THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 8, 1995 TAG: 9510060201
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 07 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY NOREEN FARRELL NICKOLAS, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines
For months, James Deloatch gave up drinking - drinking water at his favorite restaurant, that is.
Twice a week, the head basketball coach at Indian River Middle School would go to the Golden Corral on Volvo Parkway to feast on fried chicken, mashed potatoes, greens and warm rolls with nothing to wash the meal down.
``I'm used to drinking three to four glasses of water,'' he said. ``I stopped drinking anything, because of the salty taste.''
Chloride and sodium levels in water supplied by the Northwest River Treatment Plan continue to surpass recommended levels, which results in water with an unpleasant taste and endangers those on sodium-restricted diets. Businesses in Great Bridge, Greenbrier and Deep Creek are getting the salty water.
The Golden Corral and some other Chesapeake businesses are combatting the problem by installing reverse osmosis water systems that eliminate salt deposits.
In the reverse osmosis process, water is fed under pressure across a membrane that separates dissolved minerals, such as salt, from the water supply and carries the dissolved solids down the drain. The result is purified water.
Golden Coral Manager Amir Sarshuri said the water softener his restaurant was using didn't correct the water's salty taste and he was losing customers because of it.
But since installing the reverse osmosis system ``response has been unbelievable and our sales have increased,'' he said.
Sarshuri said the new system, which was installed by Coastal Water Systems on South Military Highway, will purify 3,000 gallons of water a day.
Patrick Moore, branch manager of Coastal Water Systems, said he has installed similar systems at the International House of Pancakes and Shoney's on Battlefield Boulevard and has received calls about the water treatment system from several other area restaurants.
Installation costs for a commercial reverse osmosis system range from $4,900 to $15,000. The osmosis membrane, which must be replaced every six months to two years, costs $200 to $400.
Other expenses could include an increase in the user's water bill.
``There is a 50 percent rejection rate with reverse osmosis,'' said Douglas Whalen, president of Commonwealth H20 Services of Chesapeake.
To produce 500 gallons of purified water, 1,000 gallons must be run through the system.
Installing a recycling valve, a more costly system that recycles some of the reject water, will lower the amount of water wasted, Moore said. But Whalen doesn't recommend using the recycling valve system for Chesapeake customers because the high concentration of impurities in the water fouls the costly membranes more often.
Whalen said he spent about $30,000 on new equipment, including a reverse osmosis system, so he can use Chesapeake's water. He supplies de-ionization tanks to medical and commercial laboratories and governmental industries that require purified water, as well as to homes and hospitals for dialysis.
Frankie's Place for Ribs in Great Bridge advertises that it serves purified water. A reverse osmosis system had been installed before the restaurant opened in July, but customers still complained about the taste of the water. Two weeks after the business opened, it was discovered that the equipment had been improperly installed. Since then, the problem has been corrected and the complaints have stopped.
``They know their water,'' Robert Greer, the restaurant's general manager, said of his customers. by CNB