Plumbers Jacksonville FL - Water You Waiting For?

by Billy Aldridge

When it comes to drinking water, most people don't give it a second thought.  But when you think about it, fresh, clean water is one of the things that none of us can live without.  A human being can go for weeks without food.  But all it takes is three or four days without water to do most people in.  So you would think that most people would be concerned about the water they ingest.  If the sales of bottled water are any indicator, then water quality is definitely an issue to most Americans. According to a bevindustry.com article, consumption of bottled water in the US in 2010 was a whopping 8.75 billion gallons.  This means that on average, every man woman and child in the US drank 28.3 gallons of bottled water in 2010.  

So bottled water is extremely popular.  But how healthy is it?  According to an MSNBC report:

Tests on leading brands of bottled water turned up a variety of contaminants, including cancer-linked chemicals three times higher than California's health standard, according to a study released Wednesday by an environmental advocacy group. Lab tests detected 38 chemicals in 10 brands, with an average of eight contaminants found in each kind of bottled water. Tests showed coliform bacteria, caffeine, the pain reliever acetaminophen, fertilizer, solvents, plastic-making chemicals and the radioactive element strontium.

While contamination concerns are certainly an issue, when you also consider that in some instances the cost of bottled water is more than the cost of gasoline, this gives many people pause to consider the alternatives.

Turning on the Tap

While municipalities from coast to coast treat water before delivering it to consumers, there is a wide disparity between the type and efficacy of treatment systems.  According to the CDC:

Drinking water supplies in the United States are among the safest in the world. However, even in the U.S., drinking water sources can become contaminated, causing sickness and disease from waterborne germs, such as Cryptosporidium, E. coli, Hepatitis A, Giardia intestinalis, and other pathogens.Drinking water sources are subject to contamination and require appropriate treatment to remove disease-causing agents. Public drinking water systems use various methods of water treatment to provide safe drinking water for their communities. Today, the most common steps in water treatment used by community water systems (mainly surface water treatment) include flocculation, sedimentation, iltration and disinfection.  

You have to understand that the mandate of municipal water treatment is not to provide purified water.  Treatment plants are only required to keep contaminants and pathogens below 'acceptable levels."  To do this, various chemicals are added, including chlorine and fluoride.

In fact, the CDC will be the first to tell you that scientists have determined that typical water treatment plants are not designed to filter out such things as pharmaceuticals including pain killers, tranquilizers, hormones and antibiotics.  While these same scientists have not conclusively proven that the public is being harmed by these drugs, they have shown that tiny amounts can have detrimental effects on human cells and DNA.

So this leaves it up to the average American to not only determine whether the water coming out of their taps is 'safe', but it also leaves water treatment up to the individual as well.

Walter Filtration Drop by Drop

Even if a consumer is willing to invest in a home filtration system, there are a number of different technologies from which to choose.  Everything from activated charcoal filters, to reverse osmosis, ceramic filtration and steam distillation systems are available.  So there are a number of choices to be made with regard to such things as cost, as well as the best type of purification system for your needs.  Before choosing a system, you have to understand that all water pollution is not created equal.  Neither are treatment systems.  Certain types of treatment are better at eliminating one kind of contamination as opposed to another.  The only way to scientifically determine the best system for your needs is to have the water tested.

Homeowners also need to understand that there are other factors involved in the purification game. For instance, when distillation, reverse osmosis or carbon filtration systems are initially deployed, they all remove their fair share of contaminants.   However, as time goes by, the percentage of contamination removed decreases.  Inevitably all filtration systems have a finite lifetime and require periodic maintenance.  If you are considering acquiring a whole house water treatment system, you need to cover the frequency and costs of maintaining the system as well as how long it will take to recoup your investment.

The bottom line is that if you are looking to ensure the quality of your water, you should talk to a trained water purification professional to determine the type of system that best fits your needs and your budget.  Because when it comes to your family's health, this is one commodity that's truly priceless.

Billy Aldridge is one of the Doctors of Plumbology at Aldridge and Sons Plumbing in Jacksonville, FL.  To find out more about water filtration and other water related issues, visit http://plumbers-jacksonville-fl.com.