A local entrepreneur hopes to revolutionise the treatment of Bermuda’s tank water.

Twenty-nine year old Ananda Hill, owner of the mobile business AquaCare, believes Bermuda’s water standard is worse than a Third World country.

“The current state of affairs is a bit embarrassing,” Mr Hill said. “I saw how gross the water in many people’s homes was.”

He also believes there are better ways to treat drinking water than using chlorine, which is what the Department of Environmental Health advises.

Chlorination is effectively “poisoning the water supply in a way that doesn’t even kill the microorganisms”, Mr Hill claimed.

“I decided instead of complaining about it, I’ll just take action,” he said. “Complaining is for suckers, that’s just the cloth I’m cut from.

“We have a responsibility to the children and visitors to Bermuda whose immune system isn’t as seasoned as ours when it comes to microorganisms in the water supplies to ensure their safety.

“Bermuda has a large void regarding affordable, effective, safe maintenance of water that holds up to an international standard.

“Our standard is worse than that of the so-called Third World, I will change that standard.”

Mr Hill says chlorination is poisonous in that it produces by-products called trihalomethanes and bromates. These have been found, in laboratory experiments, to be carcinogenic to animals.

“Chlorine will also not remove biofilm which is used by many microorganisms as a protective barrier to stay alive, but it’s also corrosive, environmentally unsound, shouldn’t be used in temperatures of 40 degrees Celsius or higher, and has a narrow pH band in which it works against some bacteria in a mediocre way, between 6.5-7.5 pH. It’s unsafe and ineffective for your tanks, wells, plumbing and body,” Mr Hill added.

In the US, the Environmental Protection Agency regulates disinfection of drinking water and has set a maximum allowable annual average level of 80 parts per billion.

Mr Hill said AquaCare has the exclusive rights to import and use what is deemed to be and environmentally friendly oxidising biocide. Mr Hill mentioned that it is recommended by the World Health Organisation as the best and safest means of rainwater sterilisation in the world.

“It penetrates the cell walls of microorganisms and inhibits protein synthesis,” Mr Hill said. “This occurs regardless of the present metabolic state of the micro-organism. Because of this it’s also effective against dormant organisms and spores like Giardia cysts and poliovirus.”

Mr Hill said he researched all the information himself, and believes it is his responsibility to do something about the problem.

“The oxidising biocide is biodegradable and doesn’t hurt people at all,” he assured.

He also mentioned that there is no treatment standard locally. “There is no kind of certification for people to treat the water system in Bermuda,” he added.

The process for AquaCare to diagnose and treat your water problem takes time. Mr Hill will test a customer’s water supply for various bacteria, using a colour-coded test strip. This process takes 48 hours. Once completed and the problem is diagnosed he will treat it, which takes 15 to 30 minutes.

“After your water supply is treated we can provide certificates that will be given out quarterly with testing,” Mr Hill said.

• For more information, e-mail aquacarebda@gmail.com. or call 517-1481. You can also visit facebook @aquacarebda