NORMAN — A Central Oklahoma water expert on Tuesday questioned the methodology and conclusions in the national water study that put Norman on the map for relatively high levels of the potential carcinogen chromium-6 in the water supply.

John Harrington, a hydrogeologist who works professionally as director of water resources for the Association of Central Oklahoma governments, said the study by Environmental Working Group lacked peer review, made some questionable claims and was not transparent in its water sample collection practices.

“for a science report, this reads a little bit like the National Enquirer,” Harrington told the Cleveland County GOP Club at its monthly luncheon Tuesday. “I don’t think this thing has been peer reviewed. I don’t think it’s ready for prime time.”

EWG, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that specializes in environmental research and advocacy, announced in December that Norman’s water supply had the highest level of hexavalent chromium, also known as chromium-6, of the 35 cities tested this past spring.

He said the study appeared to be aimed at helping influence California officials into setting a limit of 0.06 parts per billion for chromium-6 in drinking water. Norman’s water tested at more than 200 times that limit.

“This is a California thing. This does not apply to Oklahoma,” he said. “If we went with the California standards, you could pretty much write off that aquifer.”

Harrington said water sample takers are usually trained and know to avoid water sources that may be tainted by the distribution system. for example, a test taken in the old part of the courthouse may be tained by aging steel pipes.

“There was nothing in here that tells me there was any quality control,” Harrington said.

Norman’s sample, according to EWG, tested at 12.9 parts per billion compared with a low of 0.03 for Cincinnati and 0.20 for Los Angeles.

“That is a phenomenally small thing. That’s like a dropper of something in an Olympic sized swiming pool,” Harrington said of the amounts found.

Harrington also questioned the premise that levels of chromium-6 had any impact on the human population. of the four studies done internationally, one in China was dismissed for errors and the other three showed no correlation between chromium-6 and cancer. He shared information showing no correlation between Norman’s relatively normal cancer rate and chromium-6.

“I’m not really interested in what the stuff does to rats. I’m interested in what it does to people,” Harrington said.

After the Dec. 20 report, EPA administrator Lisa P. Jackson announced the federal government will issue guidelines to all public water systems on how to test for and sample drinking water specifically for hexavalent chromium.

Harrington said the EPA is treading on thin ice by promising regulations to correct a problem that science can’t confirm.

“This is going to be one of those things that you want to stand back because the fur is going to fly in about a year,” he said.

Andy Rieger 366-3543

Expert shys from chromium-6 results »
Local news »
The Norman Transcript

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Commercial patio umbrellas are not just for patios. They can be used for most any setting from sidewalk cafes to poolside, they serve multiple needs. the main job of a patio umbrella is to offer sun protection and sometimes protection from other elements such as rain showers.

Commercial patio umbrellas are often a company’s calling card with brilliant styles and logo/graphics added. the patio umbrella can be seen from far away and can serve as advertising for a restaurant, bar or other establishment. the patio umbrella can become synonymous for the company and when people see it they identify with the company. With many styles to choose from, a company can come up with something quite unique that captures the feel of their establishment.

Other great uses for commercial patio umbrellas are adding some style to an otherwise boring venue. Patios furnished only with tables lack that certain pizzazz that an umbrella can add. the umbrella adds color and style by bringing the look of the entire patio or poolside together. Think of it as an accessory similar to handbag where you can really use the umbrella to make your mark.

While commercial patio umbrellas serve to protect from the sun and to provide a comfortable place to sit on a warm day, the umbrella is a star in its own right. There are many great companies that build their commercial umbrellas with durable fabric providing the ultimate in protection and design. Look for a company that offers 100% replaceable parts on everything from their umbrellas, pool pavilions and lounges and create the ultimate in shade. you want products that are handcrafted and inspired by the beauty of nature. Search for companies that offer the ultimate in durability and style combined to create the perfect shading for any venue.

Commercial pool umbrellas are one of those things that serve many needs but are one of the simplest products. you cannot get much more basic than an umbrella, yet it can be one of the most important investments a business can make. a sturdy, well designed, great looking and long lasting umbrella is a masterpiece. Make your mark with a beautifully designed commercial umbrella.

Johney Maron is a part time author who enjoys spending time outdoors, and entertaining in his backyard. Tuuci provides many outdoor products to make your backyard the perfect oasis for relaxation and entertaining. Look to Tuuci for your next outdoor furniture purchase. Tuuci carries outdoor patio umbrellas, as well as commercial patio umbrellas. Choose from multiple commercial umbrella fabrics that are both stylish and durable, to compliment your backyard décor!For more information visit at tuuci.com Article Source

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 29th, 2011 at 10:21 pm and is filed under patio furniture. you can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

Commercial Patio Umbrellas Meet Multiple Needs

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We have been looking for more information about these two products. we are excited to get one – we just want to find out as much as we can about them before we purchase one of these products to replace our solar swimming pool cover.

I don't know anything about the discs, but from everything I have heard the rings are nothing but a waste of money. before buying them I did a quick search on Epinions and it looks like not a single customer has left a positive review. it is hard enough keeping my backyard clean, I don't need these things blowing all over the place making it even harder. what is even worse it sounds like the manufacturer doesn't even stand behind their product. Who really needs that hassle? thanks, but I will stay with my standard pool cover.

Solar Sun Rings VS Solar Sun Discs – What is the difference between these solar pool covers?

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More than a dozen children and adults were sickened Sunday afternoon by a chlorine bleach spill at a swimming school in a St. Louis Park mall. Eleven people were taken to area hospitals to be checked out as a precaution, a city official said.

Emergency responders were called to the Foss Swim School in the Knollwood Mall around 3 p.m. after people in the pool area began vomiting, coughing and experiencing other respiratory problems, said St. Louis Park spokesman Jamie Zwilling. Forty to 50 people were in the pool area at the time.

John Foss, CEO of Foss Swim School, said about two cups of standard household bleach spilled onto the ground in the pump room, which is next to the pool. when a parent noticed an odor, the parent opened a door to the outside, which caused vapor to roll into the pool area, he said.

"it was basically a fog on the pool, but the effect was very dramatic, both visually and then wondering what it was," Foss said.

The bleach is kept in an outside room; the spill occurred during a routine maintenance procedure to clean pump room equipment.

Some stores were evacuated, but soon reopened. a chemical assessment team from adjacent Hopkins responded to conduct tests. Zwilling said most of the chemicals had dissipated by the time the team arrived. Responders from Hopkins, Edina, Minnetonka, Richfield and Hennepin County joined the St. Louis Park police and fire departments.

Foss said he understands why everyone responded the way they did, given that children were involved and the fog over the pool was dramatic. "No one knew what it was," he said. "when it comes to children, you want to be safe."

Staff writer Heron Marquez Estrada contributed to this report. Lora Pabst • 612-673-4628

St. Louis Park bleach spill sends 11 to hospitals

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I'm taking a math class, and the professor is bombarding me with word problems. They're killing me! Any help is greatly appreciated!

A merchant increases the wholesale cost of a washing machine by 10% to determine the selling price. if the washer sells for $425.70, find the wholesale cost.

a. $387.00
b. $401.00
c. $395.00
d. $380.00
e. $389.00

An empty swimming pool can be filled in 6 hours. when full, the pool can be drained in 16 hours. How long will it take to fill the empty pool if the drain is left open?

a. 10 hours
b. 9 hours
c. 12 hours
d. 11 hours
e. 17 hours

A swimming pool contains 13,000 gallons of water. How many gallons of chlorine must be added to "shock the pool" and bring the water to a 37/100% solution?

a. 48.28 gallons
b. 48.68 gallons
c. 49.08 gallons
d. 48.39 gallons
e. 47.78 gallons

Can anyone solve these algebra word problems?

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Millions of people love to swim in their gardens about the world. Swimming and playing in the water is great fun, even if you have to go to a pond, pool, a river or the sea to do it. in order to make full use of a garden pool, you really need to live in a place where the weather is warm. The owner also needs to have some money as pool maintenance fees are high.

Therefore, when people have gone to the trouble of having a garden pool installed, they also like to have the pool used as frequently or as much as possible. you can encourage your friends and family to use the pool more often by making it more fun and more comfortable to do so. Pool accessories or swimming accessories are a means of achieving this.

People like to be in the water, so you could make it easy for them by using poolside furniture that will float when supporting an adult. There are various items like floating chairs, floating tables and plastic inflatable lidos that will keep you and your guests in contact with the water. Decent floating furniture will also support people out of the water, cheap gear will not.

If you like the notion of floating in your pool while sitting on a chair reading a book, this sort of furniture is for you. Lots of these seats have an in-built glass holder and float so that your waist is at the water line, although this just depends on the chair and the person sitting in it.

Then there are floating sun loungers which do roughly the same thing as a floating chair, except they tend to keep your whole body out of the water so that you can get an even sun tan. Inflatable lidos or rafts are similar items, although the inflatable lido or camp bed is a very cheap item compared with the more solid floating seats and loungers.

Other items that you could use to raise the enjoyment of your garden pool are aquatic games. you could string up a water polo net or a water volley ball net in order to get people moving. Beach balls are another good idea for encouraging play in the pool. if you are on your own, you could just float around in an inflated truck tyre. They are very comfortable and very cheap.

If you are dead set on relaxation at your pool, you could build a poolside bar. The bar stools could be in the water, if your pool is large enough, otherwise you could incorporate the pool bar into a breakfast bar where you can prepare and eat light meals. Weighty meals are not good for swimmers anyway.

Pool accessories or swimming accessories will intensify your enjoyment of your pool and make your friends and family wait for you next invitation to come over for a swim impatiently. most of these devices do not have to be expensive either.

Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on several subjects, but is now concerned with Push up Bikinis. if you would like to know more, please visit our website at Swimwear for Big Busts.

Garden Swimming Pool Accessories » PYXISM World Travel

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I know that the hard plastic are prob the best, but I've looked and can't find them anywhere yet. I'll keep looking but if I decide to get an inflatable kiddie pool, what would i need to do so the turtles claws don't pop the pool? any help is greatly appreciated.

What kind of kiddie pool is best for 3 red eared sliders?

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Ministry of Finance PS Khabonina Mabuza

Although Swaziland has been paid its last instalment of Southern African Customs Union (SACU) receipts for 2011, but the country’s huge debt with the union continues to be a major setback-economists have said.

The country’s debt with SACU is in the region of E700m and is in lieu of overpayments made in previous years which must be paid back. when approached to confirm the last payment instalment matter, Minister of Finance Majozi Sithole said he was not sure whether SACU had deposited the last instalment of the yearly receipts, but would only confirm that the money usually comes in January.Sources close to the matter said because of the country’s debt with SACU, the last instalment of money paid was far too little than what was expected.“I am not sure whether SACU has deposited the money into our account, but the Accountant General should know better,” said the minister. Government sources close to the SACU receipts matter, however, confirmed that the last payment had been received, but with deductions from SACU. The country’s yearly receipts are E1.9 billion. Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Finance Khabonina Mabuza said she was unaware of the payment of the country’s last instalment of the E1.9 billion receipts, but she said the money usually arrived with deductions of the country’s debts.The dwindling SACU receipts greatly contributed to government’s financial quagmire as receipts from the union were the major source of income. Because of the country’s deficit, government was forced to introduce financial reforms aimed at controlling expenditure. among the reforms are the suspension of tenders, tender waivers, procurement of any sorts of commodities including government cars, furniture and accessories, suspension of overtime payments in all government ministries and departments and the suspension of hiring new civil servants. Economists forecast that as the economic growth rate dwindles in South Africa, the major contributor to the SACU revenue pool, coupled with the loss of mining export revenue and the reduced demand for motor vehicles, commodities, housing, market and imports-the overall SACU pool is likely to fall significantly over the medium term.

OUTLOOK

Swaziland’s economy continues to underperform, reflecting both the impact of the global economic crisis and key obstacles to growth. While real GDP growth is expected to have inched up to 2% in 2010, the rebound is moderate and has mostly been driven by public consumption. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) report on consultation with Swaziland said the country also continued to underperform other Southern African Customs Union members, reflecting an overvalued exchange rate, continued structural impediments to growth, and the heavy toll of HIV and AIDS on economic activity. It noted that the economic outlook showed only moderate growth averaging 2% over the medium term. Slowed“Inflation has slowed in recent months (4.5% in October 2010) and is projected to remain moderate over the medium term. Government adopted a fiscal adjustment roadmap (FAR) in October 2010 to correct the unsustainable fiscal position. On the revenue side, the FAR envisages increases in taxes and the introduction of the value added tax and a capital gains tax. On the expenditure side, the FAR includes a freeze on the wage bill for the next three years and cuts in expenditures on goods and services,” read the report as part.The report also envisaged stricter controls and greater efficiencies in the delivery of goods and services as well as public financial management reforms to improve procurement, accounting and auditing practices.

<a href="http://www.observer.org.sz/index.php?news=19894tag:news.google.com,2005:cluster=http://www.observer.org.sz/index.php?news=19894Sat, 15 Jan 2011 04:58:14 GMT 00:00″>Country’s SACU debt major setback

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We recently got an above ground pool and have decided to use Baquacil for the chemicals since my son has asthma and I've heard not to use chlorine in that case. however, it smells horrible, like dead fish. we are considering changing to EZ Pool, since that is the other chlorine-free chemical our pool dealer uses. I would like to know if anyone's used it, and if so, is it really EZ like the name? also, does it stink? please help! we can't swim in a pool that smells like dead fish!

Chaoticbliss is pointing you to a VERY helpful website. Asthma problems resulting from chlorine exposure is most often associated with large indoor swimming pools. more often than not these pools use more chlorine than is needed resulting in chlorine gas (not a dangerous level for most but can cause asthma attacks) building up inside the structure OR these pools do not use enough chlorine resulting in a substantially high level of chloramines (most often the chlorine "smell" is actually chloramines and not the chlorine) which cause asthma attacks. If you have an outdoor pool and keep your chlorine at proper levels then your son should be fine. I have only heard bad things about baquacil and this is just another. I dont know much about EZ pool. have you considered bromine? A bit more expensive but you wont have a "fish" smell and bromine is less "harsh" than chlorine.

NO don't use copper! Baquacil is no good either. we have a 27' AGP and I use the BBB ( bleach, baking soda and mule team borax) method and our pool is sparkling clean!

Come visit us over here at troublefreepools.com
LOTS of very helpful, knowledgeable and friendly people that will help/teach you get your pool on the right track and enjoying it all summer.

I believe you are inquiring about an alternative to a chlorine pool, EZ Pool a non chlorine pool. These ionic sytems want you to believe they make copper, silver and zinc ions and purify the water without chlorine. well this remains to be seen, I for one do not buy it and it sounds like another system to lighten your wallet.

One system that you might want to look at is made by delozone.com. Their system is an ozone generator see Eclipse. this works with a chlorine dispenser that puts 1/2 the amount of chlorine in the water, 0.5 to 1.5ppm. now ozone is a known irritant to the lungs and in normal people can cause constriction and wheezing. but del's Eclipse makes the oxone and injects it into the return water to the pool and it is gone before it comes out of the return line into the pool so exposure is very minimalized. You have to run your equipment longer with ozone, and it uses more electricity, but that is a good trade off for reduced chlorine and peace of mind for you and your family.

A properly maintained chlorine pool is the way to go. Get a good test kit one that the maintenance guys use, check into Taylortechnologies.com who make a chlorine test kit that specifically tests for chloramines in the water. this FAS-DPD kit is available by itself or as part of the great test kit that tests, pH, Total Alkalinity, Calcium Hardness and Cyanuric Acid.

Alternatively get a good pool maintenance guy who can test for chloramines and maintain your pool. have him come twice a week when the water is 80* or above and you will have the basis for outstanding water maintenance.

I do not think your son would be allergic to the chlorine but the combined chlorine or chloramines is a very well known and documented irritant.

You're welcome!!

Has anyone used EZ Pool (copper) chemicals, and if so how do you like it?

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“Shocking” a pool involves adding extra chlorine to break down organic compounds and ensure that the pool is properly disinfected and  safe for swimming.  That’s the short version, we’ll get more technical in a moment.  Pool shock or pool shock treatment is also referred to as super-chlorination or super-oxidization.

When chlorine is added to water as part of the normal pool sanitation regime, it reacts with the water to form hypochlorous acid.  it is this that acts as the primary disinfecting agent in the pool.  When it combines with contaminants in the pool such as bacteria, algae, other pathogens, debris, sweat, skin cells, leaves or bird droppings, it forms a combined chlorine compound that is also known as chloramines.  the term combined chlorine and chloramines are often used interchangeably.

It is the build up of chloramines that swimmers will most often notice in a pool, complaining of a “chlorine smell” overhanging the pool surface as well as eye and nose irritation.  the smell is a sign that you need to shock treat the pool in order to increase the free chlorine levels (i.e. chlorine that is not combined).  most experts recommend shocking or super-chlorinating the pool to 10ppm on a regular basis (weekly or every two weeks) during the summer months or when the pool is being used.

A number of different shock treatments are available with the best pool shock products showcased on the website carousel at the top of this page.   We have also split pool shock treatment into two broad categories:  Chlorine pool shock and Non-chlorine pool shock.

When it comes to chlorine swimming pool shock, the key criteria to look out for are available chlorine levels (the higher the better) and whether the product is quick dissolving.  Note lithium pools shocks contain chlorine in the form of Lithium Hypochlorite and as such are categorized as a chlorine pool shock.  Chlorine free shock is made from Potassium Monopersulfate, an oxidizing agent that destroys organic contamination.  it can be used on chlorine, ozone and bromine pools as well as for spas and hot tubs.

Tags: best pool shock, cheap pool shock, pool shock treatment, swimming pool shock

Pool Shock

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