Grand Canyon by Grand Canyon NPS

Instead of plastic bottles, visitors are encouraged to fill reusable containers at water filtering stations placed around the park.  Currently there are 10 water filtering stations around the South Rim of the park and another 3 on the North Rim.

“It isn’t so much anti-water bottle as it is pro-conservation,” (former park superintendent) Steve Martin said. “There are many parts of the world where bottles are the only way to get good water to people, but when you have a choice to do something better, let’s do it.”

The ban is not absolute, it does not prohibit visitors from bringing in plastic bottles from outside the park or the sale of other beverages in disposable plastic bottles.

The Tox-21 robot was purchased as part of a collaboration established in 2008 between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences National Toxicology Program, and NCGC, with the addition of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2010.

The 10,000 chemicals the robot system will screen include chemicals found in industrial and consumer products, food additives and drugs. Testing results will provide information useful for evaluating if these chemicals have the potential to disrupt human body processes enough to lead to adverse health effects.

The Tox-21 robotic testing system eliminates the need for animal testing and reduces the cost of determining the toxicity of chemicals by accelerating the testing process. Each year about 1,500 new synthetic chemicals are introduced every year in the US.  According to Robert Kavlock,  Director of the National Center for Computation and Toxicology at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency – EPA, “A single human may work on ten chemicals a year, or 20. We are doing 10,000 in a week.”

First, we wish the students and faculty at St. Ignatius a speedy recovery! And, Principal Ruff and St. Ignatius must be commended for taking quick and decisive action, and for their excellent communication.

According to the San Francisco Department of Health, norovirus is an infection caused by a variety of viruses resulting in vomiting and diarrhea. People can reduce their chance of getting infected by frequent handwashing, prompt disinfection of contaminated surfaces with household chlorine bleach-based cleaners.

As the Department of Health instructions point out, hands are one of the main transmission pathways. It is well know that office water coolers are a frequent germ transmission point. In your business, to keep your employees healthy and productive, we recommend water coolers that incorporate BioCote® anti-microbial technology.

‘Antimicrobial’ is simply the term used to describe something that has the ability to resist the growth of microbes e.g bacteria and molds. BioCote antimicrobial protection is based on silver ion technology. This technology, in the form of an additive, is incorporated into products at the time of manufacture and then provides continuous built-in antimicrobial protection for the expected lifetime of the product.

As the graph shows, on a BioCote® protected product, levels of bacteria are reduced by up to 99% in two hours, compared to an unprotected surface where they can proliferate at dramatic rates. In addition laboratory tests have repeatedly demonstrated the ability of BioCote® protected surfaces to inhibit the growth and formation of moulds and yeast.

All BioCote® protected products are regularly validated and quality control tested to ISO 22196:2007 where applicable, in an independent laboratory. Only products that demonstrate over a 95% reduction in bacteria are allowed to use the BioCote brand as a guarantee of superior antimicrobial performance.

BioCote Ltd has carried out a number of environmental trials to prove BioCote® protected products are as effective in situ as in laboratory testing, consistently reducing levels of bacterial contamination in the environment by over 95%.

BioCote® antimicrobial protection is effective against a broad spectrum of micro-organisms, including:

The final study plan looks at the full cycle of water in hydraulic fracturing, from the acquisition of the water, through the mixing of chemicals and actual fracturing, to the post-fracturing stage, including the management of flowback and produced or used water as well as its ultimate treatment and disposal.

On-line chat allows customers and others to chat directly with Aquaprix employees.  When someone is available, the chat tab will appear green in the lower right hand corner of the web-site.  If the tab is grey, no-one is currently logged in and available, however you can still leave us a message.  The chat solution provides instant feedback, convenience, and an additional means to communicate with us.

We look forward to chatting with you!

Local Water Knowledge

One of the strengths Aquaprix brings is deep experience with water issues in every corner of the Bay Area.  The Bay area has a range of water issues.  San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose each have specific water, and different water related challenges. Is that out-of-state vendor familiar with which municipal water supply covers each area along El Camino Real? Not likely.

Service and Support

Even if the solution is the right system, no system performs forever.  Maintenance and service are the key to a long term success and proper operation of the systems. Out of area providers often think they can contract local vendors to cover, and this rarely works. Can your business wait a week while the out of area vendor gets local service arranged. We’ve even had these out of area vendors later contact us to provide service.

So when evaluating vendors, everyone knows price is important, but consider how that vendor will service and support your business going forward. Aquaprix focuses on Bay Area water purification for businesses and has had that same focus since 1997.

In a commitment to even greater energy efficiency, Waterlogic POU (Point of Use) water dispensers have been awarded the Energy Star mark.

Water coolers that have earned the ENERGY STAR(R) not only help organizations reduce their energy bills, but also can help make a difference for the environment. This is because products that earn the ENERGY STAR prevent greenhouse gas emissions by meeting strict energy efficiency guidelines set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy.

George Cary, Technical Director of Waterlogic USA said “ENERGY STAR qualified water coolers result in 45% savings over typical products. Waterlogic customers will benefit by saving money and reducing their greenhouse gas emissions by meeting strict energy efficiency guidelines set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) the U.S. Department of Energy.”

Christie Whitman EPA Administrator said that “ENERGY STAR is more than a label awarded for energy efficiency. It is a partnership among government, business, and consumers, united in the pursuit of a common goal–to protect our environment for future generations….The quality of the environment is everyone’s responsibility and by bringing ENERGY STAR into homes and businesses we can make an enormous difference.”

About WaterLogic

Waterlogic is a leading manufacturer and global distributor of mains attached superior quality point-of-use (“POU”) drinking water purification and dispensing systems designed for environments such as offices, factories, hospitals, hotels, schools, restaurants and other workplaces.

Organizations are increasingly moving towards installing bottle-less (POU) systems in preference to other options (such as bottled coolers), due to the fact that they are better value for money, provide water that is as good as or better than bottled water, and are more environmentally friendly. They also have the added capability of being able to dispense; hot, ambient, cold or sparkling water. And naturally, there is no bottle to change every few days or so.

 

Tests last week of the Bull Run drinking water reservoir detected the parasite Cryptosporidium  according to reporting from KATU News in Portland, Oregon. The report comes just days before the state is scheduled to decide whether to give Portland a waiver on building a $90 million water treatment plant.

Portland Water Treatment Facility Determined “Not Worth The Cost”

This is the second detection of Cryptosporidium since November when Oregon announced its intention to grant a waiver allowing Portland to opt out of building a water treatment plant.  Portland decided the facility was not worth the cost based on tests conducted by the Portland Water Bureau which had not found Cryptosporidium in the water supply.

Reacting to the most recent Cryptosporidium detection, City Commissioner Randy Leonard said, ”It would just be irrational for anyone to think in an area as large as the Bull Run there aren’t critters that poop in the woods and after a heavy rain you wouldn’t find some residue of that. What would be worrisome (is) if you had huge amounts of cryptosporidium in our water supply, and we don’t.”

Leonard argues the discovery of Cryptosporidium doesn’t harm the city’s argument that it shouldn’t have to build the expensive water treatment facility; instead, he says it’s a sign the city is thoroughly testing the water supply.

Treat Drinking Water With UV

According to Innowave & WaterLogic, ultra-violet (UV) water sterilization is a proven technology (EPA approved) that can kill waterborne disease-causing micro-organisms, such as bacteria, viruses, fungi, algae, yeast, and cysts like Cryptosporidium and Giardia.  UV light destroys the growth of bacteria by destroying its DNA core, thus rendering it incapable of reproducing.  Learn about the benefits of In Tank UV Sterilization here.

 About Cryptosporidium

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

AquaPrix Clean New Web Page Design

Aquaprix is pleased to release a  new and improved website highlighting its water purification product lines for commercial and residential use.   The site highlights Aquaprix’ core commercial products and new product line additions, including ice and sparkling / carbonated water solutions as well as the new residential product lines.

Latest Technology

The new site is powered by WordPress which allows us to update our site more frequently, to integrate previously disparate solutions, and to provide enhanced web based services in the future.

We are very excited about the new platform and content!  We invite you to poke around and explore the new site.  And, please give us your comments, we’d like to know what you think!