What
is Good Water?
Water
Chemistry
Water
chemistry begins with a very simple formula – H2O – and in
its purest form water is 11% hydrogen and 89% oxygen. What makes water
“good” is the lack of impurities.
Everyone
is familiar with the ‘hydrologic cycle’ even if they are not familiar
with that term. Water at the earth’s surface evaporates from the sun’s
heat. The evaporated water becomes a cloud, which then turns into rain or
snow. Once on the ground again, the water dissolves some of the minerals in
the earth. Eventually the water is heated again and the cycle repeats.
Water
that evaporates into vapor is the purest of naturally occurring water. Once
it condenses into a cloud and then falls as rain, many impurities in the air
and on the ground contaminate the water to varying degrees.
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Water
Testing
Water
testing only tells you about the quality of the water at that instant in
time, but tells you nothing about the water quality tomorrow or next month.
Water treatment works 24 hours a day, taking care of problems even if they
are intermittent. All water problems are treatable but they must be properly
identified so treatment equipment can be properly applied.
Public
Water
The
United States undoubtedly has the safest and most reliable public water
system in the world. With that being said, there are still tens of thousands
of violations of the Safe Drinking Water Act in this country each year. Job
#1 of public water suppliers is to make sure water is always
microbiologically safe. The most effective means to accomplish this is
chlorination.
The
most difficult thing to control when it comes to water quality is the
distribution system. The pipes that deliver water to your home may be over
50 years old and many miles long. It doesn't matter how good the water is
when it leaves the treatment plant. It matters how good it is when it comes
out of your faucet.
Well
Water
Most
people think bacteria are the most common type of contaminant in well water.
The truth is the majority of wells get bacteria in them from time to time,
but whether these bacteria are harmful depends on the health and condition
of whoever drinks this water. The greater potential for contaminates rises
from the fact that water is a universal solvent. Anything that
dissolves in water can find its way into your well.
Bottled
Water
The
bottled water industry is a 5+ billion dollar per year industry and they
have to meet the same safety standards as your public water supplier.
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Public
Water Problems and Treatments-
Hard
Water
Rain
hits the ground as a weak acid H2CO3
(Carbonic Acid). If it runs across calcium and/or magnesium in the ground on
the way to a well or reservoir it dissolves some of it. These two minerals
raise the ph (acid) condition of the water up to neutral but they constitute
the hardness found in water. Hardness is not considered a health threat and
therefore it is not treated in public water supplies. Public water is just
as likely to be hard as well water. Hard water will shorten the life and
ruin the efficiency of any kind of Water Heater. It will also significantly
shorten the life and ruin the appearance of all faucets and plumbing
fixtures. Hard water uses up soap products at a rate 3 to 4 times greater
than soft water. It leaves the film on fixtures, tubs and showers that is so
hard to clean. Soft water allows you to eliminate the use of many cleaning
products the thing you still use will work just as well or better with 1/3 or 1/4
as much as you are presently using. It is not unusual for a family of four
to save the cost of the water softener in just a few years on cleaning
products they buy at the grocery store.
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Chlorine
Chlorine
is added to most public water supplies. It is a powerful and reactive
oxidizing chemical. The active ingredient sodium hypochlorite that is also
the active ingredient in household bleaches. Chlorine is used to make water
microbiologically safe and since residuals of chlorine are maintained
throughout the public water system it continues to disinfect to each
individual tap. Once the water enters your home the chlorine's job is
finished. Chlorine, being a powerful oxidizer reacts with all sorts of other
things in the water. Some of these by-products of chlorination are regulated
carcinogens. Chlorine and its by-products such as Trihalomethanes are
effectively removed with granulated activated carbon (GAC). These filters
are highly recommended on all public water supplies.
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Manganese
Manganese
is a public water problem and well water problem. It does not fall out of
solution due to chlorination like iron and is a secondary contaminant and
therefore not regulated. Manganese has about ten times the staining ability
of iron. It loves to stain the inside of dishwashers. The stain is initially
brown but as it builds in toilet tanks and the like it becomes very dark
chocolate brown, nearly black, as opposed to the rust-orange stain of iron.
It is treatable with ion exchange resin.
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Cryptosporidium
and Giardia
These
organisms are a danger to public water supplies because they are highly
resistant to chlorination. They are, however, large in comparison to other
microbes. There are good carbon block filters that are rated for the removal
of cryptosporidium and Giardia as well as chlorine and by-products of
chlorination. A drinking water filter of this type is highly recommended on
any public water supply.
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Radon
Radon
is a term we have known for some time now as it pertains to air. The limit
of radon in the air in our homes is 4 Pico curies per liter. We now know
that large amounts of radon are found in underground drinking water
supplies. In parts of the northeast, levels as high as 1,000,000 Pico curies
per liter have been tested. Radon in water aerates very readily so when
running faucets and showers in our homes this vented radon gets added to the
air radon that may be seeping from the ground into our homes. For each 10,000
Pico curies per liter in water that is venting in your home adds about 1
Pico curie per liter to the air radon level. The EPA has recently proposed a
drinking water standard (MCL) for radon in water of 300 Pico curies per
liter. This is for the some 60,000-community water systems located across
the United States. Approximately 24,000 of these systems at present do not
meet this standard. The EPA is also proposing an alternate maximum
contaminant level (AMCL) of 4,000 Pico curies per liter to systems that have
an air radon remediation program in place. That means if a system develops a
program of testing and remediation as needed for air radon the water level
radon would be safe at 4,000 Pico curies per liter. There are currently
about 1,200 community water systems in the U.S. that can’t meet this
standard.
Aeration
is the best current treatment for high levels of water radon with the system
aerating to the outside above the roofline. Lower levels of radon are best
treated with granulated activated carbon. Sometimes aeration with a carbon
polish will be the system of choice.
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Well
Water Problems
Hard
Water
Rain
hits the ground as a weak acid H2CO3
(Carbonic Acid). If it runs across calcium and/or magnesium in the ground on
the way to a well or reservoir it dissolves some of it. These two minerals
raise the ph (acid) condition of the water up to neutral but they constitute
the hardness found in water. Hardness is not considered a health threat and
therefore it is not treated in public water supplies. Public water is just
as likely to be hard as well water. Hard water will shorten the life and
ruin the efficiency of any kind of Water Heater. It will also significantly
shorten the life and ruin the appearance of all faucets and plumbing
fixtures. Hard water uses up soap products at a rate 3 to 4 times greater
than soft water. It leaves the film on fixtures, tubs and showers that is so
hard to clean. Soft water allows you to eliminate the use of many cleaning
products. The thing you still use will work just as well or better with 1/3 or 1/4
as much as you are presently using. It is not unusual for a family of four
to save the cost of the water softener in just a few years on cleaning
products they buy at the grocery store.
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Acid
Water
When
it rains water dissolves carbon dioxide into it on the way to the ground.
Water (H2O)
plus Carbon Dioxide (CO2)
yields Carbonic Acid (H2CO3). So rainwater is always acidic.
If the water does not run through limestone on the way to your well it will
not neutralize and is still an acid when it enters your plumbing system. It
is a weak acid and is not a threat in itself, but if you have metal plumbing
in your home it may be a severe threat. Most houses are plumbed with copper
pipes. If water in copper pipes is acidic it leaves green or bluish-green
stains in sinks, tubs, and toilets. While the acid in the water is not a
health threat, the copper in the water is. Houses built before 1986 generally
used solder with copper pipes that was 50% lead. Lead is a very serious
health threat especially to children. Today some homes use CPVC plumbing
pipes that eliminate the staining of fixtures to a large extent. Faucets,
however, are still brass which is 10 or more percent lead. Hot water heaters
are metal as well as are washing machines and dishwashers. Damage to these
fixtures and appliances continue unless treatment is applied. Remember that
acid neutralizers add hardness to treated water and often create the need
for a water softener where there was no need. A qualified water treatment
professional may have other solutions.
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Iron
Water
Iron
in water in Southeastern Pennsylvania is sporadic but widespread. It is not
considered a health threat but in quantities above 1/2 part per million will
leave a pronounced and difficult to clean stain on fixtures. Iron exists in
water in several different forms and treatments are very tricky. They should
be handled by a qualified water treatment professional and top quality
equipment or duration of treatment will be short lived or become expensive
to maintain. Remember the terms ferrous iron, ferric iron, organically bound
iron, and iron bacteria. These forms of iron require different treatment
methods and are often found together.
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Volatile
Organic Chemicals
VOC's
are caused several things - the dumping of industrial solvents, the
biodegradation of gasoline or heating oil after it leaked into the ground,
and chlorine byproducts. Treatments are fairly easy and generally
inexpensive however testing is expensive and unfortunately testing results
are for the water contained in the sample tested and tells nothing of the
water quality at anytime in the future. Most VOC's are dangerous overlong
term exposure however since dangerous quantities are just a few parts per
billion and these levels cannot be seen, smelled, tasted, or felt coupled
with the high cost of testing dangerous levels are consumed year after year
by unsuspecting consumers.
VOC's
often do not biodegrade for 100 years or more so many have had years to soak
into the aquifers we have tapped for our drinking water.
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Hydrogen
Sulfide
If
water smells like rotten eggs it has hydrogen sulfide (H2S) in it. H2S is a gas that travels
underground. If an H2S
crevice exits into your well the smell is overwhelming. The treatment for H2S is oxidation. There are a variety
of ways to accomplish this and some exciting new technology that may save
considerable cost.
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Clay
Silt
Clay
silt in water is very common and widely mistaken for iron. If an orange film
builds up in toilet bowls in a short period of time the part of the film
that just brushes away is clay silt. The part that stains and must be
removed with chemicals is the iron. Clay silt varies in particle size and
can be very difficult to filter when very fine. Clay silt can also tie up
iron ironically making it difficult to remove the iron totally. Again
qualified water treatment professionals may have some very interesting and
high tech ways of handling this most difficult treatment.
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Bacteria
Standard
water testing for bacteria consists of a total coliform bacteria test.
Coliforms are a large family of bacteria of which only a small percentage
are harmful. The most notorious of these are the fecal coliforms as well as
e-coli. In well water these bacteria may be present anywhere or at anytime.
Ultra violet light treatments are highly effective. Bacteria testing are
quick and inexpensive and home test kits are now available. A failed
bacteria test is serious. It indicates a source of contamination has access
to your well. Since you do not know where your well water actually comes
from it is also very difficult to determine the source of bacteria. If the
source is unknown then it follows that coliform may not be the only bacteria
present. Typhoid fever, malaria, and cholera are only a few of the diseases
caused by water born bacteria.
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Nitrates
Fertilizer
and sewage waste is how nitrate gets into the ground and finds its way into
some water supplies. Nitrates are most dangerous to infants. A particular
digestive bacterium in an infant's stomach converts nitrates into nitrites.
Nitrites attach themselves to red blood cells and prevent them from carrying
oxygen. This condition is called methemoglobanemia, which is also known as
"blue baby syndrome". Nitrates have no taste in the water.
Whole house treatments as well as single faucet treatments are available.
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Radon
Radon
is a term we have known for some time now as it pertains to air. The limit
of radon in the air in our homes is 4 Pico curies per liter. We now know
that large amounts of radon are found in underground drinking water
supplies. In parts of the northeast, levels as high as 1,000,000 Pico curies
per liter have been tested. Radon in water aerates very readily so when
running faucets and showers in our homes this vented radon gets added to the
air radon that may be seeping from the ground into our homes. For each 10,000
Pico curies per liter in water that is venting in your home adds about 1
Pico curie per liter to the air radon level. The EPA has recently proposed a
drinking water standard (MCL) for radon in water of 300 Pico curies per
liter. This is for the some 60,000-community water systems located across
the United States. Approximately 24,000 of these systems at present do not
meet this standard. The EPA is also proposing an alternate maximum
contaminant level (AMCL) of 4,000 Pico curies per liter to systems that have
an air radon remediation program in place. That means if a system develops a
program of testing and remediation as needed for air radon the water level
radon would be safe at 4,000 Pico curies per liter. There are currently
about 1,200 community water systems in the U.S. that can’t meet this
standard.
Aeration
is the best current treatment for high levels of water radon with the system
aerating to the outside above the roofline. Lower levels of radon are best
treated with granulated activated carbon. Sometimes aeration with a carbon
polish will be the system of choice.
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