Holding tanks to offer reserve water in the event of drought or simply to give large homes a reserve have become common in Texas, Georgia and Arizona and most recently in California and Florida. Typically these tanks are 5000 gallons or larger, involve re-pressurization pumps and level switch accessories to keep the reserve water in place.
The treatment strategies or water quality concerns are no different than those warm water developing countries such as India where a water truck literally delivers the water to an underground holding tank two or three times per week to support 60 person dwelling units. No infrastructure plumbing of the water is part of the development and as with the upscale American single family dwellings the water begins growing algae, mold and bacteria in some cases.
A novel approach to treating this stagnant water in holding tanks has now been tried and tested. Originating with the 3 week Apollo moon missions from the late 1960's, the process of copper ionization has been successfully employed. Electrolysis is utilized to generate low-level copper in the holding tanks. This copper has been proven to stunt the growth of plant life and to literally kill ecoli, coliform and the dangerous pseudomonas bacteria. In sites observed ranging from 1,000 to 33,000 gallons, starting with applications from late 1990's, water has been shown to retain its freshness for weeks. In the 33,000 gallon application in the Puget Sound area of Washington State, an additional twist was added. Marginal well water flow was supplemented with water from a storm water pond. To address this added treatment requirement, pre-filtration and oxygenation was added to the system to treat cedar tannins and other turbidity with the water.
One of LA's top movie producers actually uses the location as a movie site and has a very low volume of water usage for many days on end followed by a huge volume of water for two to three weeks straight. Joe Cantin, the Regional Manager and the technical salesperson on the account states that "This movie director has actually done this strategy in Beverly Hills and at his newest set in Maui as well".
In addition to the low level copper ion and oxygenation put in the water, specific filtration strategies and EPA/ETL lab water analysis is included with the equipment. "We change the calcium from the scaling carbonate form to a soluble calcium bicarbonate, in essence giving the customer a non-salt water softener," Cantin added. Equipment costs installed range from $6,000 on the 1,000 to 5,000 gallon sites to as much as $20,000 on the 33,000 gallon application. "We'll do a movie set or a high density housing project for 60 people for the same money, it's sort of ironic," says Cantin.
The treatment strategies or water quality concerns are no different than those warm water developing countries such as India where a water truck literally delivers the water to an underground holding tank two or three times per week to support 60 person dwelling units. No infrastructure plumbing of the water is part of the development and as with the upscale American single family dwellings the water begins growing algae, mold and bacteria in some cases.
A novel approach to treating this stagnant water in holding tanks has now been tried and tested. Originating with the 3 week Apollo moon missions from the late 1960's, the process of copper ionization has been successfully employed. Electrolysis is utilized to generate low-level copper in the holding tanks. This copper has been proven to stunt the growth of plant life and to literally kill ecoli, coliform and the dangerous pseudomonas bacteria. In sites observed ranging from 1,000 to 33,000 gallons, starting with applications from late 1990's, water has been shown to retain its freshness for weeks. In the 33,000 gallon application in the Puget Sound area of Washington State, an additional twist was added. Marginal well water flow was supplemented with water from a storm water pond. To address this added treatment requirement, pre-filtration and oxygenation was added to the system to treat cedar tannins and other turbidity with the water.
One of LA's top movie producers actually uses the location as a movie site and has a very low volume of water usage for many days on end followed by a huge volume of water for two to three weeks straight. Joe Cantin, the Regional Manager and the technical salesperson on the account states that "This movie director has actually done this strategy in Beverly Hills and at his newest set in Maui as well".
In addition to the low level copper ion and oxygenation put in the water, specific filtration strategies and EPA/ETL lab water analysis is included with the equipment. "We change the calcium from the scaling carbonate form to a soluble calcium bicarbonate, in essence giving the customer a non-salt water softener," Cantin added. Equipment costs installed range from $6,000 on the 1,000 to 5,000 gallon sites to as much as $20,000 on the 33,000 gallon application. "We'll do a movie set or a high density housing project for 60 people for the same money, it's sort of ironic," says Cantin.
About the Author:
ECOsmarte is the World leader in Chemical Free Water Technology. ECOsmarte's systems with Residual Bacteria Control have roots in NASA.
