ames mud pump free sample

While I am sure many of you enjoy relationships with pet animals, you may be wondering how this anecdote relates to “nature” and the library. Let’s start with the library connection. Before they moved to Pembroke, my fish had been library fish, that is, they were the fish who had been living in the Ames Free Library’s reflecting pool. Here is one member of the school on March 18 right after the pond ice broke for the season.

Goldfish introduced into lakes, ponds, and rivers outcompete native fish by having enormous appetites and few predators. They also reduce water quality and plant life by stirring up mud from the bottom. This New York Times article offers a mix of goldfish history, fish behavior, current research, and management practices for this invasive species. The scale of the problem is startling: during November, 2020 one Minnesota county removed “as many as 50,000 goldfish from local waters.” [See The Guardian, 7/21] “It is estimated that as many as 200 million goldfish are bred each year . . . .” If only a small percentage are “rewilded,” they’ll pose a big challenge to our waterways and wildlife managers.

My fish won’t be setting a fin in any Massachusetts waterways. They will move inside for the winter and, hopefully, receive a larger pool next spring, one that will give them room to swim and to grow. Arranging for their support leaves me with mixed feelings, though. I regret the wastefulness – the purchase of equipment to sustain pets while native fish languish. Tanks, filters, pumps, and other paraphernalia can hardly be considered ecologically sound.  On the other hand, I cannot look at these goldfish as objects, especially since we’ve become acquainted with each other. When they swim to the surface to greet me (and get some dinner), I see individuals who desire life just as I do.

Conditions, where outdoor concrete has already begun to sink, are not uncommon in Iowa and are often the result of shifting or a weak soil base or erosion. If you have noticed sinking concrete near your home in Des Moines, Ames, Waterloo or nearby, call us today for a free estimate!

In the past, contractors relied upon mudjacking (also known as slab jacking, concrete lifting, concrete raising, grout pumping and slab leveling) to level concrete that had settled over time. This entailed pumping concrete slurry under the settled slab to raise it and hoping that the settlement wouldn"t continue.

At Midwest Foundation Repair we use PolyLevel® to lift concrete slabs to a level position with less weight and disruption than the legacy mudjacking or slab jacking process.

Most water systems consist of a water source (such as a well, spring, or lake), some type of tank for storage, and a system of pipes for distribution. Means to treat the water to remove harmful bacteria or chemicals may also be required. The system can be as simple as a well, a pump, and a pressure tank to serve a single home. It may be a complex system, with elaborate treatment processes, multiple storage tanks, and a large distribution system serving thousands of homes. Regardless of system size, the basic principles to assure the safety and potability of water are common to all systems. Large-scale water supply systems tend to rely on surface water resources, and smaller water systems tend to use groundwater.

Groundwater is pumped from wells drilled into aquifers. Aquifers are geologic formations where water pools, often deep in the ground. Some aquifers are actually higher than the surrounding ground surface, which can result in flowing springs or artesian wells. Artesian wells are often drilled; once the aquifer is penetrated, the water flows onto the surface of the ground because of the hydrologic pressure from the aquifer.

Water withdrawn directly from rivers, lakes, or reservoirs cannot be assumed to be clean enough for human consumption unless it receives treatment. Water pumped from underground aquifers will require some level of treatment. Believing surface water or soil-filtered water has purified itself is dangerous and unjustified. Clear water is not necessarily safe water. To assess the level of treatment a water source requires, follow these steps:

Also, a well should be located in such a way that it is accessible for maintenance, inspection, and pump or pipe replacement when necessary. Driven wells

Once construction of the well is completed, the top of the well casing should be covered with a sanitary seal, an approved well cap, or a pump mounting that completely covers the well opening

A variety of pump types and sizes exist to meet the needs of individual or community water systems. Some of the factors to be considered in selecting a pump for a specific application are well depth, system design pressure, demand rate in gallons per minute, availability of power, and economics.

On small systems or individual wells, a high-chlorine carrier solution is mixed in a tank in the pump house and pumped by the chlorinator into the system.

A dated record should be kept of solution preparation, type, proportion of chlorine used, and residual-test results. Sensing devices are available that will automatically shut off the pump and activate a warning bell or light when the chlorinator needs servicing.

Examples of backflow causes include supplemental supplies, such as a standby fire protection tank; fire pumps; chemical feed pumps that overpower the potable water system pressure; and sprinkler systems.

Iowa State University Diagnosing and solving common water-quality problems. Ames, IA: Iowa State University; 1994. Available from URL: http://www.abe.iastate.edu/HTMDOCS/aen152.pdf.