Happy Independence Day
July 3, 2009



We will be operating on limited hours this Friday due to the Independence Day holiday. As always, in an emergency, you can reach us via our emergency paging service. If you have other questions, or if it is not an emergency, as always you may call us at 515-223-4144 or use our online contact form to send your questions. We wish everyone a happy 4th of July.


Being prepared for holiday trips
July 2, 2009

US News features a short but worthwhile recap of elements for a good personal disaster plan. Naturally, items like extra food and water are important to have around the house, as well as copies of important personal documents. But especially as we approach a long holiday weekend, it's important to consider other measures to take for disaster prevention around the home -- like having working sump pumps (or, even better, battery-backup sump pumps). And for those who might be in places where electrical power could take a while to be returned to service, electrical generators are a good option to consider as well.


Water towers and community identity
July 1, 2009

The central Nebraska community of Elba has a decision to make: Whether to tear down a 73-year-old water tower that no longer serves any purpose from an engineering standpoint. The town has added a new tank which makes the old water tower obsolete, but some residents see the tower as a sign of the town's identity. Some communities take their water towers the extra mile -- like Adair, Iowa, which has painted its water tower in a smiley-face motif (it's visible from Interstate 80), or Granger, Iowa, which has two towers, jokingly labeled "Hot" and "Cold". The matter of community identity is no small one: Pressure-booster stations and ground-storage tanks may be more efficient choices for some towns, but water towers are often the tallest structures in town and can provide a focal point unlike many other features of a town. More than a few of the photos taken of the storm damage in Parkersburg, Iowa, last year featured the town's iconic blue water tower.


Could you use 140,000 gallons of water in a month?
June 30, 2009

The water agency serving Washington, DC, sent a bill in March to a 99-year-old homeowner for $1,181, saying that she used almost 140,000 gallons of water in a month. Even after testing the meter, the officials say the bill was correct, though it's hard to imagine what kind of leak the homeowner is missing. The average household water use in the US is just 127,400 gallons per year -- so, somehow, the DC homeowner in question is losing more in leaks or some other missed usage every month than most households use in a year. Instances such as this one serve as a reminder just how little attention most people pay to their household water use from municipal water systems. It's only when something goes terribly wrong that most people even notice at all.


How will Omaha pay for $1.6 billion in sewer separation?
June 29, 2009

Omaha faces a massive bill -- estimated at over a billion and a half dollars over the coming decades -- to pay for separating its stormwater sewers from its sanitary sewers. The cost of the project is huge, and at such a size, finding the best funding opportunities could save the city additional millions over the long term. The city is now looking at whether to use bonds subsidized by the Federal government, issued as part of the economic-stimulus package, to help pay for the project. The city's sewer system has an average of 58 overflows a year, and the separation project is intended to reduce that number to four.

We can help you with flap gates, pump stations, and a variety of other products useful for sewer-separation projects. Please feel free to contact us with your questions.


Why centralized treatment of wastewater is here to stay
June 26, 2009

Fast Company magazine features an article in its latest issue touting the innovations behind a building in Rhinebeck, NY, that will treat 5 million gallons of its own wastewater every year. The system includes a 10,000-gallon tank for collection, an artificial wetlands process for treatment, and a "green lagoon" for polishing the water. While the project is certainly innovative, the notion of managing all wastewater on-site is probably less efficient than the technology might suggest. The process itself can work, but in the real world, lots of things end up being flushed down the drain -- many which shouldn't be -- and that's part of what makes centralized treatment at a municipal wastewater treatment plant efficient in the long run. There are those who have suggested in the past that all wastewater treatment could be conducted with reed beds and wetlands -- former Vice President Al Gore made one such argument about a decade ago. But with concerns about emerging contaminants, pharmaceuticals, and other chemicals in our water, it's unlikely that urban areas will ever become attractive spots for on-site treatment. On-site wastewater treatment is an obvious necessity for remote sites like parks, campgrounds, and rest stops. We serve those kinds of users with things like chlorination tablets and small pumping systems. But for municipalities of any real size, pumping the wastewater to a centralized wastewater treatment plant is really the only viable way to ensure quality wastewater treatment.


The windmill as Nebraska's state icon
June 25, 2009

A member of the board of the Nebraska State Fair thinks that the fair should adopt the windmill as its icon when it makes the move next year to Grand Island. Windmills were widely used by farmers in the past to pump water out of ground wells for irrigation. Aside from being aesthetically pleasant, the board member says that the use of the windmill as an icon serves to remind people that Nebraska's economy depends upon water. The state contains almost 20% of all irrigated cropland in the country. As it turns out, the rise of massive wind-based electrical generation in neighboring Iowa may in fact mean that, through interstate electrical transmission, many of those pumps being used to produce irrigation water may again be powered by wind. Nebraska is unique among the states in that it is served entirely by public power districts owned by their local communities. The relationship between energy and water is overlooked far more often than it is recognized, but in fact, power generation is by far the biggest category of water use in the United States.

We can help you with a wide range of products for electrical-power generation, particularly where water is involved, from chlorination tablets to toxic-gas detection equipment. Please feel free to contact us with your questions.


A dark and stormy day and night
June 24, 2009

Tuesday's massive storm system has really pounded the state of Iowa, leaving behind wind damage, street flooding, and power outages across the state -- particularly in central Iowa and in north-central Iowa. The combination of heavy rainfall and high winds leading to power outages serves as a reminder of the value of sump pumps that can operate without electricity for homeowners and businesses, and lift stations with engine backup systems for municipalities. Strong storms tend to produce the conditions under which reliable pumping systems are needed most -- from sump pumps in the basement to lift stations carrying the water away. Having a power backup system translates to peace of mind, and can free up valuable time for city employees who may have other issues to attend to -- like cleaning up debris and closing flooded roadways. Storms tend to produce lots of inflow and infiltration in many sewer systems, so even those communities that don't have combined sewers still feel the effects of heavy rainfall.


Ottumwa seeks answers: Where is the pollution coming from?
June 23, 2009

The city of Ottumwa, Iowa, is under orders from the EPA to separate its storm sewers from its sanitary sewers -- a mandate handed down to several other Iowa communities, including Davenport and Des Moines, both of which are also working on separation projects. In Ottumwa, the city has asked consulting engineers to investigate whether the pollution found in the Des Moines River as it passes through and beyond the city is coming from the city's overflow sewers or whether it is mostly attributable to non-point-source pollution, which in Iowa is mainly the result of rainwater runoff from farm fields. If they can prove that even a sizeable investment in sewer separation is unlikely to yield any significant environmental benefits, the city is hoping it might be able to avoid a huge bill for the separation project. The impact of major civil-works projects in Ottumwa could be especially significant at this time, as the community attempts to cope with a large layoff event at the John Deere plant which is one of the largest employers in the area.

We can help you with related products, from wastewater samplers to many of the items needed to conduct stormwater sewer separation proejcts, like pump stations. Please feel free to contact us with your questions.


No state irrigates more than Nebraska
June 22, 2009

Nebraska has eclipsed California to become the state with the most irrigated acres of agricultural land in the country. Nebraska farmers irrigate an estimated 8.56 million acres of land, a figure that has been on the rise for at least the past decade. Most of that irrigation is via center-pivot technology, as opposed to the canal style of irrigation more common in California and elsewhere. It is the canal style of irrigation for which the canal gates we offer are most commonly used. We also offer a range of vertical-turbine pumps for well use and portable clean-water pumps for farm uses of many types.


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