Glen Lake School purifies air during COVID with bipolar ionization filters
From staff reports
Glen Lake School is one of the first schools in the region to use innovative, bipolar ionization filters in its ventilation systems to reduce the risk of COVID-19 spreading inside the building.
According to facilities director Steve Bluhm, 65 units are installed wherever the building has rooftop fans. Each one, the size of an answering machine, sends out ions that attach to positive- or negative-charged particles, whether it’s a virus, bacteria, mold or odor. The ions remove the hydrogen from the atom and render it neutral.
Bluhm compares the physics of bipolar ionization to how a forest smells clean and fresh following a rainstorm.
Glen Lake School runs the ceiling fans from early in the morning until late at night. The filtration units will be even more important once winter arrives, and staff and students spend more time indoors.
The school spent approximately $110,000 to acquire the units in late August, just before the school year began.
“Our conversations about getting these were prompted by COVID,” said Bluhm. “This technology has been used before to kill odors. But odors are not at the front of your mind as much as we have to protect our community by helping to reduce pathogens in the air.”
Bluhm’s online research during the spring and summer led him to these purifiers.
“It’s innovative. It’s not cheap. But it gives us peace of mind. It’s worth it to have face-to-face learning instead of virtual learning.”
“We can’t guarantee that no one will get sick (from COVID), but this gives us some peace of mind.”
Glen Lake mandates mask wearing and physical distancing indoors as well as on school buses, and also in the stands during football games. In addition, custodial staff wipe down surfaces and door handles every four hours.
Bluhm hopes soon to install the bipolar ionization filters on school buses, which use a 12-volt electrical system and will need converters.
“We hope to have them installed on buses before we have to close windows and turn on the heat,” said Bluhm.
Art’s Tavern installs air filtration unit
Tim Barr and Bonnie Nescot recently acquired a brand new standalone Halton brand air filtration unit which cleans the air in a space as large as 1,600 square feet every couple hours.
The owners of Art’s Tavern ordered the unit as it was coming off the assembly line at a factory in Kentucky. It arrived two weeks ago and is currently plugged in near the restrooms.
According to Barr, UV lights kill germs as air filtrates through the unit.
Art’s also installed a new exhaust system over the grill a couple years ago, prior to the COVID pandemic.
Art’s donates to food pantry
Art’s is once again accepting monetary and canned donations for area food pantries until the first weekend in November. Barr will hold the annual pig roast on Saturday, Nov. 7, but it won’t be a giveaway this year. Art’s will charge for pulled pork sandwiches, lake trout and salmon meals; all proceeds from the day, including drink sales, will benefit the food pantry.
