make the purchase. Look at the label. If you are in Virginia, look for water that is bottled someplace other than Virginia. The reason is that in-state water is bottled under that states bottling rules (some states now have some kind of policy on bottled water but may not have the funds to monitor bottled water production. In Texas, for instance, there are around 300 water bottlers. The state has just one dedicated inspector to oversee them.) In-state bottled water is generally exempt from federal rules. If that same water is shipped across state lines, it has to have been processed under both state and federal rules. Now this is not going to make it that much better in view of the FDA’s weak stand, but any reduction of exposure to contaminants is good. Some states have developed significantly better rules for bottled water than the federal government.
Well, if bottled water is not the answer, what is? When we get to the end of this series, you will have the knowledge and the ability to process and enjoy good tasting and healthy water, no matter where you wander. In the next article (number three) we will look at the different categories of contaminants. In article 4 we will review the many different ways to reduce or eliminate these contaminants while on the road. Please feel free to contact me via email at rvwater@aol.com. Oh, one last thought. If you are concerned about the water at home, review the website found at http://www.cleanairpurewater.com/.
Happy Trails - Jim
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