25 May 2018
news Permalink

GDPR Compliance

May 25, 2018

GDPR stands for General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and is a European Union (EU) law taking effect on May 25, 2018. The goal of GDPR is to give all EU citizens control over their personal data and change the data privacy approach of organizations across the world.

The main objective of GDPR is to protect user’s personal data (names, email, IP address, health records etc) and hold businesses to a higher standard when it comes to how they collect, store and use these data.

This post is to notify every visitor of our website that we have updated our website to comply with this law. Even though it is a law from the EU, it really affects businesses around the world. It is to make your personal data more protected. We at Environmental Cistern Cleaning are taking your data very seriously and decided to make this compliance a priority. Rest assured that your data is safe with us.

27 Apr 2018
health, water quality Permalink

Chlorine is bad for you

April 27, 2018

Do you like the smell of chlorine? Me neither. But its not only the aweful smell, its what it can do to your health when exposed to it .

Now you may say: ok, I don’t drink water that has chlorine in it – I buy costly bottled water – so I am fine.

But how about your daily cleansing? I am sure you don’t haul water home for that shower or even bath… Well it looks like the water you use for your daily rituals can wrack even worse havoc!

But don’t listen to me, get the full story on why chlorine is so bad for you & what you can do about it here.

12 Apr 2018
health, water quality Permalink

Pollen Alert…!

April 12, 2018

Pollen – the Bees just love it, but do we love it too?

Yes, it’s that time of year again. It may be great for the bees, but not for your water cistern. There is lot’s of pollen happening – see pollen report of today – and if you are collecting rainwater from a roof, you should disconnect your downspouts away from the cistern intake.

A good indicator that pollen is coming down is when you see that yellow powder on your car’s windshield. Nobody knows how long it will last, but it is usually a few days when it is worst & it can come back a few times during the spring.

If there is a strange smell coming from your cistern, you have pollen in your cistern. In that case, you may want to call us and schedule a cistern cleaning to get that stuff out.

Find more indicators that your cistern needs cleaning in our write-up: Tell-Tale Signs Your Cistern Needs Cleaning & the Health Consequences of not doing so! To print out that handy flyer click Tell-Tale-Signs.

23 Feb 2018
news, sustainability, water scarcity Permalink

64% of bottled water comes from a tap

February 23, 2018

image of bottled water

Image courtesy of Steven Depolo – Article Courtesy of Sami Grover, for Treehugger

It also costs 2,000 times more.

As Glastonbury Festival bans plastic bottles, and as communities around the world promote refill stations and water fountains over bottled water, it’s worth revisiting an oft-forgotten fact about bottled water:

Most of it is literally the same water we get out of our faucets anyway.

To read full article, please go to this link.

 

29 Jan 2018
health, news Permalink

Valentine’s 2018 Special

January 29, 2018

Would you like to treat your Valentine twice this year? With a clean water storage and the champagne and chocolates to go with it?

Image of champagne and chocolates

Your special Valentine’s gift for you and your partner will be reserved when booking a cistern cleaning via our online ordering page between now and February 7th 2018 – please enter “Valentine’s 2018” as promo code at the bottom of the form – and will be delivered to you on the day of your cleaning. Cleanings must be completed by February 14th 2018.

With the rainy season upon us, it is worth remembering that now is an ideal time to make sure your cistern is clean and ready for the precipitation… and wouldn’t it be a shame to put new water into a dirty cistern…

As a sidebar you may wish to visit our new website https://cleancistern.com/tell-tale-signs and refer to additional information that could be useful to know.

Looking forward to delivering your Valentine’s day gift, but you must book between now and February 7th…

Sincerely,

Geoffrey & Sabina Montgomery-Swan

 

28 Nov 2017
disinfection, health, water quality Permalink
60-hydrogen-peroxide-uses-and-benefits
60-hydrogen-peroxide-uses-and-benefits

Hydrogen Peroxide – many amazing uses and benefits

November 28, 2017
60 hydrogen peroxide uses and benefits

60-hydrogen-peroxide-uses-and-benefits

Joan Clark, editor at Tipsbulletin, emailed me and asked if I would add a link on our website to her recent post about hydrogen peroxide:

60+ Amazing Hydrogen Peroxide Uses and Benefits

Of course – it’s a pleasure! In fact we appreciate every effort in getting the good word out about hydrogen peroxide. I wish people would stop using chlorine and bleach. Chlorine is carcinogenic and only makes matters worse. It is banned in Europe…

Joan mentions Water Sanitation under No. 59 in her article as an excellent way to treat well water. But it is not only good to treat well water. Water that is being collected on roofs, most commonly known as rainwater harvesting, also benefits tremendously if treated with H2O2.

Hydrogen Peroxide for disinfection

Environmental Cistern Cleaning Inc. uses Hydrogen Peroxide to disinfect cisterns – another point that Joan could add to her impressive list. Those cistern may contain well water, water collected via rainwater harvesting or even delivered water. Dirt gets everywhere, even into the trucks that deliver the water (that we happen to clean as well).

What not to do with H2O2

One piece of advise when using HP: be extremely careful – especially when using higher grades like the food-grade  peroxide. You need to wear eye protection and gloves. If you happen to get it on your skin, it can burn a whole in it!

27 Jun 2017
news, sustainability, water scarcity Permalink

Environmental Cistern Cleaning Makes Every Drop Count

June 27, 2017

When harvesting rain, we like to watch how the rain slowly fills a catchment system. People on municipal water systems may think we are a bit extreme, but we like to think we are just frugal with water. Like the good old saying:”A picture is worth a thousand words…”Environmental Cistern Cleaning makes every drop count

Please read our full advertorial which appeared in the Gabriola Sounder on Tuesday, June 27, 2017 for the July Long Weekend Edition.

Every drop does count

Every drop does count…

 

03 Nov 2016
news, water scarcity Permalink

CANARM RAINWATER HARVESTING WORKSHOP

November 3, 2016
CANARM RAINWATER HARVESTING WORKSHOP
Accredited Professional Workshop
November 28 & 29 2016
At BCIT in Burnaby BC
This 2-day workshop provides an in-depth review of rainwater harvesting design and installation and is open to anyone with an interest in rainwater harvesting. It covers design, components, calculations, safety, regulations, water uses and demand, and sanitation for Rainwater Harvesting System. Registration is open, reserve your seat today!
For more information and registration, click here: Rainwater Harvesting: AP Workshop
01 Nov 2016
news, sustainability, water scarcity Permalink

City of Victoria NEW Stormwater Utility Bill & Rainwater Rewards Program

November 1, 2016

In 2015, the City of Victoria changed the way municipal storm water services are managed. These changes were made to help clean our waterways, reduce flooding in preparation for wetter, stormier winters and create a fair and equitable user-pay stormwater utility. The city also developed a rebate program for properties that wish to manage rainwater more sustainably. Rain gardens, cisterns, infiltration chambers, permeable paving, green roofs and an education option are currently part of the credit program.

About the NEW Stormwater Utility Bill

The City of Victoria NEW Stormwater Utility Bill will arrive in Victoria resident’s mail boxes by the end of October 2016. The charges on your new bill will be based on the property’s characteristics, including the area of non-permeable surfaces (roof, driveway, etc.), property use and length of street frontage.

To find out more about how the bill is calculated, click here: How Stormwater Bills Are Calculated.

Previously, the stormwater charges were included in property taxes and were determined by the assessed property value. The new utility bill is a user-pay system, connecting the impact a property has on the stormwater system directly to the bill. The bill will be sent annually to property owners.

What is Stormwater?

Stormwater is rain that lands on hard surfaces and then flows into drains and pipes. It is one of the largest sources of pollution in our waterways.

The City of Victoria stormwater system helps to manage the rain and runoff, including:

  • Reducing flooding by moving excess stormwater away from properties
  • Separating some of the oil, metals, sand and soil that would otherwise flow into our waterways and ocean
  • Using rain as a resource, capturing it for reuse in landscaping or slowing, cleaning and releasing it back into the natural water table
  • Increasing our ability to deal with a changing climate and rainfall patterns

About Rainwater Rewards Program

To minimize your properties impact on our stormwater system and to reduce your stormwater utility bill, install a rainwater harvesting system. A rainwater harvesting system helps reduce flooding, soil erosion and contamination of surface water. By capturing the rain, this will leave our stormwater system areas cleaner and in return cleaner waterways and ocean.

The City of Victoria is offering a rebate for property owners who want to manage rainwater sustainably. The rebate is limited to a maximum of $75,000 per year. If applications are received in excess of this amount, they will be considered in the following year.

17 Oct 2016
sustainability, water quality, water scarcity Permalink

Rainwater Harvesting Best Practices GuideBook

October 17, 2016
A Best Practices Guidebook developed for Homeowners of the Regional District of Nanaimo, B.C.
This guide book was developed in September of 2012, but is still a super source for a wealth of information.
You can also find more information on our rainwater harvesting page which gives a useful overview. We also have some links to other businesses that specialize in rainwater harvesting on our related businesses links page.
07 Oct 2016
news, sustainability, water quality, water scarcity Permalink

Top 5 Water Challenges

October 7, 2016

Top 5 Water Challenges that will Define B.C.’s Future

water-challengesEscalating water challenges in BC require a better understanding and coordinated work to avoid future crisis. Drawing on an extensive review of media, court and tribunal cases, and insights from attending over 100 recent events related to water issues, this report documents dozens of examples of why and where critical water issues exist in the province’s watersheds. The report, The Top 5 Water Challenges that will Define British Columbia’s Future, documents dozens of examples of critical water issues unfolding in the province’s watersheds.

Source: POLIS | September 2016
View full report here.

Environmental Cistern Cleaning

We welcome you to contact us for more information
about any of our products or services.

OUR ADDRESS

Address: 487 Stirling Avenue, Nanaimo BC, V9R 5R5, Canada

Phone: (250) 247-9797

Email: info@cleancistern.com

GET IN TOUCH

 

CONTACT US

Contact Us Form