Category: In The News

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

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

(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