Is Alkaline Water Really Better for You?

By Alice Callahan

April 27, 2018

Q. Are there benefits of drinking alkaline water, or is what I’m reading just a bunch of hooey?

A. Despite the claims, there’s no evidence that water marketed as alkaline is better for your health than tap water.

“It’s all about marketing,” said Tanis Fenton, a registered dietitian and epidemiologist at Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary. “There is no science to back it up.”

The pH scale indicates whether a liquid is more acidic (lower pH) or alkaline (higher pH). Pure water has a neutral pH of 7, while tap water has some natural variation depending on its mineral content. Most bottled waters are slightly acidic, and sodas and juices are even more so.

Bottled waters marketed as being alkaline typically claim to have a pH between 8 and 10. Some are from springs or artesian wells and are naturally alkaline because of dissolved minerals. Others are made with an ionizing process, and water ionizing machines are also marketed for home use.

Alkaline water companies make vague claims that it will “energize” and “detoxify” the body and lead to “superior hydration.” And some claim that ionized water can prevent everything from headaches to cancer.

But there’s no evidence that drinking water with a higher pH can change the pH of your body, or even that this outcome would provide benefits.

Blood is tightly regulated at around pH 7.4, while the stomach, which secretes hydrochloric acid to digest proteins and kill food-borne pathogens, is very acidic, with a pH of 1.5 to 3.5. If you drink water that is slightly alkaline, Dr. Fenton said, the hydrochloric acid in the stomach quickly neutralizes it before it’s absorbed into the blood.

Several small studies funded by companies that sell alkaline water suggest that it could improve hydration in athletes, but any potential benefits were modest, and an easier way to improve hydration is just to drink more water. And a 2016 review of research by Dr. Fenton and a colleague found no evidence that alkaline water or an alkaline diet could treat or prevent cancer.

A study published last year found that adopting a plant-based diet and drinking alkaline water worked as well as medications to alleviate their symptoms of laryngopharyngeal reflux, a severe form of acid reflux in which stomach acid travels all the way up to the throat. “I think that it can be a helpful tool for patients to help with their symptoms while they’re transitioning to a more plant-based diet,” said Dr. Craig Zalvan, the study’s lead author and a laryngologist at Phelps Hospital in Sleepy Hollow, N.Y. But he believes that most of the improvement in his patients comes from dietary changes rather than alkaline water. Once symptoms improve, he says there’s no need to keep drinking alkaline water.

There are also hints of potential risks from alkaline water. Rat pups given alkaline water showed impaired growth and damage to cardiac muscle. And a 2015 report said that when a municipal water plant in a town in Germany accidentally increased the water’s pH to 12, skin burns ensued. While such a high pH is unlikely in bottled alkaline water, it’s a reminder that a higher pH isn’t necessarily better.

“The only health effects that we know of are danger signs, so for people to continue to market alkaline water — they’re really as bad as the snake oil salesmen of yesteryear,” Dr. Fenton said.

Original Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/27/well/eat/alkaline-water-health-benefits.html

Original Date: April 27 2018

Original Author: Alice Callahan

Like this post? Share it!

3 Signs You May Need a Water Softener

Are you noticing stains in your kitchen sink? Is your skin dry and itchy? These are both signs that you might have an issue with hard water. The fix for hard water is most often the installation of a whole house water softener. The installation of a water softening system will improve the natural life of the plumbing within the home, your appliances, your clothing and more.

A water softening system are designed to take out an increase in calcium and magnesium ions be means of an exchange with either sodium or potassium ions. After this occurs the softening unit will regenerate and cleanse the systems of excess ions until they have been rejuvenated with new sodium or potassium ions. It is important to know the level of your waters hardness when setting up the rate at which your family uses water. It is important that the water you use every day is replenished in order to keep the build up of scale within your plumbing at a minimum while helping to improve your water heaters lifespan.

Here are some signs to help you determine if you need a new water softener installed or an older water softener replaced:

There is build up on appliances:

Can you see mineral deposits forming on coffee pot, the dishwasher, or other appliances? If you can visually see this scale occurring, then image what is happening inside the pipes where you cannot see. This scale will clog your homes plumbing and make it so that the water is not passing through the pipes as intended. Hard water brings on a buildup of scale, eventually creating inefficient plumbing. The hard, chalky substance, scale, is created from a build up of calcium and magnesium bicarbonate. The technology within water softener systems helps reduce the scale build up with ions exchange technology.

Dry skin and hair:

Extra calcium and magnesium salts within your homes water causes itchy, dry skin and hair. This is not something that can be overcome with soap and shampoo. When the build up is too much the water will no longer bring nourishment to your skin and instead it dries it out. The extra minerals found in the unsoftened water create an environment that doesn’t allow soap to be completely removed from the skin.

Clothing, sheets and blankets:

Are the fabrics within your home looking faded and feeling scratchy on your skin? This can be do to hard water which contains an excess amount of mineral substances. It will not matter what kind of laundry soap, softener, or fabric sheets are used while doing laundry, if you are doing your wash in untreated, unsoftened water. The installation of the right water softener for your home and water can change this.

If you sense an issue with your homes water, it is probably time to have the water tested. A professional water conditioning company will do a detailed analysis of the water coming into your home and prepare a report offering water treatment solutions to fix the issues with the water in your home.

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.

Like this post? Share it!

What Is Hard Water? How It Can Wreak Havoc on Your Home

What is hard water? It’s water that contains high levels of certain minerals—namely calcium and magnesium (soft water, by comparison, lacks these elements).

Homeowners who learn that their water is “hard” might wonder if it is OK. While hard water poses no serious health risks, it can nonetheless cause various problems within a home.

Here’s where hard water comes from, how to check for it, and what you can do to remediate the negative effects.

Where does hard water come from?

If a home’s water comes from a well, there’s a stronger likelihood it’s hard because groundwater is often naturally full of minerals, says Stephen Johnson, an Ashburn, VA–based field supervisor at Benjamin Franklin Plumbing.

In particular, hard water forms when it drains through deposits of limestone, which are rich in calcium and magnesium. However, hard water can also be found in city water systems.

Hard water is a common issue: An overwhelming 85% of U.S. homes have water of some level of hardness, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Research from the Environmental Protection Agency shows these six cities have the dubious honor of having the hardest water in the country:

Indianapolis, IN
Las Vegas, NV
MinneapolisSt. Paul, MN
Phoenix, AZ
San Antonio, TX
Tampa, FL

What are the negative effects of hard water?

Hard water can have a negative effect on the maintenance of your home, warns Fred Webster, president at MillTown Plumbing, Heating, Air Conditioning, and Drain Cleaning, in Chelmsford, MA. The effects can include the following:

Clogged or corroded pipes: Hard water can create major plumbing issues. Scale deposits from hard water can build up inside pipeslike plaque inside an artery, constricting the flow of watereventually causing backups that need to be addressed by a plumber.
Poor water heater efficiency: A study by the Battelle Memorial Institute, a global science and technology research firm, found that water heaters with hard water can be up to 25% less efficient than water heaters with soft watera loss of energy that can, in turn, drive up your homes utility bills.
Appliances that can malfunction: When left untreated, hard water can cause appliances such as refrigerators, ice makers, washing machines, and dishwashers to leak, malfunction, or use more energy, Johnson says.
Water stains: When hard water evaporates from the surface of your tub, sink, or toilet, it can leave the minerals behind in the form of water stains. The good news? Most hard water stains can be treated by cleaning the affected area with rags soaked in white vinegar.
Odor and bad taste: Hard water tends to have a rotten egg smell and a metallic taste, Webster says. In most cases, though, hard water is still safe to drink regardless of its funk or taste.
Skin irritation: Showering in hard water can cause dry skin, since the mineral deposits suck the moisture out of your skin, Webster says. Minerals drying on the skin can also clog pores and cause flaking and itching.

How to test for hard water

You can buy a water test kit online or from a home improvement store for about $30 to test your water yourself, but many plumbers offer customers free water testing, Webster says.

“Plumbers either send someone to your home to take a water sample, or the homeowner sends in a water sample, which is then sent to a lab for testing,” says Webster. “The lab results will show us exactly what’s in the water.”

Have hard water? Here’s what to do

If you discover your home has hard water, don’t panic. “Usually, a water softener will take care of the situation,” Webster says.

Water softeners, which hook up to your plumbing lines, can reduce the water’s hardness by removing minerals from your water supply.

Here’s how it works: As the hard water passes through the softening tank, negatively charged magnetic beads attract the positively charged calcium and magnesium particles, but allow the water to pass through.

If you’re fairly handy with tools, you can install a water softener system yourself by buying a basic installation kit and unit for about $500. Otherwise, professional installation costs about $800 to $1,000 for a one- to two-bedroom home. Water softener systems generally last about 15 years.

If you’re buying a house with extremely hard water, you may have to install a water filtration system to address the issue, Johnson says.

Filtration systems tend to be more expensive than water softener systems. According to HomeAdvisor, the national average is $1,683. If you can’t spring for a water filtration system for your entire house, smaller systems that hook up to just one tap (say, the one you drink out of) are also available.

Original Source: https://www.realtor.com/advice/home-improvement/what-is-hard-water/

Original Date: Apr 18, 2018

Original Author: Daniel Bortz

Like this post? Share it!

What Is the Best Filtration System for me?

Quality water throughout your home is immensely beneficial from a health perspective and therefore should be free of harmful containment’s before consumption or use. One way that this can be done is through the use of a whole house water filtration system. In order to be sure that you install the proper filtration device for the water coming into your home it is important to hire a professional water company to analyze your current water supply. The experts will then assist you in determining the system that is the most effective, most durable, and most affordable.

There are a number of factors to consider when looking to choose the right filtration system for your home. The primary factors that experts will be looking into are:

How effectively the filter system removes contaminants?
How advanced the contamination removal technology is?
How affordable the filtration system is?

Contaminants

Through research on contaminants and how filtration systems work homeowners can see how different filtration products are meant to filter out different types on contaminants. It is helpful for homeowners and water quality experts to identify the contaminants that are existent in the water before they move forward with the decision-making process. The water quality report is helpful in determining what kind of water is currently coming into your home. Once the contaminants inside the water are narrowed down, the filtration system choice will be narrowed down further.

Contamination Removal Technology

Most water filtration systems that are used to improve the quality of water coming into your home use similar technology. It is important that homeowners keep in mind that even though similar not all filtration technologies are created equally. Carbon filter systems, for example, come in different levels of effectiveness and generally remove contaminants like asbestos, Mercury, and chlorine from the water. Mechanical filters can assist in removing different types of sediment however will not influence chemical contaminates. Similarly, water softening units use ion exchange technology in order to lower the magnesium and calcium levels but do not have an effect on most other contaminants.

Affordability

As with any and all home improvements, cost is one of the primary determinants in the decision. Water conditioning companies, like Reynolds Water Conditioning, will present a variety of systems that meet the homeowners needs. The cost of filtration will vary significantly between filtration systems depending on the options the systems offer above and beyond the filtration benefits. Higher end filtration units may offer other benefits such as softening, purification, and conditioning therefore will be more expensive then systems that encompass only the filtration of the water in the home. If a whole house water filtration system proves to be too costly and under the sink water filtration unit is another option for quality drinking water.

Like this post? Share it!

Hard Water Proves Hard on Your Wallet

(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 environmental and cost 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 just 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 doesn’t just harm your appliances and wallet, it can harm your health as well. The piping used in home plumbing, whether it is 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 and that provides a perfect home for bacteria.

Researchers at the School of Sustainable Engineering at Arizona State University found bacteria may grow in pipes filled with both hard scale and soft scale at the same rate. This is important new information because some forms of water conditioning produce this soft scale. The only solution is to remove both 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 actually 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 time-tested, highly reliable tool to improve health and to 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.therandolphleader.com/online_features/real_estate/article_e222f80e-3718-515e-8b3c-feea53a7a69e.html

Original Date: April 11 2018

Original Author: Brandpoint (BPT)

Like this post? Share it!

Benefits of Point-Entry and Point-of-Use Water Systems

Safe drinking water is a concern to most homeowners. Even with existing laws and regulations in place that strive to ensure that everyone has access to clean water many homes have water supplies that are lacking in quality. Measures are often put into place, by homeowners, to increase the quality of the water coming into homes with extra attention being given to the filtration and purification of drinking water.

There are multiple water treatment systems that are available to homeowners, each with their own unique abilities to increase the quality of the water supply in your home. Two such systems include point of use and point of entry water treatment systems. Both types of systems are used to soften, condition, purify, or filter that water supply and can be installed for both residential and commercial use.

Using a Point Of Entry Water System

Point of entry water treatment systems connect directly to your homes water line. A water softener is one type of point of entry water treatment system. The water softener acts as a central filtration station for the water that is distributed to your entire home or office. Often a point of entry system is referred to as a whole-house solution for smelly water, hard water, or water with a high mineral count. These systems are used to remove bad tastes, foul odors, and contaminated before the water reaches your kitchen, bathroom, laundry, or irrigation systems.

Point Of Use System Differnces

On the other hand, a point of use system is installed directly at the source of water retrieval such as out door spickets, kitchen faucets, bathroom sinks, and showers. Most homeowners choose a point of use system in addition to a point of entry system. For instance, if your homes water has been found to have high levels of arsenic in it a point of use system arsenic removal system can be installed to prevent arsenic from entering your drinking water where as the water in your showers is fine to use even with low levels of arsenic. Point of use water treatment systems are often cheaper than point of entry systems as they are only being used to provide filtration to one source.

Benefits of Using Either Option For Water Treatment

There are multiple benefits that homeowners receive from using point of entry and point of use water treatment systems.

Point of use and point of entry filtration systems help keep your home safe from contaminants and chemicals that are found at the water source. Installing both systems will help ensure the water is free of contamination both from the source and just before it’s expelled from your tap.
A point of use filtration system can work well in isolation and it is an economical filtration system which can only be installed at a single water outlet.
When used together, point of use and point of entry systems can help ensure that you and your family have maximum protection from water contaminants which can cause illnesses. Adding a water softener into the system guarantees that your water is not just safe for consumptions but adequate for other use such as bathing and cleaning.

Like this post? Share it!

Water Filtration Systems and Where To Begin

Q: If I wanted to get a whole house water filter, where would I begin to look?

A: Home improvement stores and other retailers carry a variety of whole house water filtration systems, but first you need to determine what kind you need.

Government agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have information on their websites about water treatment systems. The first thing to consider is your water source.

If you get your water from a private well or cistern, the CDC recommends having your water tested by a state-certified lab at least once a year. The lab should test for total coliform bacteria, nitrates, total dissolved solids, pH levels and other contaminants common in your area.

If you get your water from a public system, EPA requires all public water systems to send an annual report about the quality of drinking water, as well as contaminant levels, to people whose water comes from public sources.

After you determine what contaminants you want to reduce in your water, you can narrow down the type of filtration system you need.

If you plan to have the system installed by a plumber, ask for recommendations when you call for an estimate. Plumbers know how filters work and can offer suggestions on which kind will provide the results you want.

The EPA says Americans spend billions of dollars each year on home water treatment units. Drinking water can reasonably be expected to contain at least small amounts of some contaminants, according to one EPA publication.

“As long as those contaminants are at levels no higher than EPA standards, the water is considered safe to drink for healthy people,” it said. People with severely weakened immune systems or other specific health conditions, or those concerned about specific contaminants, may wish to further treat their water.

Angie Akos, water operations superintendent for Dothan Utilities, said in an email that Dothan Utilities does not regulate water filters placed on the customer’s side of the water service.

“However, depending on the type of water filter system installed, additional backflow devices may be needed to protect the City’s water supply system,” she wrote. “The customer needs to be aware that certain filters may remove the chlorine disinfectant residual from the water.”

Chlorine is added to water to kill germs.

Original Source: https://www.dothaneagle.com/news/local/answer-man-if-i-wanted-to-get-a-whole-house/article_3a3b7864-2eef-11e8-a40c-0fa7eb6c4479.html

Original Date: March 25 2018

Like this post? Share it!

Water Softener vs Water Filtration

When it comes to treating the water that comes into your home we know that you have a lot of questions and concerns. With the number of options available in treating residential water quality it can become quite difficult to differentiate between the products available and their purpose. The question we get most often is regarding the difference between water filtration and water softening. In this installment we will look at the differences and how you know what the best option for your home is. Of course, as always FREE water analysis is available through Reynolds Water Conditioning Co; our experts will better be able to evaluate your need in person.

Let’s start by looking at what each system is and what it offers to the quality of water that you will end up with using each specific water treatment option.

Water Softeners

Water softeners are installed to soften the water within your home. They are designed to remove only that materials and containments within the water that create hard water including magnesium and calcium. Two general types of water softening units exist: water softeners that use salt to chemically modify the water and those that use potassium, otherwise known as salt-free water softeners.

Water Filtration

Water filtration is a general term used to describe many different options in removing contaminants from water including rust, iron, arsenic, copper, sediment, pesticides, and even hormones that enter water supplies through industrial or pharmaceutical waste. There are two types of systems to consider in water filtration: whole house filtration and point-of-use water filtration systems.

Although similar in nature you can see how each uses specific technology to improve the quality of water. What option(s) you choose will depend on your specific water quality. Some homeowners may find that even after they have installed a water filtration unit they are still left with hard water. The water quality may be better but still hard affecting their skin, appliances, clothing, and so forth. In this case the best option may be to install a whole house water softener with a point-of-use water filtration system to maximize your homes water quality.

Do You Have Issues With Your Water?

If you suspect issues with your homes water quality, does it smell bad, stain, or create residue build up, or have recently found out through a home inspection that the quality of the water entering your home is sub-par it is imperative that you reach out to the water quality experts at Reynolds Water Conditioning Company.

Like this post? Share it!

What is the difference between purified, Distilled and Tap Water?

Water is life; when you hear this statement it doesn’t always talk about the water around you. It also means that water is a highly significant part of your body and the body necessarily needs it. That is why you should take sufficient water every day.

Talking about the types of water, there are some terms that we often hear such as purified water, distilled water, and regular water. Some people get confused on these types and cannot decide which is the best type to use the water for drinking.

This article is a guideline on the differences of water types to find out which is the most suitable type of water to use.

Purified water

Purified water is used to remove impurities by filtration or any process i.e. chemicals, contaminants etc. Purified water is made from the regular groundwater or the tap water. The purification of water removes many types of the impurities such as;

Bacteria
Fungi
Parasites
Algae
Metals
Chemical pollutants

Techniques to purify water

Using several methods that can be operated commercially or at home for domestic usage does the purification. In most of the countries, the publically available water is usually purified already. It makes it safe for human health.

The water purification standards vary in different parts of the world. Typically these processes are carried out by the governmental regulations following the international standard of purification.

Even after all this, it is estimated by the report of WHO that nearly 2.1 billion population lack an access to clean water drinking. In all these areas where public water is not clean, several methods of purification are used such as;

Coagulation and flocculation

This process adds positively charged chemicals to the water. They bind to the negatively charged particles and are easily filtered out this way.

Sedimentation

For the large size particles, the residues sets at the bottom of the water container and the clear water are separated from the impurities.

Filtration

The water from the topside flows through many filtration processes. These may include sand, charcoal, and gravel. By filtration, the contaminants like bacteria, dust, chemicals, and viruses are removed.

Disinfection

This is a chemical purification that uses disinfectants such as chlorine. Chlorine is added to the water and it kills most of the microbes and contaminants in water.

Benefits of purified water

You may think that tap water is safe to use in many areas but tap water still has a chance of having contaminants in trace amounts. The water safe for human usage must follow the legal limitation by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for having only 90 contaminants in drinking water.

The purified water is free from heavy metals like lead and copper. These are otherwise very toxic to health. The purified water is also free of chemicals and other contaminants that may affect your health.

However, there are a few considerations that need to be addressed for water purification.

Water upkeep
Proper removal of contaminants
High maintenance cost
Waste

Distilled Water

Though not commonly believed the distilled water is a type of purified water. It just follows another process of distillation for removing the impurities. Distillation is a process in which water is boiled and steam is collected. This steam is returned back to the water after cooling.

This process is highly effective for removing contaminants such as bacteria, viruses etc. This form of water is extremely pure. It is more often used in medical facilities and research laboratories.

Benefits of distilled water

Water distillation is the best way to remove all the contaminants that pollute the water. The amounts of pesticide and presence of other chemicals in water sources is mainly determined by where you live. It also depends on local bodies regulating the water safety in your specific area.

There are no contaminants in distilled water. It is very helpful for people with a weaker immunity that are at a higher risk of disease attack. It removes the impurities that possibly cause this contamination.

While distilled water is pure and safest of all it may not be healthiest of all. The process of distillation removes many harmful contaminants. But on the other side, it is not particular in this action. Which means, it also removes the natural minerals and electrolytes found in water.

It means that the beneficial minerals such as calcium, magnesium are also removed during this distillation process. You may not know this but distillation removes around 99.9% of all the minerals in tap water.

Although water is not believed as a good source of minerals a decreased number of minerals may negatively impact the health. One risk with using distilled water is that it removes fluorine from the water.

In this way, it becomes unhealthy for those that are at a high risk of cavities. It is suggested to follow a proper dental hygiene in case an individual is planning to use distilled water.

Which type of water should you use?

In most of the cases, public drinking water is safe for use. It usually has strict contaminant limits, which are set by the health regulatory authorities. But there is still a chance to get affected by the natural sources, human activities that damage the quality of water.

The best idea is to buy an in-home water purification system. For the people with the weak immune system, purified water is the best. As distilled water may make them more susceptible to the diseases.

In all those countries where water contamination is a big problem, the alternative is to use bottled water that could be either distilled or purified. There are many types of purification plants that may help you.

Some of them are charcoal infused filtration and UV filters. These filters remove the impurities that are left behind in basic purification. It shows the effect of the purification plant.

When a regulatory authority governs the water quality, the water quality and safety is not a problem. An individual can drink the tap water too and it is safe for usage.

If you are doubtful about the quality of your tap water the best idea is to test the water by buying a home kit for water testing. You may also take help from a water-testing agency in your area. Then you can decide which type of filtration plant to buy.

Purify your water at home

Purification at home is a better idea than buying bottled water. It is a one-time investment that saves the continuous cost of buying bottles of water. The household treatment units are helping to improve the taste and odor of the tap water.

One option is Point of use (POU) treatment system that only purifies the water for drinking and cooking. Another type of treatment system is called Point of entry or (PUE) and it is applied to all the water that is available in the house.

Some of the most in-home water filtration systems use these techniques.

Filter plant
Reverse osmosis
UV lights

Regardless of which option you select, it is better to look for the brands that come with certification by your native regulatory authority. For example, the authoritative body in the S is American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and NSF International.

Conclusion

The availability of clean water is necessary for a good health. While most of the public drinking water is safe for use, it is better to drink the purified water.

Purified water is comparatively safer and may decrease contact with pollutants that are normally found in tap water. Remember that quality of water is varied in every area. This is a major determining factor to decide using the tap water or purified water.

Original Source: https://reportshealthcare.com/what-is-the-difference-between-purified-distilled-and-tap-water/

Original Date: March 19 2018

Original Author: Nancy Walker

Like this post? Share it!

What Type of Water Treatment System Does Your Home Need?

In today’s world where we are surrounded by all sorts of impurities, filtered water is becoming a necessity. Our health is largely based on the amount of high quality drinking water we take in every day. It is crucial that the water we are drinking does not contain harmful chemicals, pollutants, parasites, organic waste, and other imperfections. There are several ways that one can go about procuring drinking water such as buying bottled water, but a better long run solution is to treat the water that is entering your home. It is also crucial that water treatment systems are maintained and running efficiently to ensure the quality of your families drinking water.

How Water Softeners Work

A water softener is a water treatment device that uses chemical methods to reduce the level of hardness of water. Depending on the type of water flows into your home you may need to use a water softener to ensure that your family’s water is free of excess minerals and elements that cause damage. A professionally installed water softener can drastically remove the hardness factor of the water entering your home and can transform it into soft, safe, usable water.

Hard water is not only harmful to ingest it can give you a tough time with cleaning, washing, soap removal, and maintaining health. If the hardness is removed from the water sufficiently then the soft water that is produced in the process will be as good as any other natural soft water.

Using Additional Iron Filters

A whole house water softener with an additional iron filter can be effective in purifying your water and improving your health. When your home or business has extremely hard water, a water softener with an iron filter can most often take care of the problem. These units are unlike regular activated carbon filters. They are specifically designed to remove iron and when the filter is full it flushes the iron deposits down the drain and begins the process over again. This seems to be a more common occurrence with drilled wells than municipal water sources.

Iron deposits in the water table often find their way into wells. The amount in water can vary a great deal from different areas. Some areas only have a trace amount of iron while neighboring wells could be producing orange-tinted water that leaves stains on fixtures with in the home. Water softeners that use additional iron filters remove toxic, heavy metals from drinking water. These systems are highly recommended for their ability to effectively block iron, Sulphur, manganese, sediment, and turbidity from water. Before choosing a system, it is crucial to have your homes water tested by a professional water treatment company.

Using Reverse Osmosis to Treat Water

Another option to treat water is reverse osmosis. A reverse osmosis water softening system uses hydraulic pressure is put on the water to act against the osmotic pressure naturally occurring in water. Purified water is then collected on the lower part of the membrane. This three-stage process purifies water, renders it clean, softens water, and then adds necessary minerals that add an amicable taste to the water.

Reverse osmosis water softener produces purified water containing no salts, sugars, ions or molecules that have been dissolved before filtration. With this method water will not have the same pleasant taste of other types of filtration. Over 97% of the hardness in water passed through reverse osmosis water softener is removed by the process. The most vital function of this filtration system is that it kills the bacteria and germs in the water.

Like this post? Share it!