Drinking water problems can be visible or invisible. Discoloration and turbidity are visible pollutants. You know there is a problem when drinking or shower water is colored or cloudy. Water can dissolve thousands of chemicals, some of which could be harmful. So, in some cases water may look clear and pristine but it may be unsafe to drink or shower. Harmful organic matters can dissolve in water and you may not even see it. Sometimes the only way to feel contaminated water is by its taste or smell not by how it looks.
Common problems in drinking water Taste and odor: A good drinking water should be tasteless and odorless. In some cases this it not true. High concentration of chlorine, dissolved organic matter, and heavy metals can cause problems  and change the way we feel about water. Water can have “rotten egg” odor due to hydrogen sulfide gas in water. Chlorine can make you itch or have scaly skin after shower.
Color: Drinking water can become colored due to iron and manganese leaching from pipes. Color problems can cause staining and can become distasteful.
Hardness: Drinking water is hard when it contains high concentration of magnesium and calcium. Water hardness problems include: damage to boiler and other home appliances; soap curd which can damage clothes washed with hard water.
Turbidity: Water can become turbid with suspended or floating particles making it appears cloudy. Problems with cloudy water are mostly aesthetic; and floating particles can carry pathogens. Sources of drinking water problems - Wastewater sewage effluent
- Sanitary sewer overflows (SSO)
- Combined sewer overflows (CSO)
- Agricultural runoffs
- Underground storage tanks.
- Others are street litters, and pharmaceutical or drugs
How you can get rid of problems in your drinking water Water Testing
 The first thing is to test your water to find out what kind of chemical that makes your water have taste, odor, or color. Even if your city or town water won the annual “best water tasting” contest, your water may still be contaminated within your homes. You can buy a portable testing kit or hire a testing lab. Home test kits are very inexpensive and you can find some under $20 that will give you the same results as a professional lab. For instance, test for chlorine must be done immediately, so hiring someone for chlorine test is probably not money best spent.
Choose a water filtration system
After you have identified the cause of your drinking water problem(s), you can then decide on the best treatment options to restore your water to the best quality. Home treatment systems come as point-of-entry (POE) or point-of-use (POU) water filters. POE filters are installed at the water main to filter water coming to the whole house. POU filters treat water from a single location such as a kitchen tap or faucet, refrigerator, pitcher, or a shower head.
The recommended home treatment systems are the NSF certified filters. NSF is an internationally recognized, not-for-profit, third-party testing organization that tests and certifies home water filtration systems to ensure they meet strict public health standards. Certified products are tested to verify that they meet certain standards for health and aesthetics. This ultimately results in giving you the assurance that the filter system they about to buy will effectively remove or reduce contaminants that make your water taste or smell bad.
If you install and properly maintain your water treatment system, your water can become safe and healthy to drink and to shower. This is why certified filters carry a lot more benefits than non-certified ones. If you are looking for a way to make your drinking water problems go away effectively and efficiently, it is best to choose a filtration system that have been rigorously tested by an independent group or organization. |
