Whether your tap water comes from a public water supply or a private well, the quality of the water is vital to your family’s health and well-being. There are always unwanted—and potentially harmful—minerals, microorganisms, bacteria, or elements, such as lead, that can get into your drinking water. Some of these contaminants may be harmless—for instance, the water may not taste good—while others could be detrimental to your health. To ensure your family is getting nothing but pure, clean water from your faucets, you will want to install a home water filtration system that removes contaminants.

Well Water Issues

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) does not regulate private wells. If you are among the 13 million homes in the US that have one, you are responsible for your own drinking water safety. Wells can be contaminated from human activity, such as chemical manufacturing, or naturally occurring sources, such as radon from rocks.

Here are some of the contaminants commonly found in well water and how they can affect your health:

1. Microorganisms, such as bacteria, viruses, and parasites, can cause gastrointestinal illness.
2. Nitrate and nitrite from chemical fertilizers and animal or human waste can reduce the blood’s ability to carry oxygen and cause death in infants. 
3. Heavy metals, such as arsenic, cadmium, copper, and lead from household pipes and industrial operations can lead to acute and chronic toxicity and liver, kidney, and intestinal damage, anemia, and cancer.
4. Organic chemicals from dyes, pesticides, solvents, and pharmaceuticals can cause kidney, liver, circulatory system, nervous system, and reproductive system failure.
5. Radionuclides from radioactive elements, such as uranium, come from nuclear power production. However, they may also be present in groundwater can cause toxic kidney effects and increase the risk of cancer.
6. Fluoride, which can occur naturally in aquifers or as a supplement in municipal water supplies, can help prevent tooth decay. However, too much fluoride can cause skeletal fluorosis, causing pain and tenderness of bones and joints.
   

Public Water Concerns

While the United States water system is one of the safest globally, the water can be contaminated at the source, in the distribution system, or even in your home.

A 2020 study by Purdue University, the largest of its kind, found that the water quality from your home faucet can differ from the water quality at the public source:

• 10% of the time, disinfectant was not found in water entering the home, meaning the water was not protected from bacteria that could contaminate it.
• Water pH fluctuated once in the house, which can indicate the presence of toxic elements or bacteria. If the water is alkaline, mineral buildup in the pipes can cause corrosion, affecting water quality.
• There were significant fluctuations in organic carbon, which could lead to increased growth of microorganisms.
• Some lead-free plumbing components leached lead.
• Water quality varied between seasons.
  

What You Can Do

If you have a private well, you should test the water every year for coliform bacteria, nitrates, total dissolved solids, and pH levels. If there are known groundwater problems in your area or you notice a change in water quality, you should also do testing.

If you have water from a public supply, then you should receive an annual report on the system’s water quality. You should get your water tested if you notice an odor, bad taste, sulfur or chlorine smell, discoloration, cloudiness, or people in your home have frequent gastrointestinal problems. 

While some contaminants are easier to identify because your water smells or tastes bad, others can go undetected. The only way to know for sure they are in your water is to have it tested. Some undetectable water contaminants include:

• Arsenic
• Nitrates
• Lead
• PFOs

How A Water Filtration System Works

Water filters remove impurities from your water via a filter or barrier that can be mesh or carbon or via reverse osmosis. The latter uses a partially permeable membrane to separate ions, unwanted molecules, and larger particles from drinking water. 

For instance, the Puronics Reverse Osmosis under-sink systems provide clean water to your faucet on demand. These have multiple filtration systems, including:

• A mechanical 5-micron graded density filter protects the system from dirt, rust, and sediment as small as 2/10,000 of an inch.
• Ultra-filtration (UF). An ultra-fine filter acts as a barrier to parasites such as Giardia and Cryptosporidium.
• Activated Carbon Absorption, which ensures maximum dechlorination.
• Reverse Osmosis with FilmTec® TFC membranes reduces dissolved solids, including sodium, selenium, arsenic, lead, copper, cadmium, and hexavalent.
  

The combination progressively reduces fine particles and other common water contaminants. In addition, it is an affordable option that does not use electricity to work, also making it energy efficient.

The Top 9 Benefits of Water Filtration Systems

There are many benefits to installing a water filtration system in your home:

Benefit #1: Safe and Healthy Water

An Aqualite filtration system will remove harmful contaminants and pollutants from your water and inhibit bacteria growth in the filter. As a result, you will have peace of mind knowing the water your family drinks, bathes in, and cooks with is the purest, safest, and cleanest water possible. 

Benefit #2: Clear, Good-Tasting Drinking Water

Since filtration removes chemicals, microorganisms, and other contaminants from your drinking water, the water from your tap will taste better. When your water tastes better, you drink more of it, which is good for proper hydration and your health!

Benefit #3: A Healthier Environment

If your water does not taste good and is not refreshing, you may be more likely to buy bottled water. When you drink tap water in a reusable bottle, you eliminate plastic waste. Of all trash, plastics are the most harmful to the environment and can take 450 years to decompose.  

Benefit #4: Cleaner Dishes

A water filtration system leaves less soap scum on your dishes, making them look cleaner when they come out of the dishwasher.

Benefit #5: Longer-Lasting Clothes

Contaminants in your water supply can cause your clothes’ color to fade and fibers to break down faster. Filtered water will help your clothes last longer and smell better. 

Benefit #6: Clearer, Brighter Skin

Impurities in your water can dry your skin and cause it to be itchy and irritated. With fewer minerals in the water, your skin can hold moisture better. Plus, when you drink more filtered water, better hydration makes your skin smoother and more radiant. 

Benefit #7: Fewer Plumbing issues

When minerals, metals, and chemicals are in your water, they can cause corrosion and scale buildup in your pipes, causing them to clog.

Benefit #8: Longer-Lasting Appliances

A water filtration system can extend the life of appliances that use water. Scale buildup inside the devices makes them work harder. As a result, dishwashers, washing machines, coffee machines, ice makers, and water heaters do not last as long.

Benefit #9: Lower Home Energy Bills 

Scale buildup in your pipes can narrow the space for water to pass through and decrease your water heater’s efficiency by 50%. As a result, it must work harder to heat the water, thus leading to higher home energy costs. For example, according to the non-profit Water Quality Association (WQA), scale deposits will cause a 4% increase in gas costs for a storage-tank water heater when using 50 gallons of hot water per day.

Now what? The first step is to test your water. Aqualite offers free in-home water testing for both city water and private wells. We look for hard-to-identify problems that affect water quality and could impact your health. Based on the results from the initial test, our water technician will discuss the findings and review recommendations and possible solutions with you. Contact us today to find the best water filtration system for your home!