If a homeowner gets water from a municipal supply, then it’s fairly certain that it’s safe to drink. But what if there’s a private well? How does a homeowner know that the water’s safe? There can be thousands of substances in the water. Some are harmless, while others are very toxic. Water that’s clear and tastes good isn’t necessarily as healthy as it can be while water that’s off-colored and malodorous can be perfectly safe to drink.
Getting Water Tested
First, if a homeowner isn’t sure what’s in his or her water, he or she should get the water tested. Water from a well can be sent to a lab or plumbing services such as Plumb Perfect Ltd. (a Mississauga plumber) offer testing. Since there are so many potential contaminants in the water, the homeowner will need to narrow down the list to contaminants like cryptosporidium and giardia, pesticides, arsenic, nitrates and nitrites, chlorine, lead and radon. The report should also let the homeowner know whether the water is hard or soft. Hard water has minerals in it that lay down a tell-tale lime scale on the pipes and leave glassware, clothes put through the washing machine and hair dull.
If there are high levels of contaminants in the water, the homeowner will want to filter the water either as it enters the house or at the point where the water’s used. There are several kinds of filters that can remove both contaminants and hard water minerals from the water.
Activated Charcoal
This type of water filter is easy to install and inexpensive. It can keep out organic chemicals and pathogens.
Ion Exchange
This is also called a water softener and exchanges the ions of magnesium and calcium with ions of sodium. This gets rid of scale in the plumbing pipes and in appliances like the washing machine. The water is washed through a tank full of resin beads in a brine bath. Now and then, the brine needs to be recharged. Ion exchange filters can also remove radon, which is an imperceptible gas that can cause lung cancer.
Reverse Osmosis
This type of water filer utilizes membranes that allow water to go through but block contaminants like pesticides, nitrates and arsenic. Reverse osmosis systems used to be notorious for wasting great amounts of water as they filter out contaminants, but now there are filters on the market that waste less water.
These filters can give a homeowner with a private water source the peace of mind of knowing hat the water that comes into the home is clean and safe.
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