Failing Well Water Treatment

Failing Well Water Treatment

Researchers from Rutgers University found some alarming issues with private well water treatment systems in a study of 62 New Jersey homes. These systems, meant to remove arsenic from well water, might be malfunctioning and letting harmful particles into the drinking water. They found that 71% of these homes had microparticles of arsenic, a known carcinogen, in their water, which should stay in the treatment tank. Besides arsenic, they also discovered that 84% of homes with water softeners had microparticles of the softener resin, suggesting radium contamination might be an issue too. The researchers suggest installing a 5-micron post-treatment sediment filter to catch these particles until they can figure out why the systems are failing.

Spacesuit Turns Urine Into Drinking Water

The folks at Cornell have designed a new spacesuit that turns urine into drinking water, inspired by the "stillsuits" from Dune and expected to be used in NASA’s Artemis program by 2030. Using a vacuum-based system, it collects and purifies urine, giving astronauts a steady supply of water during long spacewalks. The suit’s system is pretty impressive—it purifies urine in just five minutes using an osmosis system, and the purified water can even be turned into an energy drink. It's compact and light enough to carry on the back of a spacesuit. They’re even planning to test it on 100 volunteers in New York this fall (because the streets of NYC aren’t ridiculous enough already) to make sure it’s comfy and works well.

WQA Podcast: Growing Your Business

The WQA podcast recently talked with Bryan Trilli, a former water treatment dealer who now helps dealers grow their businesses. In case you weren’t sure if you wanted to listen to the full 34 min podcast, here are the talking points:

• The potential of AI in the water treatment industry

• Using AI to diagnose water hardness issues through photo analysis

• AI providing local water hardness information and recommending treatment companies

• Training company-specific AI agents to answer staff questions

• Manufacturers using AI to answer customer product questions

• Factors influencing AI recommendations for local businesses (e.g., reviews)

Updated Water Softener Costs

Architectural Digest is back with their updated water softener costs, covering a range of different systems and sizes (more on that below). They describe how a basic water descaler system might cost $600, while a six-bedroom, whole-house water softener could cost up to $7,000 (there’s levels to the game). Here is their breakdown by type:

• Magnetic Systems: $200 to $400—budget-friendly but less effective.

• Ion Exchange Systems: $500 to $2,000—uses sodium or potassium to remove minerals.

• Salt-Free Systems: $800 to $4,000—good for low-sodium diets and septic systems.

• Dual-Tank Systems: $1,000 to $5,000—ideal for larger homes, offers uninterrupted filtration.

• Water Distilling Systems: $1,200 to $4,000—produces small quantities of soft water using steam.

• Reverse Osmosis Systems: $1,500 to $1,800—uses high pressure for thorough filtration.

What else is happening:

• In case you were curious, Waterdrop seems to be heavily promoting their upcoming Amazon Prime Day deal on tankless systems (several different articles showed up in our feeds this week)

• A recent study reveals that targeting home systems to remove PFAS is likely more cost-effective than using system-wide solutions

• And in another similar study, UNH concluded that households on public water systems are willing to pay an average of $156.84 annually to help protect themselves from PFAS

• Xylem senior vice president discusses all things business (like their acquisition of Evoqua) and the current state of the water industry (6 min. watch)

• Ohio-based Quality Water Systems releases two articles—one about how often to schedule well cleaning and the other about things to do before redrilling a well

• American Pump and Drilling, a family-owned business based in Washington state, writes all about UV Water Purifiers