ETHICS & the LOW BID CONTRACTOR I call these guys the lowballers. Understand who I’m calling a lowballer. It’s not a company that bids a few hundred dollars less than the next guy; it is the company that put a bid of $5,000 when all others are over $8,000. An ethical contractor has no chance against the lowballers. They are going to get the contract for a third of the going rate. From my own experience, there is just not that much profit in this business if you take the time to be safe, do the job properly and completely. In any other industry, a bid that is too low is dismissed. Municipal governments that are so damaged by “good old boy” politics and “brother-in-law” deals have a set policy, or even ordinances, that state the LOW BID MUST PREVAIL. This kind of thinking must be re-thought for some contracts. Unlike the purchase of materials, when dealing with HIGH RISK CONTRACTORS, factors other than price must be considered. Automatically taking the low bid when dealing with any high risk contractor is not a good policy. How much time is the project going to take? Is their low bid enough even to cover the minimal time to do the job? Do more than look at the dollars bid. Call each contractor and ask them to quote a daily rate for a dive team. Then ask them how long your job will take. You may learn that the lowest bidder has not allowed enough time to complete the job. Can they really do the job, pay their employees, cover fuel, hotel, and other expenses and still make a modest profit for the company on 1/3, or even ½, of what others bid? THE TRICK of the FOLDING YARD STICK & the VIDEO DOUBLE BACK. Over the years I have hired a lot of divers, and I have heard stories of how companies push ethics aside to go after the biggest check possible in the shortest amount of time. One company used a folding yard stick for years. They would break off the last part of the stick so when they took a video of the ruler sticking into the sediment it was always at least 9 inches. Another company was in a habit of cleaning half a tank and when it came time to perform the after video they just doubled back and filmed the clean part twice. Some companies tell their employees to clean the entire tank, and then offer bonuses if multiple tanks are cleaned in a single day. This sets up the divers up to be rewarded if they move fast, leaving before the tanks are really done, and go on to clean, or at least appear to clean, more tanks. Rewarding divers for speed is a doubled edged sword. On one side the crew definitely moves faster, but on the other, the utility is often left with a job half done. Unfortunately, old habits are hard to break. When these divers tried to take shortcuts like this with our company, they were shocked to learn that the after cleaning video was done by another person, and when sediment was still found in their tanks that were reported to be clean their employment was terminated. This problem is so wide spread that despite experienced workers having the expertise to properly do the job we have had much better results when we hire recruits and train them from scratch. I spoke about money well spent when you’re talking about peoples’ lives, which is not only about the divers having the time they need to be safe. The contracts I am referring to in this chapter are made to remove sediment form the floor of water storage tanks. Potable water goes directly to the public. If only part of the tank is cleaned, bacteria and other contaminants may continue to grow in the tank and threaten the health or even the lives of the customers on that water system (see Chapter four). Spending the money it takes to get the job done right is money well spent. An extremely low bid should raise suspicion. Check references, check safety records, investigate to find out what their daily rate is, and how much time they are really planning to be on your site. Do what many general contractors I know do, get more bids. Throw out the high bid, throw out the low bid, check safety records and references of the ones in the middle, and make a selection. ETHICS & SAFETY: Take a little time to make to sure the contractors you hire have good safety records. Search engines like Google have made checking a company’s safety record easier than ever before. I think safety and good ethics go hand in hand. Providing employees the time they need to perform their jobs safely and providing the proper equipment and training all cost money. Safety records and references are things that you can check to get an idea of the policies and customs of the company. Repeated or willful violations on safety issues may reflect a company that is more concerned about making a buck than doing what is right. A company’s safety record must be considered when hiring a HIGH RISK CONTRACTOR. There is more than one way to award a contract. There are two commonly used methods to determine who is awarded a contract. The low-bid method and the qualifications-based process. The low-bid method that is by far the most common method of selecting an inspection or diving contractor. Qualifications-based process is usually reserved for attorneys, engineers, and architects. When is the last time you ask your doctor for a bid on doing a little surgery? Architects and engineers for the most part avoid getting into a low bid competition. Professionals services are more likely to use a qualifications-based process that allows the buyer to choose a contractor based on the contractor’s qualifications, experience, and perhaps most importantly, reputation. When people are hired to climb water towers and crawl into confined spaces and work underwater, perhaps it is more ethical to choose the qualifications-based process. These jobs require highly trained, well equipped people to tame the high risks that are associated with climbing towers and working underneath 40 feet of water. These contractors are specialized and much closer to professional status than their blue collar counterparts who are awarded skilled trade or typical construction type contracts. If you need a street paved, a roof installed or a ditch dug, I can see the merit in seeking out the low bid contract. However, these can come with their own risks as well. Tower inspectors and commercial divers have more at risk when they go to work, and the water utility has an ethical obligation to use the qualifications-based process when dealing with this type of contract. With this method, the utility can choose a contractor based on the contractor’s qualifications, experience, reputation, and perhaps most importantly, with these types of contracts it allows you to evaluate the company’s safety records.

This is from Chapter Nine of my new Book-

Inspecting & Cleaning Potable Water Storage

available now at

www.xlibris.com/bookstore

Since 1997 Ron Perrin Water Technologies has offered underwater inspection and cleaning services to the water utility industry.  We have been a leader in potable water tank & tower inspection  We offer three different water tank & tower inspections. All these inspections provide digital photos of inspection points and problem areas along with an underwater DVD so you can see the interior roof and floor of your water storage tank. We take pride in offering you the most information for the least cost.  Our potable water dive team is available to clean sediment from the floor of your water storage tanks & other underwater services.  

Company Services:
Potable Water Tank Inspections available:
    Remotely operated underwater cameras
    Remotely controlled vehicle
    Potable Water Diver

Since 1997 Ron Perrin Water Technologies has served the water utility industry providing state of the art inspections with remote underwater cameras.  Our inspection reports are the best in the industry covering all STATE REQUIREMENTS for water tank & tower inspection and meeting all AWWA guidelines. 

We cover over 30 inspection points.  Our digital photography documents the condition of your tank, our narrated underwater video lets you see first hand what the inside roof walls and floor areas of the tank look like.

We offer the most choices for your inspection needs, 

* Diver inspection for the most detail

* ROV – Remotely controlled underwater vehicle

                  (specially designed for potable water use)

* Remote underwater video camera

                 (our most popular inspection, includes digital photos & narrated underwater DVD for the lowest cost).

* Basic inspection- no video no photos.  To meet state regulations for minimal cost.

Remotely controled vehicle

If there is a deep sediment build up we offer a underwater cleaning service.  Using certified divers and special equipment we are able to remove the sediment in the floor of the tank with minimal water loss and no disruption in service. Unlike other diving companies who make their money offshore and work in the water utility industry part time, serving water utilities is 100% of our business!   

Our gear is purchase for and only used in potable water. 

Diving in potable water is an art.  Unlike offshore divers, potable water divers must be able to enter the water system without disrupting sediment on the floor of the tanks,   Our divers are sealed in a dry suit so no part of their body touches the water.  They are then washed down with a 200ppm chlorine solution to meet AWWA and state standards.  The diver is then free to go into the confined space inside the water storage tanks, underwater the diver can do a more detailed inspection or clean the loose sediment from the floor of the tank.  See www.tankdiver.us for more details. 

We have serviced over 500 customers that include municipal governments, utility districts towns, communities, prisons, military bases and universities.  Our customers all have a few things in common they want the most information for the lowest cost with no disruption in there water system. 

Visit  www.ronperrin.com

Call toll free today for your no obligation proposal.  1-888-481-1768

Warranty Inspections:

Our inspections are a valuable tool when used while your tank is still in warranty after construction or after a painting contract has been completed.  Allowing a painting contractor to perform his own warranty inspection is a little like hiring a fox to guard a hen house.  If he just did the painting it is in his best interest to tell you everything is ok.

Good or bad our report will show you what is going on inside and outside your tank, we cover it top to bottom.

Painting contractors offering low cost inspections are not much better.  It is their job to find work so they cam make tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars contracting a paint job on your water tank or tower.

We do not paint tanks.  Ron Perrin Water Technologies inspects and cleans water storage tanks & towers.   We are the perfect company for a third party inspection.  Have you been told your paint is too thin?  We can take DFT (Dry Film Thickness Test) reading on your tank from top to bottom, upon request.  Our photos show you what is going on.  If you have peeling paint or surface corrosion a photograph is truly worth a thousand words.

-

If you do not have a problem you may be able to go several more years before investing in an expensive painting contract.  Either way the information provided in our annual inspection reports is worth its weight in gold and meets all requirements for your

TCEQ required annual inspection.

Call today our inspection reports start at only a few hundred dollars.

We include:

A detailed written report including digital photography

Narrated underwater video documenting interior conditions and sediment levels

Dry Film Thickness Testing  (DFT) in nine locations unless more are requested.

One Million Dollars general liability policy, workers comp., and vehicle insurance.

Visit www.ronperrin.com 

Call toll free today for your no obligation proposal.  1-888-481-1768

Safe municipal drinking water has been with us so long that it is easy to forget that even today the World Health Organization estimates that over a billion people do not have access to clean drinking water.  Administrators who manage water systems know that the luxury of having safe drinkable water comes at a cost.  It is a constant struggle to maintain the aging infrastructure and keep up with the most effective water treatment options.  

Although water treatment chemicals and treatment methods have taken great leaps forward over the years there is still a basic element of sanitation in our water systems that is often overlooked.  Simple sediment build up in the bottom of a water storage tank can undermine the best plans and most advanced chemical treatments. In a municipal water system sediment builds up over time.  With 10 years of inspecting water storage tanks behind us and thousands of tanks inspected, we have found that three inches of sediment or less is common across Texas, but we have found some tanks with many times that and even multiple feet of sediment.

Keeping your water storage tanks clean may be one of the most overlooked maintenance procedures in the drinking water industry.  Out of sight and out of mind, sediment in the bottom of your water storage tanks is never seen and rarely thought of.   The sediment that builds up in almost all potable water tanks can be a habitat for bacteria and other contaminates like cryptosporidium that devastated the city of Milwaukee in the spring of 1993.

Read the full article here:

http://tankdiver.wordpress.com/importance-of-clean-water-storage-tanks/

See a video of a tank being cleaned by a dive crew here:

http://current.com/items/89131466_what_is_it

Ok for years I have been saying it wrong  POT (like a pot on the stove) able.  Now, I have been corrected

My company Inspects cleans and Dives in poh-tuh-buhl Water Tanks. 

it is Pronounced [poh-tuh-buhl] [Origin: 1565–75; < LL pōtābilis drinkable, equiv. to L pōtā(re) to drink + -bilis -ble]  Old French, from Late Latin pōtābilis, from Latin pōtāre, to drink, from pōtus, a drink  Reference: Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) – Cite This Source – po·ta·ble   Audio Help   /ˈpoʊtəbəl/ Pronunciation Key – Show Spelled Pronunciation[poh-tuh-buhl] Pronunciation Key – Show IPA Pronunciation

Ok, Ive been saying POT-ABLE for so long I think I will just change to DRINKING WATER.  My Company

Inspects drinking water tanks with a remote camera,  we can identify problems with interior coatings, corrosion and sediment.  Sediment in patable water storage systems is a real problem.  Sediment can be a habitat for bacteria to grow.  Bacteria in a citys drinking water is not usually a good thing.  The more sediment in a water storage tank or tower, the more chance there is for bacteria to come into the system, find a place to get a foothold and grow into a problem. 

When our inspections find deep sediment in a water storage facility we offer to clean it out using commercial divers.  Divers enter the water system wearing a dry suit enclosed in their own enviroment, they are washed down with a chlorine solution meeting AWWA standards.  The diver can then remove the sediment without wasting several hundred thousands or even millions of gallons of water.  This cleaning process also get the tank cleaner than the traditional method of taking the facility out of service.  Everything that is loose on the floor is removed.  If the tank is drained the loose semi liquid sediment often compresses into a hard clay like substance making cleaning much more dificult and not nearly as effective.  See more about our Inspection and tank cleaning service at www.ronperrin.com .

We are now happy to Inspect and clean Drinking Water Tanks.

Also See our other blog At www.tankdiver.us .

Photo: Sediment being removed from Potable Water Storage Tank.

        The American Water Works Association recommends that tanks be cleaned at least every three years.  Recent focus on pharmaceuticals in water systems have made more people than ever aware of contaminates that may be lurking in their water supply.   Although pharmaceuticals in drinking water may be in the news the real threat is random bacteria and cryptosporidium spores.

The Threat of Bacteria-

Countless kinds of bacteria can make their way into a public water supply.  Chlorine and other treatment methods are our first line of defense.  When potable water storage tanks are clean small amounts of bacteria that survive the treatment process cycle through the system undetected and harmless due to the small quantity.  Sediment in the tank can capture and harbor these small amounts of bacteria.  The bacteria can start to grow hidden from chlorine deep in the sediment.  Chlorine can even be overwhelmed and depleted if a nitrate eating bacteria is collected.   As the bacteria continues to grow in the sediment month after month and year after year the threat to public health grows.       

  The Threat of Cryptosporidium

The threat of cryptosporidium outbreak is even greater with sediment in the floor of a water storage tank.   Again Sediment can harbor bacteria, cryptosporidium and other contaminates.  The best defense to insure a protozoa like  cryptosporidium will not take up residence in your water storage system may be to keep the tanks free of sediment.  In the Spring of 1993 over 100 people died as a result of a cryptosporidium outbreak that was directly associated with the Howard Avenue Water Purification Plant.  This was the largest water born disease ever documented in United States history.  It is estimated that over 400,000 people became ill with diarrhea.  

Due to the fact that cryptosporidium is a protozoa parasite with a thick outer shell it is highly resistant to disinfectants such as chlorine.  The best defense to ensure it will not inhabit your water system may be to make sure your water tanks remain sediment free.  This will remove and habitat that small amounts bacteria or protozoa could lodge and grow in, Preventing possible public health problem in the most simple way.  Keeping water storage tanks clean.    

Yearly inspections of your potable water storage tanks is the best way to keep up with the sediment levels in your tank.   A good inspection of a potable water storage tank should allow the customer (the water Utility) to see the floor of the facility.  Using a Remote video camera or diver held camera the inspection often reveals 2 to 3 inches of sediment and sometimes much more. Keeping your water storage tanks clean may be one of the most overlooked maintenance procedures in the water industry.  Out of sight and out of mind, sediment in the bottom of your water storage tanks is never seen and rarely thought of.   The sediment that builds up in almost all potable water tanks can be a habitat for bacteria and other contaminates.  Bacteria can get a foothold in the sediment  out of reach of the chlorine entering the tank. Hidden in the sediment the bacteria can then grow and flourish creating a health risk. A nitrate eating bacteria can even deplete your chlorine levels leaving you at even greater risk. Removing the sediment and keeping your tank clean is the best way to maintain a healthy water system.  Divers wearing a dry suit are sealed in their own environment, they are then washed down with a chlorine solution meeting all State and AWWA requirements.  The divers may then enter the water system and vacuum out the sediment.  Everything that is loose is removed, allowing the chlorine or other treatment chemicals entering the tank to effectively do its job. This is a much more effective method than the traditional buckets and shovels.  We are able to remove ALL loose sediment without scraping shovels on painted surfaces.  In addition thereIs minimum water loss with our method, you do not need to DRAIN YOUR TANKS.         Call today to learn how we can save you water, time and money while helping you maintain the healthiest water system possible.

1-888-481-1768        Visit  www.ronperrin.com  

Divers prepare to go into a potable water storage tank by washing down with a 200ppm chlorine solution.  On this date 3 to 6 inches of sediment was removed form a 300,000 gallon tank.

The certified diver is wearing a dry suit and full face mask.  The dry suit ensures that no part of the divers body touches the water.  All of the equipment is purchased for and only used in potable water.  Many off-shore companies have a hard time sticking to this rule when they only work in potable water tanks occasionally.  RON PERRIN WATER TECHNOLOGIES divers work in potable water every week.  Potable water inspection and tank cleaning is #1 job. 

Having your water tanks inspected and cleaned when needed is the best way to insure the health of your system.

Call us today toll free at 1-888-481-1768.  Or fax a list of your tanks and sizes to 817-246-1740 for a QUICK QUOTE!