Is Your Springtime Facilities Management Checklist Ready?

White-tailed deer were predominant in pre-Columbian Panama feasts After analyzing white-deer remains from a site in Panama occupied between 2,200 and 500 years ago, Mar?a Fernanda Mart?nez-Polanco found some evidence of feasting signs. Credit: Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

In pre-Columbian times, the white-tailed deer was among the most abundant and frequently consumed mammals in Panama. It was also an icon, represented on thousands of clay vessels. Through an analysis of deer remains in refuse piles at the Sitio Sierra archaeological site, researchers from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) discovered signs of "feasting behavior" associated with this animal. Their findings were published in Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences.



Spanish conquistadors left some clues. They noted the abundance of deer in indigenous communities along the Pacific coast near Sitio Sierra and highlighted the existence of larders replete with dried and salted deer carcasses. These details suggest that periodic feasts may have taken place, and were likely important for enhancing social relations and strengthening alliances.

The Sitio Sierra site, a large village on the Pacific coastal plain occupied between 2,200 and 500 years ago, was excavated by STRI archaeologist Richard Cooke in the 1970s. Mar?a Fernanda Mart?nez-Polanco, a former pre-doctoral fellow in Cooke's lab at STRI and first author of the study, analyzed some of the evidence of feasting signs.

She found that, in certain units, remains of young white-tailed deer predominated, as well as body parts with high meat values. Most of the cut marks on the bones were due to de-fleshing, as opposed to rodent or carnivore gnawing. She also encountered the carcasses of tasty birds and mammals, a contrast from the typical food remains found around houses, consisting of marine and river fish, iguanas and small turtles.

Former STRI pre-doctoral fellow Mar?a Fernanda Mart?nez-Polanco found that, in certain units, IRO chelating remains of young white-tailed deer predominated, as well as body parts with high meat values. In those units, pottery shards were much more numerous and larger than in other contexts. Credit: Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

In those units, pottery sherds were much more numerous and larger than in other contexts. A large pit with post-holes along the periphery contrasted with smaller cooking pits found in or around the structures of former houses. These findings coincide with characteristics of feasting mentioned in the scientific literature.

"This was an important tradition that could have been practiced for several generations, as we have witnessed based on the cut marks in bones, located in identical positions over different time periods," Mart?nez-Polanco said.

For her, the analyses of deer bone samples in conjunction with the evidence from the pottery and cooking practices, position the feasts at Sitio Sierra as part of a ritual activity. Possible motivations for feasting include ancestor worship, rites of passage, celebrations of cultural awareness and group oral-history and political gatherings designed to enhance the reputation of the provider.

Archaeologists think that Sitio Sierra was probably a low-status village, based on burials in its two cemeteries, suggesting that these feasts were likely not as sumptuous as they could have been in higher-status villages in the area, such as Sitio Conte or El Ca?o. Offering deer meat may have been considered a great honor for the guests and proof of the provider's status.

"Deer were more than just food for Panamanian pre-Columbian populations," Mart?nez-Polanco said. "Deer hunting was restricted and their consumption linked to important occasions, as we observed in the archaeological record of Sitio Sierra, allowing ancient Panamanians to share and reinforce social relations at different levels of society."

Water Treatment Company Wisdom: Bioslime in The Cooling Tower Is Bad

If you?re in the market for water pre-treatment, you know that cutting corners simply won?t work. With so many legal stipulations pertaining to water quality, finding a cut-rate solution simply isn?t in the cards; the government will bite you hard if you try. At the same time, IRO chelating accepting any answer without shopping properly for the best solution is also bad business. What you need is an optimal solution that is both profitable and legal.

In order to realize this balance, you need a water technology company that takes into account all the aspects of the apparatus supporting the inflow and outflow of water for your business or institution. It?s not enough to simply have a chemical expert examine your water for variations at different points in your production line; you also need an engineer?s eye to go over your production site to ensure that the production apparatus will support the best possible water pre-treatment process. If both your chemical solutions and apparatus solutions are set up together ideally, then you?ve got an optimized production line.

If you?re in Etobicoke, Ontario or in the surrounding area and in search of an optimal water pre-treatment solution, we at Ion Water Solutions can help. Our expertise is in both the fields of chemistry and engineering. This, combined with our enthusiastic expertise in water technology, allows us to provide you with the best opportunity to optimize your water pre-treatment system. Call us for a free survey so we can offer answers customized to your site.

Drought Effects On Aging Power Plants May Be Larger Than Expected

Check out Clarity Water Technologies? partner Pete Stempkowski on NBC News 4! Pete was recently interviewed by Sheldon Dutes of NBC 4 New York News Team as a Legionella Remediation Expert in New York City?s ongoing story about the Legionnaires? outbreak in the South Bronx. At this time, the outbreak has taken the lives of seven people and has sickened more than 85 residents living in the High Bridge, Morrisania, Hunts Point and Mott Haven sections of the South Bronx.

See the full interview here:

Legionella is the bacterium that causes Legionnaires? disease, an aggressive form of pneumonia that could be potentially fatal. This bacterium got its name when a group of 182 people contracted the disease during an American Legion convention at the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia in 1976. 29 of them died of the disease. Although this type of bacteria was certainly in existence before 1976, it had gone undiscovered. The sheer size of the outbreak in Philadelphia caused national awareness and scientific curiosity leading to its ultimate discovery. Legionella bacteria thrives in warm, moist places - like in the water running through the cooling towers of the Bellevue-Stratford's air-conditioning system, which is exactly what spread the disease throughout the hotel in 1976. The bacterium was named Legionella and the disease, legionellosis, after the first known victims.



The recent legionellosis outbreak the South Bronx is shining a national spotlight on the need for advanced technologies and IRO chelating systems to address legionella in water systems and keep our neighborhoods and the air we breathe safe.

Clarity Water Technologies is the pioneer of the 360 Degree Legionella Management Service - a complete program that not only assesses risk and develops a custom tailored management plan, but also includes a full service prevention and emergency legionella remediation component. 360 Degree Legionella Management Service takes in full consideration of the recent ASHRAE Standard 188 - Legionellosis: Risk Management for Building Water Systems.

Checklist for avoiding legionella in your cooling towers:

Contact your water treatment service provider to make sure that they are using the correct water treatment chemicals to treat your cooling tower.

A typical cooling tower water treatment program should consist of an oxidizing biocide, a non-oxidizing biocide and a corrosion inhibitor.

Chemicals needs to be adjusted based on temperature and water usage.

If you suspect that your cooling tower is dirty, contact a professional cooling tower cleaning company to conduct and assessment.

Have your tower professional cleaned and disinfected if it is called for.

OSHA recommends that cooling towers be cleaned at least twice per year.

Have your cooling towers periodically tested for legionella.

Facts about the South Bronx Legionellosis Outbreak:

22 buildings were visited by NYC Department of Health Officials in the cluster area and 17 were identified to have cooling towers

All 17 cooling towers were tested for legionella bacteria

5 of the cooling towers have tested positive

The 5 locations identified were: Lincoln Hospital, Concourse Plaza, Opera House Hotel, a Verizon Office Building and Streamline Plastic Co.

Department of Health supervised remediation has been completed at all 5 locations

The DOH has required all sites to submit long-term plans describing how they will maintain the cooling towers to protect against any future growth of Legionella.

If you need any assistance with water treatment for legionella or cooling tower chemistry, or if you would like more information about our 360 Degree Legionella Management Service, please contact Clarity Water Technologies for a free assessment.

ABOUT CLARITY WATER TECHNOLOGIES

Clarity Water Technologies is known throughout the east coast as an innovative industrial/commercial water treatment company and the innovators of 360 Degree Legionella Management Service. To put it simply: We make commercial HVAC and industrial process machinery last longer and run more efficiently, with less fuel and less downtime, by chemically treating the water that runs through it. Typical systems that we treat include steam boilers, chillers and cooling towers; however, we also offer advanced wastewater, glycol services, odor control and fuel treatment services. We are one of Northeast?s most trusted Legionella remediation companies and are widely accepted as one of the best consulting firms to establish best practices for the implementation of ASHRAE Standard 188 - Legionellosis: Risk Management for Building Water Systems.

As water treatment experts, we know that chemical treatment is only part of what makes a mechanical system operate at peak performance. The other part of the equation is proper physical cleaning and maintenance. Today, Clarity offers one of the most reliable and effective HVAC cleaning services available throughout NY, NJ, CT, DE and PA. Clarity is a NADCA Certified HVAC Cleaning Service Company. Over and above physical equipment cleaning services, our team also offers iron removal, on-line cleanings, chlorine dioxide disinfection, Legionella remediation and the installation of the EcoSAFE Solid Feed System?one of the most advanced water treatment systems for Cooling Towers in the world! Call us today for a free estimate on your next project or click the link above for more information.

New York City Water Treatment Consultant, Greg Frazier is an expert in Industrial Water Treatment and is currently the Managing Partner of Clarity Water Technologies, one of the best Water Treatment and HVAC Cleaning Companies in the North Atlantic Region of United States. Mr. Frazier has over 19 years of Industrial Water Treatment experience and holds a degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Tennessee. Clarity Water Technologies specializes in comprehensive water treatment services. Clarity's service goes far beyond administering Cooling Tower Water Treatment chemicals - it also includes Cooling Tower Maintenance and HVAC Cleaning Services.

Doe Funds Field Test Of Rice's Solar Desalination Technology

If you?re in the market for water pre-treatment, you know that cutting corners simply won?t work. With so many legal stipulations pertaining to water quality, finding a cut-rate solution simply isn?t in the cards; the government will bite you hard if you try. At the same time, accepting any answer without shopping properly for the best solution is also bad business. What you need is an optimal solution that is both profitable and legal.

In order to realize this balance, you need a water technology company that takes into account all the aspects of the apparatus supporting the inflow and outflow of water for your business or institution. It?s not enough to simply have a chemical expert examine your water for variations at different points in your production line; you also need an engineer?s eye to go over your production site to ensure that the production apparatus will support the best possible water pre-treatment process. If both your chemical solutions and apparatus solutions are set up together ideally, then you?ve got an optimized production line.

If you?re in Etobicoke, Ontario or in the surrounding area and in search of an optimal water pre-treatment solution, we at Ion Water Solutions can help. Our expertise is in both the fields of chemistry and engineering. This, combined with our enthusiastic expertise in water technology, allows us to provide you with the best opportunity to optimize your water pre-treatment system. Call us for webpage a free survey so we can offer answers customized to your site.

Twelve Great Resources For Legionella Prevention And Water Treatment

This past summer New York City experienced the worst Legionnaires? disease outbreak in its recorded history. In what is now being referred to as the NYC Legionella Outbreak of 2015, more than 130 people were sickened and 16 people tragically died. In an effort to keep the public safe, both the City and State of New York passed emergency legislation designed to regulate the operation and maintenance of cooling towers. Today, the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) seeks to make those emergency provisions stronger and lasting; and will hold a public hearing to discuss and pass their newly proposed rules. The hearing will take place from 10AM to 12PM on January 4, 2016 at DOHMH headquarters in Long Island City. Once the hearing is over, the DOHMH will modify the rules based on the public?s feedback, if necessary, and then draft a final version. A copy is then published in the City Record and submitted to the City Council where it will be voted on to become law. This legislation will have an effect on the operation procedures of any building that operates a cooling, as well as the water treatment companies and environmental consulting firms that service them.

CURRENT NYC COOLING TOWER LAW TO COMBAT LEGIONELLA

To deal with the serious issue of legionella in cooling towers, on August 18th, 2015 in New York City, the City Council and Mayor de Blasio enacted Local Law 77 of 2015. Legionnaires? disease is said to have a case fatality rate of 5-30%. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that there were between 8,000 and 18,000 cases of LD in the United States annually, and that more than 10% of cases are fatal. (Learn more here: What is legionella?)

Local Law 77 added a new Article 317 to Title 28 of the Administrative Code that required owners of cooling towers to register them with the Department of Buildings (DOB) by September 17, 2015. Towers must be inspected, tested, cleaned and disinfected in accordance with new Administrative Code ?17-194.1 and rules adopted by the DOB. Owners and operators of cooling towers must annually certify to the Department that their cooling towers have been inspected, tested, cleaned and disinfected and that a management and maintenance program has been developed and implemented in accordance with Administrative Code ?17-194.1 which includes maintaining a proper cooling tower water treatment program. Statewide, including in New York City, owners of all cooling towers must also comply with New York State Sanitary Code (SSC) Part 4, which includes registration with and reporting requirements to the New York State Department of Health.

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH PROPOSED UPDATES TO TITLE 24

Today, the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) is proposing to add a new Chapter 8 (Cooling Towers) to Title 24 of the Rules of the City of New York to establish rules for maintenance of cooling towers to minimize potential contamination by Legionella bacteria to prevent outbreaks of Legionnaires? disease. This new Chapter 8 will further the work of Local Law 77, and require building owners to provide cooling tower maintenance and testing records to the NYC Department of Health.

Chapter 8?s provisions that are equivalent to the State Sanitary Code Part 4. This proposed Chapter is organized differently than the State Sanitary Code requirements; more terms are defined in this Chapter and more detailed instructions for management and maintenance are provided than those contained in SSC Part 4 to facilitate compliance with both the City and State rules and requirements.

To ratify these changes, the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has issued their Notice of Public Hearing and Opportunity to Comment on Proposed Amendments to Title 24 of the Rules of the City of New York. (You can find a link to the DOHMH Notice at the end of this post.)

According to the NYC Rules website, here are the proposed changes to Title 24 of the Rules of the City of New York. It adds a new Chapter 8, which includes the following sections:

8-01 Scope and applicability: applicable to all owners and operators of buildings and other premises that are equipped with cooling towers.

8-02 Definitions: to facilitate compliance with and enforcement of these rules, more terms are defined in this Chapter than in the corresponding sections of either Administrative Code or SSC Part 4.

8-03 Maintenance program and IRO chelating plan: the requirements of this section exceed those of SSC Part 4, including specific routine maintenance tasks; identification of persons responsible for various functions; identifying system components; and establishing a system risk management assessment to identify areas that may create problems and lead to proliferation of Legionella bacteria.

8-04 Process control measures: this section establishes requirements for routine monitoring, to be conducted at least weekly by a ?responsible person?? under the supervision ? remote or on-site -- of the ?qualified person?? identified in SSC Part 4, and for compliance inspections, to be conducted at least every 90 days, by the qualified person. It specifies standards for maintenance, cleaning, and parts replacement; and requires installation of high efficiency drift eliminators in all new and retrofitted cooling tower systems and in existing ones, where practicable.

8-05 Water treatment: this section specifies requirements for automatic treatments, use of chemicals and biocides, and monitoring water quality characteristics/parameters, and establishes a schedule for sampling for Legionella and other bacteria including requiring additional sampling when certain events occur. This section also mandates the use of certain qualified laboratories for analysis and requires reporting levels of Legionella at a certain magnitude to the Department within 24 hours of obtaining test results; and specifies corrective actions for various levels of bacteria. Although the 2014 New York City Plumbing Code Appendix C authorizes use of rainwater or recycled water as makeup water for cooling towers, it does not require disinfection for Legionella bacteria before use. These rules prohibit such use unless owners use additional control measures approved by the Department that protect against cooling tower system contamination since the Department believes that this water may not meet public health standards and may tend to support microbial growth.

8-06 System shutdown and start-up; commissioning new cooling towers: this section sets forth requirements for pre-seasonal cleaning and disinfection and for new cooling towers being placed into use.

8-07 Records: this requires the maintenance of records of all activities and that such records be made available for immediate inspection by the Department at the premises where the cooling tower is installed.

8-08 Modification: authorizes the Commissioner to modify the application of a provision of these rules where compliance imposes an undue hardship and would not otherwise be required by law, provided that the modification does not compromise public health concerns.

8-09 Penalties: establishes a schedule of penalties for initial and subsequent violations within the limits set forth in Administrative Code ?17-194.1.

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH PUBLIC HEARING ON COOLING TOWER LEGISLATION

The NYC DOHMH will hold a public hearing on these proposed rules. The hearing will take place from 10AM to 12PM on January 4, 2016 at:

The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene

Gotham Center

42-09 28th Street, 14th Floor, Room 14-43

Long Island City, NY 11101-4132

Anyone is permitted to attend the hearing and/or comment on the proposal. The DOHMH has given the following ways to communicate public commentary:

Website: You can submit comments to the Department through the NYC rules Web site at http://rules.cityofnewyork.us

Email: You can email written comments to resolutioncomments@health.nyc.gov

Mail: You can mail written comments to:

New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene

Office of General Counsel

Attn: Svetlana Burdeynik

42-09 28th Street, 14th Floor

Long Island City, NY 11101-4132

Fax: You can fax written comments to the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene at 347-396-6087.

Speaking at the hearing: Anyone who wants to comment on the proposal at the public hearing must sign up to speak. You can sign up before the hearing by calling at 347-396-6078. You can also sign up in the hearing room before or during the hearing on January 4, 2016. You can speak for up to five minutes.

GET YOUR FREE COPY OF THE FULL NOTICE

If you would like to read the full copy of the DOH?s notice, please fill out the form below for an instant link. This document fully outlines all of the sections of the newly proposed Chapter 8 including the full requirements for maintenance, operation, and ongoing water treatment of cooling towers in New York City. There is no charge for this information and it is freely available online.

FREE DOWNLOAD: Get the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene?s Notice of Public Hearing and Opportunity to Comment on Proposed Amendments to Title 24 of the Rules of the City of New York here:

About Clarity Water Technologies

Clarity Water Technologies is known throughout the east coast as an innovative industrial/commercial water treatment company and the innovators of 360 Degree Legionella Management Service. To put it simply: As New York City's Top Environmental Consultants, we make commercial HVAC and industrial process machinery last longer and run more efficiently, with less fuel and less downtime, by chemically treating the water that runs through it. Typical systems that we treat include steam boilers, chillers and cooling towers; however, we also offer advanced wastewater, glycol services, odor control and fuel treatment services. We are one of Northeast?s most trusted Legionella remediation companies and are widely accepted as one of the best consulting firms to establish best practices for the implementation of ASHRAE Standard 188 - Legionellosis: Risk Management for Building Water Systems.

As environmental consultants specializing in water treatment, we know that chemistry is only one part of what makes a cooling tower system operate at peak performance. The other part of the equation is proper physical cleaning, disinfection and maintenance. Today, Clarity offers one of the most reliable and effective cooling tower disinfection services available throughout NY, NJ, CT, DE, MD and PA. Clarity is a NADCA Certified HVAC Cleaning Service Company. Our team also offers on-line cleanings, chlorine dioxide disinfection, Legionella remediation and installation of the EcoSAFE Solid Feed System?one of the most advanced water treatment systems for Cooling Towers in the world! Please contact us today for a free estimate on your next project.

New York City Water Treatment Expert and Environmental Consultant, Greg Frazier has a vast knowledge of Industrial Boiler Water Treatment and is currently the Managing Partner of Clarity Water Technologies, one of the top Environmental Consulting firms in New York. Mr. Frazier has over 19 years of Industrial Water Treatment experience and holds a degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Tennessee. Clarity Water Technologies specializes in comprehensive water treatment services. Clarity's service goes far beyond administering Cooling Tower Water Treatment chemicals - it also includes Cooling Tower Maintenance and HVAC Cleaning Services.

Liqtech Wins Eu Tender For Large Power Plant In Finland

In quantum mechanics, the pigeon and the letter do not always travel together Concept of counterfactual communication, where the pigeon and the message do not travel in the same direction. Credit: University of Vienna, created by Jon Ladr?n de Guevara

In standard communication the pigeon always carries the message; the information is linked to a physical entity/particle. Counter to intuition, in a new counterfactual communication protocol published in NPJ Quantum Information, scientists from the University of Vienna, the University of Cambridge and the MIT have experimentally demonstrated that in quantum mechanics this is not always true, thereby contradicting a crucial premise of communication theory.



Whether it is pigeons in the air, electrons in a telegraph wire, radio waves from a cell phone or single photons in an optical fiber, in standard communication, there is always a particle or wave involved in the information exchange between two parties; say Alice and Bob. However, in quantum mechanics, one can send information from Alice to Bob while the particle or wave involved in this information exchange travels from Bob to Alice.

In an international collaboration led by Philip Walther, scientist from the University of Vienna teamed up with the University of Cambridge and IRO chelating the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to implement a new counterfactual communication protocol. In standard photonic communication, the information is encoded in single photons; thus, the information and the single photons travel in the same direction. However, in counterfactual communication there is no carrier found travelling in the same direction as the message. In this implementation, single photons would travel from Alice to Bob while information would travel from Bob to Alice.

What carries the message then? Even before receiving the single photon, Bob prepares his setup according to the information bit that he wants to send, either 0 or 1. In this way, he sends the single photon back if he wants to send a bit 1 or keeps the photon in his laboratory if he wishes to send a bit 0. Counterintuitively, the Zeno effect, which was first discovered by cryptanalyst Alan Turing, enables Bob to send the photon back without actually interacting with it. Alice will then interpret Bob's message by observing whether the sent photon is returned or not. Thus, the presence and the absence of single photons is enough to encode any message.

In previous counterfactual communication protocols, there remains some uncertainty as to whether Bob interacted with the photons or not. In this new implementation the two main drawbacks of earlier implementations, weak trace and postselection, have now been completely overcome. "In our implementation, there is no trace of the photon travelling in the same direction as the information and we are able to compensate the message errors without discarding information bits." says I. Alonso Calafell, one of the authors from the publication.

By combining an integrated photonic platform built at MIT, together with a novel theoretical proposal developed at the University of Cambridge, scientist from the University of Vienna contradicted a crucial premise of communication theory: that a message is always carried by physical particles or waves.