Edstrom automated watering systems generally payback within 2-5 years depending on the efficiency of the water bottle process it replaces. Maintenance costs for Edstrom watering systems are relatively low, and are reflected in this equation. To find out how much bottles are costing you, try our Cost of Bottles Calculator.

An autoclaved water bottle may or may not have sterile water in it.  Autoclave cycles need to be long enough to heat the entire mass of water to temperature and for a long enough duration to ensure sterile water. Autoclaves can have "dead spots" where the water is not even getting close to hot enough. When the bottles are removed they sometimes sit around for periods of time in staging areas where they can become contaminated.

Once the bottle is placed on the cage, the animals will introduce bacteria to the bottle where it will quickly grow and multiply. If you've felt a slippery stopper removed from a bottle you've felt the biofilm they've built.

An automated watering system with water purification/treatment/flushing, can provide excellent, consistent water quality throughout all points of the system. The consistency of automated water is significantly better than autoclaved water bottles.

We have not directly quantified this, other than assessing what the cost of a lost time injury is. Back injuries, which are the most common ergonomic injury in the bottle process, are quite costly. The loss of any employee to an injury related to the bad ergonomics of a bottle process is unacceptable.

We would be glad to sit down with you and review your specific facility requirements. There are many factors that make up the total cost of an automated watering system. There are no easy “cookie cutter” price examples.

Edstrom Industries has installed hundreds of these systems. We would be more than happy to provide you with a list of references. Please contact your regional sales consultant for more information.

Edstrom Industries' sensors are the most accurate sensors available on the market today.  Sensor Module IV sensors are instrument grade, and have an accuracy of ± 1° Fahrenheit (Temperature) and ± 3% (Humidity).  Sensor Module III’s have an accuracy of ± 2° Fahrenheit (Temperature) and ± 5% (Humidity).  The light sensors in Edstrom Sensor Modules are not calibrated.  We use the analog signal from the light sensors to determine digital states for whether lights are “on” or “off.”

The Edstrom Watchdog System can connect to any system that supports the OPC standard.  OPC (OLE for Process Control) is an industry standard for connecting building automation systems together and having them share data.  Adding OPC to a Watchdog System provides a way to link the Watchdog data to your Building Automation System (BAS) or any other program that supports OPC.  If your BAS does not support OPC, the Watchdog System can also send and receive alarm signals utilizing dry contact relays.

Edstrom Industries' lighting control systems are designed specifically for vivariums.  Independent, photocell monitoring ensures that light levels are being reached, compared to relay and current detection, which may be part of other lighting systems.  Configurable flash times provide a safe warning to staff before lights change.  Optional night lighting can be used to activate alternate light sources at night.  For critical environments, optional redundant relay systems force lighting to the correct state when lighting relays fail; creating an electrician maintenance visit instead of a middle of the night emergency. 

The Edstrom Watchdog System has several convenient methods for providing alarm notification.  The Edstrom Watchdog System server computer software (Version 5.20) utilizes e-mail as the primary method for alarm notification.  If your institution will permit the Edstrom Watchdog System server computer to be connected to your institution’s intranet, this method of alarm notification can be utilized.  The EWS Version 5.20 software will send alarm notification via e-mail, to those people who are designated to receive alarms.  This could also include facility maintenance or security personnel.  The alarm notification messages will be received via e-mail, but can also be received if designated staff are setup to use alphanumeric paging devices.  Using Watchdog Web, alarms can be acknowledged and room status can be checked from anywhere in the facility.

The Edstrom Watchdog System can be networked into your institution’s intranet.  Once the system is attached to your internal network, data can be accessed utilizing the Watchdog Web Module.  The Watchdog Web Module resides on the Watchdog Central Server, and can be setup to provide controlled access to Watchdog data, either through the Internet, or through an institution’s intranet.  The Watchdog Web Module is included in the Watchdog system.  Additional user licenses can be purchased allowing many users access to the Watchdog System data.

The Edstrom Watchdog System requires very little administration once the system has been properly setup and configured.  It is important, however, that at least one person at your facility be assigned as the system administrator, and it would be preferable to have a second person assigned as a backup administrator.  The administrator is the individual that is assigned the responsibility for making changes to the Watchdog System configuration (i.e.; setting up and deleting users of the system; establishing and changing parameter limits; defining and changing schedules for alarm notification, access control, light control).

Edstrom Industries recommends a periodic maintenance and calibration schedule be followed in order to ensure that your system is reliable, and continues to operate at peak performance.  We have a dedicated nationwide service staff that can provide this service for you.  Pricing will be determined by the Watchdog features that you select, overall size of the system, and the number of scheduled visits per year.  Your Edstrom sales consultant can provide you with a quotation that will best fit your needs.

There are other water purification options, such as DI and Distillation, however, both of these methods have cost issues and/or water quality drawbacks. Distilled water, although very pure, is quite expensive to manufacture. De-Ionization is less costly than distillation or RO, but has very high bacteria levels. Both DI and Distilled water purification require some type of additional water “treatment”.

Any facility choosing not to go with RO purification must choose an alternative water quality treatment method, such as mechanical filtration, chlorination, acidification, or ozone. Keep in mind that when choosing against the use of RO water purification, you are sacrificing water quality!

A facility should have some water quality goals in mind. These goals will help determine which water purification or  water treatment methods will achieve these goals.

The RO process removes about 95-99% of particles, bacteria, organic materials, and the same percentage of dissolved ions (metals, elements). Most things with a size of >.0001 micron are removed.  Here is a link to a table from Osmonics (one of the membrane manufacturers) that shows what is removed by various processes. http://www.osmonics.com/library/filtspec-s.pdf. The way the membrane works, it can never completely remove every contaminant, so the more that comes in the feed water, the more that will go through the membrane.  Additionally, gases pass through the membrane freely. Therefore, of the water that goes in, about 1-5% of any element that went in will be present after the RO process, and gases will pass through.

There are no water quality standards for animals in the US.  We have some general guidelines posted on our website:

Water Quality Bulletins - MI-4171: Water Quality Standards

There are no industry standards for idea animal water quality.  We think that RO water provides the best cleanliness and control.  Animal drinking water needs to be free of harmful bacteria so that animals don't get sick. Additionally, contaminants in water represent an uncontrolled research variable that could affect research results.

Chlorine is present as a dissolved form, but the dissolved form is in equilibrium with its gas form. The gas form is not removed, and once through the RO, some of the chlorine present as a gas will react with the water to become the dissolved form which is a disinfectant and can be detected with chlorine tests.  The membrane isn't able to detect chlorine, and the amount that passes is variable because the amount of chlorine in the gas form depends on many things, like the temperature, pH, and other things in the water.