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Environmental legislation quick start checklist for offices

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Environmental legislation quick start checklist for offices

Use our checklist to see if your office is complying with environmental legislation.

Comply with your duty of care when moving and pre-treating waste

  • Designate different storage areas for each waste type, eg plastics, cardboard, glass, cans, food waste.
  • Check that the containers you use for moving your waste are in good condition and waste can't escape.
  • Check that anyone who takes any waste away from your office is authorised to do so.
  • Ask to see their waste carriers certificate – remember to recheck these details regularly as registrations can expire or be revoked.
  • Complete waste transfer notes every time someone takes waste away from your office.
  • You should check that your waste ends up where your waste carrier says it does. You should check periodically that your waste is being disposed of correctly - remember it is your responsibility (your duty of care) to check if you think your waste may be being fly-tipped.
  • If you take your own office waste to a disposal site, check that they have a permit or exemption.
  • Complete a waste transfer note if you take your waste to a disposal site. If you regularly transport your own business waste you need to register with your environmental regulator. 
  • Keep waste transfer notes for two years.
  • Complete consignment notes for all hazardous/special waste that leaves your office.
  • Keep consignment notes and return to producer forms (for hazardous/special waste) for three years.
  • Pre-treat your waste before it goes to landfill. If you use a waste contractor, check that they are pre-treating your waste before it is landfilled.
  • Keep records to prove that your waste has been pre-treated.

Comply with waste electrical and electronic equipment regulations

  • Check which office equipment is covered by the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations, eg computers, printers and mobile phones. You may also have kitchen equipment such as microwaves, fridges or vending machines.
  • Check whether any of your office WEEE is classed as hazardous/special waste. You will need to complete consignment notes when disposing of these items.
  • Check that you have the producer registration number for your EEE. Use this to contact the producer for details of their compliance scheme and take-back system when you need to dispose of these products.
  • In some cases disposal of your office WEEE will be free.
  • Store your WEEE separately from your general (non-hazardous) office waste.
  • Keep records to prove that your WEEE has been treated and disposed of in an environmentally sound way.
  • Make sure you comply with your duty of care for your WEEE.

Handle hazardous/special waste correctly

  • Check how much hazardous/special waste you produce at your office. Hazardous/special waste includes fluorescent light tubes, energy saving bulbs, toner and ink cartridges from printers and photocopiers and old computer monitors.
  • Pre-notify your environmental regulator three days before moving your hazardous/special waste.
  • Store hazardous/special waste separately from your general (non-hazardous) waste.
  • Make sure you comply with your duty of care for your hazardous/special waste.

Check your air-conditioning

  • Check what type of refrigerant your air-conditioning equipment contains.
  • If your refrigerant is an ozone-depleting substance (ODS) or fluorinated gas (F-gas) you will have to comply with requirements for servicing and maintaining these systems.
  • Check that anyone who services or decommissions your air-conditioning equipment holds a recognised minimum qualification for the refrigerant you use.
  • Test your air-conditioning equipment regularly for leaks. If your equipment contains over 3kg of ODS or F-gas you will have to do this at least once a year.
  • Keep records about your air-conditioning equipment, including service history.
  • Recover ODS or F-gases during servicing, maintenance and at the end of equipment's life.

Manage the energy performance of your buildings

  • Check whether you need to register your energy use (electricity, gas) under the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme.
  • Check you have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) for your commercial building (eg an office) when it is sold, rented or built. Recheck this regularly as an EPC is valid for 10 years.
  • Check that the EPC is produced by an energy assessor accredited by a recognised accreditation scheme and with the appropriate qualifications.
  • Make sure your air-conditioning equipment is inspected by an accredited energy assessor.

Water use and efficiency

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Water use and efficiency

Benefits of using water efficiently

Over the past 20 years demand for water has risen steadily. Using water, especially hot water, uses energy and causes emissions of greenhouse gases which contribute to climate change. You should use water more efficiently to help ensure everyone's needs continue to be met in the future.
All businesses can benefit from using water efficiently. In manufacturing, water bills can cost over 1 per cent of turnover. Most businesses could halve their water bill by implementing simple and economical water minimisation measures.
You could be paying more for water and associated costs than you need to. The cost of using water isn't only what you pay to the water company for its supply. Other costs to your business may include:
  • disposal of your wastewater, either as a percentage of the amount of water you use or by the strength of your effluent
  • losses due to leaks and wasteful appliances
  • the energy you use to heat or cool water
  • wasting water, eg excessive washing down
  • pumping and storing
  • heating
  • capital depreciation of and maintaining equipment and infrastructure
  • materials or products lost in wastewater, for example metals lost by poor control at metal plating facilities
  • meter size charges.
Using less water may mean that you can rely fully on the mains supply and not have to pay for a licence to abstract water from the environment. You should review which option is best for your business as you may not need to use high quality mains water for all your activities, for example cooling.

How much money could you save?

You could save up to 30 per cent of your water costs through simple, low cost actions, eg fixing a leak from a single cold water tap could save you up to £900 per year.
There are also non-financial benefits of using water efficiently. Suppliers and customers are increasingly environmentally conscious, demanding that businesses use natural resources sustainably. By demonstrating your water efficiency you can attract and retain customers and employees. You can also create interest from investors, stakeholders and the media by showing that your business is well managed.

Water use and efficiency

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Water use and efficiency

Tips for saving water

Minimising water use in your business can require financial commitment. However, many measures are cheap and simple to implement and could potentially save you up to 30 per cent of your water costs. You could:
  • Only use water when you need to. Record how much water your business uses on a daily or weekly basis to understand your demands. This will help you decide the best ways to save water and money. If you abstract water it will also help you comply with the conditions of your authorisation.
  • Educate staff about implementing water-efficiency measures. You could include their roles and responsibilities in a water policy statement, eg to report leaking taps straight away.
  • Get buy-in from management and involve staff with responsibility for facilities, finance and operations in water minimisation measures from the outset. This may form part of an existing environmental policy
  • Appoint a member of staff to monitor water use and identify minimisation opportunities, eg by doing a regular walk-round survey of your business and reading water meters. If parts of your business use a lot of water, consider installing sub-meters.
  • Buy water efficient new equipment. This may mean a larger initial investment, but it will pay off in the long term. See the page in this guideline: Finance and support for water efficiency measures.
  • Protect against cold weather-related leaks by insulating pipes and checking them regularly.
  • Investigate alternative water sources, eg harvesting rainwater through a roof catchment or reusing wastewater from wash basins and showers, known as greywater. Once captured, you can use the water where non-drinking water is required, for example to flush toilets.
  • Fit water-minimising controls, eg push taps, low-flush toilets, flow regulators or restrictors. The payback period for installing flush controls on urinals can be as little as five weeks.
  • Review your plans to reduce water use, ideally at least once a year.
  • Consider treating your wastewater to reuse it for industrial uses, toilet flushing and irrigation which do not require water fit for drinking. Using less treated drinking water will save you money.
  • Check your meter size is appropriate to the amount of water you use. If it is larger than you need, you will pay your water supplier more than necessary.
  • Check your meter location and the supplies it measures, eg in industrial and business parks where a neighbouring business may be supplied through your meter. Also check that your meter serial number matches the number on your bills and that you are being billed for your own meter.
  • Fix drips and leaks as quickly as possible.

Pollutants in Drinking Water

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Pollutants in Drinking Water


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Remember when you were a kid and there was nothing better to do on a hot summer day than taking a long, satisfying drink from the water fountain, that universal source of free drinking water? Things were so simple back then. Today, we know that tap water can often contain harmful contaminants including toxic chemicals and heavy metals. As a consumer response, plastic water bottles now clog our offices, minivans, hotels, and kids' lunch boxes. We have become a generation of plastic users and hoarders.
In reality bottled water is just plain water. More than 25% of bottled water comes from municipal sources – that's right, simple tap water – which means all you're getting is very expensive purified city water. Independent tests have also shown that the quality of bottled water can range from very good to dangerously bad as the industry is weakly regulated.
Below is a list of contaminants that can often be found in both tap and bottled water.
Arsenic: Arsenic causes lung, bladder and skin cancer and may cause liver and kidney cancer. It can also damage your heart, central and peripheral nervous systems, and can instigate reproductive system problems and birth defects. As a result, you should avoid this contaminant at all cost.
Arsenic is a heavy metal that leaches into water from the ground or from industrial waste, and the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) has stated that bottled water is no safer than tap water because most bottled water is tap water that may or may not have been properly filtered.
The NRDC affirms the best way to reduce your exposure to arsenic is by purchasing a quality water filter that you can monitor and maintain yourself.

Radioactivity: The nuclear disaster in Japan earlier this year showed the world that the radiation threat is very serious. Radioactive particles can spread easily through underground water systems and thus affects all water ways and ecosystems.
Concentrations of uranium above the levels set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) cause kidney damage and increase your risk for certain cancers. Meanwhile, radioactive iodine accumulates in the thyroid and causes thyroid cancer as it decays.
Nuclear power plants exist in many countries and even some minerals are naturally radioactive so there's nowhere to hide. Radioactive pollution is also cumulative, which means it builds up in your body over your lifetime. Unfortunately drinking contaminated water is one of the primary methods we are exposed to radioactivity.Fluoride: It sounds ironic that fluoride is an unwanted water contaminant when it is the staple ingredient in so many toothpastes. In the right quantities it may reduce and prevent tooth decay. However fluoride is highly toxic and in larger quantities can cause dental fluorosis, poisoning and even death. Fluoride is also a suspected carcinogen so you definitely do not want to drink water that is fluoridated.
Since in the United States water and processed beverages provide 75% of fluoride intake, the best way to prevent fluorosis is by checking the concentration of fluoride in your drinking water (which shouldn't be higher than 0.7 mg/L).


Chromium 6Chromium: In 2010 the Environmental Working Group (EWP) found excessive levels of chromium 6, a carcinogen, in the water supply of 31 U.S. cities. Exposure to chromium 6 causes a long list of terrible conditions like stomach cancer, kidney failure, renal and liver failure, premature dementia and allergic contact dermatitis.
Chromates are often used to make leather goods, mortar and paints, and they leach from these industrial processes into groundwater and soil, eventually ending up in our water.
Rebecca Sutton, a senior scientist with the EWP, says the best way to protect yourself is to buy an effective water filter since bottled water is not necessarily safer than tap water.

LeadLead: By now we all know the consequences of lead poisoning. The heavy metal is toxic to children since it interferes with the development of the nervous system and can cause anemia, seizures and even death.
Lead gets into water via water pipes, and even copper pipes may be soldered with lead. While lead was banned from water pipes in 1986, pipes made today still contain some lead.
Test for lead in your water by calling your local health department for a free testing. Lead levels shouldn't exceed 0.01 mg/L.

pH Values of Water Completely Explained

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Remember the time in 4th grade science class when you did that experiment with litmus paper and it turned red when you put it on a lemon and blue in soapy water? That was probably your first experiment into the wondrous science of pH.
The indicator for acidity, alkalinity, or basic is known as the pH value. A pH value of 7 means a substance is neutral. The lower value indicates acidity, and a higher value is a sign of alkalinity. To better understand the range in pH, take a look at these examples:

  • Apple Juice - 3
  • Orange Juice - 3.5
  • Coffee - 5.5
  • Milk - 6.2
  • Baking Soda - 8.5
  • Soapy water - 10
  • Bleach - 12

In addition, many of the foods we eat contain an acidic pH because of their bacteria killing functions.


pH Values of Water Completely Explained


pH and Water
So, what does pH mean for water? Basically, the pH value is a good indicator of whether water is hard or soft. The pH of pure water is 7. In general, water with a pH lower than 7 is considered acidic, and with a pH greater than 7 is considered basic. The normal range for pH in surface water systems is 6.5 to 8.5, and the pH range for groundwater systems is between 6 to 8.5. Alkalinity is a measure of the capacity of the water to resist a change in pH that would tend to make the water more acidic. The measurement of alkalinity and pH is needed to determine the corrosiveness of the water.
In general, water with a pH < 6.5 could be acidic, soft, and corrosive. Acidic water could contain metal ions such as iron, manganese, copper, lead, and zinc. In other words, acidic water contains elevated levels of toxic metals. Acidic water can cause premature damage to metal piping, and have associated aesthetic problems such as a metallic or sour taste. It can also stain laundry and cause "blue-green" color staining on sinks and drains. More importantly, there are health risks associated with these toxins. The primary way to treat the problem of low pH water is with the use of a neutralizer. The neutralizer feeds a solution into the water to prevent the water from reacting with the household plumbing or from contributing to electrolytic corrosion. A typical neutralizing chemical is soda ash. Also known as sodium carbonate, soda ash works to increase the sodium content which increases pH. Water with a pH > 8.5 could indicate that the water is hard. Hard water does not pose a health risk, but can also cause aesthetic problems. These problems include an alkali taste to the water (making that morning coffee taste bitter!), formation of scale deposits on dishes, utensils, and laundry basins, difficulty in getting soaps and detergents to lather, and the formation of insoluble precipitates on clothing.
According to a Wilkes University study, the association of pH with atmospheric gases and temperature is the primary reason why water samples should be tested on a regular basis. The study says that the pH value of the water is not a measure of the strength of the acidic or basic solution, and alone cannot provide a full picture of the characteristics or limitations with the water supply.
While the ideal pH level of drinking water should be between 6-8.5, the human body maintains pH equilibrium on a constant basis and will not be affected by water consumption. For example, our stomachs have a naturally low pH level of 2 which is a beneficial acidity that helps us with food digestion.

Total dissolved solids in water

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A total dissolved solid (TDS) is a measure of the combined total of organic and inorganic substances contained in a liquid. This includes anything present in water other than the pure H20 molecules. These solids are primarily minerals, salts and organic matter that can be a general indicator of water quality. High TDS generally indicate hard water, which can cause scale build up in pipes and appliances. Scale buildup reduces performance and adds system maintenance costs.
As we learned previously, many dissolved inorganic water contaminants or impurities exist as ions in solution, the most common of these ions are:
These electrically charged dissolved particles make ordinary natural water a good conductor of electricity. Conversely, pure water has a high electrical resistance, and resistance is frequently used as a measure of its purity.
CationsAnions
CalciumCa+ +BicarbonateHC09­
MagnesiumMg++ChlorideCl
SodiumNa+SulfateSO,
IronFe+ +NitrateNO,­
ManganeseMn+ +CarbonateCO,_ _
Since only a few of these most common ionic water contaminants are health related, most natural water supplies are safe to drink from the standpoint of dissolved inorganic chemical contaminants. However, even though found more rarely - and in much smaller quantities - certain inorganic ions can be toxic. Turbidity and bacteria are examples of suspended water contaminants.


Total dissolved solids in water



In addition, water supplies can contain dissolved organic chemical contaminants which are usually pollutants that enter water as a result of man's activities, such as insecticides, pesticides and herbicides. These are usually chronically, rather than acutely, toxic to man and other species in extremely small amounts. Trihalomethanes are dissolved organic contaminants, such as chloroform, which are formed in extremely small amounts by the reaction of chlorine used to disinfect water, with humic and fulvic acids from soil erosion. Other organics can enter both surface and groundwater through waste dumping, such as trichlorethylene, tetrachlorethylene (TCEs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dioxin, etc. Many of the organic contaminants are probably carcinogenic (cancer-producing). The organics do not necessarily exist in water in the form of dissolved ions.
The Secondary Drinking Water Regulations control contaminants in drinking water that primarily affect the aesthetic qualities of water. Several of these -- chloride, sulfate, copper, iron, manganese, zinc, and total dissolved solids -- are ionized contaminants.
Color and odor are contaminants which cause objectionable sensory responses to the water.
pH is a measure of the acid or alkaline strength of a water supply and corrosivity refers to the ability of a water supply to disintegrate pipes and containers.
Why should you measure TDS levels in your water?
When TDS levels exceed 1,000 ppm (parts per million) it is deemed unfit for human consumption. A high level of TDS is an indicator of potential concerns and should be investigated before drinking. Even the best water purification systems on the market require monitoring for TDS to ensure the filters and/or membranes are effectively removing unwanted particles from your water.
We are all affected by toxic chemicals in the air and food that we consume. Water is the only way to flush out these toxins so it is important to make sure your water source is providing pure water. This is especially important for children because they are much more sensitive to contaminants because their defense systems have not fully developed. The purer the water is the greater its ability to purify and cleanse the body, so drink up!

Is Your Body's PH Levels an Indicator of Health?

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Is Your Body's PH Levels an Indicator of Health?


It has been stated that if the condition of our extra cellular fluids, especially the blood, becomes acidic, our physical condition will first manifest tiredness, proneness to catching colds, etc. When these fluids become more acidic, our condition then manifests pain and suffering such as headaches, chest pains, stomach aches, etc.
According to Keiichi Morishita in his Hidden Truth of Cancer, if the Blood develops a more acidic condition, then our body inevitably deposits these excess acidic substances in some areas of the body, thus the blood will not be able to maintain an alkaline condition which causes these areas such as the cells to become acidic which lowers in oxygen. As this tendency continues, such areas increase in acidity and some cells die; these dead cells then turn themselves into acids.
test-phHowever, some other cells may adapt in that environment. In other words, instead of dying - as normal cells do in an acid environment - some cells survive by becoming abnormal cells. These abnormal cells are called malignant cells. Malignant cells do not correspond with brain function or with our own DNS memory code. Your body's pH level is a large indicator of your alkalinity.
Why should we be concerned about pH levels? Since most of the body is water-based (50-60%), the pH level has profound effects on all body chemistry, health, and disease. All regulatory mechanisms (including breathing, circulation, digestion, hormonal production) serve the purpose of balancing pH, by removing caustic metabolized acid residues from body tissues without damaging living cells. If the pH deviates too far to the acid side or too far to the alkaline side, cells become poisoned by their own toxic waste and die.
Just as acid rain can destroy a forest and alkaline wastes can pollute a lake; an imbalanced pH can corrode all body tissue and slowly eat into the 60,000 miles of veins and arteries like corrosives eating into marble. If left unchecked, an imbalanced pH will interrupt all cellular activities and functions, from the beating of your heart to the neural firing of your brain.
The body is largely made up of water, a medium that is biologically useful in allowing nutrients, oxygen and bio-chemicals to be transported from place to place. This water-based medium can have either acid or alkaline properties that are measured by a graduated scale called pH (for potential hydrogen). Wherein 1.0 to 6.9 is considered acidic, 7.0 is neutral and 7.1 to 14.0 is alkaline.
What is the pH of some popular drinks and food?
Colas1.0Coffee5.0Cereal Corn2.5
Soft drinks artificially sweetened1.0Salt Refined1.5 Meat2.5
Sugar1.0 Wheat Refined1.5Fried Potato Chips3.0
Liquor 1.0-2.0White Rice 1.5 Chicken & Fish3.0
      
The pH of fruits and vegetables
Melons7.0Pineapple6.5Avocados6.0
Asparagus6.5Fresh Fruit Juices6.5Citrus Fruits6.0
Most Vegetables5.0-6.0Potatoes with Skin5.5Almonds5.0
Even the experts, who acknowledge that a neutral or slightly alkaline pH is good, disagree on what this means with regard to body fluids. For example, some researchers consider a slightly acidic urine pH to be normal (healthy) because it might indicate that the body is eliminating acids that are a natural product of metabolism. Other experts maintain that the urine should be close to neutral or slightly more alkaline. Acid/alkaline balance is extremely important to normal physiology.
For example, the blood will maintain a slightly alkaline range of 7.35 to 7.45. Extended pH imbalances of any kind are not well tolerated by the body. The management of the pH factor is so important that the body's primary regulatory systems (especially breathing, circulation and eliminations) closely regulate acid-alkaline balance in every cell and system of the organism. Some researchers believe that high acidity can deplete bones because the body has to steal alkalizing minerals (especially calcium) from bones to keep the blood from dropping into the acid range.
Thus acid/alkaline balance may be relevant to diseases such as osteoarthritis and osteoporosis. Alkalinity can be increased by consuming less meat and sweets in place of eating more vegetables and fruits. Although eating fruit to increase alkalinity may seem to be a contradiction because some fruits (especially citrus) are acidic outside the body, digestion uses up their acidic components, leaving an alkaline residue (ash). Thus the net effect is an alkaline-producing benefit for the body.

Are you getting enough?

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Are you getting enough?



We've all heard that drinking water will help keep us healthy. But how much is really enough?
The experts have always said, on average, that eight eight-ounce glasses per day will suffice. However, that might not be enough. While eight is great, amounts really need to be tailored to meet the needs of every individual.
water bodyMost adults will lose between two to three quarts of water per day by way of normal body functions, but those who live in or work in warmer environments tend to lose more. Athletes for example, need to drink more water to balance their bodily fluids. For those people, drinking more water will make up for the bigger loss of water they had through perspiration, as well as in the regulation of body temperature.
Our bodies are made up of 55-70% water, but it does not replenish itself, so drinking water helps maintain that healthy balance. But even still, many will walk around dehydrated, most of the time unknowingly. That is because thirst is a poor indicator of dehydration. By the time someone gets thirsty, it is too late! Or, if one is thirsty, they may go for a beverage that does not actually replenish the body. A cold soda may feel nice going down, beverages with caffeine are not meant to hydrate. Water is the best remedy for dehydration. If mild dehydration sets in, it can decrease one's energy level and mental functioning and increase stress on the body. Severe dehydration can have far more damaging effects. There are three important rules when it comes to drinking water:
  1. Drink twice as much as it takes to quench your thirst.
  2. Drink frequently throughout the day to prevent dehydration.
  3. Drink at least eight glasses daily, or one cup for every 20 pounds of body weight. For example, a 150-pound person who does not exercise or work in hot climates needs 7.5 cups.
While some fruit juices and green tea may account for some fluid intake, you can count out beverages such as coffee or alcohol. They have a mild diuretic effect, which promotes urination and therefore water loss, which ultimately defeats the purpose.


Are you getting enough?



QUICK TIP: A trick to ensure people are drinking their daily allowance is to fill a pitcher or jug with the allotment of water and keep it on your desk at work, or handy at home. The goal is then clearly marked. As you drink down the water, you know that you are on the right path to drinking enough water.
Signs of Dehydration
  • Dry, sticky mouth
  • Sleepiness or tiredness
  • Thirst
  • Decreased urine output
  • Few or no tears while crying
  • Headache, dizziness, or lightheadedness
  • Constipation
Believe it or not you can also tell if you are dehydrated by observing your urine. The color of your urine can reflect how much water your body needs. The target color we want to have is clear or light lemonade color. This is a clear indication that you are drinking enough water. As soon as your urine turns bright to dark yellow it is a sign that you are entering dehydration. When the body feels it is not receiving enough water the kidneys begin to conserve water which makes urine more concentrated with waste products thus reaching a darker color. Thus, those frequent bathroom trips are not a bad thing!
Water hydration is essential for every aspect of your health so get in the habit of sipping water throughout the day. You may even find yourself more energized as you increase your water consumption. Healthy living is one of the most important improvements we can make upon our lives and definitely something to promote to all your loved ones. Support one another to make healthy and positive decisions together!

What is ionized water and are there real health benefits from drinking this type of water?

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What is ionized water and are there real health benefits from drinking this type of water?

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What is "ionized water"? The term is essentially meaningless. True, it is possible for water to contain dissolved ions (electrically-charged atoms or molecules), but that's something else again. Almost all waters found in nature acquire ions such as calcium and bicarbonate as they come into contact with rocks and sediments. Even the purest rainwater contains some hydrogen- and bicarbonate ions that are formed when it picks up carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
ionsPure water consists almost entirely of H2O molecules loosely bound in a network-like structure in which individual molecules are constantly changing partners. Water molecules exhibit a very slight tendency to dissociate ("ionize") into hydrogen ions and hydroxide ions: H2O ; H+ + OH- but the extent of this reaction is severely limited by the fact that the reverse of this reaction is much more rapid, so that on the average, only about two out of every billion H2O molecules is dissociated. No electrical device or chemical additive is capable of increasing these ion concentrations in pure water above this very minute level which is so small that for most practical purposes pure water can be considered to be ion-free, as evidenced by the fact that it will not conduct an electric current.
Acidic and alkaline water, pH all water and all aqueous solutions contain both H+ and OH– ions. If the quantity of H+ exceeds that of the OH-, the water is said to be acidic. If there are more OH- ions than H+, the water is alkaline. Pure water, which contains equal numbers of both ions, is said to be neutral. Chemists express the degree of acidity or alkalinity on the pH scale which runs from about 0 to 14. Acidic solutions have pH values of less than 7, alkaline solutions more than 7. Pure water, being neutral, has a pH of exactly 7. Each unit on the pH scale represents a hundred-fold change in the ratio of the two kinds of ions; for example, if the pH is 8, there are 100 times as many OH- ions than H+ ions (that is, [H+] = 10-8, [OH-] = 10-6.) Whether a water is acidic or alkaline, it will always contain equal numbers of positive and negative electric charges.
Since alkaline water contains an excess of OH- ions, it must also contain some other kind of positive ion in addition to H+ in order to equalize the opposite charges. This extra positive ion is almost always a metal ion such as sodium, calcium or magnesium. Similarly, an acidic water must always contain negative ions in addition to OH-; the most common of these is bicarbonate HCO3-. This means that waters whose pH differs from 7 are never "pure" in the chemical sense.
"Ionized water" is one of many products and panaceas that the wonky-water wellness industry flogs onto the large segment of the general public that lacks the scientific background to distinguish scientific fact from pseudoscientific hype when the two are closely intertwined. What most of these treatment devices actually sell are grossly overpriced electrical devices that purport to produce "ionized" and alkaline water by the process of electrolysis.
Here's basically the bottom line when it comes to ionized water...
  • "Ionized water" is nothing more than sales fiction; the term is meaningless to chemists.
  • Most water that is fit for drinking is too unconductive to undergo significant electrolysis.
  • Pure water can never be alkaline or acidic, nor can it be made so by electrolysis.
  • Groundwater containing metal ions such as calcium and magnesium can be rendered slightly alkaline by electrolysis, but after it hits the highly acidic gastric fluid in the stomach, its alkalinity is gone.
  • The idea that one must consume alkaline water to neutralize the effects of acidic foods is ridiculous; we get rid of excess acid by exhaling carbon dioxide.
  • The claims about the health benefits of drinking alkaline water are not supported by credible scientific evidence.
  • There is nothing wrong with drinking slightly acidic waters such as rainwater. "Body pH" is a meaningless concept; different parts of the body (and even of individual cells) can have widely different pH values.
  • If you really want to de-acidify your stomach (at the possible cost of interfering with protein digestion), why spend hundreds of dollars for an electrolysis device when you can take calcium-magnesium pills, Alka-Seltzer or Milk of Magnesia?
  • Electrolysis devices are generally worthless for treating water for health enhancement, removal of common impurities, disinfection, and scale control.

The benefits of a risk management system to the organization include:

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Quality Management Systems: Logistics, Risks and Monitoring

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quality management
As organizations grow the expansion of the supplier base creates the need for quality management in logistics. Globalization and outsourcing of products and services have created a daisy chain supply chain with longer lead times, more pipeline inventory and the need for logistics control over items coming in and items going out. Establishing a supply chain network includes supplier selection and the movement of goods and services to the customer. Quality management audit programs do not develop the supply chain networks, but they do verify and monitor activities to make sure that the requirements are met.
Movement of goods and services include modes of travel—train, roadway, sea and air, distribution and storage services; storage conditions; technical services, expedited services and controlling storage costs and expenses like detention and demurrage fines. Supplier selection includes initial evaluation, maturity model results and assessment of the supplier’s capabilities.

Risks

As supply chains stretch across the globe, there are going to be different risks. In spite of risks deadlines must be met and customers satisfied. If there are language and cultural barriers, these must be overcome since communication is an important aspect for succeeding. Electronic audits are becoming viable options and an important quality management audit program strategy ensuring proper oversight and control of risks.
Risk is something quality management is always concerned about. They have been taught to avoid unnecessary risks. Using the ISO 9000 standards and similar sector-specific standards are strategies designed to reduce risks in certain areas like product liability, environment controls, occupational safety and health.
Since fewer business processes are being controlled within the business, there is a greater need to manage supply chain risks. This creates a difficult situation as increasing dependence on supplier organizations increase a customer’s business risk. Quality management risk scope includes controls throughout the product’s life cycle, across all organizational processes and its external supply chain. So the scope of a program might be limited to product or might include selected enterprise processes.
The purpose of the program is to ensure that customer requirements are met and to prevent external product failures and nonconformities. The effective quality management risk program reduces the chances of failures with their monetary consequences for the organization.
With no risk management system in place the organization is in a constant reaction mode exposing it to surprise problems and containment instead of problem solving. With a risk management program the organization can be proactive in eliminations problems before they happen.
The benefits of a risk management system to the organization include:
  • Reduced probability of delivering nonconforming products and services.
  • Increased probability of achieving organizational objectives.
  • Reduced probability of delivering product or services behind schedule.
  • Increased probability of compliance to quality, environmental and safety regulations, plus the avoidance of undesirable consequences.
When the risks are properly identified and treatments imposed, the audit function may be to verify that the risks are indeed controlled and treated. An auditor and audit program quality managers do not assess identified risks unless they are specifically assigned to the team for that purpose.

Monitoring

When an auditor visits with a supplier, he has a duty to report any potentially significant risks to the audit program manager and the client. If the risk is of a certain critical level, it may be necessary for the auditor to monitor the supplier. Monitoring and reporting needs will change as the organization’s needs change and relationships with supplies change.
Monitoring and verification include:
  • Assessment of capabilities.
  • Source inspection.
  • Ongoing inspection (100% inspection, acceptance and skip lot inspection).
  • Certification of conformance.
  • Surveys.
  • A conformity audit.
  • A contract audit.
  • A risk-based audit.
  • Verification of corrective actions.
External auditors may need additional training in working with different cultures. If there is a misunderstanding, it can delay the audit or damage the business relationship. External auditors also need to have technological knowledge about the parts and processes that go into creating the product.
Audit results are one part of maintaining an effective supplier relationship. The results might be the basis for increasing or decreasing the need for oversight of the supplier organization. The higher the supplier level, the less oversight is needed.











Quality Management: Product Documentation Undergoing a Shift

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Quality Management: Product Documentation Undergoing a Shift


As you know, Mr. or Ms. Business Person, we now are engaged in an international market economy due to Globalization and the Information Revolution. The Forbes Global 2000 manufacturers of complicated, technological products are under stressful competitive pressure to create and ship products quicker, in higher quantities and with increasing customization. If you are a manufacturer who has not come out of the Industrial Age mindset, you are losing revenue and market share to competitors who have harnessed the power of product information.

What does this mean to documentation?

These days the documentation is embedded in the product—user and maintenance manuals, customer service and support, online help and sales and marketing collateral—all things that define the customer’s experience. In the global economy we can add that this documentation is likely to go to different countries where people speak different languages.
With the products becoming more complex, documentation has become critical, but constantly morphing as your business and other businesses have had to adopt automated technologies enabling the dynamic creation and publishing of product content.

Product Documentation

Today you simply cannot ship products without documentation. If you don’t have any, the product features will go unknown to the users. Market specific items won’t be properly branded and customized. Support and maintenance, service and other document-driven functions won’t be delivered. Thus in ISO 9000 parlance, you won’t be able to confirm compliance one way or another.
Documentation must be done rapidly by manufacturers and be economical as well. It must be consistent, clear and accurate. Last-minute documents can create changes setting off a chain reaction of delays in documentation and therefore delivery of the product, which ends with lost revenue.
On the other hand a company which already has proper documentation but is in a hurry might re-create content instead of using what is already available. This is not a good idea since all new content needs to be reviewed and approved, causing time-consuming and product delaying processes. Then the re-created material need to be translated, formatted for publication into digital and/or print formats. What this re-creation does is incur double the cost and time for one piece of content. Not a good idea at all.
Besides these hard costs, re-creation imposes soft costs. Content consistency and accuracy are possibly compromised. Let’s look at an example. Information found in a user manual might be described with different wording online. Diagrams and graphics might be different in different places. While this can be annoying, it can also be life threatening as well as result in lost sales and possible lawsuits.

By being stuck in the Industrial Age your business can be affected by market forces and trends such as velocity, volume and variability.

documentation, Industrial Age, ISO certification agency, Santa Rosa CAVelocity. Because of the greater amount of competition you want to release products more quickly than you did a few years ago. This velocity is driving shortened time-to-market that then drives shorter sales cycles and higher revenues. Velocity means you have to improve the operational efficiencies when it comes to document publication more rapidly. Your new and improved product needs new and improved content which you need to publish more rapidly and accurately to be ready for the customer.
Volume. Competition is increasing the amount of new product lines and services. So you have to not only keep up with increasing your product creation but with increased content creation. Whether you are selling smart phones or pacemakers, you are competing with other producers. You have to keep up with the creation of timely, accurate documentation and if you are doing ISO 9000, all this documentation is strictly regulated.
Variability. To reach new markets and tap new opportunities you probably are increasing your product variability. Customers are going to want customized information delivered in many different formats—print manual, PDFs, information within a device and online. Then there are all the places your product can go in the globalized economy where you will have to have documentation in different languages, mass customization, and branding.

What is looming in the future for your company?

If you are creating complicated, techno-centric products, you need to be aware of the opportunities to use your product documentation in new ways. In doing so, you will have to undergo a fundamental mind shift in your perspective and emphasis. You will need to recognize that the real value of your product rests in the quality of the information you create for its use.

How To Purify Your Lungs In 72 Hours

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How To Purify Your Lungs In 72 Hourshttp://www.yourstylishlife.com/how-to-purify-your-lungs-in-72-hours/
Many people that have never smoked a cigarette in their life still have lung problems, while others have been smoking for 40 years and their lungs are perfectly fine. In the end, it all comes down to the person’s organism. Today, we’re giving you a few tips on how to purify your lungs in just 72 hours.
First things first, get rid of all of the dairy products from your diet. This is because, your body has to get rid of the diary products’ toxins.
- See more at: http://www.yourstylishlife.com/how-to-purify-your-lungs-in-72-hours/#sthash.FDA95T2F.dpuf
Many people that have never smoked a cigarette in their life still have lung problems, while others have been smoking for 40 years and their lungs are perfectly fine. In the end, it all comes down to the person’s organism. Today, we’re giving you a few tips on how to purify your lungs in just 72 hours.
First things first, get rid of all of the dairy products from your diet. This is because, your body has to get rid of the diary products’ toxins.
  • In the first day, drink a cup of herb tea before bedtime. It will release all of the toxins that cause constipation in the intestine. But, please take note, during the purification, you must not overload your lungs or any other part of the body with difficult work.
  • Squeeze 2 lemons in 300 ml of water, and drink them before breakfast.
  • Consume 300 ml of grapefruit juice. If you do not like the taste, feel free to replace it with pineapple juice. Both of these juices contain natural antioxidants that improve the breathing systems.
  • Drink 300 ml of carrot juice between breakfast and lunch. This juice will help you alkalize your blood during the 72 hour cleansing.
  • During lunch time drink 400 ml of juice rich in potassium. Potassium acts as a great cleansing tonic. Drink 400 ml of cranberry juice before going to bed, which will help you in the fight against bacteria that can cause infections in the lungs.

Body care and exercises

  • Many toxins can be lost through a daily 20-minute hot bath.
  • In a bowl of hot water put 5 to 10 drops of eucalyptus. Place your head over the bowl and cover yourself with a towel. Inhale the steam until the water cools off.
- See more at: http://www.yourstylishlife.com/how-to-purify-your-lungs-in-72-hours/#sthash.FDA95T2F.dpuf

Corrosion Monitoring, Corrosion Coupons, and Corrosion Coupon Racks

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Corrosion Monitoring, Corrosion Coupons, and Corrosion Coupon Racks

Corrosion monitoring is intended to provide an accurate representation of how well metallurgies of a system are protected against corrosion and to alert facility operators and service companies if a change is necessary before too much damage takes place to the system.

General Corrosion Facts:

  • Corrosion can be expressed in mils per year (MPY) of metals degraded
  • Corrosion produces by-products (oxides) that hurt systems through erosion, clogging, and fouling
  • Corrosion oxides reduce system efficiency and increase energy costs by accumulating on heat transfer surfaces
  • Corrosion can be reduced through proper system design, maintenance, and water treatment

Common Sources of System Corrosion:


  • Dissolved oxygen
  • Bacteria
  • Electrolysis (stray current)
  • Differential metal (dielectric)
  • Differential cell
  • Flow, temperature, and pressure can all influence corrosion

Benefits of Corrosion Monitoring:1


  1. Offers valuable system information to building/plant operators
  2. Provide the only internal view of system conditions and corrosion status
  3. Results are useful to compare with ultrasonic thickness testing or metallurgical analysis
  4. Can show whether corrosion rates are increasing or decreasing over time
  5. Shows if a chemical inhibitor is present or effective for the particular alloy
  6. Provides corrosion rate data necessary to evaluate chemical program



Interpreting Corrosion Rates:3

Whether a corrosion rate is acceptable or not is dependent on water conditions and operating conditions. There is no definite standard, however; there are some general guidelines developed by water treatment firms and water treatment trade associations.
Corrosion rates should be viewed in relative, not absolute, measurements. Many variables affect corrosion, but the type of application will ultimately determine what an acceptable corrosion rate is. A system that is subjected to severe use, such as a process loop in a nuclear cooling system, will have higher corrosion rate expectations than a less abused system, such as a commercial HVAC system. Use corrosion data to compare stability of the loop over time. Improvements or regressions can be determined through monitoring.

Corrosion Coupons & Corrosion Coupon Racks:

What are corrosion coupons?5
Corrosion coupons are the simplest and most commonly used form of corrosion measurement today. Corrosion coupons are small bars of various metals or alloys that are introduced into the system through a side stream coupon rack. The coupon alloy selection should be representative of system metals.
Coupons are pre-weighed and measured by a manufacturer and left in place for a fixed amount of time. After exposure, coupons are usually returned to the supplier for analysis by an independent laboratory.
Corrosion coupons vary by type of metal alloy and physical configurations:
Metal Alloys:

  • Mild Steel
  • Copper
  • Stainless Steel
  • Nickel
  • Brass
  • Bronze
  • Aluminum
  • Galvanized Steel
Physical Configurations: nut
nut3nut2

  • Strips
  • Rods
  • Flush Discs
  • Discs





How are corrosion coupons analyzed?

Typically, coupons are photographed upon reception, cleaned of system contaminants, inspected, measured, dried, re-weighed, and re-photographed.
A corrosion rate is determined in mills per year (MPY) from the weight of material lost over its time in place.


Corrosion Coupon Test Intervals:

Typically system water must circulate over the corrosion coupons for 30-90 days. We recommend a consistent testing interval of 90 days per round of coupon tests. Interval time may also depend on the process.  
Evaluating a 30 day coupon interval versus a 90 day will be of less use than a 90 to 90 where you can see if your system is stable or not. A coupon will have the most metal loss in the first 30 days and typically a lower loss rate in the last 60 days of a test. This is due to 30 days being too soon for a passivating layer to develop on the coupon.

The Benefits of Corrosion Coupons:


  1. It’s a simple test. No sophisticated instrumentation is required for results.
  2. Coupons are low in cost compared to alternatives.
  3. Allow the evaluation of numerous materials simultaneously.
  4. Coupons are easily adapted to evaluate specific types of corrosion. Such as crevice vs. galvanic corrosion.
  5. A direct measurement is obtained

Installing Corrosion Coupons:installing


  1. Do not handle coupons with bare hands. Finger prints, oil, and grease contact could affect results.
  2. Attach to the Teflon rod with a nylon screw and nut, or rod/screw provided with rack.
  3. Coupons should be securely held and should be electrically isolated from contact with all other metals. Insulating materials should be used to be resistant to the environment. Failure will lead to inconclusive or erroneous data.
  4. When installing multiple alloys starting from the direction of flow install (1st) Aluminum, (2nd) Galvanized, (3rd) Mild Steel, (4th) Brass, (5th) Copper, (6th) Copper/Nickel, (7th) Stainless Steel.

Types of corrosion observed by coupons:

General: Uniform corrosion over the entire coupon surface.
Pitting: Depressions on the metal surface from corrosion. Pits vary in size, depth, and density. Pitting is typically caused by one of the following: low inhibitor levels, high chlorides, copper plating, pH variations, and under-deposit corrosion.
Localized Corrosion: Caused from under-deposit corrosion. Could be caused by a low flow rate through the rack or necessity for better deposit control.
Copper Plating: Soluble copper attaches to non-copper alloy samples. Can cause severe galvanic corrosion and metal failure due to pitting.

Common Corrosion Coupon Errors:


  • Leaving coupons in for too long or too short of a testing time
  • Removing coupons at different times between successive tests
  • Water temperature variations
  • Operational interference
  • Differing coupon manufacturers between successive tests
  • Use of a different coupon alloy than system metal
  • Texture of the coupon’s surface
  • Incorrect or differing lab analysis and procedures

Drawbacks of Corrosion Coupons:


  • Corrosion coupons do not always yield corrosion rate values relative to actual pipe wall loss. They only offer an estimate, rather than true metal lost.
  • As pipe surface deposits increase, the correlation between actual corrosion rate and that measured by the coupon significantly decreases.
  • Coupons need flow to work. Some no flow areas such as by-pass lines, future lines, lead and lag equipment, or out of service equipment are the most susceptible to corrosion.
  • Coupons are brand new samples of metal alloy. The surfaces are smooth and polished. These surfaces may differ from the surfaces of older piping systems which might be worn or pitted. This difference could create a source of error.

Installation of Corrosion Coupon Rack:


  1. The corrosion coupon rack is installed externally to the piping system, side stream.
  2. For an accurate representative sample of the system water, the rack should be installed on a line that is completely separate from any chemical injection points or at least up stream.
  3. There should be no air mixture or turbulence from flow and a typical flow rate of 3 to 5 feet per second is standard to prevent erosion of some coupon alloys from too high of a flow. Most coupon racks come with a flow meter or flow device. A low flow rate could lead to accelerated corrosion and biological fouling.
  4. Without flow, corrosion coupons cannot be used to measure corrosion rates. During system drain downs or winter lay-ups, corrosion rates have been documented to spike almost 10 times the full system rate.

Alternatives to Corrosion Coupons:

Operating Experience– Information is generated by the actual operation of equipment. The equipment itself is used as the corrosion coupon or corrosion test. Samples of pipe are taken for analysis of corrosion.
Model Equipment– Model equipment can be installed in parallel with actual equipment or in a pilot plant. All variables must be identical to the actual plant.
Instrumental Test Methods– Electrical resistance and polarization scans are valuable, and can generate a continuous record of corrosion rate.

Rail freight hike will not affect urea prices: Ananth Kumar

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Urea prices will not increase for farmers even as freight charges have been hiked on the nutrient by 10 per cent in the Rail Budget, Fertiliser Minister Ananth Kumar said today.
However, the subsidy outgo will increase due to the rail freight hike, the minister said after Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu today proposed to increase freight charges on urea by 10 per cent.
“Our government is pro-farmer. There will not be any increase in urea prices. With the increase of rail freight charges on urea, only subsidy paid for urea will increase. We will continue to provide urea at current price of ₹5,360 per tonne,” Kumar said.
The government had allocated about ₹2,000 crore for movement of urea for the year 2014-15.
According to officials, the estimated expenditure on movement of urea in the current year will be around ₹3,000 crore.
“With the increase in rail tariff the subsidy paid on movement of urea will increase by another ₹300 crore from current estimated expenditure of ₹3,000 crore,” Fertiliser Association of India Director General Satish Chander said.
However, Chander added that government must allocate appropriate funds for increase in subsidy.
The annual demand of urea is about 30 million tonnes, while the domestic production is at 22 million tonnes and rest is met through imports.
(This article was published on February 26, 2015)

Nitrogen (N) and water

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Nitrogen (N) and water

Nitrogen and water: reaction mechanisms, environmental impact and health effects
Seawater contains approximately 0.5 ppm nitrogen (dissolved inorganic nitrogen compounds without N2). The amount is clearly lower at the surface, being approximately 0.1 ppb. River water concentrations vary strongly, but are approximately 0.25 ppm in general.
Depending on water properties, various inorganic nitrogen compounds may be found. In aerobic waters nitrogen is mainly present as N2 and NO3-, and depending on environmental conditions it may also occur as N2O, NH3, NH4+, HNO2, NO2- or HNO3.
Water in coastal areas mainly contains elementary nitrogen gas (N2). This can be no surprise, as air consists of 78% nitrogen, and water comes in contact with air regularly in coastal regions because of low water depth and active currents.
Ammonium, nitrate and nitrite play the most important role in biochemical processes, but some organic nitrogen compounds in water may also be of significance. Total nitrogen represents the sum of organic and inorganic nitrogen compounds. For wastewater Kjeldahl-nitrogen is generally applied as a measure. The TKN value (Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen) represents a total nitrogen concentration, which is the sum of organic nitrogen compounds and ammonium nitrogen (TKN = org-N + NH4-N [mg/L]). Nitrogen mainly occurs in wastewater in this form. After biological wastewater treatment, it mainly occurs as oxidized nitrite.


In what way and in what form does nitrogen react with water?

Nitrogen gas does not react with water. It does dissolve in water.

Solubility of nitrogen and nitrogen compounds

Nitrogen (N2) solubility at 20oC and pressure = 1 bar is approximately 20 mg/L. Nitrogen solubility may differ between compounds. Nitrogen (I) oxide solubility is 12 g/L, and nitriloacetate (salt) solubility is 640 g/L, whereas nitrogen chloride is water insoluble. Nitrates and ammonia dissolve in water readily.


Why is nitrogen present in water?

Nitrogen ends up in the environment mainly through agricultural processes, and thereby also ends up in water. The main source of nitrogen compounds in water are fertilizers that mainly contain nitrate, but also ammonia, ammonium, urea and amines. The most widely applied nitrogen fertilizers are probably NaNO3 (sodium nitrate) and NH4NO3 (ammonium nitrate). After fertilization, crops take up a relatively small part of added nitrogen compounds, namely 25-30%. The residue ends up in groundwater and surface water through soils, because nitrates are water soluble. Organic fertilizers mainly contain nitrogen as proteins, urea or amines, which have different mechanisms of absorption. Guano is a natural fertilizer that contains sufficient amounts of nitrogen. Finally, various pesticides added to farmland contain nitrogen.
Nitrogen compounds are applied in several different industries. Most nitrogen is applied to synthesize ammonia by the Haber-Bosch process. Thereby other nitrogen compounds, such as nitrous oxide applied in anaesthetics, can be produced. Nitric acid, urea, hydrazine and amines are other products from nitrogen industries. Nitrogen compounds are by-products of colouring and synthetic agent production.
Liquid nitrogen is applied in large amounts to freeze food. Deep-freezing samples and chemicals is achieved by the same method. Liquid nitrogen is also an interesting agent for superconductor and ceramic development.
Nitrogen is applied as a protective gas in welding for semi-conductor production. It is also applied in sprays and fire extinguishers. N2O4 is a rocket fuel oxidator. The element is a constituent of explosives and is applied in mining.
A significant amount of nitrogen can be found in domestic wastewater. The exact concentration depends on protein application of the population. Usually about one-third of total nitrogen are organic nitrogen compounds, mostly urea. The remainder are ammonium salts. Domestic wastewater generally contains no more than 3% nitrates and nitrites. Decomposition products of the first two sewage water treatment steps are mainly ammonium and nitrate.
Nitrates and nitrites are applied as food additives to conserve the red colour of meat, and to prevent toxin formation. NTA (nitriloacetate) is a replacement of phosphate in detergents.
Nitrogen may end up in water and soils from landfills. The occurrence of nitrogen in soils and waters is largely explained by the nitrogen cycle.

What are the environmental effects of nitrogen in water?

Nitrogen is a dietary requirement for all organisms, because it is a constituent of all proteins and nucleic acids. Plants consists of approximately 7.5% nitrogen (dry mass). Nitrogen is essential for plants, and can be found in air in large amounts. This elementary nitrogen cannot be taken up directly. Nitrogen must first be bound and converted, for instance to nitrate. This so-called nitrification process is carried out by bacteria, which convert ammonia and ammonium to nitrate and nitrite. This releases energy, and establishes a nitrate stock in soils that can be applied by plants.
When nitrogen fertilizers are applied, the plant nitrogen amount increases. A number of crops, such as spinach, even accumulate nitrogen compounds. When nitrogen fertilizers are applied outside the growing season, this is completely useless and negatively affects the environment. The fertilizers cannot be taken up or immobilized, causing them to end up in groundwater and drinking water. Nitrogen has a high spreading potential. A number of plants are relatively susceptible to NO2.
Nitric acid is an important constituent of precipitation. Together with H2SO4 it causes acid rain, which negatively affects crops and soils.
Nitrogen is an essential protein constituent, and is therefore present in animal tissue in large amounts. Elementary nitrogen has no direct effect on warm-blooded organisms. High nitrogen concentrations in air may lead to asphyxiation, because in this case the oxygen concentration decreases.
Nitrogen itself is not hazardous when present in water, and therefore does not cause any environmental damage. In seawater nitrates, nitrites and ammonia are dietary requirements for plankton, causing nitrogen concentrations to be lower at the surface than in the deep. At increasing nitrogen concentrations in surface layers, plankton production increases, leading to algal blooms. This may occur in any type of surface water. Large amounts of nitrate may cause eutrophication, which means an excess of nutrients resulting in oxygen deprivation and fish deaths (see oxygen and water). Nitrogen does not limit algal growth, because phosphorus is generally a limiting factor in water bodies. This means that phosphorus is the determining factor of algal spreading through surface waters. Oxygen deficits in surface water generally result in nitrate reduction to elementary nitrogen or nitrous oxide. This so-called denitrification process causes oxygen reserve releases, when oxygen supplies decrease to zero. In some cases nitrate may even be biologically reduced to ammonia. Ammonium compounds decrease the water oxygen concentration, because these are oxidized from nitrite to nitrate. Small concentrations of free ammonia may be toxic to fish.
Nitrification may also play an important role in water. This process means ammonia oxidation to nitrite and nitrate. The nitrite concentration is decreased, which is positive for higher plants, because nitrite is toxic at low pH values.
NOx compounds react with water to soluble nitric acid. This means that oceans can reduce atmospheric nitrogen oxide concentrations. PAN compounds (Peroxy Acetyl Nitrate) are derived from terrestrial environmental pollution, but may also be transported in the troposphere and in oceans. Eventually, these compounds are decomposed to NOx. The reaction mechanism is as described above.
There are some examples of toxic nitrogen compounds. NTA, which is generally complexed with heavy metals, can disturb electrolyte metabolism. In rats it may damage kidneys at concentrations above 14 mg/kg body weight. The LD50 value is 1.5 g/kg for rats and 0.75 g/kg for rhesus monkeys. It may cause chromosome defects in the in vitro system. For nitro aniline the LD50 for rodents is 1-3.6 mg/kg. The non-toxic concentration for fish is approximately 10 mg/L (48 h).
Nitrogen naturally has two stable isotopes. There are also six instable isotopes.

What are the health effects of nitrogen in water?

The human body consists of approximately 2.6% nitrogen, which is a constituent of most proteins and nucleic acids. This means nitrogen is a dietary requirement. Nitrogen is the main constituent of the air we breathe. Increased nitrogen concentrations in air may cause asphyxiation, but mainly because it results in a lower oxygen concentration.
We mainly absorb nitrogen as proteins. These cannot be stored and are therefore directly converted to energy when not required. Nitrogen is excreted through the kidneys as urea. We also release nitrogen through the skin and the intestinal tract. When kidney failure occurs, one is incriminated with protein decomposition products. The calculation factor from nitrogen to protein in 6.25. This value does not represent protein digestibility.
Nitrates are not generally considered toxic, but at high concentrations the body may convert nitrate to nitrite. Nitrites are toxic salts that disrupt blood oxygen transport by disrupting haemoglobin to methemoglobin conversion. This causes nausea and stomach aches for adults. For young infants it may be extremely risky, because it rapidly causes blood oxygen deprivation.
The maximum recommended concentration for nitrate is 10 mg/L, and for nitrite the maximum level is 1 mg/L (EPA standards).
Nitrites and amines from protein-rich food form so-called nitrosamines, which are carcinogenic substances. This reaction may be prevented by the reducing and anti-oxidant properties of vitamin C.
Examples of toxic nitrogen compounds are PAN-compounds, which are fifty times more toxic than the nitrogen compounds these are converted from (nitriles and nitrilo compounds). NTA is not absorbed in the stomach, because it is complexed with heavy metals. It may however still disrupt electrolyte metabolism.
Nitrogen oxides play a more significant role in air than in water. These can cause breathing disorders. Nitrogen hydrogen acid fumes may cause irritations, heart problems and collapsing.

Which water purification technologies can be applied to remove nitrogen from water?


In wastewater treatment plants the first two treatment steps may remove only 50% of nitrogen concentrations. For further treatment, lime and HOCl addition were attempted. This however turned out not to be very effective. Consequently, the third step of wastewater treatment includes biological nitrogen removal. This means a combination of nitrification and denitrification processes, carried out by various micro organisms.
Nitrification means ammonium oxidation from protein decomposition processes by bacteria, and subsequent conversion to nitrates. This requires oxygen, which is added by aeration. The water must be aerated for a sufficient period of time. Ammonium is converted to nitrite, and subsequently to nitrate. The reaction mechanism is a follows:

2 NH4+ + 3 O2 -> 2 NO2- + 2 H2O + 4 H+ - by nitrosomonas
2 NO2- + O2 -> 2 NO3- - by nitrobacter

During the denitrification bacteria decompose nitrates to nitrogen. This does not require aeration, as it is an anaerobic process. Nitrogen is eventually released into air. A carbon source is often added to speed up the decomposition process. One example of a possible reaction mechanism is:

6 NO3- + 5 CH3OH -> 3 N2 + 5 CO2 + 7 H2O + 6 OH-

These processes exclude one another, because one requires oxygen and one does not. Consequently, wastewater treatment requires both aeration, and the presence of oxygen-pour spaces. When these processes are applied as a third water purification step, approximately 90% of nitrogen may be removed.
In countries such as Brazil, water hyacinths are applied as a third water purification step. These remove both nitrogen and phosphorus from water. Helophyte filters can be applied in water purification of small surface waters.
Ammonia can be removed from water by the so-called stripping process. This means removing ammonia from wastewater by means of air or steam, by gasifying it.
Other nitrogen compounds that generally occur in small amounts may be removed by various methods. For example, NTA can be decomposed under aerobic conditions in aeration tanks. Nitro aniline cannot be decomposed.
Regular ionic nitrogen compounds, such as NO3-, NO2- and NH4+, and amines, may be removed by means of ion exchange.

Nitrogen cycle

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Nitrogen cycle

 "Matter cycles": The nitrogen cycle

Nitrogen is a part of vital organic compounds in microrganisms, such as amino acids, proteins and DNA. The gaseous form of nitrogen (N2), makes up 78% of the troposphere. One might think this means we always have plenty of nitrogen available, but unfortunately it does not work that way. Nitrogen in the gaseous form cannot be absorbed and used as a nutrient by plants and animals; it must first be converted by nitrifying bacteria, so that it can enter food chains as a part of the nitrogen cycle.

During the conversion of nitrogen cyano bacteria will first convert nitrogen into ammonia and ammonium, during the nitrogen fixation process. Plants can use ammonia as a nitrogen source.

Nitrogen fixation is carried out according to the following reaction:
N2 + 3 H2 -> 2 NH3

After ammonium fixation, the ammonia and ammonium that is formed will be transferred further, during the nitrification process. Aerobic bacteria use oxygen to convert these compounds. Nitrosomonas bacteria first convert nitrogen gas to nitrite (NO2-) and subsequently nitrobacter convert nitrite to nitrate (NO3-), a plant nutrient.

Nitrification is carried out according to the following reactions:
2 NH3 + 3O2 - > 2 NO2 + 2 H+ + 2 H2O
2 NO2- + O2 -> 2 NO3-

Plants absorb ammonium and nitrate during the assimilation process, after which they are converted into nitrogen-containing organic molecules, such as amino acids and DNA.
Animals cannot absorb nitrates directly. They receive their nutrient supplies by consuming plants or plant-consuming animals.
When nitrogen nutrients have served their purpose in plants and animals, specialized decomposing bacteria will start a process called ammonification, to convert them back into ammonia and water-soluble ammonium salts. After the nutrients are converted back into ammonia, anaerobic bacteria will convert them back into nitrogen gas, during a process called denitrification.

Denitrification is carried out according to the following reaction:
NO3- + CH2O + H+ -> ½ N2O + CO2 + 1½ H2O

Finally, nitrogen is released into the atmosphere again. The whole process starts over after release.
A schematic representation of the nitrogen cycle is shown here:


Nitrogen as a limiting factor

Although the nitrogen conversion processes often occurs and large quantities of plant nutrients are produced, nitrogen is often a limiting factor for plant growth. Water flowing across the soil causes this error. Nitrogen nutrients are water-soluble and as a result they are easily drained away, so that they are no longer available for plants.
The annamox reaction
In 1999 researchers at the Gist-Brocades in Delft, The Netherlands, discovered a new reaction to be added to the nitrogen cycle; the so-called annamox reaction. This is now found to occur in the Black Sea, as well. The reaction implies conversion of nitrite and ammonium to pure nitrogen gas (N2), which than escapes to the atmosphere. The reaction mechanism is triggered by a newly discovered bacterium, called Brocadia anammoxidans. This appears to be a compartmentalized bacterium; within the cell membrane two compartments can be found which are also surrounded by a membrane, a very rare phenomenon. Intermediate products of the reaction included hydroxylamine, and toxic hydrazine compounds. The bacterial membranes were found to consists of badly permeable membranes, which are thought to function as a barrier for hydrazines produced within the cell. This discovery has major consequences, as it alters the entire contribution of oceans to the nitrogen balance.

Highlights of PM Narendra Modi's speech in Lok Sabha

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NEW DELHI: PM Narendra Modi said on Friday that his government is trying to address "old" problems which it had inherited from the previous government.

The Prime Minister was speaking on the motion of thanks to the President's Address in the Lok Sabha.


Highlights of PM Narendra Modi's speech in Lok Sabha


*If we all join hands and decide we will combat corruption together, our nation can be corruption free

*Corruption has ruined the nation and the nation should not discuss it through a political prism

*Govt should run a policy-driven state

*People earlier were scared to talk about black money

*We have compelled the nation to talk about black money this is a big thing.

*The SC had asked for SIT to be formed but what happened for 3 years

*Our first decision in our first Cabinet meeting was the decision on SIT on black money

*No one should think we are talking about black money because we are vindictive

* No one will be spared in the black money probe

*We talk a lot about farmers, but shouldn't we find ways to address issues of farmers

* "Per drop, more crop" is what we want to focus on

*We brought in the system of self-attestation. Things may be small but they are things that inspire the trust of the people

*Our retired government employees are supposed to give proof of their living for pension, can't we change such systems?

*We brought in the system of self-attestation. Things may be small but they are things that inspire the trust of the people

*It is the poor, the farmer, the tribal communities that are on my mind when I am travelling

*The poor are on our mind but we do not think of playing politics over the poor. We think of how to do good work for the poor


SAFETY PROMOTION ACTIVITIES

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Activities & Services
Inplant Safety Training:
The chapter under takes in-plant training programs, depending on various requirements in relation to the job and hazard at the work sites. Before undertaking an inplant training program, a need assessment is made to ensure that the training is tailored to suit the needs of industry, taking into account the hazards, the conditions and the concerns of the participants. The training is designed to help people understand anticipate, recognize and eliminate or control the hazards they encounter on the job.

Normally, the trainings are conducted in Kannada to workers and in English for staff.

Public Safety Training:
The chapter organizes specialized Public Safety Training Programs on a variety of topics such as, Testing and Examination of Lifting Machines and Pressure Vessels, Safety Audit, Chemical Safety, Electrical Safety, Role and Responsibility of Safety Committee Members and Trade Union in Safety Management, Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment, Fire Prevention, Emergency Preparedness, Construction Safety, First Aid etc.

Training programs are also conducted in association with
  • Head Quarters-Mumbai
  • Action Centers of Vijayanagar, Bhadravati & Mangalore
Brochures will be circulated well in advance so that industries can plan for nominating their personnel for training.

Safety Services:
The chapter undertakes the following services at nominal rates to help industries to sustain SHE.
  • Safety Audit
  • Hazop Study
  • Hazard Identification & Risk Analysis (HIRA)
  • Preparation / Updating of Safety Manual & Emergency Plan

NSCI Training Workshop On Hazard Prediction Techniques for Zero Accident 6-7 April, 2015, (Monday - Tuesday)

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NSCI Training Workshop
On Hazard Prediction Techniques for Zero Accident
6-7 April, 2015,
(Monday - Tuesday)
at West End Hotel,
Mumbai

NATIONAL SAFETY COUNCIL
Plot No.98A, Institutional Area
Sector 15, CBD Belapur,
Navi Mumbai – 400 614
Phone : 022 – 2757 9924 - 27
Fax : 022 – 2757 7351
Email : trainingnational@nsc.org.in; nsci@mtnl.net.in
Web Site : www.nsc.org.in
Workshop on Hazard Prediction Techniques for Zero Accident, 6-7 April, 2015,
Hotel West End, Mumbai
PERSPECTIVE
Workshop on Hazard Prediction Training (KYT) for Zero-accident is the activity which basically
comes from Japan. This is the most popular and effective technique to achieve the zero
accident status at workplace.
Each and every individual human being is irreplaceable. Nobody deserves to get injured or die.
The basis of the workshop on Hazard Prediction for Zero-accident is for all workers from top
management to industrial employees to take steps on preemptive action for safety and health
issues so that nobody on the worksite gets injured; and to solve dangers and problems in the
workplace with the participation of all workers.
The workshop is based on the technique to find, recognize and solve hidden hazards in the
workplace while working. This KYT technique employs the team method and illustrations. The
goal of the training technique is to increase each worker’s sensitivity and concentration
regarding hazards, and problem solving ability and enthusiasm for applying skills through
repeated practice.
This 2-day workshop on “Hazard Prediction Techniques for Zero-accident” has been designed
by NSC to create a bright and cheerful climate in the workplace based on the philosophy of
respecting all human life as irreplaceable.
From the perspective of workers and with respect for each and every human life, the workshop
insists on zero tolerance of industrial accidents, with the ultimate goal of zero incidences and
zero diseases.
OBJECTIVE
This programme will enable the participants to:
Know KYT techniques for zero accident
Improve self confidence
Improve concentration for finding out hidden hazards
Improve problem solving ability
Respect human life
Improve their skill in developing safety attitude and correcting undesirable, unsafe
behaviours of individuals
Motivate employees to undertake safe practices at workplace
Improve workplace environment with zero accident and zero diseases
TOPICS
• KYT techniques
• Methods for pointing and calling
• Table top exercises on different working situations
PARTICIPANTS
The course is intended for senior/middle management personnel, safety officers, supervisors
and staff performing line functions of safety such as the departmental staff, trade union
representatives, engineering personnel, etc.
FACULTY
Experts from National Safety Council, Industry and Government Bodies, Institution, Engineers
and Consultants.
PROGRAMME SCHEDULE
The registration of participants will start at 9.30 a.m. on first day. Subsequently, the course will
start at 10.00 a.m. and conclude at 5.00 p.m. each day.
VENUE
West End Hotel,
45, New Marine Lines,
Near Bombay Hospital, Mumbai – 400 020.
Phone : (022) 4083 9121 Fax : (022) 4083 9100
ACCOMMODATION
Programmes are non residential. Participants who wants to stay at West End Hotel, may directly
contact to the hotel.
FEES
Rs. 12,000/- per participant (inclusive of 12.36% Service Tax)
It is inclusive of Service tax 12.36% on professional fees - hence separate service tax
need not be added.
Fees once paid will not be refunded and cannot be adjusted.
Membership discount of 10% will be given to NSC members. It is necessary that participants mention
their membership number in their communication/correspondence
(If active membership number is not written in the enrolment form or any correspondence
regarding nomination, your company will be treated as non-member.)
TDS Certificate: As per Section 203 of the IT Act, every person who deducts TDS u/s 194 is liable to issue TDS
Certificate in accordance with Rule 31(1) (b) within a period of one month from the end of the month during which the
credit has been given or the sums have been paid.
The fees will cover expenses for providing folder with reading, material, ball pen, writing pad,
lunch and tea.
PAYMENT MODE
Nominations accompanied by a crossed Cheque /Demand Draft drawn in favour of “National
Safety Council, Mumbai” in the prescribed form should be sent to the Director General,
National Safety Council.
NSC will also accept payment by electronic transfer. Relevant particulars are as follows :
Name of the Bank
Address of the Bank
Bank Account Number
Bank Branch MICR Code
Bank Branch IFSC Code
NSC’s Income Tax PAN
NSC’s Service Tax No.
Service Category
Bank of India
Plot No. 11, Sector - 11,
CBD Belapur,
Navi Mumbai – 400 614
011620100005233
400013106
BKID0000116
AAATN3069N
AAATN3069NSD001
Commercial Training or Coaching
The details of electronic transfer (transaction ID/UTR No, date and amount) should be intimated
to NSC by email/letter for confirmation of nomination.
NOTES
1. The admission to the programme will be on “First-Come-First-Served” basis.
2. Participants should not proceed to the venue of the programme without receiving
confirmation of nominations
3. Participants will not be permitted to attend the programme, if the payment is not sent along
with the nomination or with the nominee.
4. Complete name and address of the organizations should be indicated on faxes / emails.
5. Certificate will be issued to each participant at the end of the programme.
SEND YOUR ENROLMENT DETAILS to
trainingnational@nsc.org.in
or
by post at NSC address on page 1
Name of Programme/ Workshop
Name & Address of Sponsoring Organisation.
Active Membership No.
(Mandatory for availing membership discount)
Phone No.:
Fax No.:
Email :
Name(s) & Designations of the Participants
1…………………………………………….
2…………………………………………….
3…………………………………………….
Enclosed D.D./Cheque No…………dated…….. for Rs………… in favour of “National Safety
Council, Mumbai”/Fees will be sent with the participant
For outstation cheques, bank clearance charges should be added.

Local Weather Report and Forecast For: Kakinada Dated :Mar 01, 2015 AND MONTHLY AVERAGE OF FEB 2015

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