Start the tap, take some water, put in your glass and drink it. What most American people expect from their tap water? Fresh water, which tastes fine and is totally safe to use. But there are many factors which make your water unsuitable. Some may influence its quality while others reduce the lifetime of your household appliance.
In order to find out what is wrong with your water, you should get a special test. It will show whether you need to change something about your current water system or you just need a filtering system. The following tips will help you to learn what water problems there may be and how to solve them permanently.
Testing Your Water
Testing kits at the store vs. professional testing
There are a lot of different tests available today. All of them have their strong sides but none of them will give you a really good picture of your water. You may purchase simple testing strips from a local hardware store, which will show you only the basic parameters of your water such as pH value and minerals quantity. If you are interested in getting more detailed information, you should send your water samples for professional testing to a state-certified laboratory. This kind of test will reveal all hidden threats of your water.
The most dangerous contaminants to look for
During its way to your household water comes across numerous elements, which can influence its quality. The oldest buildings tend to have old pipes made of lead that may get into your water and cause severe health issues. Another widely spread problem is the presence of chlorine in your tap water. Although it is usually used in municipal water plants for sterilization, it makes your water smelly and unpleasing. Finally, there is the issue of hard water, which causes lots of troubles with household appliances and makes your pipes clogged up with lime scale.
Permanent Water Filtration Options
Filtering systems for the whole house
When the problems with water revealed during testing are significant, you should treat it on the place of their occurrence. That is why a residential water treatment system is the best option in this case. There are several types of filters, each of them being effective at removing different contaminants. Thus, carbon filters can easily deal with chlorine and make your water taste great. Sediment filters will save your plumbing infrastructure by catching any large sediments in it. Ultraviolet water purifier is a great choice for homeowners who use private wells. It kills bacteria without adding any chemical agents.
Filtration at point-of-use
Point-of-use filters are installed directly where you want to get fresh water. They are extremely useful for providing yourself with high-quality water for drinking purposes. Still, such filters cannot prevent lime and sediment from building up in your plumbing infrastructure. Besides, they require frequent changing of cartridges because of their limited capacity.
Addressing Hard Water Issues
Water softeners are one of the main ways to solve the problem of lime. It removes calcium and magnesium ions from your tap water preventing their clogging your pipes and causing other problems. There are two options you can choose from. One of them utilizes the process of ion exchange and involves using salt. This technology helps to make your water soft making it perfect for cleaning clothes and utensils. The other one does not contain salts but changes structure of minerals so that they could not accumulate.
Summary
The issue of contaminated water requires a proper approach. First, you should determine whether you need to change something in your water supply or just install an additional filtering system. To do this, you should order professional water testing, which will give you clear understanding of what elements are contained in your water. Then you can choose one of the presented solutions to get rid of those contaminants.