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Your Drinking Water |
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For backflow information, try these: | ![]() |
The following is intended as informational only. I will not attempt to sell you anything except safety.
In order for the human species to survive on this planet we need ONLY three things:
Clean AIR to breathe
Uncontaminated FOOD to eat and
SAFE WATER to drink.
The courts have deemed that water is a product and not a service to the public. The water purveyors take the raw material and process this material through their factories (water plants) and then sell this product to their customers for a profit. In the U.S. products which are sold for a profit have an implied warranty that the products are usable. Water has a warranty that it is fit for human consumption.
The water purveyors deliver the product through a series of pipes (transmission mains and distribution mains) to the customers' water meters. Once the product (clean water) is delivered through the water meters to the customers, the water purveyor does not want this same water to return back through the meters and out into the public water supply.
Most customers manage to contaminate the water they use and normally this contaminated fluid passes to the waste collection system. Unfortunately the water sometimes reverses direction back through the water meter. This reversal of direction is called BACKFLOW. The most common type of backflow is backsiphonage.
Backsiphonage is caused by a sudden loss of pressure in the public water mains. This loss of pressure can be caused by a broken water main, a fire nearby where the Fire Department is using large quantities of water, or simply by opening a fire hydrant to test it. Any buildings near the break or the fire hydrant being used will experience a lowering of the water pressure. This is the time backsiphonage occurs.
This is not a problem if everyone's plumbing systems are built and maintained according to the plumbing code. Water might never be contaminated if:
Unfortunately, customers, architects, engineers, plumbers, pipefitters, contractors, inspectors, and health officials have not had the proper training necessary to protect your water.
Have you had to replace the toilet flush valve or toilet ballcock in your bathroom? It's a fairly easy job. But, did you buy the more expensive, "plumbing code approved" flush valve? Or did you buy the valve that was on sale? Odds are high that you bought the wrong valve. The only way you will know whether or not you are drinking your own toilet tank water is if you use a colored toilet bowl cleaner. Every utility company in the United States receives several calls each week concerning "blue" water at the customers' kitchen sinks.
Is the situation hopeless? No, there are very effective ways to protect you and your neighbors' drinking water.
For more information try the links above or you can call Marta during the daytime at 352/392-9570, extension 229 for available information on backflow prevention and cross-connection control.
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Les O'Brien |
My e-mail address is: loben@mindspring.com   You can send e-mail now. |
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