Water is essential to life, but it can be one of the most dangerous substances for you and your family. People with well water know how vital it is to test their water. But even people who use public tap water might want to occasionally test their taps. This guide will teach you why testing your home’s water quality is essential.
Ensure Your Water Is Safe to Drink
In the U.S., the EPA has established standards for drinking water quality that all public water systems must meet. The treatment process can involve disinfecting the water with chlorine or chloramines. It can also include removing certain minerals and contaminants from the water through filtration or distillation.
To ensure that your water meets these or higher standards, call a licensed professional to test your home’s water at least once a year. You’ll want to test more frequently if you suspect any problems with your system or notice changes in its taste or odor.
Check for Potentially Harmful Chemicals
Chlorine is essential to keeping your water safe from bacteria and other harmful pathogens, but too much can harm your health. The EPA recommends testing your water at least once a year or more often if you have children under six or have immune disorders like cystic fibrosis.
Another reason to have your home’s water quality tested is to know what chemicals are in your drinking water. The EPA regulates many contaminants that are not allowed in public water. Some chemicals are known carcinogens and are prohibited in your water, even at minute levels. However, some regulated chemicals, including carcinogens, may be allowed if under a certain level. Also, there are some unregulated contaminants.
You might discover through testing that you have some chemicals in your water you do not want to ingest. Once you know, you can reduce those levels by filtering them out. At BEST Air Conditioning Plumbing Repair, we offer a range of water filtration systems to provide safe water for you and your family.
Keep Your Family Safe From Lead
Your home’s water can contain lead, which harms people, especially children. Lead poisoning can damage the nervous system and slow physical growth in children. Furthermore, lead exposure causes high blood pressure, kidney disease, infertility and miscarriage, muscle and joint pain, memory loss, and inability to concentrate.
It’s crucial to test your water quality so you can prevent any contamination. While Flint, MI is a well-known example of lead in the public drinking water, sometimes the source might be closer to home. Some older houses and buildings have lead pipes or fixtures. If you live in an older home, health officials recommend you test your water twice a year. To be extra safe, consider installing a home water filtration system.
Confirm Your Water Doesn’t Have Unhealthy Amounts of Copper
Copper is a naturally-occurring metal that you can find in your water supply. While it’s usually not harmful to humans, it can be toxic at higher levels, especially for people with particular circumstances. Also, it can build up in your plumbing and cause a funny taste or discoloration of the water in your home. If you notice discoloration, it’s best to have your water tested to ensure the levels of copper are safe.
Test for Harmful Bacteria in Your Water
There are several reasons to test your home’s water quality, yet among the most important is determining whether harmful bacteria are in it. Bacteria can cause various illnesses and infections, including cholera, E. coli, typhoid fever, salmonella, and dysentery.
If you have well water and notice signs of these illnesses in yourself or your family members, you should call professionals to test your water for harmful bacteria. If the test comes back positive for harmful bacteria, it’s best to immediately call a plumber or water treatment specialist to help you control the situation.
Even if you use municipal water, it can still get contaminated. Cracks in water lines can allow these pathogens into the supply. So, that’s one more reason to regularly test your tap water and employ a water filtration system.
Find Out if You Have a Problem With Hard or Soft Water
Both very hard water, with high mineral content, and soft water, with low mineral content, can cause problems. Hard water can damage appliances and plumbing, and it can also provide a breeding ground for bacteria. In addition to these problems, hard water can affect how your clothes look when they come out of the washing machine. You might also notice an unusual smell or taste from your faucets or shower heads.
Too much of particular minerals can cause problems for your health, such as skin irritation and stomach upset. Some minerals that can cause skin irritation include iron, calcium, and magnesium. If you have these minerals in unusually high concentrations, it might cause redness or itching on the skin when you shower.
But water can be too soft. You do want some minerals for health and taste. Trace minerals help your body stay strong, fight disease and aging, and perform optimally. They are vital for the proper growth and development of children, adolescents, and adults. For example, many areas add fluoride to the water to prevent tooth decay. Additionally, very soft water can interfere with the washing process and leave you and your clothes with a soapy residue.
If you suspect your water is too hard, talk with a professional who can help you determine how to get the proper test done. You can install whole-home water softeners or even better, a water filtration system.
But what if your water is too soft? To protect the plumbing and appliances, most people don’t want to add a water hardener to the whole system. For laundry, you can add products to each load to harden the water. For showering, you can change your soap or add a water hardener to your shower head.
Ensure That Your Water Softener Is Working Properly
Your water softener is one of the most important appliances in your home. It keeps your family safe from the dangers of hard water and ensures you have a clean, healthy water supply for drinking and bathing.
However, you must test your water quality to know if your softener works correctly. That’s why it’s recommendable to test your home’s water quality at least once every six months. Also, test more often if you have a large family or live in an area with high levels of minerals in the water supply.
Protect Your Family With a Water Filtration System
If you’re unhappy with the quality of your tap water, we can help! At BEST Air Conditioning Plumbing Repair, our team of professionals can install a water filtration system to meet your particular needs. We can also help you improve indoor air quality with air filters, UV lights, humidifiers, CO detectors, and the installation and sealing of ducts. We offer affordable pricing with a service that is second to none. If you live in Las Vegas, NV or the surrounding area, contact BEST Air Conditioning Plumbing Repair today for more information.