Follow Up - To Lock or Not To Lock?

Follow Up - To Lock or Not To  Lock?     "Locks keep out only the honest."  - Jewish Proverb Reader Feed Back. In last months newsletter I discussed the locking compression well cap and the issues faced by the common users/technicians having to sample wells with these caps. You can read the full article here. The issues we discussed were primarily the locks themselves and the Typical Wing Nut Topped Compression Cap. high profile of the typical wing nut topped compression cap and the problems with the high profile of the wing nut cap causes in certain circumstances.  The responses I got from my readers were numerous.  Most people agreed that the typical lock on the typical compression cap is a pain in the rear. Many locks seize up within a year or two. A few drillers responded stating that they take great pains to make sure they leave plenty of room between the top of the well casing and the bottom of the lid to the well vault. One driller told me a story about a former boss of his actually filling all the wells he had installed at a site with bentonite because the client would not pay his bills.  That was the only story I heard about anyone deliberately tampering with a well. I did have one supplier call me about a new type of locking well cap called the "Enviro Cap".  Based on his verbal description of the cap, this cap seemed to solve all the problems I mentioned in my article.  He could tell I was so intrigued that he offered to send me a cap so I could see for myself. Enviro Cap with Magnetic Lock and Key. I must say, I amimpressed with the design and the function of the cap.It's a locking well cap and the locking mechanism is different than anything you may have seen before. The cap has an array of magnets implanted in the top of which the normal position of the magnets is to lock the cap. To unlock the cap you need a special "key", also with an array of magnets embedded inside. Mating the key with the cap causes the magnets to release the locking mechanism within the cap.  It can't be unlocked with a simple magnet it has to be the special array of magnets embedded within the key. Because the magnets are embedded within plastic in both the cap and the key, they won't corrode.   In addition to the unique locking mechanism, this cap has two other important features. First it is extremely low profile. The top of the cap will only stick up about 1/8th an inch above the top of the well casing. Great for those tight well A Better Mouse Trap. vault lid situations.  The other feature I like is the stainless steel ring hanging off the bottom of the well cap, which is standard on all Enviro Caps.  This cap allows you to hang things within the well while maintaining a perfect seal using the compression cap.  In those situations where you want to dedicate a bailer to a well, this ring allows you to hang the bailer within the well without the string being compressed along side the well cap as is atypical for compression caps with out this type of ring.  The string along side the compression fitting could cause the "wicking" of contaminants to go from outside the well to the inside of the well. The only potential pitfall of this cap I see is that one key fits all the caps.  So your key will fit all your competitors' caps and vice-versa.  However, this is likely not an issue in most cases.  If you are interested in trying the Enviro Cap they can be ordered fromWaterra US.   Ask for Nate Melody. - Russell

My Newsletters. My Opinion. "The hardest thing about writing, is writing."  - Nora Ephron   Up Coming Newsletters!     I was watching the Oscars on Sunday night, they were announcing for Best Screen Play and while listing the nominees they gave a snippet of a sound bite from each nominated writer. Nora Ephron, a nominee, said "The hardest thing about writing, is writing".  I thought to myself, "oh how true".     Doing a monthly newsletter is not easy. First you have to come up with an idea worthy of writing about, then you have to write about it. Coming up with the ideas is hard enough in itself, but then writing about them.....well that's the hardest part.  So my idea for this article is to tell you about my plans for future articles.    Some might call what I'm doing procrastination, why don't I just write about these things now? I call it "building anticipation" and I also want to solicit input from my readers regarding my series of upcoming topics/articles before I complete them.    So here is my plan: The March Newsletter is going to be a comparison of the major Multimeters/Probes that are on the market.  The good and the bad things about each model from someone that actually purchases and uses these things on a regular basis....namely me.  I've tried all of the major brands and the not so major brands and even had lengthy conversations with many of the manufacturers on issues I see with their individual meters. At the end of the article, I will tell you which one I like best and why I like it. The April Newsletter will be of a similar nature only it will be about the variety of submersible pumps on the market (both centrifugal and bladder).  For those that read my newsletters, it's no secret which basic type I prefer (I had one article I wrote published in "Pollution Equipment News" a few years ago). The May Newsletter will again be about environmental equipment, only this Newsletter will focus on the variety of oil/water interface probes and water level meters on the market.  Again the pros and cons of each model and taking into account price, or more accurately value for the dollar spent. I have a water level meter that I've used almost on a daily basis for the last 5 years that I consider to be my favorite meter. I will tell you what that meter is. The June Newsletter will focus on peristaltic pumps. There are many manufacturers of these types of pumps but most of them use a common pump head. We will discuss the variety of pumps and compare features, benefits and costs of each kind.  So, if you have a particular brand or model of any of these types of equipment that you like or you want to promote, I'd be interested in hearing from you. I'm not affiliated with any supplier or manufacturer so if I like something I'll say so, if I don't like it, I'll say so also.  You'll get my honest opinion as someone that uses the equipment on a daily basis and has used them all. Rest assured there will be interspersed  gratuitous self promotion or our web data management system and our high quality field sampling services. After all that is the main reason I write these articles.  However, between the "commercials" it's my hope that I inform and entertain you and that you enjoy our newsletters.  They're not easy. As always, I welcome your input and your feed back.  - Russell