Take It To The Board with Donna DiMaggio Berger
Take It To The Board with Donna DiMaggio Berger
Every Drop Counts-- Why Your Building's Water Quality Matters More Than You Think
Have you ever stopped to think about what’s really coming out of your faucets? This week on Take It To The Board, host Donna DiMaggio Berger sits down with Ed Padula of Quality Water Consultants to uncover the hidden truths about the water we drink, cook with, and bathe in every day. You might be surprised by what’s flowing through your community's pipes and what is contributing to the inevitable water leaks in multifamily buildings.
Donna and Ed’s conversation reveals how municipal water treatment has changed dramatically over the years, with many cities switching from chlorine to chloramines—a combination that addresses one health concern but creates new problems with corrosion, water color, and infrastructure damage. As they explain, what municipalities consider "safe" water often still contains chemicals that affect both human health and building systems.
The distinction between water softening and purification emerges as a critical misunderstanding for many associations. While softening removes calcium and magnesium to prevent spotting and extend appliance life, it doesn't address chemical contaminants or color issues.
Perhaps most alarming is how water quality accelerates the deterioration of aging pipes in multifamily buildings. The corrosiveness of chloramines causes pipes to deteriorate faster, leading to more frequent leaks and eventually requiring expensive re-piping projects. Simultaneously, deteriorating pipes leach contaminants back into water, creating a vicious cycle.
Ready to take a deep dive into what's flowing through your community's pipes? Listen now and, hopefully, start a much needed conversation for your board.
Conversation Highlights Include:
- Why community associations should prioritize water quality—even if no issues have been reported
- Water purification considerations for multifamily buildings
- Common—and often overlooked—water quality issues in condos, HOAs, and co-ops
- The impact of aging pipes, boilers, and water systems on water quality in older buildings
- How water quality affects the lifespan of plumbing and piping systems
- The link between water quality and leaks
- Understanding the difference between filtration systems and softener systems
- Routine testing and inspections community associations should conduct
- The connection between poor water quality and health risks
- Early warning signs of deteriorating water quality
- What a community’s emergency plan should include in the event of water contamination
Related Links:
- Online Class: Anatomy of a Water Leak
Hi everyone, I'm attorney Donna DiMaggio-Berger, and this is Take it to the Board where we speak condo and HOA.
Speaker 1:We've had several episodes on Take it to the Board where we talked about the water that falls from the sky and poses flooding problems for our homes, cars and other property.
Speaker 1:Today, we're going to be talking about a different kind of water the kind we drink and use. Today, we're going to be talking about a different kind of water the kind we drink and use. We'll be diving into the world of water quality with none other than Ed Padula, a seasoned expert from Quality Water Consultants, which is based in Coconut Creek, florida, with over 30 years of experience providing homes and businesses with access to clean and safe water. Ed has a degree in environmental engineering and is certified in commercial water treatment, so he's seen it all, from the nuisances of hard water to the serious risk of contaminants like Legionella, as well as how the quality of water can contribute to those pesky and inevitable water leaks in your multifamily building. So join us as we explore why community associations and their residents should prioritize water quality, the differences between water softening and purification, and how proactive measures can safeguard both infrastructure and health. So, ed, welcome to Take it to the Board.
Speaker 2:Thank you, glad to be here.
Speaker 1:So I've had, you know, concerns about water quality in my own home for years. I've had a reverse osmosis system. I've got a whole house water filtration. But why should community associations be thinking about water quality overall in the community if there hasn't been a known problem? Ed.
Speaker 2:Well, there is a known problem and in the South Florida area they've changed the water treatment. They used to use chlorine for sanitation and it was very easy to remove and it was easy to deal with. But the trihalomethanes became so high they exceeded the Environmental Protection Agency standards. So they switched to what is called chloramines, which is a combination of chlorine and ammonia which is very difficult to remove. It adds color to the water. It's very corrosive, it causes leaks, it causes corrosion, it causes a midget of problems and it's difficult to remove. And it's also caused color. And these people are buying into these multimillion dollar condos and they look at the color of the water that's coming from the city and they're kind of appalled. I've treated hotels where they got central systems because the guests were constantly complaining of the color of the water. You know, and in a white porcelain bath, at a sink, you're going to see the color and it's discouraging for people they don't like. It Doesn't look good, Doesn't smell good and that's a problem, but it's also very corrosive.
Speaker 1:We've got people listening all over this, switched to and I think you called it. Is it chloramines?
Speaker 2:Chloramines yes.
Speaker 1:Is that happening all over the country?
Speaker 2:It is wherever the trihalomethanes have reached the level and it's a cancer-causing agent. So what the city does is they combat the trihalomethanes. But they created a new problem with the chloramines and they still don't know what chloramines do to people. But I know that it's not good to drink. It'll kill a goldfish in like less than an hour. It's very harmful. But the city is concerned about the health of the people as far as bacteria and pathogens. They consider pure water as sanitized, which means nothing living in the water. But that doesn't mean there aren't heavy metals. That doesn't mean there's not a lot of chemicals. That doesn't mean there's nitrates, lead, all these other things sediment that are in the water. But as far as they're concerned, the levels are adequate, but they're not really for consumption as far as I'm concerned.
Speaker 1:That's a really good point. So that's a really important point. If I'm hearing you correctly, from the municipality standpoint, it's safe if there's nothing growing in it that's going to make you immediately sick. But that doesn't mean it's safe the way we would think of it in terms of long-term health.
Speaker 2:Correct and that's why point of use filtration is very important, because the water may be pure or filtered before it leaves the city water plant, but by the time it runs through the old infrastructure which is sometimes hundreds of years, 100 years old, it picks up everything that it touches because water is a solvent, everything that it touches because water is a solvent. So it may be pure or filtered at the plant, but by the time it gets to your home it's picked up all kinds of things on its way and that's we're having difficulty now because of all this construction on the beach, especially with the condos and hotels. They drive pilings into the ground which disturbs the old water lines and that's why they're breaking in Fort Lauderdale area. The water turns brown, people are furious and it's due to the vibration because it's like a mini earthquake when you start driving pilings for high rises and they never replaced the old water lines and they're constantly breaking. The sewer lines are breaking and the water lines are breaking.
Speaker 1:Oh boy, we're off to a real start here. But let's say, you know, look, I live in a single family home. So I get to make my own decisions, right. I get to decide if I want to have a reverse osmosis system and I want you to talk about that system. I get to decide if I want a whole house filtration. If I'm moving into a condo, let's say a multifamily building, can I just protect my water supply enough just by filtering what comes into my unit?
Speaker 2:We do that for several people, but the problem is they don't leave enough room to do it adequately. Usually it's just like a small closet that has an air conditioner and a hot water heater and the water line is tucked away inside there and there's not enough room for a system. And then you have to have some place for the system to clean itself and you have to have power. You have to have some place for the system to clean itself and you have to have power. And usually these things should be done prior to construction and they never are. Same thing with the central system. It should be planned in the architectural drawing, the mechanical drawings, before they even start building, because it takes a lot of room and it takes a lot of thought before you go ahead and people that try to do it after the fact. The plumbing and the reconstruction is a nightmare. It's a lot of money.
Speaker 1:So in your experience, Ed, how many developers think about water quality when they're building these buildings?
Speaker 2:They don't bring up negatives, so that's a negative. They're interested in selling condos. They're not going to tell people that the water is bad or that they need this or that. They try to just gloss over it. Look at the ocean, look at the sun, look at the beautiful area Don't worry about the water. And then we'll get calls, and then the boards will call us. And then we'll get calls, and then the boards will call us and then we try to. You know, it's hard to get a lot of people to agree on what exactly they want.
Speaker 2:People have misconceptions about what water treatment is water softening versus water filtration versus. I mean, it's just not a cookie cutter type scenario and every area has a different municipality, so they don't have the same water, so each area has its own problems. And this is kind of what frustrates me about marketing, because they market it like this will work everywhere and you don't have to do anything to it. And it just drives me crazy because it's not true. There's not one thing that can take care of all the different water that's available all over the United States, not even in the same counties, I mean. There's all different water.
Speaker 1:So you have to customize it according to what your water supply is and how the type of contaminates or the type of components that your local water supply has. Is that correct, right?
Speaker 2:Yes, and the city will provide you with a detailed analysis of what's in the water. And I always recommend to people don't trust someone to test your water. The city will provide you with a very detailed piece of paper that tells you exactly what's in the water and the levels, and then you can pick and choose what it is you don't like about that report and then you know, go from there. But first you need to know like are you concerned about your drinking water? Are you concerned about the hardness or the? You know, your appliances, the chemicals? I mean there's like.
Speaker 2:For me, I have a water softener, a catalytic carbon filter and a reverse osmosis drinking system, because they each do something different and I don't want chloramines in my water. My wife and I prefer soft water. It protects our hot water plumbing and our hot water heater and keeps things nice and clean. And we don't want chloramines in the water because when we shower, your skin is the largest organ in your body and it absorbs all the chemicals in the water. It's bad for your skin, it's bad for your hair, it's just bad to breathe, and reverse osmosis pretty much takes care of everything. So that's what I drink reverse osmosis water for my ice and beverages, and then I filter the rest of the house with water softener and a catalytic carbon filter.
Speaker 1:You've given us a lot of information already. I'm sorry.
Speaker 2:That's why people don't like talking to me, because I'm not a salesperson, I'm just.
Speaker 1:You know this is what we need to hear. Ed, this is what I'm going to have to take you back and walk you through some of this, because you're coming at me like a what do they call it? A fire hose of information.
Speaker 2:Sorry.
Speaker 1:No, no, it's great. So here's the thing. Let's say we do have an existing building. Developer did not think about water quality. It's a typical high rise and there's issues. Ok, there's the inevitable water leaks and I want to talk to you how water can impact the quality of water, can impact the aging of the pipes. But let's say they come to you and they want to retrofit the building correct.
Speaker 2:They can't do that. Can you walk us through how the purification or filtration would work? I've had several different people. They have different ideas and the first thing I have to do is kind of educate them on exactly what it is they think they want. Educate them on exactly what it is they think they want.
Speaker 2:Half the people want a water softener. They want soft water because they don't like hard water. Other people cannot stand soft water and a water softener is not a purifier. It doesn't filter. It takes out the calcium, magnesium.
Speaker 2:The hardness in the water makes it soft, so it doesn't spot on the shower door and you use less soap. It's more for maintenance. In restaurants they usually put the dish machines in their hot water and in laundry they don't do it because they do it for a maintenance standpoint, because it saves the life of their equipment and it makes everything look more presentable like the flatware and your glasses don't have spots. So most restaurants and country clubs will have a water softener on their hot water any hot water and filtration, carbon filtration on the beverages like coffee, tea, ice, things of that nature, because of the bad taste from the chemicals in the water. So that's the first thing I have to ask is what is it that everyone's complaining about? Some people don't like the color Usually it's the color People because that's what they can see. They see it every day and they don't like it, especially if you're pale.
Speaker 1:But softener is not going to change the color.
Speaker 2:It's not going to change the color, it's going to take out.
Speaker 1:It's going to take what out of the water. You're talking about hardness. It's going to take what out of the water. You're talking about hardness. What's hardness in water?
Speaker 2:Calcium, magnesium. It's from limestone, because most of the water in South Florida comes from an aquifer. It comes from Lake Okeechobee underground and we have a lot of limestone and it picks up the minerals and it dries, it leaves spots and it's also affects how well your soap and how your hair comes out. It's more more for a convenience. It's not a purifier in any stretch. It's designed only for the working water is how we put it. The water that you work with. It makes it more easier to use. But but it was never designed for drinking and no matter what they put in it to agile water softener, it's not designed for water consumption. That's not what its purpose is. That's not what it's for.
Speaker 1:Is hard water harder on the pipes Ed.
Speaker 2:Yes, it scales, especially hot water, because the heat interacts with the calcium, magnesium and forms scale. So over a period of years it'll actually constrict the flow of water through the hot water plumbing so you can't even get a pencil through it. The scale in a hot water heater, which causes more energy to heat the water and it destroys the pipes, I mean, and you get low flow rates and you get half the life of a hot water heater, especially these Insta hot heaters that are being sold now. It actually voids the water. If you have hard water, the warranties are void. They want you to use soft water to protect the elements.
Speaker 1:You're making me think I need a water softener.
Speaker 2:Where do you live again?
Speaker 1:Plantation.
Speaker 2:Plantation has a soft water membrane softening system through the city, so you probably don't.
Speaker 1:Probably. See, I appreciate that. You said that at the outset. Actually, I'm going to ask you are you allowed to say which city has the best water in South Florida and which city has the worst?
Speaker 2:I can tell you, I can say anything. I can tell you that there are problem water areas. Sunrise used to be notorious. It's gotten worse and it's different because, like Highland Beach, for instance, is going to what you guys did in plantation you went to membrane softening and they're getting reverse osmosis drinking. But the problem with that is, like I told you earlier. It's pure from the water plant but once it hits the old infrastructure it's picking up all this dirt. Once it hits the old infrastructure it's picking up all this dirt, debris, lead, heavy metal, corrosion. It's not pure.
Speaker 2:So the best way to do it is point of use, reverse osmosis, just when you're drawing the water for your own use, like I have. I have reverse osmosis on my kitchen sink, which also feeds my ice maker, so that I know that it's being purified at point of use. And that's what we call point of use versus point of entry. Point of entry would be what a water softener filter would be where the water enters your home. But really you need like a sophisticated system like reverse osmosis at point of use, and there's no trick. We do bottled water plants too. They use water filters and they use RO systems and they put it in a plastic bottle, which is horrible, and it sits out in the sun all day and it leaches plastic, it's like, and it's a multi-billion dollar industry and people can do it themselves and put the water in a glass pitcher or stainless steel, which you should do because it doesn't leach anything into the water.
Speaker 1:I was going to ask you that People will say, why do we need this? We'll just go buy a bunch of bottled water. But to your point, that's not your water. Plastic is horrible.
Speaker 2:Microplastics is horrible, and not only is it bad for the environment, but what do they do with all this plastic? And you know, when a bottle gets hot in your car it's leaching plastics into your water and what is that doing to you? I mean, it's just kind of common sense. I mean, if you can filter it yourself, why are you trusting somebody filling a bottle? You don't even know the quality of the water they're putting in there.
Speaker 1:I'm so glad you said that. I used to tell my husband for years don't leave water bottles in the sun or in a car, and you know what you say. What's it doing to you? I think I read recently that they think most people have about a credit card's worth of plastic in their heads.
Speaker 2:Could be, but it also grows algae if you put it out in the sun. I mean you're supposed to keep it out of the sun. You don't keep a clear bottle out in the sun, It'll grow algae and you'll see, sometimes with these stores, keep them in the sun. You'll see a little green tint in the water. Well, that's algae starting to grow.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so don't drink that. Let me ask you, in terms of space, to purify a whole building, let's say a seven-story high-rise how much space would they need for that filtration system?
Speaker 2:They'd probably need a 12-by-12 slab. 12-foot-by-12-foot slab, okay. And then there's the booster pump and then there's the main water line and really it needs to be done before they start building because it does take quite a bit of room and it needs to be serviced. I mean, some of these places you can't get in to service them because they're tucked away in a basement or something, and you know you have to think about all those things. And there's no such thing as a filter that doesn't need to service. It should be serviced annually. I don't care what anybody says, I hear these things all the time. People tell me it lasts forever. I go well, get that guy to whatever, because did he test the water? Or where is this person that told you that?
Speaker 1:I was going to ask you about service because the most basic in my mind method is you're trapping things in a filter. Is that correct?
Speaker 2:That is correct.
Speaker 1:If you don't remove the filter, then isn't it making the water worse?
Speaker 2:It'll restrict the pressure. But as far as carbon, carbon is an absorption media which takes out the chemicals. Eventually it cannot do that any longer. It's a disposable media. It's not something that lasts forever. So you're basically not getting filtered water at a period of time and if you don't have it tested or serviced, then you don't. You know, people normally know when the taste comes back, because once you're used to drinking good water, you can taste chlorine immediately or chloramines immediately, and it's just kind of easy. But I always tell people you know, don't do business with anyone who doesn't provide service and don't do business with anyone that tells you that you never need service.
Speaker 1:That's good advice In terms of warning signs that you're dealing with.
Speaker 2:That is a warning sign If someone tells you this does everything and don't worry. As soon as they say don't worry, you should run.
Speaker 1:Start worrying In terms of you know, kind of the red flags when it comes to your water quality. You're right, you can look at your water bill. I'd look at that and see what the rating is for our city water. But if somebody doesn't know to do that, you've already mentioned the way it smells, the way it looks, the way.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you could take a white styrofoam cup this is what I tell people and a white styrofoam cup if you draw water, you'll actually see the color of the water against the white background. And if you take, like a standard pool chlorine test kit and just add a drop if it turns yellow, you know you got a lot of chlorine in the water, chloramines in the water and usually there's more chlorine in the water than in swimming pools.
Speaker 1:You mentioned swimming pools. That's a perfect segue, because we've been talking about the water in the building. What about the water in the common areas? The pools, the fountains? Does all of this need to be filtered too?
Speaker 2:Pool water is ultra sanitized because they have saltwater chlorination. They have chlorine in the water, so nothing's growing and it's being filtered, the sediment's being filtered. You're not supposed to drink pool water. So from that standpoint, I mean a lot of people have skin irritations from chlorine and it's not really good for your skin or your hair. I'm sure after you go swimming in a pool you notice that your hair is a little funky and your skin feels a little itchy. Well, a little funky and your skin feels a little itchy. Well, that's the chemical chlorine drying on your skin and clogging up your pores. So you should rinse off quickly after you come out of a pool, but just get it off of your body.
Speaker 1:It's so healthy to swim, but you mentioned earlier your skin's your largest organ.
Speaker 2:Largest organ. It's absorbing all of that. And chlorine is a known cancer-causing agent I mean over time, depending on the levels, but the THMs were definitely and that mixes with organics and that's why they're adding ammonia to the water. I don't know about you, but in science they told us never to mix ammonia and chlorine together because it kind of creates a bad problem. Told us never to mix ammonia and chlorine together because it kind of creates a bad problem. But that's what they're doing and they're just solving one problem and creating a new one.
Speaker 2:But I always recommend that people take the initiative to handle their drinking water priority number one and then worry about their home, you know, as far as maintenance number two and I always break it down that way and we never sell a cookie cutter solution that says this will take care of all, you don't have to worry. But I hear it all the time. But, uh, I see the commercials on tv and I want to just throw something at it and the advertising is just. I can't believe the amount of people who've gotten into this industry since I've started in the 70s. It's just amazing how many people are into the water treatment industry. It's both a billion-dollar industry now. Nobody ever thought they'd be drinking water out of a bottle. When I was growing up they wouldn't be buying water. I mean, no one bought water.
Speaker 1:You were drinking it out of a bottle when I was growing up.
Speaker 2:they wouldn't be buying water. I mean, no one bought water you were drinking it out of a hose, yeah, out of a hose. Back then, before I was educated, I was anyway.
Speaker 1:So what's the biggest misperception out there? Do you think about your industry right now?
Speaker 2:I've done consulting work for I mean we do Starbucks, we do Ecolab, I mean and large companies. They try to network with people in the field that know what they're doing so that they I mean it's one thing to distribute filtration, but in a restaurant, for instance, if you don't change the filters every six months, you're not in compliance. And they don't change the filters every six months unless someone reminds them. So with my customers, we remind them every six months and we have a program where we take care of it every six months. Because if you have a bunch of filters and they're in an attic or some storage room somewhere and no one's going around putting the filters in and just selling them, it doesn't make any sense.
Speaker 2:Service is more important and keeping up with the maintenance is more important. Same thing with residential. I mean, the more people get involved, the more they're educated, the more they'll understand that you know you just need to change your filters once a year. You can't just especially if you're a resident, a part-time resident if you leave your home for three months. You can't just leave something stagnant and not use it. You should change the filter as soon as you get back.
Speaker 1:Ed, do you and your wife go to restaurants with your own water and stainless steel?
Speaker 2:No, but I know the places that have filtered water, and Starbucks, for instance, has the most on RO system on all their potable drinking water and I'm not a big Starbucks fan. But they have the ultimate filtration for all their consumable beverages and they do it because they want consistency. Same thing with McDonald's. They want you to have a drink at McDonald's in Seattle and have it taste the same in Fort Lauderdale and Ohio and everywhere. And the way they do that is they have filtration, which basically is that's your ingredient water mixing with the soda and ice and everything. So now it's consistent. And they do it because it's a cost savings, because they don't have to use as much syrup. They don't have to use as much. It keeps their maintenance down in the long run and it also makes a happy customer because the beverages taste better than the coffee, for sure, or a drink. You put bad ice in a scotch. It ruins it.
Speaker 1:It's funny you mentioned that because I just got the. Over the holidays we had guests and one of our guests was a scotch drinker and I got the big ice cubes.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the big round ones.
Speaker 1:Exactly so. I mentioned in the introduction Legionella, the bacteria, that's the bacteria that causes Legionnaires disease, correct?
Speaker 2:Yeah, there was a misconception that was blamed on the water. There was a central system in Miami about 20, 30 years ago, I don't even remember, but they blamed it on the water treatment that was taking out the chlorine in the water. But it wasn't really the water treatment. So then they cracked down on that. It basically was from the. It's an airborne thing. So basically it was a cooling tower. Is they have to have a residual of some kind of sanitation on the cooling tower so that this legionnaire that grows doesn't circulate into some ventilation system that causes people like in a conference room? I believe that's what happened and nobody really knows how it happened. It can happen on an airplane as well, when they recirculate the air. I mean cross -contamination. There's a million different ways things can happen. It's usually a maintenance issue or a cleanliness issue.
Speaker 1:I had a community once where it was linked to a hot tub.
Speaker 2:Hot tub vapors maybe, and people were breathing it. That's how they got it. It's usually airborne and people were breathing it.
Speaker 1:That's how they got it. It's usually airborne. So a lot of our communities have, or should have, emergency plans. What should they have in an emergency plan Ed in terms of backup if there's a water contamination issue in the community?
Speaker 2:Usually the city. If they have a broken pipe, they'll issue a boiled water order, and the reason why they do that is anytime you have a break in the pipe, you have a contamination. There's an atmosphere that the pipe is broken and now things can get in the pipe and bacteria can grow and they make you boil it. Well, they don't make you, but they advise you to boil your water. You should pay attention to that. Boil your water, you should pay attention to that. And you should also change your filters after a boiled water order because, to be safe, you don't know what's collected in that filter. If there was a boiled water order Like I used to do Wendy's, all the Wendy's, and every time there's a hurricane or a boiled water order, they wanted all their filters changed. We'd go out and change all their filters. It just makes sense.
Speaker 1:I never would have thought of that, but it definitely makes sense Because we don't know what's in the water, and usually nothing.
Speaker 2:I mean, I'm not trying to scare anybody, but 99% of the time there's nothing that's getting in the water. They just can't take that risk of a lot of people getting sick because of a break in the pipe. And they're breaking all over the place in Fort Lauderdale because that stuff is old. I mean, I don't even know how they got away without an environmental impact statement to do all that construction down there without replacing all that infrastructure. I just don't understand how they got away with it. And I'm not talking about cheap homes, you know that. I'm talking about Las Olas. Like I got customers down it. And I'm not talking about cheap homes. You know that I'm talking about Las Olas. I got customers down there. They're screaming their water's like brown, I mean, and they're paying big money, I mean. And they didn't pay for that.
Speaker 1:Let's talk about old pipes. So we've got a lot of older housing stock in Florida very nice condominiums and co-ops, but they're nearing their 50, 60-year birthdays. These pipes are old. I don't know many communities that are doing complete re-piping jobs. Okay, they're patching as they go, they're fixing as they go, they're trying to maintain. Does the quality of? The water impact or accelerate the deterioration of the pipes, and do old pipes leach into good water? If that makes sense.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes and yes, okay, and just like that building that collapsed in Miami.
Speaker 1:Champlain Towers.
Speaker 2:Yes, the infrastructure is old and you know you have risers that go up into the condominium that are old and they're corroding. And then all that corrosion gets into your home. It'll clog up your sinks. It'll clog up your solenoid. It'll clog up. You know it drives restaurants nuts because they have a lot of water using appliances and they have plumbers in there all the time. That's why I always recommend to my plumbing contractor accounts that they put in these traps. Basically it's a stainless steel tank with a big bag that traps all the sediment that's coming in, which saves them all that maintenance and it doesn't add anything to the water. It just protects the building from.
Speaker 2:The first thing that you want to take out is the sediment and corrosion From wherever it's coming from. You want to make sure it doesn't get into your building and that doesn't require much. That's actually the easiest and least expensive means of filtration. It just traps the silt and sediment in the water and then if you want color and you want softening, then that's when you have your major, major construction and reconstruction that takes place. But I know everybody wants a quick solution, but they're just really it has to be thought out and planned and I don't know why they don't? Because if you're putting in a new building, you'd probably want to consider protecting all of that.
Speaker 1:Well, I mean to that point. I hope we've got people listening all over. I don't know how many builders and developers are listening. I hope we're going to try to get this out to them, because, why not? Why not start from the beginning with a system that's going to help preserve and protect the water quality and hence protect the pipes?
Speaker 2:Well, they can't control what the city is doing, but they can protect their construction site, their building, and it's a smart thing to do and it's not that expensive. When you do a pre-construction, it's very simple actually.
Speaker 1:This has all been very frightening, and do you have any hope you can provide?
Speaker 2:As you know, I mean I've been here since the 70s and the building and the construction has just gone completely berserk. So I don't have any answers, because the infrastructure is not being replaced and by the time it does it's going to completely make traffic problems. I mean you got to completely make traffic problems. I mean you've got to tear up the streets. I mean the city doesn't want to spend the money. You're talking about a lot of inconvenience in the tourist industry. You don't want to be tearing up A1A during the season when people are all at the beach.
Speaker 1:But that's what has to happen. Are there any trends on the horizon in terms of water filtration or purification?
Speaker 2:There are trends, but unfortunately they're not good ones. There's just a lot of marketing and a lot of people that are in the business. That shouldn't be, because now the internet is kind of a double-edged sword. People get information, but the people that are providing the information are usually providing the products that they're buying. And I don't know what the answers are. I just know that always stick to a company that provides service and has been around a while. You know, because these companies come into town and I service a lot of their customers. They come and they go and they mass market. They got hundreds and hundreds of customers and then, in fact, the company like I do business for General Ionix.
Speaker 2:It was a large company out of California, their salesperson. They sold all kinds in the Tri-County area and didn't service any of it. And then the factory, the manufacturer, calls me up and asked me to be an authorized. I said I don't sell your product. They go, we don't care, we just want you to take the calls and help these people and service their equipment. All right, I'll do it. I'll do it and I did. But this happens all the time. I mean, you know, and I hear the same thing from the people. The people say well, the salesman said I go, look, if I want to get aggravated, I'll go home and argue with my wife. I don't need to argue with you about I don't know much, but I know everything about what you have in your home and I'm telling you I wouldn't not service it, I would service mine. Why would I tell you not to service yours? And whoever told you that? Why don't you get them on the phone? And you know where are they?
Speaker 1:And it's like you know well. Yeah, I mean, it's not. It's certainly a system that requires maintenance to that point. You know, I ask a lot of guests how they think artificial intelligence or ai is going to impact their industry. Have you given any thought to the usefulness of ai when it comes to, like, taking human error out of the picture, where you know there'd be an app or something? I'm sure that tells you when you need to change?
Speaker 2:yeah, yeah there's going to probably be some apps that will do sophisticated water analysis and, like I said, the city has gotten a lot better. Like I said, they will send you a comprehensive report and that's what people need to do. They need to get that first and then, you know, they need to do a little research on what exactly they consider safe drinking water. You know, don't listen to someone else. I mean you should do your own due diligence. You know a lot of people are educated now about plastic, which never were before, and a lot of people are very concerned about, I mean, I hear these things about alkaline water and hydrogen water and I go water is naturally alkaline down here. So maybe we're in Maryland, they need that, but you don't really need it here because we have a high pH. We don't have an acidic situation here. Our alkalinity is pretty good, so that's not one of our problems. But people look at me like, well, well, well, I go. Well, you have to check your pH and alkalinity before you decide if you need that.
Speaker 1:They were probably following an influencer on TikTok that talked about alkaline water.
Speaker 2:Oh gosh, and hydrogen water.
Speaker 1:So, Ed, where can people find you?
Speaker 2:They can find me Quality Water Consultants Incorporated. They can call me directly If they need advice. I don't charge for advice and I can get usually anything anyone wants for less money and with a better warranty, and I don't have salespeople working for me because I don't trust them.
Speaker 1:Well, I have an RO system. I have a whole house filtration. When I get home, I'm going to do your styrofoam cup test. See how it looks.
Speaker 2:I trust George and you have exactly what I have in my house and his house. So if it's good, it's good enough for us. It should be good enough for anybody.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much, Ed, for joining us.
Speaker 2:You're welcome, Donna. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1:Thank you for joining us. You're welcome, Donna. Thanks for having me. Thank you for joining us today. Don't forget to follow and rate us on your favorite podcast platform or visit TakeItToTheBoardcom for more ways to connect.