Best Cost Alternative For Residential Reverse Osmosis Systems
If you are dealing with salty water, then “yes,” either one of the residential reverse osmosis systems, or a distillation system, is needed. But, if like most of us, you get your water from a chlorinated system with no salt problems, you have simpler and far less expensive options. We will cover one these options in this article called selective filtration.
No doubt you have been hearing about our need to reduce our body’s exposure to toxic chemicals; something now referred to as reducing the “body burden” or the total amount of toxins in our body.
Toxic contaminants in the water we drinks and bathe in has long been a concern to us all, and we should be concerned, but more and more the guys in the white coats are telling us the air quality in our homes is imposing even greater burdens on our bodies. The worst toxic contaminants in the air come from chlorine byproducts such as chloroform.
The EPA said, “Every home in America has an elevated level of chloroform gas (in the air) due to the vaporization of chlorine from tap and shower water.” (Also, while the shower produces the most chloroform in the air, the dishwasher and the washing machine aren’t far behind).
Since whole house units remove chlorine and other toxins from the water, at the point of entry into your home, they greatly improve both the air quality and the water quality.
One of the most compelling reasons to compare RO and SF systems before making your choice is the big difference in their purchase and operating costs.
In today’s world, cost differences might determine whether or not we can even buy a whole house unit. Very good residential selective filtration systems will run about $800. Comparable residential reverse osmosis systems are in the $10,000 range.
What causes the huge price difference?
One of the hardest things to remove from water is salt and, years ago, RO was developed as a cheaper way to clean up salt water than by using distillation. But that was when water and electricity were both very cheap. Today RO is an expensive technology as you will see.
RO systems use the home’s water pressure to force water through a membrane having pores so small only molecules the size of water molecules, or smaller, can pass through, leaving contaminants with larger molecules behind.
Not all contaminants are stopped by the membrane. Chlorine, its byproducts and many other chemical compounds have small molecules that allow them to pass through easily. Carbon filters are added to remove them and to protect the membrane.
The RO systems are faster than distillation, but the smaller units will only produce a gallon of filter water every two or three house. The larger whole house units are good for about 80 gallons an hour. Either system, large or small, uses pressurized storage tanks for delivering larger quantities of water quickly.
The minimum pressure required to operate most of the smaller countertop units is 40 psi (pounds per square inch) and older homes, or some well water systems, may need to add booster pumps. Since more pressure is required to operate the whole house systems, booster pumps are usually included with the unit.
These systems waste a large quantity of water that will not go through the membrane even with sufficient pressure applied. This water is often thrown out with the collected contaminants. The typical system wastes two to five gallons of water for each gallon that is filtered.
While there are systems that do recycle the waste water, it is the cost of the recycling, extra pumps (if needed), electricity, and storage tanks that lead to the higher initial costs, and higher operating costs. Also, the more parts in the system, the more Murphy’s Law is likely to influence required maintenance and further increase operating costs.
If you are on a chlorinated water system (95% of us are), a good option for consideration is selective filtration.
In these systems, redox (reduction/oxidation), mechanical filtration and activated charcoal are integrated into a multistage filtering process that will quickly process the water at the whole house level.
Redox, which is a chemical exchange process, is a new kind of filter media that was developed to remove dissolved lead and other toxic metals from water. Prior to this simple filtration process, only RO or distillation was capable of taking toxic metals from water.
Over 99 percent of the chlorine, chlorine byproducts and other organic chemicals are removed by the adsorptive power of the activated charcoal. The overall process of selective filtration removes bad tastes, odors and sediment from the water and acts somewhat like a water softener, but there is no unhealthy sodium added to the water.
Selective filtration units are simple to install, and work quickly to filter over 7 gallons of water per minute with no waste, and no electricity, storage tanks, or booster pumps required.
For anyone wanting to improve the air and water quality in their home, selective filtration systems are a viable cost saving option to consider.
Proper Care For a Beautiful Orchid Flowers
If you enjoy the outdoors and being close to nature, you probably have a beautiful garden, and are growing many different plants to add color to the outdoors. As you probably realize, gardening and caring for plants can be a great therapy method and it is free. Many plants require specialized care and attention, which is quite therapeutic.
Of course, there are man different kids of plants that you can grow in your own backyard or on your patio. One of the most popular plants, known for its outstanding beauty and color, is the orchid. Taking care of orchid flowers requires dedication, but there are several tips for growing orchid flowers that will bloom abundantly and beautifully. If you follow these tips, you will have a beautiful and thriving orchid plant collection.
To take care of your orchid plants, one of the most essential things you can do is to make sure that you have the right kind of light for them to grow. Successful orchid growing requires the right amount of light. The leaves and flowers of your orchid plant can actually be burned if there is too much light. Particularly when the flowers are in bloom, it is essential that they not receive direct sunlight. However, they will not thrive if they do not receive enough light, so you should make sure they do receive some filtered light.
Besides the right amount of light, you also need to ensure that your plants are kept at the right temperature. Plants like the Lady Palms can live for more than 100 years when provided with the right amount of light. The same goes for orchids. In order to grow beautiful orchid flowers, you need to pay attention to each plant’s individual needs. Some orchid plants have low temperature needs, and these plants can be kept on the floor or on shelves without any additional heating considerations. For those that require warm temperature, you can mount them on trunks of palms near curtained windows, or use an electric fan to circulate warm air near the plants.
When watering and fertilizing your orchid plants, it is again important to understand your plant’s individual needs. Many types of orchid plants require certain amounts of water and fertilizer, and there are optimum times of the day to water and fertilize your plants. Read any information that came with your plants, or consult a nursery salesperson for assistance in determining the right amounts for your plants. If you follow these instructions carefully, you will be able to cultivate a beautiful collection of orchid plants.
Big Profits In Commercial Real Estate
Real estate is often known as the safest investment available. Because,real estate investing
executed with correct evaluation of the property (and its true value), can result in good earnings. This is one reason how come a few people engage in real estate investing as their regular job. The dialogue of real property are broadly centered toward residential real estate; commercial real estate seems to be not as popular. All the same, commercial real estate also is a good alternative for investing in property.
Commercial real estate includes many various forms of properties. Most folks associate commercial realty with only office buildings, parks or manufacturers/ industrialized units. Even so, that’s not entirely all of commercial real estate. There’s more to commercial real estate. Health care centers, retail structures and storage warehouse are all good examples of commercial real estate. Even residential properties like apartments (or any property that comprises of more than 4 residential dwelling units) are considered commercial real estate. As a matter of fact, such commercial real estate is much sought after.
So, is commercial real estate really profitable? Well, if it were not Lucrative I wouldn’t of have been writing about commercial real estate at all. So, commercial real estate is productive for sure. The only matter with commercial real property is that acknowledging the opportunity is a little difficult as equated to residential real estate. But commercial real property profits can be real huge (in fact, much bigger than you would anticipate by residential real estate of the same proportion). You could take up commercial real estate for either reselling after appreciation or for letting out to, say retailers.
The commercial real estate development is as a matter of fact handled as the 1st sign for emergence of residential real estate. Once you acknowledge of the possibility of significant commercial growth in the area (either due to tax breaks or whatever), you had better begin assessing the potential for appreciation in the prices of commercial real estate and then go for it promptly (equally soon as you find a good deal). And you must really work towards getting a good deal.
If you find that commercial real estate, e.g. land, is available in large chunks which are too costly for you to purchase, you could look at forming a small investor group (with your friends) and purchase it collectively (and split the profits later). In some cases e.g. when a retail boom is expected in a region, you may determine it profitable to purchase a property that you can change into a warehouse for the intent of renting to small businesses.
So commercial real estate exhibits a whole plethora of investing chances, you just need to seize it.
Investor Banned From Offering Property For Rent
Do you realize that you might be prevented from renting your investment home? Prohibiting property owners from leasing their properties is a trend that is growing increasingly popular with some developers and many Homeowners’ Associations (HOA).
It’s rare that you can buy a new home in a development that does have a HOA. As a homeowner you are bound by the HOA restrictions found in the Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions (CC&Rs).
The CC&Rs regulate your use of your property, restricting everything from the color of the house, window coverings, holiday decorations, sports courts, pets, to landscaping and etc.
One of the most recent restrictions that builders are including in their CC&Rs is a restriction that prohibits the homeowner from leasing their property. Builders have a provision in their sales contracts stating that the home will be a primary or secondary residence and that the purchaser will occupy the home. The owner is strictly prohibited from renting the home.
Why this trend? The idea is to limit the number of rentals in a subdivision because lenders believe that a high number of rentals in a community affects the value of the property and can erode the security of their loans.
Existing HOAs like the idea of no rentals and there seems to be a growing movement to amend their CC&Rs to add the “no leasing” provision.
Investors Beware!
The new homebuyer should be made aware of the no leasing restriction when they buy. But what about the investor who buys a home a few years later? If the investor fails to read and understand the CC&Rs he or she may end up owning a property that they cannot rent.
You can’t count on the home seller alerting you to the restriction. They may be the third or fourth owner of the home and not even be aware of the restriction.
Oh sure, you could buy the home, rent it and hope you are not discovered violating the CC&Rs.
However, anyone who has ever dealt with a HOA soon discovers that there are always a few other homeowners with an eagle eye out for the slightest infraction of the CC&Rs. They delight in notifying the HOA management company,,, and the management company is bound to investigate and enforce the rules. For you the investor is no appeal… and there is no recourse.
This is a strong reminder that every investor should have a clause in every purchase contract that says the purchase agreement is contingent upon you receiving, reading and approving a copy of the CC&Rs.
This is a potential ulcer-creating situation that no investor can afford to ignore.