Complete Guide to Iron Filters

Due to recent news reports of tainted water passing into the drinking system of major cities around the world, there has been a renewed interest in the quality of water that people drink. After all, not all water is the same. There has also been an increase in demand for iron water filters and water treatment systems that help supplement the naturally-occurring minerals in most of the water we drink. Communities that live far from the city typically rely on well water for their needs. While this water is generally safe, it needs to be treated with iron filters or water treatment systems to ensure it has the right properties at the proper concentrations.

Why iron filters?

Naturally-occurring water may contain iron, hydrogen sulfide, and manganese among others. While these metals do occur in the human body in minuet quantities, they can be more concentrated in water thus becoming contaminants. High dosages of undissolved ferric or ferrous iron can also be present. This is responsible for the characteristic “orange-brown” water that sometimes comes out of the faucet the first time its turned on. If your water has iron in concentrations of 3 to 4 parts-per-million, then an iron filtration system is necessary. In a nutshell, how can you tell you need to purchase and install an iron filter?

When the water coming out of your faucet is orange-brown
When the water has a distinctive “metallic” taste
When the water pressure seems low
When the water-based beverages made from that water taste different
When the clothes washed in that water transform into a dull color

How does an iron filter work?

The best iron filters will begin the process by pre-treating the water via oxidation. This is achieved using an oxidant such as ozone, chlorine or hydrogen peroxide. This pre-treatment serves to enlarge the iron particles making them easier to remove.

Next comes the actual filtration process. This is the mechanism whereby the enlarged iron particles are removed. The best iron filters in the market are those that are able to do the best job when it comes to pretreatment.

Filtration is not a complicated science. Once the iron particles are enlarged, they are unable to pass through the chemical filter which only allows clean water. This process also continues into backwashing where the iron particles are completely forced out and eliminated by the filter.

Iron filtration achieves the following:

It completely removes ferric iron from the water. The result is clean, sparkling water which looks and tastes great
It eliminates the metallic taste in making water taste awesome
It eliminates any odor which is common in unfiltered water

At Reynolds Water Conditioning Company, we are here to help make sure our clients don’t buy water treatment systems that they don’t need. We are here to make sure you find a water softening system that gives you the results you are looking for, whether it is to remove iron or odor from you water; we have a solution that will help! For more information contact our experts at 800.572.9575 or at our website https://reynoldswater.com.

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Is Bottled Water Left in Your Hot Car Safe to Drink?

HOUSTON – How often do you leave a plastic water bottle in your car and take a couple of days to finish it? A drink here, a swig there. Meanwhile, the summer sun is heating up your car and that plastic bottle.

You’ve heard the warnings about toxins that can leach from the bottle into the water and ultimately make you sick. Consumer expert Amy Davis wanted to test those claims.

You probably planned to drink that whole bottle of water that you carried into your car in one sitting; but then you put it in the cup holder. Davis took one of those unfinished water bottles to Envirodyne Laboratories to find out what was in the water.

She also took a new unopened bottle that had been sitting in her hot car for the same period of time.

They didn’t test for the potentially cancer-causing toxins, but other researchers have before.

A University of Florida study measured the level of BPA that leached into water from 16 plastic bottles heated to 158 degrees over 4 weeks. Only one exceeded the federal standard for BPA. Researchers concluded “storage at warm temperatures would seem to not be a big problem” when it comes to cancer concerns.

What testers found in Davis’ water bottle was troubling.

“We had total coliform counts greater than 2420,” explained Laura Bojonia of Envirodyne. “We had heterotrophic plate counts greater than 73,000.”

There were unsafe levels of bacteria. While total coliform can be found in the dirt and dust in the air, its presence indicates that conditions are perfect for its friends, like E-coli, to move in.

“And with the warm conditions of a car in the summertime, it’s a breeding ground for the bacteria,” Bonjonia said.

The unopened bottle had no coliform, E-coli or other bacteria. The bottle shared between Davis and her children had levels that would make a public water system issue health warnings.

“Then that’s when they even have to go into the boil water notices and public notices and that sort of thing,” Bonjonia explained.

Bacteria like E-coli can cause gastrointestinal issues like vomiting and diarrhea. If you’re a parent, you would just assume your kid picked up a bug from school or day care when it could be that hot bottle of water in your car. Bonjonia said of you don’t finish a bottle of water before you get out of your car, you should take it with you. Refrigeration helps slow the growth of bacteria.

Original Source: https://www.click2houston.com/consumer/is-bottled-water-left-in-your-hot-car-safe-to-drink

Original Date: July 23 2018

Original Author: Amy Davis

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The Reality of Hard Water In Your Home

The water supply in your household can arguably be stated to be the single most important within your home. Next, in order of importance for the comfort of its occupants being waste drain and electrical systems. The water in your home is of absolute importance in order to live comfortably within your home. Running water is not only convenient it is crucial. The quality of the water in your home is extremely important as it not only affects the appliances and plumbing systems, it can affect the health of your family.

Undesirable Effects of Hard Water

Water supplies throughout the United States are not all created equally which is why it is of the utmost importance that your household water is evaluated prior to use. There are however, some tell-tale signs that can be seen throughout your home that are dead giveaways on whether your home has or does not have hard water or water that has arsenic or other adverse elements within it.

Many homeowners may not even be aware of the damage that hard water can actually create physical damage to their home. Often times hard water can cause serious damage to your homes plumbing while also doing damage to appliances such as your dishwasher and washer and families clothing.

One tell-tale sign that you have hard water is finding a film on dishes after running a load of dishes through the dishwasher, staining on the faucets and fixtures within the home or landscaping, or a smaller than normal lather when working with soaps and shampoos.

How Water Softener Systems Work to Combat the Undesirable Effects of Hard Water

Many residential water systems work in the same manner, they hook up to your homes water inlet from the city or well system. In order for water to be softened the outside source of water must be hooked up to a water treatment system. There are many different options in water treatment systems that can be installed in your home to treat your homes hard water, the most common being a water softener system using salt or potassium chloride.

The typical process of water softening uses a typical Ion Exchange which uses salt or potassium chloride to replace the minerals in the water that makes it hard. This ion exchange system consists of using more than one tank and a flow control system that first removes all of the minerals and mixes the salt back into the water before discharging it into the household’s water system.

How Safe Is Softener Water?

According to most health experts, softened water is safe to use a s a source of usable water and quality drinking water although an excess can be harmful as we can see in the excess consumption of anything. An excess of sodium or a reduction in naturally occurring minerals within a water supply can be unhealthy however when used normally as is seen within household water usage the health benefits of soft water our weigh the possible harmful effects.

Most water softener systems use some sort of process that strips away most of the minerals and replaces them with higher levels of sodium. This means if you have high blood pressure or one of several heart-related conditions your doctor will likely have you on a no or low sodium diet. If this is the case, then you may want to consider the source of your water before choosing a water softening treatment system for your home.

Sodium is not the only health concern, trace minerals and other nutrients that you may not be aware that are in found in your typical “hard water” are actually extremely good for you. Without them you would need to resort to other sources, such as supplementation or altering your daily diet to increase the amount of the important minerals. Water softening does not eliminate minerals it does however, decrease the amount that can be found to a healthy amount to ingest.

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Experts Share How To Drink Tap Water Safely

As recent research shows that both bottled and tap water can be tainted with contaminants including microplastics, many consumers may wonder about their safest option for consuming H2O.

No matter the water source, it’s likely to contain some type of contaminant, said Dr. Eric Roy, founder of water filtration company Hydroviv, which was developed in response to the lead contamination crisis in Flint, Michigan.

A study conducted by the Natural Resources Defense Council revealed that tap water in every state has potentially harmful contaminants, including arsenic.

Water contamination comes in two main classifications, according to Roy. These include biological contaminants, including living organisms like bacteria or viruses, that can cause illness if ingested.

“There’s also chemical contamination, which are things that you may not realize are even in the water,” said Roy. “However, by drinking it over time, it can increase your risk of cancer and things like that.”

“It really comes down to what people are willing to tolerate for risk,” Roy added.

Fortunately, water supplies in most homes in the United States are biologically safe, according to Roy.

Most contaminants aren’t considered to be harmful at low levels by the Environmental Protection Agency or the World Health Organization, according to NSF International (formerly known as the National Sanitation Foundation).

However, some contaminants can pose significant health threats. Some cities in the U.S., including Portland, Oregon, and Pittsburgh, continue to experience rising lead levels exceeding the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) action level.

The EPA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) consider no level of lead exposure to be safe, particularly for children.

“When you have old pipes, that’s just kind of what happens,” Roy said. “In fact, in a lot of places in the country, it’s actually getting worse.”

It’s important to keep in mind that there isn’t a magic wand solution for making a water supply completely contaminant-free, Roy said.

“You can’t just be like, ‘If I run this through a Brita pitcher, it’s going to get rid of stuff,’ because it’s not,” he said.

Experts say that customers should figure out and understand what types of contaminants may be lurking in their water supply before determining the best method of filtering them out.

Finding out what’s in your water

One way for homeowners to find out about what kind of contamination could be present in their water supply is to obtain a copy of their water quality report, or consumer confidence report, according to NSF International.

The detailed report can reveal the possible cause of any undesirable taste, color or smell in your water. It also helps to identify contaminants present in tap water and the impact they pose to human health.

A report can include essential information on detected contaminant levels, the contaminant’s potential source and if water in your community exceeded the maximum contaminant level.

It’s required by the EPA that most community water systems provide the report to customers each year, NSF International reported.

More than 15 million American households rely on private wells for their drinking water, according to the CDC.

“Private wells are completely unregulated by the EPA,” Roy said. “It’s up to the homeowner to test their water for things like arsenic [and other contaminants].”

What to know about water treatment

Once your water’s contaminants are identified, consumers can work to find the best treatment options for their concerns. However, not all filters can reduce all contaminants, according to NSF International.

“Filters and water treatment devices bearing certification marks from an independent third party are a quick and easy way to ensure safer drinking water,” said Rick Andrew, a drinking water treatment and filtration expert at NSF International.

“This certification means that the product’s claims to reduce contaminants such as arsenic, lead, perfluorooctanoic acid, microcystin and radium have been validated, and homeowners can be confident the system will do what it says it will.”

When it comes to home water treatment systems, consumers have multiple options, Andrew said.

“Point-of-use (POU) systems treat the water where you drink or use your water, and include water pitchers, faucet filters and reverse osmosis (RO) systems,” he said.

Consumers also have the option of whole-house/point-of-entry (POE) systems, which treat the water as it enters a home, according to Andrew.

“They’re usually installed near the water meter for municipal water or the pressurized storage tank for well water,” he said.

Whole-house systems include UV microbiological systems, water softeners or whole-house filters for chlorine, taste, odor and particulates, Andrew said.

Original Article: https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/how-to-ensure-that-your-tap-water-is-safe-mostly-contaminant-free/70004593

Original Author: Ashley Williams

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Removing Hard Water With A Water Softener

Before we discuss water softeners, it’s essential that one gains an understanding of what hard water is and how it affects you and your family. Hard water refers to water with a higher-than-usual mineral content. This is typically the case with water that is extracted from areas with large deposits of calcium and magnesium carbonates (naturally occurring in areas with limestone and chalk). While it can be argued that hard water does have some health benefits for humans, it can also pose some serious problems to homes and industry found in these areas.

Recognizing Hard Water

Here are a few ways you can recognize the presence of hard water:

If your water fails to foam or lather up when exposed to soap, you most likely have hard water.
Hard water is also responsible for corroding metal. This will show in faucets and sinks that are not covered with an anti-corrosive coating. Other equipment exposed to this water may also begin to corrode over time.
If used to fill a swimming pool, it manifests a “milky” cloud in the water. This occurs when the calcium in the water reacts with the carbon dioxide present in the air.

Softening Hard Water

Hard water can be “softened” using a water softener. Water softening is the chemical process of removing calcium and magnesium (among other metals) from the water. The end result is water that responds well to soap and which has little or no corrosive effect on metals. Water softening is thus a good idea especially in residential and business buildings because there will be less corrosion in the plumbing system and other critical equipment.

If you suspect you have hard water, then you may want to consider purchasing and installing a water softening system. A quick search online will yield high-quality, local, water softener installation and repair companies. Some are costlier than others depending on the features and capacity. Sometimes they’re known as water purification systems, water conditioners, or water filtration.

For residential homes, water softeners can be installed as a complete system costing thousands of dollars or a point of use filter which has a lower capacity and can be more affordable.

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Hard Water at Home: What Are the Effects?

(BPT) Hard water, which contains high levels of calcium and magnesium, can be found in nearly 90 percent of American homes. These minerals cause scaling, a buildup that clogs waterlines and plumbing forcing appliances to work harder and operate less efficiently. The scale may also harbor bacteria. The only way to truly remove the hard and soft scale from household water systems is with salt-based water softeners.

The benefits of salt-based water softening are significant. Hard water scaling can cause your showerhead to lose up to 75 percent of its flow rate in 18 months. Hard water also interacts negatively with soap, reducing its cleaning power. Soft water is up to 12 times more effective at cleaning dishes than increasing the amount of detergent used.

According to the Water Quality Research Foundation for washing machines, the most important factor in removing stains from clothing was water softness. Reduction of water hardness was up to 100 times more effective at stain removal than increasing the detergent dose or washing with hotter water. In fact, soft water can reduce soap use by as much as half. Hard water can also reduce the efficiency of water heaters and increase electricity costs by as much as 48 percent, according to the Battelle Memorial Institute.

Hard water scaling can also affect your health. The piping used in home plumbing, whether copper or PVC, has very smooth interior surfaces that don’t permit bacteria to settle and grow. However, hard water results in scale formation on the interior surfaces of those pipes, providing a perfect home for bacteria.

Researchers at the School of Sustainable Engineering at Arizona State University found bacteria may grow in pipes filled with hard scale and soft scale at the same rate. This is important because some forms of water conditioning produce this soft scale. The solution is to remove hard and soft scale in the pipes with a salt-based water softener.

Hard water you use to wash your fresh fruits and vegetables may contain more bacteria, and the problem isn’t only in the kitchen. When you take a hot shower, the steam you are inhaling can also contain the same microbial contamination that is in the rest of your plumbing, exposing you to bacteria such as Legionella, which can cause Legionnaire’s disease.

A salt-based water softener is the most functional and cost-effective means of removing hardness minerals. It is a tool to improve health and lower maintenance costs for home appliances like dishwashers and washing machine. It also reduces the need for detergents and high-water temperatures, leading to a smaller household carbon footprint.

Original source: https://www.jewishlinknj.com/real-estate/25791-hard-water-at-home-what-are-the-effects

Original Date: June 28 2018

Written By: By JLNJ Staff

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Common Mistakes When Selecting a Water Treatment

It is a known fact that water obtained from a well is not the best option when used for drinking or cooking purposes. It includes certain minerals and particles that can adversely affect your health, how your skin feels, staining on your fixtures, and more. Many professionals recommend water treatment options that purify your homes well water. The water analysis will help tell professionals which of the available water treatment options are best for your homes water. Water treatment options include the use of a water softener, iron filters, reverse osmosis, water purifiers, and water conditioning systems.

There are many of the different well water treatment options. However, selecting the right one can should be left up to professionals after an analysis of your water. Many people make some common mistakes when selecting a water treatment options for well water especially when they do not listen to the advice of water treatment professionals. These mistakes affects your homes water quality. Many common issues DIY homeowners forget to consider are:

Not Taking Impurities into Consideration

A very common mistake people make is that they do not take water impurities into consideration when selecting the water treatment option. There are different types of impurities in well water; hence, an appropriate treatment option must be selected considering those impurities. For example, if you are using an iron filter as a well water treatment, it won’t perform efficiently if the water is acidic in nature, which, generally, well water is.

Not Taking the Location of Well into Consideration

Many people opt for tried and tested water treatment options for well water without taking the location into consideration. This is an absolutely wrong approach as a well that is located in an area that has high pollution rate requires a different treatment method than that of an area with low pollution rate. Similarly, more chemicals, toxins, and impurities are found in the water that is obtained from wells located in an industrial area.

Not Having Ample Understanding of Pressure & Pump Flow Rate

It is another common mistake made by homeowners. They do not understand two important aspects of water system i.e. pressure and pump flow rate. As a result, they are unable to select the right treatment method for removing contaminations from the water. Therefore, it is recommended to have a deep understanding of these aspects along with others vital factors of the well water system so that you can select the most appropriate well water treatment option.

Wrongly Identifying or Not Identifying Well Water Problems

Some people go for a well water treatment simply because it is known to produce effective results. They make this mistake of not identifying the problems before selecting the solution. Similarly, some people wrongly identify the well water problem. The result, in such situations, is impure water that still contains harmful chemicals or toxins. Using this water for drinking or cooking purposes can lead to fatal health conditions.

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Whole House Vs Point of Use Water Filtration

Everyone wants water that tastes good in their home, but it can be tricky to determine what type of water filtration system to install to make it happen. After all, having great tasting water is not going to mean anything to you if the water in the rest of your house is cloudy and stains your clothing or other items that you are trying to keep clean.

Point of use home water filter systems will help you achieve fresh and crisp tasting water and these systems are installed underneath a sink or countertop. While point of use home water filter systems will deliver purified water for drinking and cooking, the amount of water that is purified each day might be less than you actually need.

Whole house water filtration systems will treat all the water that enters your home, which means that you will be using treated water for bathing, washing dishes, cleaning, and doing your laundry. These whole house water filtration systems can deliver thousands of gallons of water each day and the system would need to be placed where your water first enters your home. This could be in your garage or your basement, and since these systems are a little larger, you will need to make room for them. You would never need to worry about running out of clean water when you use a whole house water filtration system, but you should know that the quality of the water will not be as pure for drinking as it would be if you installed point of use home water filter systems in the rooms where you drink the water.

While either one of these options will give you better water, you may want to consider installing both inside your home. The whole house water filtration system will treat the water for your entire home, while additional treatment will be done to your water with the point of use home water filter system. This additional system will ensure that you have the best purified water for drinking and cooking purposes.

You may decide to install one or more of these systems due to personal preference of how water should taste, or you may choose to have them installed out of necessity. Red iron stains are one of the first clues that you need to seriously consider a whole house water filtration system, while an off taste might simply suggest a point of use home water filter system. If you are not sure if you need to install a water filtration system inside your home, you may want to have your water tested and talk to a professional of how these systems can make your water better.

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Beware! Your Water Filter Might Still Be Letting Toxins Through

Think all water filter pitchers are created equal? Think again. Some could be letting harmful toxins into your drinking water.

Water filter jug and a glass on the wooden windowsill Africa Studio/ShutterstockThey say “slow and steady wins the race,” and when it comes to water filter pitchers? Turns out they’re right. A recent study out of The Ohio State University revealed water filters that work too quickly may be letting harmful toxins get through to your drinking water (and you won’t believe what toxins might be in your drinking water!).

For the study, published in the journal Water Science Technology: Water Supply the scientists compared three popular pitcher brands for their ability to clear “dangerous microcystins” from tap water. Microcystins are a common group of algae found in calm waters like reservoirs, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and they can sicken or kill people and animals who drink water contaminated with them.

“Toxic cyanobacterial blooms are a global threat to human health due to contamination of drinking water,” according to the study. “To ensure public safety, water treatment plants must have the capability to remove [them] from water. Recently, however, there have been several instances when [they’ve] been detected in tap water.” With that in mind, the scientists extracted microcystins from Lake Erie, diluted them in tap water, and then subjected the tap water to three different water filter pitchers, each of which is readily available on the market.

It turned out that the pitcher that took the longest to filter the water—it uses a blend of activated carbon—effectively decreased microcystins to below detectable levels. The pitcher that filtered water fastest—using coconut-based activated carbon—removed 50 percent or less. Lead study author, Justin Chaffin, PhD, the research coordinator for Ohio State’s Stone Laboratory, believes that when water is passing through carbon, “contact time really seems to matter.” In the study, contact time ranged from two minutes per liter (in the worst-performing pitcher) to six minutes per liter (for the best). The middle-of-the-road pitcher took about four minutes per liter.

The researchers didn’t name brand names, according to EurekAlert, but when deciding which pitcher to buy, you can compare individual pitchers based on the speed of percolation and the kind of carbon used in the filter. In addition, Dr. Chaffin hinted that the cheaper the water filter pitcher, the worse it might be at filtering microcystins. Also, even though the study shows certain water pitchers are effective, the researchers caution against using any water source known to be contaminated. A far safer solution would be to switch to bottled water in that case.

Original source: https://www.rd.com/health/wellness/water-filter-might-still-be-letting-toxins-through/

Written By: Lauren Cahn

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The Best System For Your Home Drinking Water

There are different ways you can improve the quality of water in your home to make it safe for drinking and cooking as well as for other household applications such as cleaning, swimming, and more. Before you invest in a filtration system, conditioning system, water softener, or filtration system it’s important to have your water tested and checked for any harmful chemicals, heavy metals, volatile organic compounds, fluoride, or bacteria and also to determine the pH balance of your water.

Water that doesn’t fall within the safe pH range of 6.5 to 8.5 can be a sign of chemical or heavy metal pollution. You may want to test your water and install one of the following filtration systems, especially if your faucets and pipes have taken on a rusty red, white, or blue color. A professional water analysis is deemed to be the most important step in making sure that the correct water system is installed to bring your family quality water throughout your home.

Water Softener

Water softeners remove excess minerals or metals, such as calcium, magnesium, and iron found in hard water. By installing a water softener, you will not only notice a marked improvement in the way of minimal scale build-up in your sinks and bathtubs, but softening your water will also extend the life of your washing machine, dishwasher, water heater and various household appliances.

You also benefit from a cleaner plumbing system, and as a result, reduced energy consumption and utility bills. Whole-house water softeners are available in both reverse osmosis and ion-exchange options, however, there are also smaller systems that you can install only for your cooking and drinking purposes.

Ion Filter

There are several different kinds of ion filters, however, the best would definitely be one that has a double filtration system that can effectively adjust the ionization to the mineral content of the water. When you install an ion filter, your hard water goes through a process known as electrolysis, which separates it’s alkaline and acid content to make water safe for use. Although installed ion filters can be costly, they can be used with any water source, and most of them come with a lifespan of up to 30-years.

Reverse Osmosis

A reverse osmosis unit allows only the passage of water molecules, but not those of contaminants found in water. While it may not remove all contaminants, a reverse osmosis system provides several stages of removing impurities to make water safe for use. RO systems are also easy to maintain, and different varieties of these units can be tailored to fit your everyday usage.

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