fresh.

Phase two of our water system overhaul and installation is now complete. Phase one was running the water lines to three of our buildings from the main lodge; this was completed last October. Phase two has been the installation of the new water filtration system in the main lodge and connecting it to the newly run lines. With the leadership of Roan Elford this portion of the project has now been completed as well (well! ... water joke!). I'll walk you through the new system;

Stage 1: We have two wells, the newest of the wells (with the greatest capacity) has a significant sodium content. The older of the two wells is only affected by sodium after it reaches a certain level of consumption. The new system has been connected to the larger of the wells, and the smaller (older) well will be used strictly as a redundant well in case of emergency. The water enters the building to the left of the larger pressure tank and is at that point separated into water that will be treated and water that will not be treated. The potable (treated) water will service the kitchen faucets, the coffee machine, the water fountain and the kitchens of the outer cabins; while the untreated water will service everything else (toilets, showers etc.)

Stage 2: The water to be treated will then enter this softening unit, known as an air-induction system. This system will remove iron and sulfur prior to the water entering the next stage.

Stage 3: The water will then enter this unit, known as reverse osmosis treatment. It travels through a 5 micron sediment filter and two carbon block filters prior to entering the "RO" chamber (the horizontal stainless cylinder at the back).

Stage 4: The water leaves the reverse osmosis unit and is deposited into this 100 gallon reservoir. At a later time I will be installing an air injection system in this reservoir to keep the water fresh.

Stage 5: The water will only leave the reservoir when it is called for from one of the destination points. The pump at the lower section of this image is an on demand pump that will transfer water from the holding tank as needed. It will distribute the treated water to the outer cabins through the shut-offs as required.

Stage 6: The water that will be remaining in the main building will then travel through this ultraviolet light cylinder and will kill any remaining bacteria that may have survived the treatment process. It is our hope, in the future, to install UV units like this one in the outer cabins as well.

We are very grateful to Roan for taking the time to come and do this installation for us (I helped as best I could... pipes and wires... I only got one shock!); and to the Minute Man program for making this a reality for Arrowhead!

wash.

Today was a big day of shopping once again. Roan and I hit every possible supplier of water and filtration equipment as we sought to fill our order for needed fixtures, connectors and supplies. Not one of the suppliers had a complete availability of the things we needed. But after a full day - we are now ready to get started on the install.

As you may remember we had a brand new well installed in November of 2009. It has good volume (11-12 GPM) but unfortunately the well connects with a salt vein and has turned out to be a significant source of sodium; as such, we need to purify the water to make it potable. So, this week we will be installing an air induction system which will remove iron and sulphur. This system will be followed by a reverse osmosis system, which will remove the salt from the water and make it drinkable. These two systems will be followed by a UV light which will kill any bacteria.

We have our work cut out for us (er'... Roan has his work cut out... I have no idea what's going on with all these pipes... but I have a good teacher...). We will have some excellent potable water in our kitchen, office and two of our cabins by weeks end! Although there are yet to be plumbing fixtures in the cabins, that will be a project for down the road!

purify.

This week Liz and I have a special guest with us. Roan Elford is chief financial officer of NCEM, and has come to stay with us for the week as he installs a brand new water system at Arrowhead. He has had extensive experience with water system installation and maintenance at KBI, NCEM's Bible Institute in Lac La Biche, Alberta.

Throughout this week I'll give Roan as much of a hand as I am able as he installs a reverse osmosis and air induction system in our main lodge. This will service our lodge, office and two of our large cabins with potable water while clearing up our salt problems in both wells. I'll try to post pictures here each day to show our progress.

Today we were in Fredericton to pick up the system and all of our necessary supplies. Due to a misunderstanding with one of our suppliers we will need to scoot back into town in the morning for the rest of the load before we can begin.

Today was a plotting and planning day.

We cleaned up the space in our utility room today in preparation for the new equipment.