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Which of your products would be best for my application? Can you send us a product catalog? How often do your prices change? Do you have a dealer or distributor in my country? Doesn't your lack of distributors result in problems shipping to some countries? Do you enter into exclusive, “protected” arrangements with resellers? Which are better, 1 litre or 2 litre sample jars? What sample jars can I use with your equipment? Can your 1 litre square jars be used with jar testers from other manufacturers? Do you have programmable jar testers? Are your jar testers switchable between 115 and 230 volts? Do you offer advice on conducting jar tests? Do you have any literature on jar testing procedures? Can I use a standard jar tester for work with dissolved air flotation? Can I order parts such as extra jars? How long will I have to wait for shipment of my order? How do you ship your products? What level of courier service do you suggest? What forms of payment do you accept? What information do you need for shipping?
Q: Which of your products would be best for my application? A: That depends on the application. For typical work in a fixed location such as a conventional water treatment plant, we usually recommend our CLM6 six-station standard jar tester. Those needing to do work at different sites, such as consulting engineers and chemical sales representatives, usually prefer our CLM4 four-station unit. It’s smaller and lighter, and has an optional carrying case available. If very small size and light weight are important – such as where frequent air travel is involved – we offer the MLM4 Minimix, which comes in a carrying case not much larger than an ordinary briefcase. Finally, for work with dissolved air flotation, our DBT6 DAF jar tester will allow accurate simulation of the flotation process. Please feel free to contact us – we will be happy to discuss your specific application with you and suggest the most appropriate equipment for your particular situation.
Q: Can you send us a product catalog? A: We are a small company specializing in the manufacture and sale of jar testing equipment. All our products are shown on our web site, and all available information such as product brochures and owner’s manuals are available for downloading. If you prefer, we will send you paper copies but these will be identical to the downloadable versions.
A: From the beginning, we decided that we weren't going to play games with our pricing the way some companies do. We believe that it's only fair for everybody to pay the same price for the same product, and that people know what their costs will be from the start. Therefore, the product prices we will quote you will be those shown on our web site. Shipping costs will of course vary depending on destination and service level desired.
Q: How often do your prices change? A: We are a Canadian company and our base prices are set in Canadian dollars. These base prices will not change in any calendar year. For the convenience of our customers in the US and elsewhere, we show on our web site (and will quote) the US dollar equivalent of our base prices. We update the indicated US dollar equivalents if there is a significant change in the USD/CAD exchange rate.
Q: Do you ship internationally? A: Definitely. We do this all the time, and there are rarely any problems. We provide all the necessary international shipping information and documents, and couriers such as UPS and others will handle all customs and other formalities.
Q: Do you have a dealer or distributor in my country? A: No, we sell all our products directly to our end users. We have found that this works very well, and allows us to offer the lowest possible prices and most responsive service. Purchasers are of course free to resell our products as they wish.
Q: Doesn't your lack of distributors result in problems shipping to some countries? A: We've never had a problem yet. UPS, the courier we most often use, can deliver a shipment right to your door with all formalities such customs clearance taken care of, at a reasonable cost. Other couriers can do the same thing.
Q: Do you enter into exclusive, “protected” arrangements with resellers? A: No. As with our pricing policy, we believe in treating all potential customers fairly and in exactly the same way. We will not enter into arrangements that give a particular purchaser any exclusive or preferential treatment or rights. We will quote the same prices and conditions to anybody who asks.
Q: Which are better, 1 litre or 2 litre sample jars? A: In more than three decades of jar testing, we have never come across a situation where there was any benefit to the 2 litre sample size. The smaller, lighter 1 litre jars and samples are much easier to handle and work with. The lower sample volume is a real advantage for off-site jar testing work, and even for on-site work if it is necessary to collect and carry samples from various locations outside the lab. There is less chance of errors in dosage calculations with the 1 litre size (and we have seen many cases over the years where the 2 litre size has resulted in mistakes being made). We've also seen many instances where only 2 litre jars are available but 1 litre or even 500 mL sample volumes are used (a bad practice, for several reasons). We do offer 2 litre sample jars for those who require them, but strongly recommend the use of the 1 litre size whenever possible.
Q: Can I use 2-litre square jars with your CLM and DBT equipment? How about 1-litre and 2-litre round glass beakers? A: No on all counts. The CLM and DBT systems are intended to be as compact and efficient as possible, and to give accurate and reproducible results. To do this, they must use our 1 litre square jars. The 1 litre jars have the same vertical dimensions as standard 2 litre square jars, and have been found to give identical results in practice. Round glass beakers are not recommended for any serious jar tester work, for many reasons which have been well recognized for years.
Q: Can your 1 litre square jars be used with jar testers from other manufacturers? A: Yes, in many cases. One thing to bear in mind is that the inside dimensions of our 1 litre square jars are 80x80 mm, and the paddles on some jar testers have 3" (76 mm) wide paddles. Therefore, with these testers there will be only 2 mm clearance between the ends of these paddles and the jar walls, so careful centering is necessary. You may prefer to use 2 litre jars with this type of equipment. Also, some makes of jar testers may have height or other constraints on the size and type of jars that can be used. Please check all dimensions carefully before ordering.
Q: Do you have programmable jar testers? A: No. We have deliberately avoided this, for several reasons. Jar testers are basically simple, user-friendly things and we believe they should be kept that way. In all our years of jar testing, at hundreds of different sites, we have never come across a single person who likes or uses the programmable features found on some jar testers. We also believe it’s important to observe the entire jar test, not simply set things up at the beginning and come back to see the end result – something that programmability certainly makes very tempting. But no doubt there are users who find programmable features useful and desirable - we just haven't met anyone yet who does.
Q: Are your jar testers switchable between 115 and 230 volts? A: No. We can supply systems configured for either 115 or 230 volts, but the desired voltage must be specified at the time of ordering. (The one exception to this is the MLM4 Minimix unit, which comes with a universal plug-in power supply that is suitable for any voltage.)
Q: Do you offer advice on conducting jar tests, and assistance with interpreting results? A: Our aim is to offer our customers solutions to their problems, not just sell them equipment. If we can help in any way with advice or assistance, we will be more than happy to do so. Please feel free to call or email us.
Q: Do you have any literature on jar testing procedures? A: We have found that most of the available information on jar testing procedures is, quite frankly, not very useful. We are working on detailed, step-by-step, illustrated, "real-world" guides to procedures for both conventional and DAF jar testing procedures. This is a fairly significant undertaking, and unfortunately the project won't be completed for a while yet. As soon as it is, we will make the information freely available on this web site.
Q: Can I use a standard jar tester for work with dissolved air flotation? A: Up to a point. A conventional (non-DAF) jar tester can give you an idea of what chemical types and dosages will coagulate, form a floc, remove color, and so on. But that's where it ends. You have no way of determining how well the solids you have produced will behave in the flotation process - and that of course is a key factor in determining treated water quality. It's just not possible to predict flotation efficiency from the appearance of the floc particles or by observing how well they settle. In fact, many times we've seen people doing jar tests and going in the complete opposite direction from the way they should be going for flotation, simply because they're trying to produce a floc which would be considered "good" for conventional gravity settling. If you have DAF in the plant and you need to do jar tests, your jar tester should have DAF capability.
Q: Can I order parts such as extra jars? A: Yes, you can order any part for any ECE equipment, at any time. Please contact us for price and delivery information if the item is not shown on our price lists.
Q: How long will I have to wait for shipment of my order? A: We make every effort to have all of our products in stock, ready for immediate shipment. Occasionally, we may be temporarily out of stock of a particular item but even then the delay involved should not normally be more than a week or two.
Q: How do you ship your products? A: We normally use UPS, but can ship by other couriers if you prefer. We will prepay the shipping costs, or ship collect (shipping costs charged to your courier account).
Q: What level of courier service do you suggest? A: We are located in Western Canada. Standard (ground) courier service is the most economical for shipments within North America, and will generally take from 2 to 5 business days. Various levels of air freight service are also available, and are usually not a great deal more expensive than ground service. A major advantage of air shipment is that all customs formalities are taken care of by the courier, and are included in the shipping cost. Air freight is the only service usually available for shipments outside North America. We will be happy to discuss the various options available to you, and provide information such as transit times and shipping costs.
Q: What forms of payment do you accept? A: We accept payment by credit card (Visa and Mastercard) for amounts up to $2,500; company cheque; or wire transfer. We will usually ship on receipt of a company purchase order or similar authorization.
A: No. We would have to charge our customers a realistic rental (covering things like preparation, wear and tear, cleanup, restocking, etc.) plus shipping costs both ways. We’ve found that these unavoidable rental cost factors are almost always prohibitive.
Q: Do you offer online ordering? A: No. We will be pleased to take your order by phone, fax, mail, or email. Doing this allows us to confirm things such as product availability, shipping information, shipping costs, and any special requirements you may have.
Q: What information do you need for shipping? A: Essential information for all shipments includes:
For shipments to the United States, we also need your company’s Federal Tax ID number, for US Customs documents. Although not essential, an email address for a contact person is very useful for providing information such as shipment confirmation and expected delivery date, and for resolving any questions or problems that may arise.
Q: What about customer privacy? A: Have no fear. We will never provide any customer information to third parties without your express permission.
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