Is Your Drinking Water Safe?

If you have concerns about the quality and safety of the water from the taps in your home, there are several options for testing the water and determining if it’s safe to drink. Tri-Florida Water Treatment of Auburndale, FL, would like to outline a few of these options to help you understand the quality of your drinking water.

What could be wrong with the water?

Depending on how the water that enters your home is sent to and handled by your municipal water authority, a variety of impurities could be present in the water. Examples include:

• Bacteria
• Pathogens
• Parasites
• Aluminum
• Iron
• Magnesium
• Chromium-6
• Copper
• Lead
• Rust

and quite a few others.

Excessive amounts of contaminants can cause water to taste bad, smell bad, look cloudy and leave spots on dishes and cookware. Certain contaminants can make you sick. The actual presence of contaminants, however, isn’t necessarily a sign that your water isn’t fit to drink.

There are allowable levels of most “common” water contaminants in municipal water supplies. Even still, more and more homeowners want clear answers and want to take the necessary steps to make sure their drinking water is safe.

How to test the quality of your water

Here are eight ways to test your water.

Wash your hands

If you wash your hands with soap and water and your hands feel slimy afterwards, there may be excess contaminants in the water.

Cloudiness

If water from your tap is cloudy, it could signal the presence of some kind of contamination. (Make sure the glass you test the water in is clean before filling.)

1. Does your water have a color?

Water should be clear. If it has a yellow tint, this could be caused by copper, iron, lead or a cancer-causing agent called “chromium-6.” Brownish water usually means there’s rust in the water or the pipes.

(Note that not all water contamination originates at the municipal source; often the problem is in the home’s plumbing system.)

2. Rotten-egg smell

If your water smells like rotten eggs, it’s likely caused by a gas called hydrogen sulfide, which naturally occurs in groundwater

3. Metallic taste

Water that has a metallic taste indicates excess iron or copper.

4. Smell for chlorine

While chlorine is commonly added to municipal water supplies, excess chlorine is not good for you. Smell your drinking water. Does it smell like a swimming pool?

5. Get a report from your water provider

All public water providers in the United States are required to make water-quality reports available to their customers. Get a report and study it. If there are words or descriptions you don’t understand, consider taking the report to a water treatment company for consultation.

6. Perform a proper water test

Many water companies provide testing services for residential and commercial water. If the results of your home tests are causing you concern, connect with one of these companies and investigate further.

Trust Tri-Florida Water Treatment for all your water needs

Our trained water technicians are ready to help with a thorough test of the water at your home or business. If your local water isn’t as safe or clean as you’d like it, we can provide you with outstanding water purification solutions for your drinking water and for all the water in your home.

Reach a water-treatment expert today at (863) 965-1439. You can also get in touch with our contact form.