Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
Welcome to disability Empowerment. Now, I'm your host, Kid Mavigensini. This is the first bonus episode of season four. I'm here with Sidding Cob Men, who is a water expert. Sidian, welcome to the show.
[00:00:40] Speaker B: Thanks. Happy to be here.
[00:00:42] Speaker A: So let's start out with what got you into water and studying it and making a professional career out of the. The thing we all need to live and survive.
[00:01:03] Speaker B: Yeah.
What got me into it, actually, I was a property manager, and one of my tenants had water that was brown and smelled like rotten eggs.
And so I took it and I took it to the owner and I said, this is. This is weird. What do you want me to do about this? And the owner said, okay, get it tested. And I had never tested anything before. So I went to a lab and.
And got it test done, and it came back within the legal limits. It was like, this water's legal to. To drink. And that confused me.
So I. I actually sought out an expert and I searched for a guy by the name of. I found a guy by the name of Chris Pelton, and he was actually the owner of Pure Water Northwest.
And he actually taught me that there are two standards for drinking water that the Environmental Protection Agency sets. One standard is for health, and the other is a legal limit.
So even if something is beyond the health limit, it can still be under the legal limit. It can still be legal.
So I.
[00:02:17] Speaker A: How.
How is that possible?
[00:02:21] Speaker B: Yeah, and it's crazy, right?
If you go to the primary drinking water standard set by the epa, and I don't know if you want me to share. Share my screen so you can just see it.
[00:02:35] Speaker A: Cool.
[00:02:37] Speaker B: I think you have to enable sharing.
Anyhow, if you go to this website that says national primary drinking water regulations set by the epa, you'll see on the list there's mclg, which stands for maximum contaminant level goal, and then there's mcl, which stands for maximum contaminant level.
The maximum contaminant level is the legal level, and the MCLG is the health level.
So if you go down to, like arsenic, for example, you're allowed to have 0.01 milligrams per liter of arsenic.
So like a single drop in an Olympic swimming pool, which is still a very small amount, but zero is the health guideline.
And so if you think about it that way, it's still not very much. They're still doing a good job limiting your exposure, but it's not zero. It's not to the health level.
[00:03:36] Speaker A: What let's pull up that website.
I'm gonna able sharing.
[00:03:44] Speaker B: Okay.
All right.
So there we go. That's the website.
And I'll scroll the top epa, National Primary Drinking Water Regulations.
And if you go down here, you'll see MCLG and you'll see mcl.
So all these are, you know, common bacterial contaminants.
Here's some disinfection, byproducts. These are the kind of things you get when you use chlorine in drinking water. You get byproducts. These are some of those, these are some other disinfectants that are also byproducts of, of disinfecting or the disinfection themselves.
And then there's arsenic in the inorganics.
So like 0 is the MCLG for arsenic and 0.01 is the MCL for arsenic. So you got a legal level and a health level set by the epa.
And so very often I find things that are above the health level and below the legal level and customers don't like that. So I help them get rid of it.
And that's, that's basically my job is living in this space between the health level and the legal level, if that makes sense.
[00:05:11] Speaker A: So how, how did you find the podcast and what interest you and made you want to reach out?
[00:05:23] Speaker B: Well, it's been a while now, so I can't fully remember which episode it was, but I thought you had actually done an episode that was kind of related to water in some way. And I tend to try and listen to as many episodes as I can that either are related to water or energy conservation in some way.
And so I just reached out, I was like, ah, maybe they want me on the podcast.
[00:05:51] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean I try very hard to cover every base I can.
Even those bases a little outside the norm of what a video cats about disability empowerment and advocacy is about.
In the pre interview we were talking about example that the one of the water filtration systems in homes can have levers that are not easily reachable to someone in a wheelchair or someone with a mobility or a fine motor disability like cerebral palsy like I have. And that is the connection where we responded. I mean water filtration, water conservation.
As I said at the beginning of this episode, water and sunlight and sleep are the three things that every living organism needs to survive on this planet.
And if you cover one or more of those three areas, you can basically make a blueprint of that. Your walk is important to everyone.
And well, I'm located in Tucson, Arizona right now. Water is incredibly important, particularly in the desert.
[00:08:33] Speaker B: So.
[00:08:38] Speaker A: Talk about how long have you been doing that and how had your job changed or developed throughout the years in terms of regulation how people treat and think about water. I mean, unless you're using water, water filtration are in the business, you don't really think about water filtration. You take it for granted or more often than not you can take it for granted.
So how had your job developed an adaptive adapted over the years that you've been in this business?
[00:09:44] Speaker B: Yeah, so I'd like. Yeah, I find it interesting talking about not only my own journey with water, but also the fact that water treatment itself is really a very, very new field.
And when I say new, I mean, I mean it's, it's hundreds of years old, but that's still relatively new in the grand scheme of things.
And people think, and the, the regulations think of water treatment still systems still kind of like they think of toasters or dishwashers or other appliances.
So they don't actually have as many ADA requirements put on them as other categories might. They should though, because they're water treatment. They're really essential and they should have similar regulations to other, other faucet taps that, that have regulations or door handles and things like that that allow people who have mobility issues to still access them.
And so some definitely do are ADA compliant. They're not all the same. And I have had customers with mobility issues who I've had to source other products for in order to make it so that they can use our products.
But it is totally a new, a new field. It is a field where people still consider it very optional.
And in some cases it is not optional. It is absolutely a requirement for some people. In other places it is optional and people are just doing it because they want even better water, but their water is good enough.
There's so, so yeah, there's no universal accessibility standards for water treatment systems right now.
They are not governed by that.
What is that? Ansi.
The, the ANSI standard for code amendments for design and accessibility. I can't remember what that standard's called, but they're not, they are not governed by that standard at this point. And so yeah, it's, it is absolutely a thing. And the way the world works, the things that are going to change that are people start realizing it is a requirement for some people and so it, it becomes a basic necessity.
Public procurement requirements go into place for schools or housings law, ADA lawsuits come, come about that will start to push that agenda and therefore show that that is, there is a pattern that shows that it's needed.
And then the brand differentiation gets a little more rigid and the standards for what really is water treatment versus just a gimmick get fixed. After we get all that, we'll start seeing changes in that arena. I think.
[00:12:57] Speaker A: It'S interesting listening to you and hearing that people think of water treatment and water filtration adds a new area when it's already hundreds of years old.
But even if it was 50 years old or something like that, again, water is critical for every living organism to survive on this planet. And yet we treat a water like it's just there, like it's magically filtrated, magically treated. And that isn't the case. I mean, who wants to get a gin and tonic and say, hmm, let's just put in a drop of OD Nick in it to give it that extra kick.
I mean, it's just like a Florida ride or whatever.
It's like, why.
Why do you think the people disregard or don't think of water and water quality like they think of other necessities?
[00:14:59] Speaker B: I know. It's because it's everywhere, right? It's because it's everywhere and it's been everywhere for a long time. And we're surrounded by water. Everywhere we look is water. You cannot live a single day of your life without looking at some water for sure. And so it's. It's everywhere. But despite it being everywhere, you know what's funny?
The world is mostly water. At least the surface of the world is mostly water. And only, well, less than 1% of all the water in the world is actually potable, is actually clean enough to be drunk.
[00:15:35] Speaker A: Wait, say that again.
[00:15:39] Speaker B: Less than 1% of all the water in the world is actually drinkable.
[00:15:47] Speaker A: So hearing that present, I.
I'm surprised humans have survived this long, not to mention any other organisms.
Less than 1% of all the water that is on this planet, it's drinkable.
[00:16:18] Speaker B: That's right.
[00:16:19] Speaker A: Then first of all, how do they find that out? And second of all, how do they factor that in to keeping everyone on this planet alive? If less than 1%, let's say it's 0.8 or 0.5 or something like that.
That doesn't seem possible by any sign or any science.
How are we alive on a planet? Well, I think you said the actual number is large than 1%. Really?.05 or something like that? 0.5.5?
[00:17:25] Speaker B: Yep.
[00:17:27] Speaker A: How?
Well, explain that to me.
[00:17:32] Speaker B: Yeah, so something like 98% of the world's water is salt water.
And the salt water luckily gets recycled into drinking water, but then the drinking water gets put back into the saltwater.
So luckily we have a constant source of, of roughly 2% water that is fresh water. Unfortunately though, most of that is inaccessible. The rain doesn't drop everywhere humans are. It's dropping into the ocean still. It's getting locked into the glaciers and the ice caps. It's stuck underground in aquifers and not able to be accessed. And that's where we get that half a percent is actually drinkable, accessible, and people can actually use it.
But what you should take from that is not that half a percent is really small.
It's that the size of the world is really, really, really, really, really, really, really big.
And the size of the amount of water is really the same amount of really is really big.
So the, the amount of people compared to the amount of water, despite our population being. I don't even. Is it 8 billion now?
[00:18:51] Speaker A: Yeah, mud should go with that number. 8 billion.
Yeah.
[00:18:57] Speaker B: So despite it being 8 billion compared to my finger, the amount of people are like this and the amount of water is still, that's drinkable is still like this.
So we're not even, we're not even to the point yet.
Despite that fact. We're not even to the point yet where we're running out of fresh water.
But given expansion and that people can't live like right next to each other. Yeah, we are approaching that now for sure. Where we are getting some places where if water distribution doesn't improve, if infrastructure doesn't improve, there will be some problems getting water to everyone.
And in some areas of the planet that is the case right now.
[00:19:39] Speaker A: Yeah.
Yeah.
Wow.
It's.
Wow.
I'm certainly not gonna ever look at a glass of water the same after this episode.
Your job is done.
So in terms of improving the treatment, improving the overall quality of water, I mean that's very big question. But let's take it bit by bit or at the local level. Yeah. What can be done? Because I mean there are at home water filtration sandstones with x, y, z, 1, 2, 3.
And that's what we think of as filtration or bottle water.
I'm originally from New York and the tap water water there is amazing. And so I can drink out of the sink very, very easy. And yet millions and millions of people drink bottled water every single day, every single month.
Moats lead torrid's not that I'm trying to badge to some areas in this country that Great country of odds where water is better kept, it's better looked after, better treated, better filtered than others.
And so at the local level, which beyond it, it's the building blocks of everything, what can be done that's kind of universal in helping us and our neighbors realize the incredible value and responsibility we all have to keep and protect this building block of life.
[00:22:37] Speaker B: Yeah.
So I love that you brought up New York because New York does have great water. Seattle also has great water.
Different sides of the country, great water.
But when I say great, I'm speaking relative to some other municipalities that have a ton of arsenic or some municipalities still come out with brown water.
Some municipalities are running through wooden pipes or such aging infrastructure that you've got lead in the water.
And so there's no lead generally in New York.
In some areas there can be because the infrastructure is such that it is possible. But in most areas, same thing with Seattle, generally no lead. But in some areas there can be.
There's chlorine and chlorine byproducts in all of it, and that can be. Have differing effects on different people.
Where you are in the line relative to the treatment plant might shove the chlorine directly to your house first, and then you've got a high level of chlorine. I know a customer near here who we helped. Their, their, their children's skin was actually burning from the amount of chlorine they had. But right across the street, their chlorine level was fine.
So the thing is, is that we're. We are dealing with an infrastructure and we're dealing with a generalized treatment system. So everyone's house is going to be the same, not going to be the same.
Additionally, there are emerging contaminants that a lot of the municipalities don't know what to do with yet.
So those would be like microplastics forever chemicals like PFAS, that and DBPs like, and other other volatile organic compounds.
So the thing to do about that would be to treat your water either with a generalized approach, as you had just mentioned, or test your water, find out exactly what's in it, and then target it. You had mentioned Brita. Brita is made with carbon. The majority of products are made with carbon. You have a filter on your fridge that's carbon.
If you do a, if you do a Berkey, that is carbon plus some metals that actually do help a little bit more than just the carbon. But it's not, it's certainly not a perfect solution. It's not something that can be relied upon. If You've got arsenic in your water, which a lot of municipalities have. It will help with PFAS at some levels, but it will not continue to help with PFAS because that will bind with the carbon.
So you want a backwashing system or to replace your filter enough if you're dealing with that kind of stuff.
A generalized solution, if you don't want to check your water is an undercounter reverse osmosis.
[00:25:37] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:25:38] Speaker B: So under counter reverse osmosis. Very safe.
You do not have to worry about all the minerals being removed. And if you are worried about it, you can add on a remineralization cartridge afterwards.
It is going to be the most generalized way to solve any water quality issues. And, and if anyone were to say I'm not going to test my water, what do I do? I always say reverse osmosis.
If you want to test your water, you can do that. I mean you can go to a lab or you can go to our website on PureWaterNorthwest.com and we have a testing section there.
There are other places you can do mail in testing that we do.
There are ways to actually go and go to a local lab to get testing done. And then there are services that actually test municipal water. So if you're on a well you definitely have to do your own testing. But if you're on municipal water, the municipality will do its own testing from time to time and make that public.
There are groups like the Environmental Working Group that has a tap water database that you can search through as well.
There's a little bit of scare tactic on the Environmental Working Group. So ignore some of the multipliers they say where it's like a thousand times the health level.
That is a bit exaggerated, but it is above a health level. And how much does definitely didn't matter is definitely determined based on your own immune system and your own ability to filter toxins. So it's all person to person basis in that regard.
So yeah, I mean that is, that is the solution. You either you either put in an RO or you test and then you customize your solution based on your water.
[00:27:25] Speaker A: So in terms of getting the public's attention and that can even begin or should even begin in our own neighborhoods.
How do we grab the public's attention in this age of very short attention spans?
I mean the digital politics or what have you, this is again the building blocks of life itself.
And what misinformation or misinformed information do we need to break?
And how do we get people to either Start caring or care more, not just about their own water, but the water of communities that aren't ads or fortunate or lucky. Add our own communities.
[00:28:58] Speaker B: Yeah, Keith, I think that the answer is we have to empower people with the idea they can test their water instead of guessing about what's in their water. And that that alone, I think will make a huge difference. Because what caught what I believe causes people to say, oh, my water's fine. Oh, I drank out of the hose when I was a kid, or any of those other things that people say which indicate they're not really looking at the water, they're not really willing to actually take a look at what's in their water.
That's partly because they. The misinformation of the water's fine, and then the information of how to, what would I do about it anyhow, is not there. It's really easy. And people knowing that, how easy it is to actually identify what's in their water, I think that is the biggest way.
And then if you mix that with, let's not scare people, let's actually give them real information.
If you got a little bit of arsenic in your water, let's look at how much so we can determine is this really an acceptable amount? I mean, I, I guarantee I have drunk 20 years worth of arsenic, 30 years worth of arsenic before I realize this. I guarantee it. I'm very healthy. I don't think I'm going to die early because of that. The amount of tolerance you have for arsenic is extremely high.
But why have it in your water at all? If you oxidize arsenic, which you do with chlorine, it gets removed by a reverse osmosis like that.
And why. So why not have it out of your water?
Part of the reason is you don't know it's there. So let's just find out. Let's just confront it, look at it and say, hey, just look at what's in the water and be honest, not try and scare anyone. Really give people a balanced viewpoint about it and then let them make their own decision. And I think if we could do that without the scare tactics and with making it really easy to test and identify, I think everything would be okay for people.
I. I would hope at least.
[00:31:10] Speaker A: And so in case there are any listeners of yours inspired and motivated by your work in texting and treating water, what would be some action steps that you would give people who want to join in learning more about how to save God and better care for water and for the longevity of life itself?
Because again, as I said at the beginning of the episode, you need water, you need sunshine and you need sleep.
Everything else is secondary really. You take those three things out of the equation, everyone you know is as good as dead.
And I mean the building block of everything is water.
And so what would be some action steps you would give a person who said, hey, I'm really motivated to help people figure out what's in their water. And I really love signs. That sounds fascinating. I mean, hey, it could happen.
I mean, so what would be some.
[00:33:04] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely.
So if you want something done for you, you just go to like your local water person, just go to my website, PureWaterNorthwest.com contact us, we'll do it for you if you want to do it yourself, because I don't want to gatekeep any of this.
If you're on a municipal system, look up the name of your municipality in Google as well as water test report and that will pull up a report for sure. You'll be able to find something that way.
And then you can also go to EWG Environmental Working Group tap water and search for it there. Compare those two and then you're going to want to find an expert to help you interpret it. You can contact us to help with that or other people.
And then that is how you know what's in your water. That's how you start the process of identifying this is what's in my water. If you want a more extensive test, you go to purewaternorthwest.com we've got a testing section. You go to tapscore.com they can do testing.
If you're on a well, you must always do that. Don't listen to your neighbors who have said our water is great. Don't listen to the fact that you've lived there for 20 years. It doesn't matter.
You have to know what's in your water. So get it tested, identify the actual list of contaminants. They will have numbers next to them. They will also indicate, is this above the health level, Is it above the legal level? You're going to want to know both of those things. And then once you have all that data, if anything looks alarming, contact a company like ours. Or if you don't know if it's alarming, contact a company like ours or a local lab and you can get some help getting that interpreted.
Once you have that, once you have a list that you've made, I've got these things, it'll probably be a few things. Usually it's not 10 things. Usually you come across. Okay, you know what these things, there's a few things on this list that are alarming. I want to explore further. Then you can do a deeper exploration and then if, if treatment is valid, in that case you can get a treatment system.
It is best to customize treatment systems. It is best to do it based on the actual, the actual way of treating either the ion exchange media or the physical filtration that is used to actually treat the specific contaminants.
So be careful of large nationwide chain companies because they have warehouses filled with products that they have to get rid of. And so they will do their best to make the product match your water. And if it doesn't match your water, they're going to try and shoehorn it in. So it's really better to get a local company understands the area's water and can kind of calibrate the system for the water rather than trying to shoehorn it in. And then that's, that's it. You will have clean water from then on.
Or do an undercount arrow. I mean that's a, that's a, that's a way to bypass all of that. For the most part. It's not perfect. It's not going to get rid of everything, but for the most part get an under counter RO if you don't want to do any of those steps.
[00:36:26] Speaker A: Well, any final thoughts as we conclude this interview?
[00:36:35] Speaker B: Well, I really appreciate you having me on. It was actually really great. I love your enthusiasm about water. Like we're, we think the exact same way. Water, water is the most important thing. It's one of them. It's everywhere.
You know, we like, as you've mentioned, we've got a few things we need. We got to have water, air, food, sunlight, sleep.
And there's a reason water is very high on that list.
So I appreciate that and I appreciate you having me on.
[00:37:07] Speaker A: Thank you very much my friend and I look forward to having an odd Nick cocktail with you. Do you think that James Bond would want his shaken odd stud?
Don't answer that. I'm trying to end the episode on a humorous not note. But again, thank you so much for your valuable work, your passion, your enthusiasm and I hope you will come back soon.
[00:37:46] Speaker B: Thank you Keith. I appreciate it.
[00:37:58] Speaker A: You had been listening to Disability Empowerment. Now I would like to thank my guests.
You are listener and the Disability Empowerment team that made this episode possible.
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