Wave Home Solutions

Tap Water

I've attended several home shows over the last several years and have asked attendees a simple question ... "How's the water in your home?"  Simple reply.. "Great, we have no problems".   Here's where it gets fun as I ask the follow up question ... "Do you drink your tap water?"  Answer .. "NO, it's tastes horrible --- we use bottled water."  My question to you is the same --- Do YOU drink your tap water?  Most of us assume our tap water is safe, especially if we have city water.  Unfortunately, most of us are wrong.  #1 chemical in most every home using city water is chlorine --- yep, the same chemical we put in pools to control the bacteria every city uses to control the bacteria in the water lines. Some of you may have noticed the smell from time to time or tasted it when drinking from your tap.  There are a host of other contmainants in city water, most of them under control but a surprising number of municipalities have some serious issues which are often not shared with the community.  

I'lll write more on this topic as water quality issues are popping up across the country and we all need to focus on what each of us can do in our homes to keep the contaminants out of our water supply.

The Two Sides To Limescale – Beauty and The Beast

If you’ve ever visited the magnificent Howe Caverns in Pennsylvania or Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico, you may have been awed and amazed by the beautiful stalagmite and stalactite formations found inside. 

However, if you’ve ever looked inside your hot water boiler and noticed a whitish-gray or reddish-brown crusty substance at the bottom, you may not be as thrilled to see it.  Both are formed by the deposit of calcium or magnesium carbonate left behind by limescale and hard water.  The former takes millions of years of slowly dripping cave water to leave layers upon layers of minerals on rocks that solidify into the long, stone-like fingers that are so impressive to behold.  Well, the same premise, more or less, applies to the inside of pipes, washing machines and hot water heaters.  As hard water passes over these surfaces, the scaly deposits adhere to the metal or moving parts, causing a buildup that over time can cause related hard water problems.  

What is limescale and how do you know if you’ve got it? 

Ugly spots on glasses and dishes, buildup on faucets and showerheads, poorly washed clothes, then you’ve probably got limescale, the deposit left behind by hard water.  Hard water, while itself it harmless, is ultimately a serious issue. 

Hard Water’s visible side effects (see spots, buildup, etc. named above) can be unpleasant, but the most hard-to-see effects are the ones that are the most cause for concern.  Limescale causes significant buildup inside pipes and appliances, reducing their lifespan and effectiveness and slapping homeowners with energy loss up to a whopping 30% - a major financial burden that’s directly related to problems caused by hard water.  The energy waste and wear on appliances in an average home can exceed $1,200 a year, factoring in repair and replacement. 

Your best bet in avoiding clogged pipes and reduced water pressure, as well as unsightly layers on taps and hard surfaces, clothes that never seem to come “clean” even after washing, and dull dishes and glasses is to treat the hard water problems before they even become an issue. 

A HydroCare hard water conditioning system will eliminate limescale and prevent limescale through an electronic device that generates a strong frequency signal in the water that suspends the minerals that cause scale buildup and prevents them from adhering to the surfaces in pipes, appliance heating elements and fixtures. 

HydroCare works 24/7 and needs no maintenance or adjustments—just a one-time easy installation and it provides a constant, unending flow of limescale-free water.   With the money you save on energy and repairs, you could take a vacation—maybe even a trip to see the stalagmites and stalactites that aren’t in your own home…

So, How Does WAVE’s Crawlspace & Basement Ventilation system really work?

Ask any sixth grader and they’ll tell you—scientific principal demands a theory and must be researched and tested before being proved as an absolute fact.  So while it sounds all well and good, how do you know that your WAVE Home Ventilation system does, in fact, work?   Well, when looking at the research, performance tests, and mechanics of it all, it’s hard to argue with science. 

In a nutshell, the reason why WAVE’s home ventilation system is so effective rests on three key principles: 

Temperature—Raising the temperature lowers the relative humidity in a basement or crawl space.

Moisture—Reducing moisture content lowers the relative humidity

Ventilation—Increasing air circulation over surfaces will extract moisture. 

The WAVE home ventilation system is a mechanical ventilation unit that is engineered to exhaust the moist, musty and contaminated air that becomes trapped in the house due to the poor circulation of indoor air and bring in new, healthier air. 

The unit focuses on the most problematic area(s) of the home—usually in the basement and/or crawl space—where it is the coldest, dampest, least ventilated and most polluted.  By addressing the temperature and moisture levels of a home with proper ventilation, as does the WAVE home ventilation system, moisture problems are speedily remedied and healthy, clean air can be enjoyed throughout the entire house (of course, including crawl spaces and the basement) at all times. 

So, How does it work? 

1. Since cool moist air is heavy and will gravitate to the lowest point, installation of a ventilation unit in the basement is typically key to preventing moisture issues. 

2. The heavier, moist, polluted air is drawn into the powerful and quiet system by a precision ventilation fan and then expelled to the outside of the house through a 6” duct—similar to a clothes dryer. 

3. This flushed out contaminated air is then replaced with a flow of relatively drier, warmer and fresher air drawn downward from the upper levels of the house The warmer replenishment air raises the surface temperature, thereby lowering relative humidity The interior air of the home is constantly being replaced naturally—through windows, doors and cracks. 

4. The unit continues to expel this moist air until the desired preset humidity level is reached.  The unit never shuts off—maintaining a constant airflow 24/7 in every season – keeping your home’s basement and crawl spaces well ventilated. 

5.  Home ventilation controls are set at a humidity target level that adjusts depending on the weather using a sensor. 

Utilizing the latest technology and operating under the basic principles of scientific knowledge, the WAVE Home Solutions ventilation system is the answer to your home’s basement & crawl space air quality concerns.  Constant air exchange is vital to a healthy home, and with only one WAVE home ventilation system, the entire house can enjoy fresh, clean, dry and healthy air at all times.  

 

5 Reasons Why Your Home Needs A WAVE Dehumidifier Alternative

Sandals.  Watermelon.  Beach.  Lemonade.  Vacation. 

These are words that come to mind when thinking of summertime.  Perhaps heat and humidity come to mind, too, depending on whether you are relaxing by the pool or stuck in traffic with no air conditioning, but either way it’s probably doubtful you are thinking of phrases like “basement dehumidifiers” and “home ventilation systems.” 

But really, now is exactly the time to think about these things.  For those who want a break from all that heat and humidity, addressing and alleviating the problems that arise in the household, especially during the summer months, can help homeowners sit back, relax and enjoy the chilled air indoors when seeking respite from the hot sun and damp humidity.  The last thing anyone wants is to feel hot and clammy inside their own home—or to have to deal with the high humidity-related issues that often arise in the household as a result. 

Traditionally, dehumidifiers are what many homeowners have turned to in order to alleviate these problems, but new technologies in home air ventilation systems in recent years have provided a superior alternative to the “old” dehumidifier. 

Here are 5 good reasons why you should scrap the water pails and the filter changes and instead ride the “WAVE” of the future…

1.  Indoor Air Quality

            WAVE Ventilation expels the toxins, pollutants and gases that naturally build up in the house by providing a continuous air exchange all day—anywhere from 6-10 times.  Dehumidifiers do not provide any air exchange—they simply recycle the same polluted air.  The affects of these pollutants, i.e. mold spores, dust mites, mildew and toxic gases such as carbon monoxide and nitrous oxide, on your health can be wide-ranging—anywhere from asthma and respiratory ailments to allergies, among others.  Divesting your home of these potentially harmful contaminants requires ventilation, which the WAVE system primarily utilizes to bring in healthier, fresher and drier air, and dehumidifiers do not.  

2.  Energy Savings

            WAVE uses less than 40 watts of electricity, approximately $2-$3 per month, opposed to dehumidifiers, which can run up several hundreds of dollars worth of wattage per year, ranging between $40 and $70 per month—with some models even costing upwards of $100 per month.  The savings generated are enormous, totaling hundreds of dollars a year.  Additionally, only one WAVE unit (except in rare cases) is needed to serve the entire house, while several dehumidifiers are often needed to cover the same area. 

3.  Structural Protection

            By drawing fresh air into the basement or crawl space and circulating over the surfaces, moisture that is saturated in the walls, beams, floors and concrete as a result of inadequate ventilation is drawn out.  The unit extracts the tons of water that have been absorbed within the structure, which can cause serious damage to beams, floor buckling, rust and other structural problems.  Keeping the wood drier also reduces termite activity.  Dehumidifiers do not provide the circulation necessary to dry out the structure.

4.  Ventilation

            As mentioned above, air ventilation is key to flushing out the toxins that invade the home.  Stagnant, moist air nourishes biological grown of mold, musty odors (the gaseous byproduct of mold activity), mildew, dust mites, infestation and other biological growth. WAVE creates a constant air flow which deprives these biological groups of the moisture they need to flourish.  Dehumidifiers do not create airflows over maximum surfaces, thereby there are often untouched pockets of moist air.

5.  Maintenance

            With WAVE, there is no need to worry about emptying buckets of water, changing filters, frozen coils or overheating.   Parts are warrantied for 10 years, unlike dehumidifiers which average only three months for parts. 

So...Interested in a WAVE Ventilation dehumidifer alternative yet? 

If you like lugging heavy pails of water on a regular basis, enjoy throwing away money, and the noisy sound of a dehumidifier is like music to your ears, go ahead, keep on doing things the same way they’ve been done forever.  Hey, look how great that worked out for VCRs, film cameras and record stores?

Common Basement Issues & How WAVE's Basement Dehumidifier Alternative Can Help

Everyone knows how this story goes--down in the dank, dark, musty basement, zombies prowl hungrily, waiting to pounce on their next innocent victim and make them their next meal or turn them into zombies themselves.  Enter the unsuspecting prey (in this scenario, preferably a blonde teenaged girl who has had entirely too much fun partying with the opposite sex and drinking alcoholic beverages), and next thing you know, she's a three-course gourmet meal for the drooling, blood-thirsty creatures dwelling in the cellar.
 
Sounds like the premise of any good horror movie, right?  Well right now, all across the country, it's happening.  People are experiencing the panic, the fright, the terror of facing down the undead whenever they go into their basements.  Okay, so maybe that's just a teensy bit dramatic, but if many homeowners knew what real-life "horrors" abounded in their basement they would be just as shocked to learn about them as if they had happened upon a scene from a George Romero film.  Only instead of the cold, wet, dripping hand of a mindless zombie reaching out to grab an innocent homeowner, it’s the creepy mold, mildew, toxic gases and other pollutants that are taking control of basements everywhere. 

While that basement odor isn’t (hopefully) coming from a decomposing body, it is coming from the mold spores, dust mite excretions and toxic gases that are caused when there is a moisture build up and high humidity—which is primarily found in basements and crawl spaces within the home.  In addition to causing molds and mildew, high humidity can damage furnishing, cause wood to buckle, and may even damage the structure itself.  But most importantly, it is hazardous to people’s health.  So what can homeowners do to minimize humidity and therefore minimize the potential of it’s damaging effects?

The answer is simple:  the WAVE Home Solution Ventilation system offers the best way to reduce moisture problems and improve air quality year-round.  No more damp, musty basements and crawl space!  No more smelly cellars!  No more exposure to mold, asthma triggers and toxins.  No more zombies!  Well, WAVE might not be able to take care of the undead, but it will provide an air exchange for the entire house—better than a basement dehumidifier—and there are no buckets to empty, no filters to change and virtually no maintenance.  Add to that the energy savings of hundreds of dollars per year (another vast improvement over wattage-guzzling dehumidifiers) and it’s a no-brainer—even for a zombie. 

Water Quality

Every day I read an article about issues with water quality .... the oil spill in Montana tainting the Yellowstone River, another river in Rhode Island contaminated by sewage, a report by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) stating that "beach water testing results at more than 3,000 locations countrywide, revealed that bacterial contamination at many beaches across the nation still poses risks to swimmers' health."

In one blog I noted that excess saline brine in the waste water is causing issues with waste water treatment plants in California as well as several other states such as Minnesota, Michigan, and Arizona where the brine is creating an either/or problem for the municipalities.  Either retro fit their treatment plants with a $25 to $40 million dollar addition to manage the excess saline or contemplate a ban on salt based water softeners as several communities in California have already done.

Back to the water quality -- the reports I have read show trace elements of arsenic is some of the water tables that can leach into the city water supply, issues with chlorine smell in the water which is somewhat common as a good number of municipalities use chlorine to treat the water and keep the lines clear of algae.  Other issues are sulfur smells, excessive amounts of iron which affects the taste of the water and other general concerns we all have with the most consumed liquid we drink every day --- our water.

I know there are a ton of solutions out there dealing with water quality and finding the right one to address all the concerns takes time.  In talking with a friend of mine in the water quality industry, we discussed the use of RO (Reverse Osmosis) systems which are fairly common today.  They are usually mounted under the sink and are used for drinking water and for cooking in some cases.  They work well but remove everything from the water and is why the ratio of water filtered by RO to actual water available is around 5 to 1 --- 1 gallon of water available out of 5 gallons passed through the RO systems.  Again, they are good systems but to me it is excessive as there are a host of good minerals in water, minerals that are screened out through the RO process.

The key is learning what's in your water first and there are several resources on line that provide great data on tap water in each state/city.  After learning what is present, then determine what level of investment is right for your family to assure safe, healthy drinking water is available at your faucet remembering that not all minerals need to be removed, just the contaminants as well as any taste or smell issues.  

Flood and Mold

This has been a horrible year for flooding and it's not getting a lot better with parts of the Midwest being continually inundated with rain storm after rain storm. Like New Orleans after Katrina, the clean up will be long and frustrating for all those who have their homes sitting under water. One of the ugly consequences of the clean up is the mold that will begin to grow as the water recedes. Mold needs to be addressed as soon after the homeowner gets back in their home as they want to avoid it becoming black mold which is toxic for everyone, especially the young and old.

Once the mold is mitigated the next step to keep it in check is to provide continual ventilation to the area. For some that means purchasing a dehumidifier to manage the excess moisture accumulated in the home. Unfortunately, dehumidifiers do little to circulate the air and come with a number of maintenance issues as well as a high cost to the homeowners utility bill.

To effectively control mold activity, there needs to be continual circulation of air preventing the mold spores from settling on a surface thereby precluding future mold activity. Additionally with the ventilation should be expelling the "bad" air to the outside and bringing warmer, drier replenishment air down from the upper floors thus creating a much healthier environment in the home.

It's painful to recover from a flood --- it's not always the washer/dryer or other appliances that cause the pain, it's the loss of photo's and other memories a family has accumulated over the years that hurts the most. Sometimes they can be dried out and on occasion, restored. How do you dry out those items? By providing continual air circulation --- this is the same process that is required to dry out the flooded area of the home. A dehumidifier simply will not do the job. The key is continual ventilation -- 24/7 and done with a unit that has a sensor that determines humidity levels as well as dew point sensors so it self regulates for the conditions and either increases the circulation or goes into a maintenance mode.

Biological Air Pollution

Biological air pollutants are found to some degree in every home. Sources include outdoor air and human occupants who shed viruses and bacteria, animal occupants (insects and other arthropods, mammals) that shed allergens, and indoor surfaces and water reservoirs where fungi and bacteria can grow, such as humidifiers and dehumidifiers. A number of factors allow biological agents to grow and be released into the air. Especially important is high relative humidity, which encourages house dust mite populations to increase and allows fungal growth on damp surfaces. Mite and fungus contamination can be caused by flooding, continually damp carpet (which may occur when carpet is installed on poorly ventilated concrete floors), inadequate exhaust of bathrooms, or kitchen-generated moisture. Appliances such as humidifiers, dehumidifiers, air conditioners, and drip pans under cooling coils (as in refrigerators), support the growth of bacteria and fungi.

Biological agents in indoor air are known to cause three types of human disease: infections, where pathogens invade human tissues; hypersensitivity diseases, where specific activation of the immune system causes disease; and toxicosis, where biologically produced chemical toxins cause direct toxic effects. In addition, exposure to biological contamination (e.g., dampness, water damage) has been related to upper and lower respiratory symptoms.

These biological agents gather, because they’re heavier than air, in the lowest area of the home which is the basement and/or crawlspace and because these areas of the home are traditionally the least ventilated areas of the home, accumulate and can leach their way back to the upper levels of the home.

The smart solution is to ventilate the lower level --- take the pollutants from the lowest level and expel them to the outside and do it continuously.  The EPA says the only effective method of managing indoor air pollution is through proper ventilation and air exchanges in the home.  Because it’s human nature to ignore the problem during the winter months when the heat seems to take care of the “problem in the basement”, simple reality is it never gets resolved without providing a simple, smart solution that provides consistent, 24/7 ventilation in the basement and/or crawlspace. 

If you’ve followed this Blog, you’ll find a solution on the web site under VENTILATION.

 

Evaporative Coolers

In the western half of the US, a good many of the homes (and warehouses and offices) are cooled during the day and night with "swamp coolers".   Until I became a resident in Colorado, I had only a vague idea of what they were and assumed they were another air conditioning system much like I used when in the east coast or midwest.  With humidity levels in the west hovering around 8 -10% and lower during the summer months, traditional air conditioning units that pull humidity from the air aren't required.  Swamp coolers or chillers, actually run cool water over evaporative cooling pads and blow the cool, moist air into the area.  Adding humidity in the west during the summer is actually a benefit.  Think of those outdoor restaurants in the desert where misters are used to keep the patrons cool while on the patio -- same premise.

The only draw back is the cooling pads tend to become caked with limescale over the summers and understand a pad weighing 10lbs when they are originally installed, can end up at the end of the summer weighing closer to 150lbs with all the scale accumulation.  One business in Arizona with 8 chillers on the roof cooling their shop put one HydroCare in line to see the impact on the pad over the 5 warmest months.  They were pleasantly surprised to find the pads at the end of the period looked like new, no scale accumulation at all and a few that had scale present when they initiated the test, now looked new as well with no scale present at all.  The efficiency of the chillers was improved, no scale clogged up the drain lines, and the pad life was extended.

If the system performs well in an industrial setting, wondering the success in a residential setting?

 

Water Softener Myths

I was reading information about different approaches to resolving hard water issues and found this piece on common misunderstandings about salt based conditioners from an article on the Santa Clarita, California water board site.  Santa Clarita banned softerners several years ago. The piece was responding to myths people have when it comes to water softener systems.

Myth # 1 - Minerals in hard water are contaminants.

Fact: Hard water simply means water rich in calcium and magnesium. Minerals are not contaminants, they're nutrients. Scientific findings conducted by the World Health Organization have shown that drinking water rich with minerals protects good health. Clean "hard" tap water is the same as "Mountain Spring Water" found in expensive bottled water. It tastes great and it's good for people, plants and animals.

Myth # 2 - Hard water is harsh, fades clothes and dries skin and hair.

Fact: Hard water does not fade colors or dry skin and hair. Typical tap water contains more chlorine than most swimming pools. Chlorine, also known as bleach, attacks the proteins in hair and skin making them dry and it fades clothes. Water softeners remove healthy minerals, not chlorine.

Myth # 3 - Water softeners filter water.

Fact: Water softeners don't filter water; they exchange minerals with sodium, therefore converting dirty, chlorinated hard water into dirty, chlorinated salty water. There is still a need for a water filter to remove the softener salts, sediments and chlorine. A reverse osmosis filter is one option to provide palatable water and is only available at the kitchen sink, not the rest of the home. Many people end up buying bottled water.

Myth # 4 - Water softeners are safe for the environment.

Fact: According to Ann Heil, a Senior Engineer with the Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County, automatic water softeners waste water and can spill as much as 350 pounds of salt into the waste stream per year, polluting waterways and damaging plant and aquatic life. Water softeners and reverse osmosis systems also waste hundreds of gallons of water per household every month. For more information on the effects of water softeners on the environment, visit www.lacsd.org/chloride.

The installation of automatic water softeners—the kind that use rock salt or potassium chloride pellets—has been banned in the Santa Clarita Valley since 2003. Though the majority of households do NOT have automatic water softeners, many units continue to be used. Automatic water softeners discharge a salty waste into the sewer system that is treated by a process that does not remove salt and is released into the Santa Clara River. Too much salt in the river may potentially harm downstream agricultural crops.