How Do I Know If The Water in My Home is Safe to Drink?

You use a great deal of water in your Weatherford, TX home each day. Drinking water is important for your health, as is the quality of the water. While you can purchase bottled water from the store, this can become costly. Not to mention, bottled water is harmful to the environment. Refilling your bottle with pure and clean drinking water is the best choice, but how do you know if the water in your home is safe? Let’s discuss the basics of drinking water quality and the types of improvements that you can make.

How to Tell If Your Drinking Water Is Safe

For many homes in the Weatherford area, simply turning on the tap and filling your glass is enough to access safe water. However, other areas may face a higher concentration of contaminants, such as arsenic, radon, uranium, bacteria, pathogens, chemicals, and more. Older homes may experience contamination from lead pipes. If your water is visibly cloudy or you can see particles floating around your glass, you’ll want to question the safety of your water. A bad smell coming from the water is also a cause for concern.

There are water quality tests that can be performed at your home by a professional. These tests will determine if your water is safe, or if you should make improvements to make it more potable. 

What Happens When You Drink Unsafe Water?

If you consume water that contains unsafe contaminants, this can put you at risk for GI health issues. The type of contaminants that you’re consuming may dictate your symptoms. The duration of your exposure is also something to consider.

When certain symptoms become severe, you may experience dehydration. If you notice that you’re not feeling well and your symptoms seem to be associated with your at-home water consumption, stop drinking your tap water. You may be able to test your theory by drinking purified water to see if your symptoms subside. You can also have your water evaluated. 

Drinking Water Improvement Methods

There are several improvements you can make to your home that can help increase the safety of your drinking water. These are also methods of improving the taste of your water.

Drinking Water Filtration

There are a few different water filtration systems that you can install in your home that will filter all your drinking water before you consume it. A reverse osmosis system is popular. Using a semi-permeable membrane, an RO system removes ions, large particles, and large molecules from your drinking water. This system contains a series of filters and usually has a storage tank where your treated drinking water will be held. A dedicated faucet will need to be installed to provide access to your filtered water.

There are other water filtration systems that use different types of pre-filters, carbon filters, and traditional filters to remove contaminants. These filters need to be changed anywhere from every 3 to 12 months. The frequency depends on how much water you’re running through the system and the type of filters that you have. 

You can also buy standalone water filtration pitchers or single filters that hook onto your normal faucet. This equipment removes minimal contaminants, making them one of the more ineffective methods of water filtration. 

UV light technology is used in some filtration systems. Without using any kind of chemicals, UV light delivers light at the wavelengths of 240 – 280 nanometers to your water. This destroys the DNA of any pathogens that are present in your drinking water.

Different tablets and iodine additives can provide treatment for your water, but these aren’t long-term solutions for your home. 

Water Quality Reports

Most areas release a water quality report either yearly or quarterly, depending on where you live. This report will include the different levels of contaminants that have been found in your local water. You can also use this report to learn more about the different things that are added to your local water, such as fluoride. This is also valuable information that explains where your water comes from. The source of your water can greatly impact its quality. Some areas of the country and world simply don’t have drinkable water. No matter how much filtration you invest in, it can sometimes be better to source your drinking water outside of the home. 

Forever Chemicals in Your Drinking Water

Forever chemicals in the form of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) come from our water, soil, and air. They can be present in our drinking water, leading to ongoing health issues such as hormone disruption, an increase in cancer, and autoimmune conditions. Forever chemicals are very common in our tap water. The Environmental Protection Agency has been working to set guidelines that limit the amount of forever chemicals that can be in our tap water. However, the question is whether we really want to expose ourselves to any concentration of contaminants. 

You can address forever chemicals in your drinking water by using a reverse osmosis drinking water system or carbon filtration. 

Well Water

While not many homeowners in the Weatherford area source their water from a well, it’s still something that is used today. It’s your responsibility to have your well water tested annually, as there isn’t an annual report that will provide this information for you. Make sure that you check for the presence of bacteria, which is very common in well water. Other common culprits are radon, PFAS, and pesticides. If you notice any sudden changes in your well water quality or you’ve recently had work done on your property, you may want to re-test more frequently. 

Filtered Water Quality

It’s incredibly important to do your due diligence when it comes to selecting a water filtration system. Many of these systems do a great job of removing contaminants from your water. However, they can also remove things such as minerals, which are essential for our bodies. You can choose a different system based on what you want left in your water. For example, a reverse osmosis system removes a lot from your water. If you opt for a more basic triple-filtration system, you’ll leave minerals and some of the other beneficial components behind.

You can also purchase electrolyte and mineral drops for your filtered water. This adds essential ingredients back in so you’re still consuming them. 

If you would like to learn more about achieving healthy drinking water in your Weatherford home, we can help. In addition to drinking water filtration services, we also install, repair, and maintain your heating and cooling equipment. This includes ductless systems and heat pumps. Our services also include plumbing services like leak detection, emergency repairs, removing clogs, installing and fixing gas lines, and more. Our electrical services include but are not limited to surge protection, wiring, ceiling fans, inspections, and generator installation. Contact Lightfoot Plumbing, Heating, Air & Electrical to schedule an appointment today.