How Much Is Your Family Worth To You?
I am always saddened when a news story reports that someone has lost their life in a house fire. Many times the victim turns out to be a child. The remaining...
A Brief History of Standards Harmonization
In North America, the economies of the United States and Canada are very closely tied. The products in both marketplaces are frequently either very similar or often the same. This is...
Understanding Hybrid Fire Extinguishing Systems
To understand when and where to use a hybrid fire extinguishing system, we should start with why we'd want to use this system in the first place. Considerations of the type of...
Thousands of Industrial PFAS Sources Await to be Discovered
There are likely more than 57,000 sites contaminated by PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) in the U.S., according to a recent Northeastern University-led study published in Environmental Science & Technology Letters, but,...
New Method Modernizes Hunter’s Curve Demand Estimates
Reprinted with permission from Plumbing Manufacturers International/January 2021 Ripple Effect.
Hunter’s Curve, an 80-year-old chart used to predict peak water demand in plumbing systems, has been applied as the...
Pipe Joining, Anyone?
One day, a few millennia ago somewhere in the far East, a village leader called his brightest engineer to his residence. Standing on his impressive porch, the leader said, “Pft, you are...
How Do We Decide the Proper Cross-Connection Protection?
The most often asked question about backflow protection is also the title of this article, “How do we decide the proper cross-connection protection?” The selection of the required method, device, or assembly...
Preventing Cross-Contamination on POU RO Systems
Consumers and building owners continue to read and hear about the deteriorating quality of their drinking water. Chemicals such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and lead are often found in water...
Properly Planning a Backflow Preventer Installation on an Existing System
Performing a backflow preventer installation on an existing fire suppression system can be an intimidating job — the installer’s level of experience and background within the trades can be the difference between...
Understanding Hydrants and Backflow Protection
You may know them by one of their various names: sill cock, wall hydrant, spigot, garden hose faucet, lawn faucet, wall tap, hose bibb, yard hydrant, etc. It can all seem a...