Posts by Susan Harris4

Timothy Vaughn44 said:I was reading online that when you use ozone for disinfecting water, it breaks down into oxygen really fast, which would mean by the time the water actually reaches people's taps, it's already gone and there's no danger left... do you happen to know anything about that? 🤷

It’s true; ozone is extremely unstable within the lower layers of the atmosphere.

Timothy Vaughn44 said:I’d love to know where you went to school (if you even did go!) 😁...because I'm struggling to see how yellow-green chlorine gas has anything to do with those little micro-bubbles evaporating from the water. The water looks milky because of the air bubbles, not because of whatever happens inside them.
->"Milky water refers to the cloudy appearance of tap water, which happens when tiny air bubbles are present."
And please, tell me, have you ever actually seen gaseous chlorine in person?..
If it's impossible to use ozone for municipal water, then I'm dying to know how they manage to pull it off in other developed countries. 🤔
Ozone might be a concern if you're putting it directly into your mouth (I think I heard something about that in dental studies once), but otherwise, it's unstable and just breaks down into oxygen, so I don't really see it being a huge danger...though I'm not an expert so I won't get bogged down in that debate. UV is definitely the safest route, but I'm just not sure how scalable it is for a massive city water grid...maybe in a hundred years, if we're lucky enough to still be around, we'll finally have the budget for it. 😁

Ozone is a double-edged sword, isn't it? When you're dealing with high concentrations, it becomes incredibly dangerous, yet when kept at low levels, it remains perfectly harmless.
While UV treatment is certainly an option for water purification, we have to confront the fundamental limitation regarding throughput. Since the process relies on a very thin layer of water passing through the UV lamps to ensure effective exposure, the actual volume of treated water remains quite low. Doesn't that essentially cap its utility? As it stands, UV technology would be perfectly suitable for smaller communities or individual apartment complexes, but on a larger scale, it just doesn't move enough volume to be a primary solution. 😁😁

feralwolf24 said:Hey, I really hope you don't think that white residue evaporating is actually chlorine. I also hope your microbiology professor mentioned that chlorine is actually a yellow gas.

Also, UV disinfection or ozone treatment (there's plenty to say about the dangers of ozone, too) isn't free, which is why it isn't used everywhere. The whole point of a municipal water system isn't just to disinfect the water at one single station; it's to add a disinfectant that stays in the residual supply and works its way through the entire pipe network. That's how we ensure the water coming out of your tap doesn't get contaminated along the way. Sure, chlorine isn't a perfect solution, but right now, it's the most practical option we have.

What kind of nonsense are you talking about? 😁😁 Sure, chlorine gas is a yellowish-green gas, but when we disinfect water, we use solid granules, which are white!
Lol, residual chlorine acts as a secondary line of defense for disinfection—who on earth told you otherwise? Haha! Seeing residual chlorine is actually a sign that they should stop adding more granules, meaning there is enough chlorine in the water to have already wiped out all the existing coliform bacteria. And that whole argument about the taps is nothing short of ridiculous. 😁😁

Timothy Vaughn44 said:You've got a point there... but honestly, if we aren't worried about the price tag, I don't think anyone is going to argue with how much water we're getting. 😁

😁😁

Timothy Vaughn44 said:There actually is a better—and much healthier—way to go about it, which would be using ozone disinfection, but honestly, for us regular folks, that's just way too expensive to pull off on our own.😁 🙄

Look, using ozone to disinfect water is certainly a step up from relying on chlorine, isn't it? But if we're talking about what’s truly optimal and healthiest, nothing beats UV light treatment. Of course, both methods come with their own set of headaches—specifically when you factor in the massive overhead costs and the actual volume of water you can process—so, really, where does that leave us?😁

Casey Palmer5 said:I really hope you aren't just out here plugging yourself or your own company.

At the end of the day, chlorine is a poison, just like aspirin is a poison. It’s all about the dosage...

Finally, someone with half a brain!👍

Bradley Bailey10 said:Chlorine was used as a chemical weapon during World War I, so you could say it’s definitely hazardous,
but it doesn't kill everything.
I actually found some great info on rust and how to get rid of it over at
http://www.homedepot.com/

Seriously, what kind of link is that? Chlorine is practically a fundamental component of the human body! 😉 Making an argument like that is about as logical as saying "I refuse to drive because people can die in car accidents." 😁

Chlorine in water isn't dangerous when it's present in those levels; you only need to worry once you see residual chlorine, which is the actual indicator that there's an excessive amount in the supply.

Casey Palmer5 said:The discussion stays open, and we don't just hand out bans here without a legitimate reason. Since both Scott Allen10 and I have dealt with all sorts of "miracle workers" and sales pitches before, we occasionally take a shot in the dark ourselves.

But honestly, this conversation is necessary. Water pollution is increasing, and the standards for water safety are constantly being lowered. In certain areas, tap water barely meets—if it meets them at all—basic health safety requirements. And yes, that is a genuine issue. How can a nation that ranks among the top five most water-rich countries in America simultaneously possess such pathetic water and sewage infrastructure? In the heart of Washington, D.C., there are households that aren't even connected to the main water supply. Meanwhile, right near some of our most lucrative water pumping stations, you find homes without any access to a sewer system—and what do you think happens when those faulty septic tanks start leaking? We are managing our water resources incredibly poorly.

While water management is generally a mess, there are cities in the US, like Columbus, that are actually world leaders in efficiency because they have the lowest water loss in their networks globally!
Look, the point about septic tanks might hold water, but it might not either. A septic tank could be twenty yards away from a pumping station and have zero impact on it; everything depends on the specific radius of influence for that station.
It isn’t that the sewage and water networks are inherently poor; the real issue is that they aren't being serviced regularly. That's the core problem. Negligence causes 40% of Washington, D.C.'s water to leak straight into the ground😁 when that same water could be sold to fund infrastructure repairs, leaving plenty of profit left over. The people in Columbus figured that out; the question is when everyone else will catch up.
As for water quality, it's perfectly fine—in fact, haven't they actually tightened the criteria recently? 😉😉

In fifteen years, this won't be some laughing matter 😁 😁