Quality Water: How to Get the Best Water Throughout Your Home
Did you know that the water quality in your home can be improved? In the past decade, 63 million Americans were exposed to potentially unsafe water more than once. It is important to consider what your home might need to keep that from happening to you and your family.
Don’t worry if you’re not sure what to do! Here at c and j water, we find water solutions to your water problems. We want you to know how to get quality water throughout your home to make informed decisions. Keep reading to learn everything you could ever want to know about getting the best water in your home!
Water Quality Testing
Did you know that water in your home can come from different sources? Each can have its own specific benefits or problems depending on where you live. It’s important to test your water for contaminants and determine the levels of various minerals (or the lack of them). First, let’s look at the two sources of drinking water in the US and what they should be tested for.
Groundwater or “Self Supplied”
Some people will have drilled wells that provide groundwater for themselves. These are typically in more rural areas, but in areas with a high water table like much of Indiana, it can be common in suburban environments. Groundwater is almost always “Self Supplied” in that the people using the water are not sourcing it from a public system.
Because it is self-supplied, the government is not testing the water for you, in most cases, and you will have to have someone come to test your water. You should always schedule a water analysis before buying a home. c and j water will perform a water analysis for you for free, so schedule one today!
Other groundwater options include springs. Groundwater can be affected by many different types of contaminants sources such as industrial discharge, agricultural activities, improper waste disposal, and groundwater pumping.
Cisterns are another type of self-supplied water but do not collect groundwater and instead collect rainwater. Rainwater collection can be impacted by several different environmental contaminants such as wildlife, improper storage, and bacteria and chemicals in the rainwater itself.
Surface-Water
Surface water can come from many different areas such as rivers, ponds, and runoff. This type of water is typically supplied by the city or county in which you live (also known as “city water” or “publicly supplied water”). The majority of Americans receive their water from their local government.
But that doesn’t mean the water can’t have problems. It’s always a good idea to test the water in your home. Additionally, even if your household water is deemed safe, it may not be as healthy as other options.
Reasons to Want Healthy Water
Of course, it makes sense to want healthy water. However, you might not realize what that means. As we just mentioned, water can be safe while not being the best water for you and your situation. Let’s look at some areas you might want a different quality of water in.
Drinking and Cooking Water
This is the most obvious, but you want to make sure that what is going into your body is healthy. In some cases, it’s not even the water source that is the problem; it could be bad pipes or similar issues. Even the water that you use to cook pasta needs to be healthy because what’s in that water can get onto the food you are cooking.
Shower and Bath Water
While shower and bath water do not need to be potable or drinkable, there could be room for improvement. For instance, if the water has a bad sulfur smell, it can also make you smell like that, which many people dislike. Additionally, water that is very high in minerals can cause skin irritation and dryness.
Laundry Water
It’s not just the human impact that is the problem; it can even be down to how it affects your pipes or machinery. Water that’s higher in minerals can be harder to clean.
Water that has various particulate matter such as rust can discolor your clothing. Many water supplies have chlorine to kill bacteria, but this can bleach your clothing over time if the level is too high.
Garden Water
Sometimes homes have a separate water supply for gardens, and this water supply can have separate problems that could impact your plants. Additionally, even city water with its various added chemicals can impact the things you are trying to grow, particularly if you wish to grow organic produce.
Quality Water Solutions
Of course, this all leads up to that main question, “How do you actually improve the water quality in your home?” The best way to improve the water quality throughout your home is through a whole home water improvement system. But there are many different systems to get depending on your situation, so let’s take a look.
Water Softeners
Water softeners take out certain minerals from water, essentially making hard water soft. This can keep buildup from happening in pipes, damage to appliances, and prevent increased cleaning needs. Single tank water softeners are the most common, which replaces those harder minerals with a small amount of softer sodium. If you have larger water needs, a two-tank water softener is also available.
Hard Water
The definition of hard water has to do with how many dissolved minerals (calcium and magnesium, to be specific) are present in the water. To learn how hard water can affect your home, check out what the US government has to say.
Soft Water
Soft water is the result of water being softened. Sometimes it can even improve the taste of water. However, for the taste of coffee and tea, some people think removing so many minerals is too much – but it’s easy to add minerals back in, and it is not so easy to remove them. The system does add sodium, so it is important to be careful when selecting a system to check the amount of sodium that will be added for those who are sodium-sensitive.
Reverse Osmosis
Reverse osmosis is one of the most powerful systems as it removes all kinds of water issues. Heavy metals, organic and inorganic forms, and added chemicals like chlorine and fluoride are all removed with this system. It works by forcing water through a membrane that only has holes large enough for water to pass through.
Four stage reverse osmosis systems are the most premium. These send water through sediment filters as well as activated charcoal filters.
Chlorine Removal
Municipal water is often treated with chlorine, which can taste bad and potentially damage your health. It is good for the water to be disinfected, but you don’t need those chemicals anymore once it is in your home!
Dechlorination devices use catalytic carbon to remove both chlorine and chloramine (another common disinfectant). This will also improve the life of any water softener you have, as chlorine will damage the softener beads.
UV Light Bacteria Removal
This is a nice way to protect the water in your home. UV lights are proven to control many microbiological issues in water. And you don’t need to use any chemicals!
It is an excellent idea for well owners to consider a UV light bacteria removal system as your water is not under the jurisdiction of the EPA. It uses very little energy and is one of the most effective options on the market.
Now, it’s not enough to completely improve your water for drinking purposes, if that is your intention. In those cases, you should consider a UV light in conjunction with another filter like the water softener or reverse osmosis system. To learn more about how UV light bacteria removal devices can help you, check out our breakdown.
Filtering
Depending on where you live, larger contaminants may be in your water. This can be solved easily with a sediment or sand filter. This is especially important if you plan to have other water filtration devices that are meant to filter out more delicate and smaller particles.
What Else Should You Know?
Now that you know all about what quality water is and how to achieve it in your home, you’re probably looking for the perfect people to do it for you. c and j water offers reasonable prices, tons of options, and expert service. Whatever your water problems, we have the solutions – so contact us for a free quote today!
