If you are
connected to a municipal supply, call the water
Superintendent, or City Hall. They can either provide the answer, or direct you
to the proper individual. Remember the conversion factor:
it takes 17.1 PPM to equal 1 GPG. In other words, if your water has 171 PPM
calcium in it, divide 171 by 17.1 to get the answer in grains. This
example would be 10 grains, or GPG.
If you are
on a private supply, you could contact your county extension
agent: collect a sample in an approved container and send to the city or state
health department for testing: find a testing lab (try the
yellow pages). By the way, if you are on a private well, YOU, AND YOU ALONE
are responsible for the safety of the water you and your family
drink. You should test your supply for bacteria at least once per year and other
contaminants at least every three years -- more under
certain conditions.
If your water tests
over 3 GPG hard, you should mechanically soften it. Softening
water that is less than 3 GPG, while it makes your shaving and bathing more
comfortable, is considered a luxury due to the fact that the
cost is more than your savings. Over 3 GPG, you will save enough to pay for the
cost and maintenance of a water
conditioner.
As of this writing, the most economical
way for you to soften your household water is with an ion
exchange water softener. This unit uses sodium chloride (salt) to recharge
man made plastic like beads that exchange hardness minerals
for sodium. As the hard water passes through and around the plastic like
beads, the hardness minerals (ions) attach themselves to the bead,
dislodging the sodium ions. This process is called "ion exchange".
When the plastic bead, called Resin, has no sodium ions left,
it is exhausted, and can soften no more water. The resin is recharged by
flushing with salt water. The sodium ions force the hardness ions
off the resin beads; then the excess sodium is rinsed away, and the resin is
ready to start the process all over again. This cycle can be
repeated many, many time before the resin loses it's ability to react to these
forces.
Make sure to choose a unit that has enough resin to treat all the
water you and your family will use. As of this writing, the
average usage per day, per person (including children), for inside the house is
87 gallons. You should also be shown two or three ways to
initiate recharging the unit.
Initiate recharge is by electronic sensing. By electronically
checking the resin, these units can determine when the resin
needs to be recharged -- this is a great help when your water hardness changes,
when you have extra company or when you are gone for a
few days. These 'sensor' units can save you up to 42% of your salt and recharge
water as well as keep you in soft water when you have extra
guests.
When the hardness minerals are
removed, soap no longer forms a soap curd, or "bathtub ring" on
your skin, plugging your pores, clinging to every strand of
hair. You are now truly clean. That slick, slimy feeling you feel is your natural
body oils -- without the soap scum. The old saying that you
get "squeaky clean" is a myth; that feeling was caused by the soap
scum on your skin. By the way, that soap scum provided an
excellent place for bacteria to hide and grow, causing numerous minor skin
ailments.
Stinky
Water
First, you must learn a little about your
nose: Once you smell some things, your sense of smell is
dulled for a short while, and you can't make accurate judgments of smell. For
instance, if I blindfold you, let you smell gasoline, hand you a
piece of onion to eat and tell you it is an apple, you can't tell it's not because
your nose isn't working properly!! (Your sense of taste isn't
working either -- smell and taste are closely related and affect each other!)
So, to correctly
analyze your problem, you need to become a detective. The best
time to locate the smell is after you have been away from home for a few hours
-- this allows your nose to become sensitive to "that
smell" again. With your 'sensitized' nose, go to an outside spigot -- one
that the raw, untreated water flows from. Turn it on, let it run a
few minutes, then smell it. If it smells -- we found it. If not, we must look
further. (Many, many smells are not in the raw water at all, they
are introduced into the water inside the house.) Go to a cold, treated water
spigot inside the house, turn it on and let it run a minute; then
smell. If this water smells, and the outside, untreated water didn't -- you must
have a device (cartridge filter, water softener, etc.) in the
water line that needs to be cleaned and sanitized.
If it is a cartridge, replace the element
and sanitize the housing. If you have a water conditioner
sanitize the unit. You can sanitize the unit by pouring Hydrogen
Peroxide or Chlorine Bleach in the brine well of the salt tank, and
placing the unit into regeneration. Refer to product installation and
maintenance instructions.
If the cold, treated water inside didn't smell, turn on the
hot water and let it run a few minutes -- does it smell? If it does, chances are
you have a sacrificial anode inside your hot water heater that is
"coming apart at the seams" and throwing off a "rotten
egg" odor. This obnoxious smell will drive you right out of
your shower! The only solution is to remove the anode from the heater,
voiding your warranty, or replace it with a new one made with
aluminum alloy. This anode is placed in a (glass lined) hot water heater to seal
up any cracks in the glass lining and prevent corrosion of
the heater tank. You will find the anode on the top of the heater; remove the
tin cover and insulation -- look for what looks like a pipe plug --
about 3/4 inch in size with a 1 1/16"fitting. Turn off the heat source and
the water; have someone hold the tank to prevent it from
turning, and unscrew the "plug". You will find that the 'plug' has a
30 - 40 " long pipe (or what's left of one) attached to it.
Hopefully, most of the rod is still attached -- just corroded. If so, replace the
plug with a real pipe plug and throw the anode away. If part of
the rod has corroded off, and fallen into the heater, you may have to try to fish
it out. Either way, before you plug the hole, pour about 2
pints of chlorine bleach into the heater first. This will kill the smell left in the
heater. If, after a week or so, the smell returns, you must fish
out the rod that is in the bottom of the tank. Good Luck!
First, you must determine what is
causing the smell, and how strong it is.
If it is a
minor, or low-level smell, you MIGHT be able to solve it with a small,
point-of-use kdf/carbon filter. You can place these types of filters on
kitchen counter, undersink, shower, inline going to the cold water where you
draw you drinking water. Or, you might solve it with a
whole-house filter on your incoming water line to filter all of the water inside
your home.
You must be
careful not to exceed the manufactures recommended flow -- some filters even
have a flow restriction built in them. If you run water
through them too fast, you will not remove the smells. Whenever you place a
carbon filter in your water line, you must be sure to replace
the element and sanitize the housing on a regular basis.
Strong, rotten-egg odors in the raw
water is usually the result of the decomposition of decaying underground
organic deposits. As water is drawn to the surface, hydrogen
sulfide gas can be released to the atmosphere. In strong concentrations, this
gas is flammable and poisonous. It rapidly tarnishes silver,
turning it black. It is toxic to aquarium fish in sufficient quantities. As little as
0.5 ppm hydrogen sulfide can be tasted in your drinking
water.
There are many basic filters to solve this
problem.
Installation of a whole house filter
loaded with a media that is specific for hydrogen sulfide removal
is successful many times. These types of filters must be recharged with
chlorine or potassium permanganate. The removal capacities of
these types of filters are usually fairly low, and must be sized to contain
enough media to prevent premature exhaustion, and subsequent
passage of the smell to service. It is also typical that the amount of hydrogen
sulfide can fluctuate rapidly, causing great difficulty in sizing
the unit. In addition, potassium permanganate is extremely
"messy", and will leave stains that are very difficult to
remove.
Stains
Red stains are normally caused by iron
in the water. You must test to determine the amount and the
type of iron you have. Some types are: oxidized, soluble, bacteria or
organic-bound. All are a problem! It only takes 0.3 ppm to stain
clothes, fixtures, etc.
This type of iron is usually found in a
surface water supply. This is water that contains red particles when first drawn
from the tap. The easiest way to remove this type of iron is
by a fine mechanical filter.
Soluble iron is
called "clear water" iron. After being drawn form the
well and contacting the air, the iron oxidizes, or "rusts", forming
reddish brown particles in the water. Depending on the
amount of iron in the water, you may solve this problem with a water
conditioner, or a combination of softener and filter. You may use an
iron filter that recharges with chlorine or potassium permanganate, or feed
chemicals to oxidize the iron and then filter it with a
mechanical filter. You can sometimes hide the effects of soluble iron by adding
chemicals that, in effect, coat the iron in the water and
prevent it from reaching oxygen and oxidizing.
Iron
bacteria are living organisms that feed on the iron found in the water, pipes,
fittings, etc. They build slime all along the water flow path.
Occasionally, the slimy growths break free, causing extremely discolored
water. If a large slug breaks loose, it can pass through to the point
of use, plugging fixtures. These types of bacteria are becoming more common
throughout the United States. If you suspect bacteria iron,
look for a reddish or green slime buildup in your toilet flush tank. To confirm
your suspicions, gather a sample of this slime and take it to
your local health department, or water department for observation under the
microscope. This type of iron problem is very hard to
eliminate. You must kill the bacteria, usually by chlorination. You must use
high amounts of chlorine throughout your plumbing system
to kill all organisms. You may find it necessary to feed chlorine continuously
to prevent regrowth. A filter alone will not solve this
problem.
When iron combines with tannins and
other organics, complexes are formed that cannot be
removed by ion exchange or oxidizing filters. This iron may be mistaken for
colloidal iron. Test for tannins; if they are present, it is most
likely combined with the iron. Low level amounts of this pest can be removed
by use of a kdf/carbon filter, which absorbs the complex. You
must replace the bed when it becomes saturated. Higher amounts require
feeding chlorine to oxidize the organics to break apart from the
iron and cause both to precipitate into a filterable particle.
You either have
copper in your water supply, or you have copper pipes and
corrosive water. Test for copper in your water. Test the pH, total dissolved
solids content and the oxygen content of your
water.
Copper in your water supply can be
removed by ion exchange, ie, a water softener. The removal rate
is about the same as it is for iron.
What is Cryptosporidiosis
?
Cryptosporidiosis is a disease caused by the parasite
Cryptosporidium parvum, which as late as 1976 was not known to cause
disease in humans. Until 1993, when over 400,000 people in
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, became ill with diarrhea after drinking contaminated
with the parasite, few people had heard of either
crytosporidiosis or the single-celled protozoon that causes
it.
Since the Milwaukee outbreak,
concern over the safety of drinking water in the United States has increased,
and new attention has been focused on determining and
reducing the risk for cryptosporidiosis from community and municipal water
supplies.
Water testing
A basic test
for elements other than bacteria can be done at home using kits available on
our Home Page
Several
factors will influence when and how often you test your water. Where do you
get your water from? Has that source changed? Have you
done any plumbing changes lately? Is there reason to believe that your water
is contaminated? Is there a sickness or illness in your family
affecting more than one person and over a longer than normal time period?
If you receive your
water from a "Public Supply", ie, a municipal
supply, or a supply that provides water to more than 25 persons for 60 days per
year (some states are different -- check with YOUR local
water department), you can be fairly certain that the water supply is checked
on a regular basis. The frequency of the testing is based on the
number of people served, and may vary from more than once per week to once
per month, or even less. Under these conditions, test when
you move into a new residence to acquire a "base line" of
contaminant level, if any. Retest every three years, unless you have
reason to believe that something has changed that could affect the quality of
your water.
If you have a private well, you are the only person who is
responsible for the water your family drinks and bathes in. I recommend
testing by your local Health Department every six months for
Bacteria and Nitrate. These two tests serve as indicators for other types of
contaminations -- that is not to say forget the other tests; just
that if you get a "bad" test from them, you should also retest for the
other types of contaminants as well. Private wells should be
tested on a regular basis for Pesticides, Herbicides, Metals, Organic and
Inorganic chemicals and volatiles. Currently, no laws govern the
frequency of such testing -- that is why YOU are the only person responsible
for your family's water. We recommend an initial test (for a
base line), and then at least once per year. Remember, one day after testing and
finding "no contaminants", your source could
become contaminated.
Coliform bacteria are a group of microorganisms that are
normally found in the intestinal tract of humans and other warm
blooded animals, and in surface water. The presence of these organisms in
drinking water suggest contamination from a surface or shallow
subsurface source such as cesspool leakage, barnyard runoff or other source.
The presence of these bacteria indicate that disease-causing
(pathogenic) organisms may enter the drinking water supply in the same
manner if preventive action is not taken. Drinking water should
be free of coliforms.
Cysts and viruses are microbiological contaminants, usually
found in surface water supplies. Giardia lamblia cysts can
cause giardiasis, a gastrointestinal disease. Another "bug" getting a
lot of attention lately, is cryptosporidium, single-cell
parasite measuring about 2 - 5 microns in diameter. Many surface water
supplies contain this pest, which also comes from the intestine of
warm blooded animals.
Nitrate in drinking water supplies may reduce the oxygen
carrying capacity of the blood (cyanosis) if ingested in sufficient
amounts by infants under 6 months of age. This could cause a disease called
"methemoglobinemia", or "blue baby"
syndrome. The EPA has established a maximum contaminant level (MCL) for
nitrate at 10 mg/l (ppm) measured as N. Unlike coliform or
other types of bacteria, boiling the water will actually INCREASE the amount
of nitrate remaining in the water, increasing the danger to
infants. If you have high nitrate water, treate the water with water treatment
system or find another source: Boiling will only make it
worse!
Lead is now known
to leach from older sweat joints in copper pipe. As the water
sits in the pipes, small amounts of lead 'dissolve' into the water, contaminating
it. Lead is particularly harmful to small children as they
more rapidly absorb the toxic substance into their systems. The EPA has
estimated that more than 40 million U.S. residents use water that
contains more than the recommended levels.
