Welcome to our December Newsletter
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Happy Holidays!
Wishing you and your family health, happiness, peace and prosperity this holiday season and in the coming New Year. May the magic of the holidays fill your heart all year long.
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In this Edition
A Message From Our President
Toys For Tots
Are You Ready For Your Holiday Guests
Rising Sea Levels
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Desalination
Industry News
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We care what you think! Please take our survey and lets us know how we are doing.
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A Message From Our President
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As we all recover from travelling, eating, drinking, cooking, cleaning, and enjoying time with family and friends, I took some time to reflect on one of the things I am most thankful for, my employees. I find myself thanking the great staff at GSA and A&L for one of many acts of excellence that I witness on a very regular basis throughout the year, and I hear the same from of our customers as well. This week I wanted to make my gratitude known publicly through our newsletter as a way to recognize their extraordinary efforts. Our clients benefit because of your hard work, dedication and professionalism.
Thank you all so much!
-John
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On November 16th, A & L Laboratory had their 4th, very successful, Toys for Tots toy drive. We offered a free movie showing of The Polar Express to anyone who brought a new toy or made a monetary donation to Toys for Tots. The cinemas were graciously donated by Flagship Cinema in Auburn. Santa and Mrs. Claus made an appearance to take photos with all the excited children who attended. We were also very fortunate to have a Marine come, in uniform, and greet/thank all of our guests as they arrived.
This year we packed 4 large boxes full of toys and we accepted almost $800 in cash which allows us to shop for even more toys! This event fills us with joy to be able to help children that might not otherwise have had a gift under the tree. We hope to continue our relationship with the Marines and Flagship Cinema for years to come!
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Are You Ready For Your Holiday Guests?
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Is your well water safe for your guests to drink over the holidays? The holiday season can be a very hectic time of the year, shopping, cooking, parties, and guests coming for a visit. Drinking water is probably not the first thing on your mind but should be something to think about to ensure your guests don’t get sick.
At a minimum, a safety test should be done before your guests arrive to be sure they stay healthy and happy over the holidays. A safety test includes bacteria, nitrate, nitrite and pH. If your well has coliform bacteria and you have been drinking it and feel fine then you have probably built up a tolerance to it, however, when your guests come for the holidays this water is not what they are used to and they could experience stomach upset. Chlorinating your well will kill the bacteria present but make sure you chlorinate early enough so it has been flushed out completely before they arrive. E-coli bacteria is tested along with coliform – if you have this present in your well then you need to stop drinking your water completely until you have a clean water test as E-coli can cause serious illness. It is always best to contact a well professional to help find and fix the source of the bacteria so that it doesn’t come back after chlorination.
Nitrate and nitrite levels are inorganic compounds and important to know especially if you have an “at risk” guest; infant, pregnant or elderly person visiting. They are usually from human activity such as fertilizing your lawn but they can also be found naturally in ground water and come from the breakdown of nitrogen compounds in the soil. Nitrate/nitrite in water is undetectable without testing because it is colorless, odorless, and tasteless. If your water tests positive you should use bottled water for drinking and cooking. Boiling your water WILL NOT get rid of nitrate/nitrite or lower it to a safe level, it will actually increase the concentration of nitrates. This happens because the steam will reduce the amount of water present but since they don’t evaporate it creates a higher concentration of them in your water.
Be proactive and test your water so you aren’t stuck saying “HO, HO, OH NO”
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Will rising sea levels have an effect on our drinking water supply? This question might not be on the forefront of your mind but it should be something to start thinking about. One of the biggest concerns of rising sea levels is the change in salinity content, as sea levels rise they intrude on existing aquifers causing an increase in salt water. This of course will affect coastal communities first but inland communities are not going to be spared. For inland communities, the effects are more subtle: rising sea levels will push into our groundwater. Groundwater is the water that fills empty spaces and cracks under the surface, above porous rock layers. As the groundwater supply is depleted it needs to be recharged; this occurs by precipitation, snow melt, lakes or rivers. Water systems around the nation rely on groundwater as their main water supply.
When saltwater and fresh water meet, they mix in complex ways, depending on the texture of the sand along the coastline. In some cases, a zone of mixed water, aka brackish, can extend 50 percent further inland underground than it does above ground. Saltwater and brackish water is not safe to drink because it causes dehydration. Water must contain less than 250 milligrams of salt per liter to be considered fresh water and safe to drink.
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The process of desalination is the removal of minerals from saline water, most often it is the removal of salts from ocean water, to create fresh drinking water. The interest in desalination technologies is growing due to the fact that there is insufficient fresh water to meet the daily drinking and sanitation needs for everyone on the planet. There are over 13,000 desalination plants worldwide producing more than 12 billion gallons of water a day, but still only producing 0.2% of global water consumption.
Desalination is one of the few rain independent water resources that are available today. Water intake is filtered through gravel, sand, and other media to greatly reduce particulates before going through reverse osmosis filtration. Half of the saltwater taken into the plant is converted into pure potable water and the rest is discharged as concentrated brine which is anywhere from 20% to 50% higher in salt than seawater. Most desalination plants discharge water with about 50% extra salt, which can lead to dead spots in the ocean, because the super-saline brine doesn't mix well with seawater. However, there are other ways to dispose of brine waste including, but not limited to, deep well injection, sewer discharge, and using the water as irrigation water.
Reverse Osmosis is the same technology used in wells to remove minerals and heavy metals from well water, such as Arsenic and Uranium. It is uncertain which states in the U.S. will create desalination plants to diversify their water portfolios, but it is likely that there will be many. States in warmer climates, with access to seawater and the tax dollars to support a desalination plant will have to consider this option if water sources start to decline.
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NEWS THROUGHOUT OUR INDUSTRY
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