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Water Nourishes,Water kills
By Madhu.S.Thakar

"From the worlds largest flow of fresh-water, the Amazonas, to tiny murmuring creeks in Dalarna,Water nourishes the Earth and everything that lives off it. With no clean water, life on Earth cannot go on.Taking responsibility for our planet by making the right everyday choices, will really make a difference.”

 Mattias Klum

Water in Commercial kitchens is a source of great concern.If it is not of the right quality and purity, it not only impacts the taste, but the safety of the food prepared becomes suspect. The machines in the kitchen that need to use water e.g. ice machines, coffee machines, dishwashers, bain maries etc require a lot of attention and care depending on the quality of water. 
Prior to the advent of modern water treatment involving disinfections and filtration, water-borne diseases killed thousands of people all around the world. In areas that lack modern sanitation and water treatment, water-borne diseases are still a major contributor to mortality. The more common infectious agents of food or water-borne illnesses are bacteria, viruses and certain parasites. Symptoms vary with the infectious agent and range from slight abdominal pain and nausea to vomiting, abdominal cramps and diarrhoea of varying severity. Symptoms may be severe enough to result in hospitalisation. Certain food-borne illnesses can present with meningitis or septicaemia, or with neurological symptoms. The mode of transmission is faecal-oral, person to person or airborne. Most cases of food or water-borne illnesses are often classified under the causative organism once a diagnosis has been made. Some infections are never confirmed and the possibility of person-to-person spread remains.  

Types of Microbes causing waterborne illness?

Half of all food-borne illnesses reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a US-government facility based in Atlanta, have no identifiable cause, though it is known that most are due to microorganisms in food. The good news is that most cases in healthy adults are of short duration, ending on their own accord with little or no treatment. The bad news is that at least 9,000 people per year die from food-borne illness (often abbreviated as FBI!).

Wise counselors advise that for every cup of coffee, tea or alcohol you drink, have a glass of water. Water helps guard against dehydration and will flush out the toxins remaining in your system.

  According to Dr. Gregor Lowrey “The safety of our drinking water has been horribly, perhaps even criminally compromised.”  

The emerging food-borne pathogen Arcobacter is associated with gastritis and bacteremia in humans and has been detected in drinking water supplies and raw meats, including pork products.  

The new rules set safety standards for a water-borne parasite called cryptosporidium, which is found in animal feces and was blamed for contaminating Milwaukee's water system in 1993, sickening some 400,000 people and killing about 100. The Environmental Protection Agency predicts the new standards will prevent 460,000 cases of water-borne illnesses a year. In addition new rules that require improved filtration and monitoring in water systems to prevent disinfectants used in water treatment from contaminating tap water. Those chemicals, like chlorine, are used to kill water- borne microorganisms that cause illnesses such as typhoid and cholera. But the chemicals have also been found to cause birth defects and cancer in laboratory animals. The new rules are aimed at reducing exposure to those byproducts by 25 percent in water systems serving 140 million people.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency [EPA] reports that since 1974 over 2,100 organic and inorganic drinking water contaminants have been found in U.S. drinking water supplies. Other Scientific Research Agencies report over 60,000 such contaminants in public drinking water sources. Every day in America 240,000 industrial plants pump 245 Billion gallons of toxic solutions in to the watershed.  Every year 500 new toxic chemicals are found in  tap water.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommends that at least Five Million Americans consider avoiding tap water entirely due to a certainty of tap water complicating existing health problems!

Approximately forty-five million Americans in thousands of communities drink water that is polluted with fecal matter, parasites, disease causing microbes, and pesticides-at levels that violate Safe Drinking Water Act standards.

Water quality engineers have recognized that one of the highest-volume contaminants emerging in effluent -- especially early in the morning -- is caffeine, a drug excreted by all those people who start their day with a cup of coffee and then a half hour later urinate that caffeine back into our drinking water supply.

Dr. Gregor Lowrey asserts that “To date there is only one solution to this problem and that is steam distillation of drinking and cooking water.”

No other filtering method will remove all contaminants. Radioactives and pharmaceuticals and many other toxins are particularly unaffected by conventional water filters and filtering systems.  Even bottled waters contain these same contaminants – and sometimes even more of them!”

Only Steam Distillation removes all contaminants, producing water with up to 99.95% purity. 

Drinking municipal water from a tap without a filtering device may not always be esthetically perfect, but maybe safe to drink. In many cases it’s actually safer than drinking water from an at-the-tap filter system, particularly if the system hasn’t been maintained or serviced properly. Water quality in your tap deteriorates in the piping system itself. 

Michah Rynor reports in the article” Water quality was issue in ancient Rome, says scholar”

Bruun, who has been studying the ancient water systems of Italy and the Roman empire in the eras spanning 300 BC to the 1600s, says the many aqueducts built to transport water to Rome were technological and environmental marvels even by today's standards. "The Romans were master builders and administrators and they managed to bring water into a city of over one million people from sources as far as 90 kilometres away," says Bruun, who is currently editing a book on historic water technologies

The Romans separated high-quality water used for drinking and cooking from water for flushing sewers by accessing different sources. "In much of the world today, we still don't separate water according to quality so what we use to flush our toilets is of the same high quality as the water we drink.

Bruun also believes the clean mountain water used in many of the aqueducts in Rome was high in calcium which, over time, created a protective coating inside the lead pipes. "This mineral coating may have protected much of the population from lead poisoning," he says.  

The following information may help answer some questions regarding water quality in your establishment

What if I experience discolored or "red" water?

Discolored or "red" water is usually caused by rusty pipes or calcium deposits that form from minerals in the water itself. Normally, these deposits remain intact and cause no problem, but sometimes changes in the water flow can disturb the deposits. When that happens, rusty water can appear, particularly in older buildings. This problem normally clears up after the water runs for a few minutes. Rusty water does not represent a health hazard.

What if the water has a white or "milky" color?

What if the water has a "musty" or "earthy" taste or odor?

Musty or earthy tastes and odors are usually related to algae growth in Lexington’s reservoir. Even though the algae are destroyed during the water treatment process, trace levels of odor-causing substances can remain. Though understandably unpleasant, these tastes or odors are not considered health hazards.  

Purification technologies

The purity level of water supplied by a point-of-use water system can be measured by contaminant levels in five main categories: inorganics, organics, bacteria, pyrogens, and nucleases and DNA. Purification technologies Once the system requirements have been determined, you can select purification technologies that are capable of meeting these requirements.

Deionization is the most widely accepted method for producing high-purity reagent grade water. This process removes the ionic contaminants from the water.

Distillation is the broadest contaminant-removal technology. This process removes the water from the contaminants.

Reverse osmosis is more commonly used for pretreatment of water systems.

Ultraviolet oxidation controls organics and bacteria, and it is often used in concert with filtration. Filtration can be employed as pre-, post-, or ultra-filtration. All have merits for removing particles, bacteria, and pyrogens. Adsorption is typically used to remove organics, chlorine, and ozone.

Each purification technology has distinct capabilities and limitations. Deionization is dissolved-ion specific, whereas distillation is boiling point specific. With distillation, any-thing with a higher boiling point than water will be removed, but anything with a lower boiling point will carry over into the distillate. Chlorine is one significant element that can carry over, and if this is a problem, water being purified by distillation should be pre-treated with carbon before the distillation step. Reverse osmosis can be a useful tool, but keep in mind that it’s a percent removal technology. It typically works best in a pretreatment setting, or in combination with other purification technologies.

Click here for a list of the

National Primary Drinking Water Regulations

For the technically minded more details are provided on some water purification technologies.

1. Reverse Osmosis
2. Ozonation
3.Ultraviolet lamps

Point of use Reverse Osmosis drinking water systems

Reverse Osmosis is a membrane separation process in which feed water flows along the membrane surface under pressure. Purified water permeates through the membrane and is collected in a storage tank while the concentrated water, containing dissolved and undissolved material that does not flow through the membrane, is discharged to the drain.

Compared with other conventional water treatment processes, Reverse Osmosis has proven to be the most efficient means of removing salts, chemical contaminants and heavy metals, such as lead, from drinking water.

A Typical 3 stage reverse osmosis is installed beneath your kitchen sink and Includes a sediment prefilter, membrane, carbon post filter, 3 gallon storage tank and separate faucet. The water first flows through a sediment prefilter, which removes suspended solids and helps protect the membrane. Next, it enters the reverse osmosis membrane, that allows the pure water molecules to pass but rejects dissolved solids like sodium and impurities like lead, arsenic and nitrates etc. The rejection water is then washed down the kitchen drain. leaving only The purified water that stored in a small storage tank until it is needed. When the separate faucet mounted on the sink is opened, the purified water is forced by air pressure through a post carbon filter, which gives the water a final polish for great tasting water. Additional filters can be added to the RO unit.

Typical Rejection Characteristics of Reverse Osmosis

You may or may not have these contaminants in your water. The percentage rejection rate is for reference only. Percentages may vary since water chemistry varies in each water supply.

Hydrocarbons, Proteins, Pesticides, Herbicides, Insecticides, Trichlorethylene & THMs (chlorine by-products) will be rejected at 90% or greater Rejection rates are based upon Cellulose membrane usage. Expect slightly higher rejection rates with TFC membrane usage.

Never use a Reverse Osmosis System on water that is microbiologically unsafe. Reverse Osmosis should not be solely relied upon for total contamination removal.

Nitrates 

Nitrates can be found in water supplies that are in areas where there are heavy use of fertilizers. Nitrates can cause Methemoglobinemia a.k.a. blue baby syndrom. This is a serious condition in young infants and new born animals where the oxygen carrying capacity of the blood is reduced.

Lead

 Lead in your water can be caused by metal plating pollution or corrosion from your piping.

Pesticides, Herbicides & Insecticides

Why Use Ozone?

Ozone is rapidly emerging as the most efficient and ecologically sound oxidant to treat both organic and inorganic substances. A fast-acting and effective treatment technology, ozone is now used in a variety of water treatment applications. Best known for its superior disinfection capability, ozone has been used in the European municipal water industry for over 100 years. Ozone treatment is becoming widely used for potable water in North America--now the most rapidly growing market.

Ozone is one of the strongest commercially available oxidizers, making it popular for primary disinfection of potable water as well as for organic removal in wastewater applications. 

Why Use Ultraviolet Lamps?

UV water purification system provides clean, safe drinking water, far exceeding Health Department standards for potable water. Ultra-violet light kills disease-causing micro-organisms such as ecoli with a 99.9% effectiveness.

Nothing is added to, or taken out of the water!

Ultra Violet UV Water Sterilization technology seeks to use the same process as nature to provide drinking water that is completely Safe - Clean - Fresh

     In nature, the sun produces UV rays which have a germicidal effect on disease causing pathogens in water. When these contaminants are exposed to UV light, they are rendered harmless and the output water is considered disinfected.

 The Term ultraviolet or "UV" light, as it is commonly referred to, is a proven means of addressing microbiologically contaminated waters. This simple, safe technology is suitable for both small flow residential applications as well as large flow commercial projects.
     Disinfection, in its literal sense, means free from infection. The U.S. Environment Protection Agency (EPA) and World Health Organization (WHO) define water disinfection as having an absence of the indicator coliform bacteria. Sterilization implies complete destruction of all forms of life. For practical purposes, the term sterilizer is used as a generic term to describe ultraviolet technology.
      Ultraviolet is one energy region of the electromagnetic spectrum which lies between the x-ray region and the visible region. UV itself lies in the ranges of 200 nanometers (1 nanometer (nm) = .0000000001 meter) to 390 nanometers. Since energy levels increase as the wave length increases, x-rays have more energy than UV and UV has more energy than the visible light spectrum.

ction of radiant UV energy must therefore be accomplished through the conversion of electrical energy. This conversion is accomplished with a low pressure mercury vapor lamp. UV light is produced as a result of the electron flow through the ionized mercury vapor between the electrodes of the lamp (it should be noted that the bluish glow given off by UV lamps is due to the starter gas inside the lamp and has no germicidal action itself).
     These UV lamps are similar in design to standard fluorescent lamps with a few notable exceptions. UV lamps are typically manufactured with "hard glass" quartz as opposed to "soft glass" found in fluorescent lamps. This quartz allows for a UV transmittance of over 90% of the radiated energy. Fluorescent lamps also contain a thin coating of phosphor inside the lamp which converts the UV to visible light.
     Microorganisms encompass a wide variety of unique structures and can be grouped into five basic groups: bacteria, virus, fungi, protozoa and algae. In simplistic terms, a microorganism is made up of the cell wall, cytoplasmic membrane and the cell's genetic material, nucleic acid. It is this genetic material or DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) that is the target for the UV light. As UV penetrates through the cell wall and cytoplasmic membrane, it causes a molecular rearrangement of the microorganism's DNA which thus prevents it from reproducing. if a cell cannot reproduce, it is considered dead.
     Due to individual cell makeup, different levels of UV energy are required for destruction. UV lamps emit about 90% of their radiated energy at 253.7 nm, which, by coincidence, is very close to the peak germicidal effectiveness of 265 nm.

The degree of microbial destruction is a product of both time, which is the actual residence, or contact time the water is within the sterilization chamber; and intensity, which is the amount of energy per unit area (calculated by dividing the output in watts by the surface area of the lamp). 'this product of intensity and time is known as the Dose and is expressed in micro-watt seconds per centimeter squared (µwsec/cm squared).

Design
     The design of an ultraviolet sterilizer has an extremely important bearing on how the UV Dose is delivered. As individual UV lamps emit a set amount of ultraviolet energy, it is important that a system be sized correctly. Flow rates are the determining factor and must not be overstated. The size of the reactor chamber is also of extreme importance since the delivered intensity decreases accordingly per the square of the distance from the lamp.
     Ballast selection must coincide with the correct operating current of the lamp since a loss in UV intensity will occur if the lamp is not driven at the correct output. Optional solid state ballasts offer the advantage of cooler operating temperatures, smaller space requirements and less weight, all with consistent power delivery.
     Quartz sleeves shield the actual water flow from the lamp, offer more uniform operating temperatures and allow for higher energy transmissibility into the water.
The variety of optional features that may be built into the sterilizers include: UV monitoring devices that measure the actual UV output at 253.7 nm, solenoid shut-off devices that will stop water flow in the event of system failure, flow control devices to properly limit the water flow in the units, audible and visual alarms (both local and remote) to warn of lamp failures, high temperature sensors to monitor excessive temperatures in the reactor chamber or control panel, and hour meters to monitor the running time of the UV lamps.

  Factors Affecting UV
     The effectiveness of a UV system in eliminating microbiological contamination is directly dependent on the physical qualities of the influent water supply.
Suspended Solids or particulate matter cause a shielding problem in which a microbe may japes through the sterilizer without actually having any direct UV penetration. This shielding can be reduced by the correct mechanical filtration of at least five microns in size.
Iron / Manganese will cause staining on the lamp or quartz sleeve at levels as low as 0.03 ppm. of iron and 0.05 ppm of manganese. Proper pretreatment is required to eliminate this staining problem.
     Calcium / Magnesium hardness will allow scale formation on the lamp or Quartz sleeve. this problem will be especially magnified during low flow (or no flow) times when the calcium and magnesium ions tie up with carbonates and sulfates to form hard scale buildup inside the sterilizer chamber and on the lamp or sleeve.
      Other Absorbing Compounds such as humic and fumic acids as well as tannins will reduce the amount of UV energy available to penetrate through the water to affect the genetic material, the DNA of the molecule.

Additional Factors Affecting UV
     Temperature is a determining factor. The optimal operating temperature of the UV lamp must be near 40 deg. C (104 Deg. F). UV levels will fluctuate with excessively high or low temperature levels. A quartz sleeve is typically employed to buffer direct lamp - water contact thereby reducing any temperature fluctuations. A typical method employed in a system without a quartz sleeve is to engineer the system to take into account these fluctuations and typically de-rate the regular flow rate by the corresponding amount.

Advantages Of UV Lights
Advantages of UV lights include:

·         Environmentally friendly, no dangerous chemicals to handle or store, no problems of overdosing.

·         Low initial capital cost as well as reduced operating expenses when compared with similar technologies such as ozone, chlorine, etc.

·         Immediate treatment process, no need for holding tanks, long retention times, etc.

·         Extremely economical, hundreds of gallons may be treated for each jenny of operating cost.

·         No chemicals added to the water supply - no by-products (i.e. chlorine + organics = trihalomerthanes).

·         No change in taste, odor, pH or conductivity nor the general chemistry of the water.

·         Automatic operation without special attention or measurement, operator friendly.

·         Simplicity and ease of maintenance, periodic cleaning (if applicable) and annual lamp replacement, no moving parts to wear out.

·         No handling of toxic chemicals, no need for specialized storage requirements, no WHMIS requirements.

·         Easy installation, only two water connections and a power connection.

·         more effective against viruses than chlorine.

Installation Guidelines
     Once the application has been determined, the placement of the UV unit should be given special consideration. The sterilizer should be place as close to the dispersion point as possible. Since UV is a physical process and has no residual value, it is imperative that all points of the distribution system after the sterilizer be chemically "shocked" to ensure that the system is free from any downstream microbial contamination.
     UV units should be installed on the cold water line before any branch lines. A typical household distribution system will have a 5 gpm flow rate; however, if the flow rate is in question, the UV unit should be oversized rather than undersized. As an added safety precaution, a flow regulating device should be installed on any sterilizer to ensure that the manufacturer's recommended rate flow is not exceeded.
      The UV sterilizer should be the last point of treatment. Any pretreatment products should precede the sterilizer. If the water supply contains Giardia Lamblia (or other cysts), an alternate mechanical filtration unit (check NSF St. 53 for applicable units) should be installed at the point-of-use after the UV unit.
     The only positive way to determine if the sterilizer is indeed operating as designed is to obtain microbiological testing on the water supply. Even though the lamp is lit and appears to be functioning, factors such as water quality, lamp life, and actual UV transmission may be affecting the actual UV output. It is recommended to have the water tested periodically to ensure you are receiving bacteriologically safe water. it is also imperative to follow the manufacturer's guidelines on water quality and operational procedures.

Sources Of Information

http://www.klumphotography.com/gallery/walk1/walk1.html       http://www.dhs.vic.gov.au/phd/hprot/inf_dis/snids95/chapt5.html
http://www.frommers.com/tips/health/health22.html                  http://www.gaiabooks.co.uk/authors/tips.html  
http://www.healthproducts.cc/wd-facts.htm                                http://www.heal-naturally.itgo.com/

http://www.uky.edu/FiscalAffairs/Environmental/ep/water.html    http://www.ect.uga.edu/roi2001/files/foodborne.htm 

http://www.rockyhill.org/MIDDLE/MSNewspaper7/Issue7page1.htm

http://www.everpure.com

http://www.barnsteadthermolyne.com/TechSupport_Full.cfm?num=95&tblToUse=tbltechsupport

http://www.osmonics.com/products/page385.htm

http://askthewaterman.com/reverseosmosis.html