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What is the Best Way to Purify Water?

You want to know your drinking water is safe. If you’re concerned about contamination and don’t want to buy bottled water, your best option may be a reverse osmosis system in your home. Below, we discuss different ways to filter and purify water. Filtration Some households opt for an in-line filtration system like a faucet mount or fridge filter for regular in-home use. These systems provide good-tasting water – removing chlorine taste and odor. They can also filter out minerals, including zinc, copper, and mercury.However, these carbon filtration systems can’t filter out many other harmful substances, such as pharmaceuticals in the water supply, lead, arsenic, viruses, and other microorganisms. Problems with in-line filters for everyday household use: Ineffective against microorganisms, lead, arsenic, and more Ineffective against more significant odor and aesthetic issues, e.g., sulfates of 2-3 parts per million Susceptible to sediment build

What Does Low pH Mean? Is It Safe for My Household?

Low pH water is slightly acidic. It will likely cause corrosion and leach metals from pipes and plumbing fixtures. Health-wise, the biggest concern with low-pH water comes from homes with copper pipes. Acidic water can pull copper from the lines, carrying those metals into your drinking water. While small amounts of copper are essential to our diet, significant, long-term exposure can cause health problems (Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry). Keep reading to learn more about your water quality and whether it’s time to treat your water. Here are the topics we will cover: What Does Low pH Mean? Is Low pH Safe for Drinking Water? What Causes Acidic Water? What Are the Signs of Acidic Water? Correcting pH and Treating Acidic Water What Does Low pH Mean? “pH” measures the acidity or alkalinity of water and other liquid solutions. The pH scale ranges from 0 to 14. Pure water has a pH of 7 and is considered neutral. Lower pH numbers indicate a s

Should There Be Iron In Your Well Water?

Pumping iron can give you stronger muscles. But what happens when your well system is pumping this metallic-tasting mineral? Learn more about how iron gets into the water source and what you can do about it. Why Is There Iron In My Well Water? Iron is one of the most abundant minerals on earth. So it’s not surprising when iron enters your well water. Iron can reach your well water through seepage and corrosion. Seepage happens when rainwater and snow melt travel through the ground. If the rocks and soil in your area contain high iron levels, traces of iron will hitch a ride and end up in your well water. In other cases, the iron in your well water could come from corrosion in your well casing or water pipes. Is The Iron In Well Water Bad for Me? Generally, iron in your drinking water is not considered hazardous to your health. After all, your body needs a certain iron level to function correctly. (However, you can’t easily absorb iron from water.) The Environmental Protect

The Benefits of Soft Water

We all learned in science class that water, or H2O, is a transparent, odorless, and tasteless molecule made of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. When taught that water took on several forms, including liquid, solid, and gas, it was easy to arrive at the notion that water makes a lasting impression on our lives. Maybe we thought all this scientific information was only relevant when preparing for a school test. Still, water composition continues to impact us daily as we address water quality in our homes. We use water for drinking, cooking, bathing, and cleaning, but are we aware of its content beyond that basic H2O molecule? What is vital for our existence is often barely considered in terms of quality for our personal and household use. We don’t have to give it much thought, do we? When we turn on a tap, we trust that pure, clean water comes out. But is it? Like you assess so many areas of your life for quality and efficiency, analyzing the water you use should be a prior

Why Are My Shower Head Nozzles Clogged?

Taking a shower is one of the simplest pleasures in life. The feeling of warm water has an almost magical effect on people. If you enjoy a good shower's calming, revitalizing, and cleaning effects, you know how important a good shower head is. A cheap, standard shower head is okay, but a simple upgrade to a bigger one or one with multiple settings can make your daily cleanse a luxurious experience. Investing in a new shower head is an investment in your comfort, but even the finest shower head will clog up with limescale after a while if you have hard water. Instead of replacing it or trying to clean the chalky residue off the nozzles, why not fix the problem at its source? What Causes Clogged Shower Head Nozzles? In most parts of the United States, it doesn’t take long for a brand-new shower head to get clogged up with limescale. It isn’t noticeable for a long time, but it is hard to fix or prevent once it starts. Limescale comprises calcium deposits that slowly grow in y

Why Does My Shower Door Have White Stains?

Most everyone loves a shower with doors. There’s no worrying about the shower curtain liner blowing around, and no annoying curtain rod or curtain loops that get stuck on the rod. If a shower door gets grimy, you can wipe it down instead of scrubbing a shower curtain liner or putting it through the washing machine just to throw it away and replace it with a new one. Shower doors look nicer and make a bathroom feel more complete until it gathers chalky hard water stains. These stains are called scale buildup or limescale, and they don’t just wipe off nicely with a rag. Limescale is annoying, ugly, and hard to remove if you don’t know how, and if you don’t change anything about the hardness of your water, it will keep coming back. What is Limescale? Limescale is a layer of minerals left behind by your water. Even if your water looks clear and tastes okay, it likely carries minerals picked up from underneath the ground that make it hard. Hard water carries ten or

Common Misunderstandings: Hard Water and Kidney Stones

For some reason, there are many myths about tap water. People have claimed that hard water is the cause of a million different ailments, some with scientific backing, but many without, so it becomes essential to address some of these rumors and misunderstandings. A common myth about hard water is that it causes kidney stones. Does Hard Water Cause Kidney Stones? The claim among many who believe that hard water causes kidney stones is that the extra calcium in hard water clumps up and hardens into solid stones in your kidneys because there is too much for your body to process. It sounds reasonable, but is it true? The answer is complicated and requires a deeper dive into hard water and how the human body reacts. What is Hard Water? Simply put, hard water is water with dissolved calcium and magnesium above tolerable levels. This contamination is commonly measured in grains per gallon (GPG). Most city and well water supplies contain calcium and magnesium because most water comes from gro

Why Does My Water Taste Bad Even Though It Looks Clear?

Water seems like a straightforward thing, right? Two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom combine to create the most essential element in the whole world. It fills oceans, rivers, ponds, lakes, and pools, making up a large percentage of every living creature’s body. Since it’s the most central substance to our survival, you would think we would all be experts in it, but water is a surprisingly complex liquid. This is primarily due to water’s unique properties. Water is nature’s universal solvent and wants to take a little of everything it touches. That means water that hasn’t been purified can have all kinds of dissolved contaminants. So many things can be dissolved into or suspended in water, and they all affect taste. Water from a well will taste different than municipal (city) water, just as wells and cities differ. Everything it touches between the source and your glass will influence your water's flavor. What is Making my Water Taste Bad? Purified, fil

City Living: Is a WaterCare® Water Softener the Right Solution?

Maybe you are a new homeowner looking to buy your first house, or perhaps you have lived in a rural setting your whole life and have decided to finally make the jump to the big city. Identifying how your water is supplied to the new home plays a key factor in how you need to treat it. Water that comes directly to your home from the city is a remarkable convenience. However, there are still some common city water problems that should be addressed if you want pure, clean water for years to come. Where Does My Water Come From? There are two main sources where most homeowners get their water from. In most cases your water either comes from a municipality (city water) or from a private water well. The easiest way to tell if your water supply comes from a private well is to look to see if you have a pressure tank. A pressure tank keeps the water pressure coming from the well at a constant level. The pressure tank uses compressed air to push the water out of the tank and into your home. If y

Tannins: What's That in My Water?

Have you recently turned on your kitchen sink and thought, why does my water look so disgusting? Yellowish-brown water is not something you hope to see in your water supply. While several factors could contribute to this issue, one of the main culprits behind discoloration in water is tannins. Tannins are an especially tricky problem to tackle. It is essential first to understand how tannins made their way into the water supply, how you can test for tannins, and, most importantly, how to remove them so you and your family can enjoy clean water in your home. What are Tannins and How Did They Get in My Water? Tannins in water are organic or natural materials that are the byproduct of a natural fermentation process. This breakdown of vegetation can often affect your home’s water supply when your groundwater source travels through decaying vegetation and soil, collecting these organic materials as it makes their way toward your well. If water passes through much of this material, it

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