HARD WATER, HARD CHOICES

We've all heard a lot about our "carbon footprint."  Tonight, on Nightly News we are going to take a look at our "water footprint."  I know, you're thinking this is going to be about low-flow toilets and drip irrigation systems.  That is part of the story, but the bigger part is learning about how Americans use water.  It impacts almost every aspect of our lives in large and small ways.  Do you have any idea how much water it takes to produce the food you'll eat today?  How about where Americans use the most water?  Is it inside our homes or outside? As a country, are we using more or less water today than a couple of decades ago?

As you ponder those questions, think about Phoenix, Arizona.  This desert metropolis is in the second decade of a drought, yet there are no water restrictions.  Though desert landscaping is becoming more and more popular, producer Clare Duffy and I saw some people there watering their very green lawns in the middle of the day when the temperature topped 100 degrees!   Clare's mom and my brother, who live about a mile apart in the coastal town of Hingham, Massachusetts would be envious.  They are under water restrictions and they can't water their lawns at all.

Conservation is a hot topic in Phoenix. (Please feel free to groan at the pun)  The area's water is imported. And with projections that the population will double by 2040, concerned citizens and entrepreneurs are   trying to find smarter ways to use this precious resource.  Growth is a big part of the economy, but Phoenix can't grow without water.

One of the most ingenious things we saw concerns pools.  In Phoenix, pools are almost as plentiful as cacti.  How else would you survive temperatures that top 100 degrees?  But pools take a lot of water...  some 16-thousand gallons on average. That water is hard, filled with minerals, and only becomes "harder" as it evaporates, leaving the minerals behind that can aggravate your skin, hair and ruin the filters and machinery needed to keep pools clean. To change the water, homeowners would have to use some 32-thousand gallons. So what's a pool owner, who doesn't want to waste water to do?

There's a company that can change the water without wasting a drop. Calsaway patented a process that does just that. Watch how it works. It is truly a fascinating process. We will also show you how one developer in Phoenix is conserving water with style. And we will answer those questions I raised at the start. I think the answers will surprise you.

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Pool Cues

The words hard and precious collide when talking water in the Phoenix metropolitan area.

In the land of some 300,000 swimming pools, balancing the need to drain pools to ward off the damages of calcium buildup with the need to be water wise during the current 12-plus year drought can be a tricky proposition.

It's one tackled head-on by Calsaway Pool Services Inc., a young company based in Tempe that's already getting quite a bit of media buzz, including a spot on the America Goes Green series for NBC's Nightly News.

The Calsaway partners – Ken Scheer, David Morgan and Jon Grobe - - have devised a process that chemically extracts calcium carbonate from the hard Arizona water so it sinks and collects at the bottom of the pool and then can be vacuumed and filtered out.

The process, which brings water to an acceptable parts-per-million level, takes two to three hours compared to the several days it takes to drain, treat and refill a pool. Scheer figures his company saves about 3.2 million gallons of water in a five-months period.

Scheer says one of his biggest fears is that Arizona will run out of water. So, a business that combines livelihood with environmental caring is right up his alley.

“I believe in what we do – I just didn't realize it would catch on so quickly,” Scheer says.

The company recently added a $150,000 second truck, Scheer says, with an eye to having 22 in five years.

It hasn't hurt that Calsaway launched in the year when Live Earth concerts were given across the globe in a 24-hour period to raise awareness about global warming and some airlines started offering carbon offsets. Green is the thing these days.

Nightly News literally was searching the Internet for products to highlight on its series when it discovered Calsaway, Scheer says he was told.

Such exposure “is great for our company it's great for our state to have others see that we know water is precious and we care about conservation,” he says.

Now couldn't be a better time to use his service, Scheer says, because it's the time of year people start thinking about draining their pools. While his process (the cost of which starts at $500) can be used year round, pools can't be drained when the temperature rises above 85 degrees because the surface will crack and have to be resurfaced (much more expensive, if you've ever had to do it). Scheer is also hoping conservation-minded pool owners will consider the Calsaway water-saving option.

Scheer enjoys his work, saying “I love business. It's exciting and its much more fun to work countless hours yourself than others,” and his advice to others is to “have passion, be aggressive and be patient.”

This Arizonian's passion may end up as a (water and money) saving grace for all the rest who love to escape to their personal oasis.

Green Machines

World leaders, movie stars and philanthropists – all are featured regularly on nation news programs. But a pool cleaner?

Ken Scheer, vice president of Calsaway Pool Services Inc., broke the mold Sept. 27 when he appeared on NBC Nightly News with anchor Brian Williams.

During his segment, Scheer presented the Scottsdale, Ariz. Based company's environmentally friendly method of cleaning pools. It uses a customized filtration process to extract hard minerals and harmful biological matter without draining the water.

“The interest in our product is in direct correlation to the renewed interest in the enviroment,” said Scheer, whose company has attracted a steady stream of media attention following its launch earlier this year.

Whatever the reason, Scheer relishes the exposure. “It felt great,” he said of the broadcast. “When it's your company getting national attention, and it can be named in the same sentence as Brian Williams, it's very exciting. Everyone [from the show] was so excited about what we're doing.”

The company's mobile cleaning process uses chemicals that attach to minerals and other harmful matter in water. The weighted minerals then fall to the pool floor, and Calsaway's truck-mounted filtration system removes them and cycles the water back into the pool.

Calsaway's process requires pools to be fully drained every 10 to 12 years instead of the usual two to three, Scheer said. Company officials expect to save the Phoenix area, which is home to some 500,000 pools, nearly 340 million gallons of water over the next three years.

Already this year, Calsaway has salvaged more than 3.2 million gallons. Scheer plans to expand into similarly arid California and Nevada.

Having recently secured a second service truck, the firm soon may double its customer base, Scheer added. In fact, he envisions Calsaway maintaining a fleet of 20 trucks, each emblazoned with the company name and logo, within the next five years.

Boosted by Scheer's recent TV appearance, Calsaway is rolling out an aggressive marketing campaign. In the works is an appearance at the Maricopa Country Home and Garden Show; online initiatives and a radio contest.

Entrepreneur Spotlight

Recognizing that hard water is the primary problem affecting the water quality in Arizona pools, Ken Scheer and the folks at Calsaway developed a cleaning process to extract harmful minerals and other undesirable matter. A high-capacity mobile filtration system is used to separate and physically remove hard elements from the water, and then cycles the clean water back into the pool.

Calsaway's process requires pools to be fully drained every 10-12 years, as compared to 2-4 years for conventional pool cleaning systems. Scheer estimates that the company has salvaged more than 3.2 million gallons of water this year alone. “The interest in our products is in direct correlation to the renewed interest in the environment,” Scheer said.

Recent media attention has the whole company buzzing with excitement and expansion plans. “When its your company getting national attention...it's very exciting.” Scheer said of a recent appearance on NBC's Nightline. Scheer envisions a 20-truck fleet and expansion into California and Nevada within the next five years.

Scottsdale pool company's 'green' technology goes prime time

Scottsdale-based pool cleaning company Calsaway Pool Services Inc. will be featured on NBC Nightly News Sept. 27 for its environmentally friendly technology used to clean swimming pools.

The feature will air during the 5:30 p.m. time slot and will be hosted by NBC anchor and Managing Editor Brian Williams.

Calsaway burst onto the local scene in January, when it began offering its mobile pool cleaning service to the Valley. It uses a custom-engineered filtration process that removes hard minerals and kills bacteria, algae and insect larvae from pools without draining the water.

Since March, the company has been featured on nearly every local television station and newspaper, as well as some local magazines, said Ken Scheer, Calsaway vice president.

But hitting the national scene is very unexpected, he said.

"Nothing beyond my wildest dreams could be bigger than what's happening on Thursday night," he said. "We couldn't be happier right now."

The Calsaway process uses chemicals that bond with minerals and biological matter in water. The minerals become heavy and fall to the bottom of the pool. Using Calsaway's truck-mounted filter, the minerals are removed while the water is poured back into the pool.

Most residential pools hold about 15,000 gallons, which takes more than a day to empty and another day to refill. Additionally, typical acid-wash cleaning methods take six hours to complete. Pool builders suggest cleaning pools every two years.

With more than half a million pools in the Phoenix area, Calsaway officials estimate the company could save the region more than 338 million gallons of water over the next three years. The company just invested in its second service truck, opening the doors to twice as many customers as before, Scheer said.

So far this year, the company has saved more than 3.2 million gallons, Scheer said. But the work is just beginning because the winter months usually are the most popular season for pool cleaning.

Scheer said he has been in contact with numerous local and state politicians to discuss a potential tax credit for using environmentally safe pool cleaning services.

"The largest way to save water for home owners is to not drain their pools," he said. "People are looking at this for both cost savings and environmental protection."

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Clearly 'green':
Company creates alternative for pool cleaning

A local pool-cleaning service is using its new environmentally friendly technology to combat the state's problem with green swimming pools. Scottsdale-based Calsaway Pool Services Inc. recently launched a custom-engineered filtration process that removes hard minerals, bacteria, algae and insect larvae from pools without draining the water. Most residential pools hold about 15,000 gallons, which takes more than a day to empty and another day to refill. Additionally, typical acid-wash cleaning methods take six hours to complete. "We conserve 100 percent of the water," said Calsaway founder David Morgan. "After it's done, you use less chlorine for general upkeep."

The process uses chemicals that bond with minerals and biological matter in water. The minerals become heavy and fall to the bottom of the pool. Using Calsaway's truck-mounted filter, the minerals are removed while the water is poured back into the pool. Using his own pool as a test subject, Morgan took out nearly 600 pounds of mineral deposits. The process takes about two hours, depending on pool size. "It's not just the water savings," said Ken Scheer, Calsaway vice president. "It's also the time savings." Calsaway's filtration process starts at $500, and Scheer recommends that it be done once every two to three years instead of acid-washing.

With more than 2 million pools in the Valley, Morgan estimates the company could save the region more than 338 million gallons of water during the next three years. And with mosquito-spread West Nile virus the target of county and state health officials, the new, cheaper process quickly is attracting fans. Arizona Corporation Commissioner Kris Mayes applauded the company's efforts. Mayes and her fellow commissioners have placed water conservation as a top priority. "I think this is a very interesting development," she said. "I certainly hope this concept takes off. We are increasingly interested in conserving water at the municipal and utility level, and this works to promote that."

Morgan founded the company in June 2005 and started taking on customers one year later. Laurie Hill of Cave Creek was one of the first. "This was perfect for us because we didn't have to empty the pool," she said. "It was amazing to see the results."

Although Calsaway officials are most interested in saving water, another byproduct of the service is that the water they put back in the pool is easier to clean in the future. Arizona's water, most of which comes from the Colorado River, tends to be filled with hard minerals derived from the Grand Canyon. Those minerals already are in the water when pools are filled. Taking them out reduces the amount of chemicals needed for pool upkeep because the water is more pure and less dense.

"You spend all this time draining the water, acid-washing the pool, then filling it with 'fresh water,'" Morgan said. "By the time you're done, you've already filled it with water that is 10 times higher than the (optimal mineral level for water)." There are similar pool-cleaning products available that claim to replace acid-washing, said Andy Blake, Shasta Pool and Spas manufacturing operations officer. Those products, he said, have very strong chemicals that could be irritable to swimmers after use. Shasta, one of the state's largest pool and spa builders, also provides some acid-washing services to customers.

Blake said Calsaway's service is intriguing, especially because of the water savings. "Anytime you can save and conserve water, it's a very good thing," he said. "There is no question about it." Morgan and Scheer said they expect business to take off quickly. Because of this, they plan to focus on residential pools for the next year. If all goes as planned, they will add four additional filtration trucks in the near future.

Once they've expanded, the company expects to tackle larger private and municipal pools, such as hotel, school and community swimming pools.

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New Technology Saves Water and Reduces Calcium in Pools

Calsaway Offers a Water Treatment Method That Purifies Water Without Draining Pools

(Phoenix, AZ) - Calsaway Pool Services Inc., introduces a patent pending  mechanical and chemical process that will remove excess hard chemicals, such as calcium and magnesium, as well as purify pool water without draining pools.  In addition to balancing the water chemicals to the correct levels, the process will also destroy all forms of bacteria, algae other contaminants, while being harmless to the pool.  The process generates hundreds of pounds of solid chemical waste materials in a typical 20,000 gallon pool in less than two hours of processing.  The newly treated water is softer, easier to maintain using fewer chemicals, and most importantly, conserves our precious water supply.

“The Calsaway solution was developed to provide an alternative way to keep pool water chemicals at the optimum level without draining a pool.  With water conservation being so important to our local water supply, we decided to develop a more ecologically-positive way to reduce water waste and keep local pools well maintained,” said David Morgan, Chemist and founder of Calsaway.  “Our customers comment as to how soft their pool water feels after the Calsaway process has been completed.  And, immediately following the process, the pool is ready for use.  In addition, the solid waste can be recycled and donated to several industries that utilize this waste material.”

Most pools have more hard minerals than is desirable from the time they are initially filled, as the Valley’s water supply has three or more times the hard minerals than is optimum for pool water chemistry.  These high chemical levels will immediately begin to build up, sometimes leading to cloudy water but ultimately will form scale on all surfaces of the pool.  The traditional treatment is to drain the pool, which is time consuming, costly and bad for the environment.  With a typical 20,000 pool, this means a loss of 20,000 gallons to empty the pool, followed by another 20,000 to refill the pool.

Calsaway is a cost effective treatment that is a new and innovative way to keep our water supplies intact, while keeping our pools properly maintained for our families. For more information or to see before and after photos of a pool that’s been treated by Calsaway, please visit www.calsaway.com.

ABOUT CALSAWAY:
Calsaway Pool Services Inc., offers a water purification system that will reduce water usage for local swimming pool users.  The process takes out all the undesirable chemicals found in pool water that can cause cloudy water and scaling, without draining a pool.

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Tempe business keeps pools clean with no draining

David Morgan was surprised to discover three years ago that he couldn't figure out how to balance the chemicals in his pool.

He has two chemistry degrees from Purdue University.

The Scottsdale resident and water chemistry expert has managed a wastewater treatment plant that handled about 65 million gallons a day in Chicago. .

But his experience with his first Arizona backyard pool left him baffled.

As he struggled to keep enough chlorine in the pool to fight off algae, he learned that the total dissolved solids were at 2,500 parts per million, way over the 150 to 250 that is recommended. As a result, the chemicals couldn't work, no matter how much chlorine he added.

That is a common problem because the Phoenix area has hard water and eventually chemicals added to a pool leave solid materials behind.

The only solution was to drain the pool and fill it up again, something most Valley pool owners find themselves doing every few years.

He decided that was unacceptable, and went in search of a better solution.

He ended up not only solving his problem but also creating a Tempe company that he says has already saved the Phoenix area more than 1.6 million gallons of water.

"It was just determination and stubbornness," Morgan, 39, said. "I was not going to drain my pool. The pool was 20,000 gallons give or take."

So he talked over the problem with chemistry professors at Purdue University as well as his father, also a water chemist. They suggested adding other chemicals to soften the water.

When he added the chemicals, the pool turned milky white. Then after a few hours, the solids settled out and he was left with about a foot of calcium carbonate and other solids on the bottom of the pool.

"There was so much stuff and I had a big cartridge filter on it. But it was plugging every 45 seconds. I had to pull it out, scrape the goop off. It took me a week, he said. "I didn't realize what 2,500 parts per million meant in a 20,000 gallon pool. It was over 1,000 pounds of material I pulled out."

To solve that problem, Morgan created a special filter and truck and trailer to handle all the solids. And then with Ken Scheer, he formed the Tempe-based Calsaway Pool Services Inc.

The company does not disclose what they add to the water to make the solids settle out, but Morgan said the process can leave a pool clear in hours.

"When I finally did remove all the solids, I remember that evening, standing on the diving board," Morgan said. "The water was so clear it did not look like I had water in the pool. It was amazing."

It costs $500 or more for the service, depending on size of the pool and condition of the water. The material is hauled away and recycled. Calcium carbonate, for example, is used as a filler for rubberized asphalt.

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Backyard retreats suck water, energy

Drought or not, there is one big water chugger that we apparently won't give up: the backyard swimming pool.

The Phoenix area has about 300,000 swimming pools. About 20,000 new ones are built each year.

And every one is environmentally unfriendly.

Because of evaporation losses, a pool in the desert has to be virtually refilled every year, wasting enough potable water to supply an average household for a month or more. Filter pumps can be the second-biggest electricity user in a home, next to air-conditioners. Pools rely on chemicals to stay algae-free.

Although water conservationists and conservation laws have dealt with everything from toilets to misters, swimming pools have generally been given a free ride.

Anyone who lives through the summer in the desert knows why.

"Truthfully, people say they can't live in Arizona without a pool," said Paul Charman, senior conservation planner with the Arizona Department of Water Resources.

But as the drought continues, officials have begun to pay more attention to these backyard pleasures.

Regulating the refuge

Phoenix, Tucson and Pima County are among the governmental units that have enacted laws in recent years to forbid the filling of new pools in the case of a Stage 3 or 4 drought. Stage 4 is the most severe. The state is now at Stage 1.

Pima County last year adopted a law that requires new pools to include covers, which are uniformly recommended as the best way to reduce evaporation.

For the past five years, Cochise County has required pool covers for all pools, new and existing, when they are not in use. That does not include incorporated areas such as Sierra Vista.

Payson four years ago banned construction of new outdoor pools in homes and businesses to conserve water. But because the weather is cooler there than in the Phoenix area, demand for pools is much lower.

State officials said pools may be something they look at when developing the new water management plan in 2010.

"We really have not looked very carefully at swimming pools," said Mark Frank, director of the Water Resources Department's Phoenix Active Management Area.

We love pools

One reason pools have escaped serious attention as water wasters in Arizona is that they offer such a wonderful antidote to living in a desert.

About a third of homes in the Phoenix area have pools, and about a fifth of Tucson homes have pools, according to the University of Arizona.

Pools raise home values and contribute to quality of life, experts say.

The more expensive the home, the more likely it is to have a pool and, increasingly, a waterfall or fountains.

"One of the things that makes Phoenix attractive is that the typical family, not just the rich family, has the opportunity to have a swimming pool in the backyard and make use of it basically on a year-round basis," said home building analyst RL Brown, publisher of the Phoenix Housing Market Letter.

Katherine Christensen, an Ahwatukee Foothills events planner and her husband, Boyd, a pilot, have had backyard pools for about 25 years. She uses it for exercise and evening solace. When their two children were young, it was a place to play as a family.

"I love the functionality of it and the fact that you can enjoy it year-round," she said.

Although she considers herself to be environmentally conscious, she admits that she hasn't considered the impact of the family pool.

"I am ecologically friendly in other areas but not as much as it relates to the pool," she said.

Shirley Schmitz, 79, of Scottsdale, said her pool is invaluable for daily aqua jogging. But she balked recently when she was told the 18,000-gallon pool needed to be drained and refilled to correct the chemistry.

"I have known for years that our water source is very limited and very precious," she said. "I have a great fear of one of these days turning on the faucet and getting nothing."

So she hired a new Tempe pool company that has developed a way to correct a pool's chemistry without draining it. Calsaway Pool Services Inc. says it has created a way to use chemicals to soften pool water and pull pounds of solids out of it so the pool doesn't have to be drained and refilled.

Water Losses

Swimming pools lose water in a variety of ways: evaporation, backwashing (a cleaning process needed for some types of filters), periodic draining and refilling to keep the dissolved solids down and even the kids' cannonballs.

A typical uncovered swimming pool loses 4 to 6 feet of water a year to evaporation in the Tucson and Phoenix areas, according to the Water Resources Department.

Although a pool cover is believed to be the most effective solution, it isn't always practical.

Gary Woodard, a water conservation expert at the University of Arizona, said the university surveyed pool owners about 10 years ago and learned that they are most likely to use covers in the fall and spring but not during the summer when they are needed the most to reduce evaporation.

Even though Pima County requires new pools to come with covers, Kathleen Chavez, a Pima County water policy manager, admits that people can't be forced to use them.

"We really didn't want to get into the business of looking over fences to see if people are or are not using pool covers," she said.

Other environmental mitigation options include planting low-water-use plants around the pool to block the wind and help cut down on evaporation and maintaining the chemical balance to cut down on how often the pool must be drained and refilled.

"From a conservation standpoint, it's best not to have one (a pool)," Charman of the Water Resources Department said. "But if you can do all these things, at least you're trying to help."

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