08-17-2007, 04:10 PM
The community dinner/trade show at Kea'au High School last night was quite an event. The best part was the Q&A for the expert panel. The panel was composed of participants in the ARCSA conference and were represented by engineers, chemists, municipal system managers, and a timber tank refurbisher. Despite all of this brainpower, it became very clear that rainwater catchment knowledge for the home is still in development. No one seemed to have all of the answers. One woman asked, "When do I change my filters?" And there was no clear answer. There was a lot of knowledge available, make no mistake about that, there's just no one answer for every one. Some tidbits:
- The guy from Pahoa Propane & Battery had a lot of experiential stuff to share, like slime on some customers' filters (pollen?), using a diverter to exclude water that might have been subject to more sulfur dioxide emissions (vog), and differing filter replacement regimen for different customers.
- There's another water tester who lives in HPP and has his office in Hilo, Pololei Labs, 938-0560. Bob Betts of Bob's Catchment Testing in Kea'au, 936-3426, was not present.
- There was an option for mosquito control that didn't involve chemicals. There was a pool product that involved some kind of insect/organism that was supposed to be effective with algae. I think I may have come across this on the web; it involves a sphere that contains the "active ingredients" that you place in your tank.
- having the proper pH level for your water was emphasized because of the corrosive effect it can have on copper plumbing. [I've seen copper pipes in a home in HPP with pinhole leaks that were making a mess of the interior of the bathroom walls.] One possible treatment mentioned was the placement of limestone chunks in the system to neutralize the sulfuric acid. Of course, it was pointed out that limestone is not available here; coral (available in Kona) was suggested as a good substitute. But Trish Macomber pointed out that she heard that this doesn't work in Hawai'i because the reaction of the limestone and acid forms an insoluble surface on the limestone that stops its effectiveness. The same may happen with coral.
- There were some interesting gizmos on display, some were claimed to have been made by people in the community. Actually, I only saw a couple of floating intakes that might come under the homemade description. There was an interesting leaf diverter that I've seen literature for at Waterworks.
- There were representatives from Sri Lanka, Australia, New Zealand, as well as Texas and Ohio. Apparently, the only place that has government regulations for drinkable rainwater by way of catchment is Sri Lanka.
HRCS is planning more community events. If you have catchment and care about your water quality, I encourage you to join HRCS and help to make it a stronger organization. You can get information on becoming a member at the website in the previous post.
Edited by - Les C on 08/17/2007 20:18:38
- The guy from Pahoa Propane & Battery had a lot of experiential stuff to share, like slime on some customers' filters (pollen?), using a diverter to exclude water that might have been subject to more sulfur dioxide emissions (vog), and differing filter replacement regimen for different customers.
- There's another water tester who lives in HPP and has his office in Hilo, Pololei Labs, 938-0560. Bob Betts of Bob's Catchment Testing in Kea'au, 936-3426, was not present.
- There was an option for mosquito control that didn't involve chemicals. There was a pool product that involved some kind of insect/organism that was supposed to be effective with algae. I think I may have come across this on the web; it involves a sphere that contains the "active ingredients" that you place in your tank.
- having the proper pH level for your water was emphasized because of the corrosive effect it can have on copper plumbing. [I've seen copper pipes in a home in HPP with pinhole leaks that were making a mess of the interior of the bathroom walls.] One possible treatment mentioned was the placement of limestone chunks in the system to neutralize the sulfuric acid. Of course, it was pointed out that limestone is not available here; coral (available in Kona) was suggested as a good substitute. But Trish Macomber pointed out that she heard that this doesn't work in Hawai'i because the reaction of the limestone and acid forms an insoluble surface on the limestone that stops its effectiveness. The same may happen with coral.
- There were some interesting gizmos on display, some were claimed to have been made by people in the community. Actually, I only saw a couple of floating intakes that might come under the homemade description. There was an interesting leaf diverter that I've seen literature for at Waterworks.
- There were representatives from Sri Lanka, Australia, New Zealand, as well as Texas and Ohio. Apparently, the only place that has government regulations for drinkable rainwater by way of catchment is Sri Lanka.
HRCS is planning more community events. If you have catchment and care about your water quality, I encourage you to join HRCS and help to make it a stronger organization. You can get information on becoming a member at the website in the previous post.
Edited by - Les C on 08/17/2007 20:18:38