The Importance of High-Quality Drinking Water

Hydration is key to all living things, and without it, we would only live for about five days. Our bodies are more than 50% water and it helps maintain our normal body temperature, lubricates joints, and enables the body to rid waste through urination, sweat, and bowel movements. Doctors advise us to drink at least eight 8 oz. glasses of water every day and studies have shown that women, on average, will consume approximately 91 oz. of water and men will drink about 125 oz. of water every day. Part of this consumption of water is from foods such as fruits and vegetables. It seems quite simple why water is so important to our health, but understanding the different risks from contaminations and how to protect your drinking water can be more in-depth.

Is Tap Water Safe?

In general, tap water is considered to be safe to consume if it comes from a public water system that is run and maintained by a municipality. When drinking water exits a treatment facility and travels to your home, the quality standards must reach strict safety requirements. Unfortunately, even with these safety policies, it does not mean that the water is free of any contaminants, but that the levels of the pollutants are low enough not to cause any health risks. Accidents do happen and if the water supply does become contaminated with something that can create illness, the supplier must inform consumers within 24 hours and offer alternative suggestions for safe drinking water.

Types of Contaminations

There are a few ways that water can become contaminated. Water can contain microorganisms like parasites and bacteria that are added to the water from human or animal feces. It can also become contaminated from industrial waste such as spraying crops that contain chemicals or nitrates used in fertilizers that run off the land. Sometimes the natural deposits from underground can have various minerals like lead or mercury that can enter the water supply. Lead can also transfer to a water source through old lead pipes as well. Even pipes that claim to be “lead-free” can contain as much as 8% lead. To avoid lead consumption when using tap water, use water from the cold tap and to let the water run for a minute before using it.

A Solution to the Problem

Often, when a contamination notice is sent to homes about a water crisis, it is advised to boil your water for 24 to 48 hours, so many consumers are under the impression that contaminates can be removed by heating the water to cleanse it. Boiling water will indeed kill germs; however, contaminants such as lead, nitrates, and pesticides will not affectedly be removed using this method.  It may have an opposite consequence since boiling will reduce the amount of water when it evaporates, making the concentration of the contaminate even higher. There are four main types of water filters that are more beneficial for contaminant removal:

  • Activated Carbon Filters – These can remove organic contaminants that change the taste and smell. Certain systems are designed to remove chemicals such as chlorination by-products, pesticides, and some metals like copper or lead.
  • Reverse Osmosis – This filtration system can remove nitrates, sodium, pesticides, and petrochemicals.
  • Ion Exchange – This type of filter can remove minerals like calcium and magnesium, and they are used in combination with other systems such as carbon absorption or reverse osmosis.
  • Distillation – This method creates distilled water by collecting condensation of steam from boiling water.

The experts at Reynolds Water Conditioning have a solution to your home’s unique water quality needs, including arsenic, bacteria, chlorine, rotten egg smell, fluoride, hard water, iron, lead, acid, tannins, radon, and more. To learn more information on our water treatment solutions, including water softeners and conditioners, water filtration and purification, reverse osmosis drinking water, and iron and odor removal, visit https://reynoldswater.com.

Like this post? Share it!

New Study Shows Danger of Chlorine in Drinking Water

During a new study, researchers at John Hopkins University have found unintended and toxic byproducts during the cleaning process of water with the use of chlorine. The chemical, chlorine, has been used for over one hundred years to disinfect water supplies, and no doubt it has had positive benefits that have saved millions of lives from diseases like typhoid and cholera. According to this study, when chlorine is mixed with phenols, which is a naturally occurring compound in the environment, a large amount of byproduct is made. Further research is needed to find these actual byproducts inside our drinking water and determine if a new method should be sought to disinfect our water. 

Like this post? Share it!

Water Filter System Must Haves

Tap water in the U.S. is the most tested and regulated water source. Unfortunately, our tap water can still contain chemicals, such as fluoride, chloramines, and other pollutants that are not ideal to consume, cook with, or bathe in. A water filtration system is the best solution to give your home safe access to quality drinking water. According to this article, there are three items to take into consideration when choosing a water filter. The first being the filtration rate. It is important to know how much your daily water consumption is and choose a filter that will meet your daily usage needs. The second item to consider is water quality. There are many options to choose from, but a reverse osmosis system will give you the purest form of filtration, sometimes even removing helpful minerals from the water. Lastly, take into consideration your budget. Water systems with an extensive filtration are generally more costly and keep in mind the expense of replacing water cartridges.  

Like this post? Share it!

Possible Uranium Spill Occurs in the Detroit River

A partial collapse of a seawall on the property that was holding aggregate dirt piles that potentially is contaminated with uranium has spilled into the Detroit River during the Thanksgiving weekend. The site has been marked as contaminated with uranium by the U.S. Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency. Detroit Bulk Storage currently leases the site which was formerly owned by Revere Copper and Brass factory in the 1940s and 50s for use of World War II-era research and development, in an effort to build an atomic bomb. Regulatory agencies were not informed of the spill until days afterward and, of course, they are concerned about the impact it may have on the environment and the public water quality. To read more on this recent spill, click here

Like this post? Share it!

What You Should Know About Hexavalent Chromium

Due to the rising attention given to the seeping of hexavalent chromium (or “green goo”, as called by area residents) in Madison Heights, MI, it is important to understand how you can protect your family from such dangers should they arrive near your home.

What is Hexavalent Chromium?

While the hexavalent chromium (made famous in the movie Erin Brockovich) seepage in Madison Heights poses little health risk to residents due to differing drinking water sources, it is important to understand exactly what this health risk is and what it can do to you and your family. Hexavalent chromium, according to this OSHA article, is one of the valence states (+6) of the element chromium, usually produced by an industrial process. Cr(VI) is known to cause cancer and targets the respiratory system, kidneys, liver, skin, and eyes.

What Can be Done to Prevent This?

What happened with the Electro Plating Services building in Madison Heights was the result of gross incompetence with waste disposal by the owner and thus posed a huge risk to residents who are ill-equipped to deal with such contaminants when the seepage was discovered, as reported in this WXYZ article. A net positive with this unfortunate incident is the growing awareness of how to deal with potentially harmful contaminants in your home’s water going forward. One proven combatant to contaminants like Cr(VI) is reverse osmosis, which sends water through a thin membrane that naturally filters particles too small to be filtered through prefilter systems located within the overall reverse osmosis filtration system. By installing a system like this in your home you’re able to keep harmful contaminants, not only Cr(VI) but a vast quantity of other similar agents, out of your home’s water and keep your family safe.

Reynolds Water is the best local source that provides you with a variety of filtration systems to keep your family safe. Give us a call and we can set you up with the right system for your family at the best price in the area.

Like this post? Share it!

Mysterious Water Leakage

A peculiar instance of water testing is scheduled for this Friday on mysterious green-colored water that oozed out onto eastbound Interstate 696 in Madison Heights a week earlier. According to this Detroit News article, the groundwater is believed to be contaminated with hexavalent chromium, which produces the green color that had onlookers scratching their heads. Due to the potential danger of this contamination, especially the possibility of local rivers and lake contamination, action is being taken immediately to remedy this situation to keep nearby residents safe. The origin of the water is believed to be from the Electro-Plating Services plant located nearby, which incidentally would not be the first time the plant has been in the news for water-related incidents. Results of the testing are scheduled to be released on Friday.

The experts at Reynolds Water Conditioning have a solution to your homes unique water quality needs including: arsenic, bacteria, chlorine, rotten egg smell, fluoride, hard water, iron, lead, acid, tannins, radon, and more.  More information on our water treatment solutions including water softeners and conditioners, water filtration and purification, reverse osmosis drinking water, and iron & odor removal can be found online at https://reynoldswater.com.

Like this post? Share it!

Water Filters 101

Water is one of the most important elements on this planet and without it, we would only live a few short days. Our bodies are made up of roughly two-thirds of H2O and to keep a healthy balance, we need to consume 2.4 liters of water each day. It comes to no surprise that new ways are constantly being found in order to provide us with more clean, pure water to nourish ourselves. In order to remove many of the harmful impurities from our water, the use of water filters is a solution to this problem. How important are water filters you may ask? Let’s take a closer look at what a water filter is.

How Filters Work

Water filters use two different techniques in the removal of dirt and debris. The first is physical filtration in which water is strained by a physical barrier such as a thin gauze or fine textile membrane to remove the larger particles. The second method is done thorough chemical filtration, which involves water passing through an active material, such as carbon, that removes impurities as they pass through chemically. There are 4 primary methods used for water filters that use a combination of physical and chemical filtration:

Activated Carbon Filters

This type of filter is the most common and popular of the options available that are based on charcoal. Charcoal is a form of Carbon that is very porous because it has a big internal surface area that can trap foreign particles. Larger contaminants are stuck on the outside, thus being removed from the water. Carbon can also act as a magnet for items such as lead and VOCs that continue to remove particles internally as water passes through the filter. On the chemical aspect, chemicals like Chlorine are removed during a chemical reaction when water is in contact with Carbon. The main disadvantage of this type of filter is after time it will get clogged with impurities and need to be replaced, which can add additional costs down the road. 

Reverse Osmosis

Filtration that removes contaminants by water pressure to force tap water through a semipermeable membrane is called Reverse Osmosis. The membrane is an effective, very fine filter that allows the water to pass through but the contaminants like Lead, Mercury, and Iron stay behind. The downside is certain items such as some pesticides, solvents, and metals like Chlorine and Radon can not be removed with Reverse Osmosis.

Distillation

A natural option for filtration can be done with the simple process of steam distillation that involves heating water to boiling and then cooling the steam to remove the contaminants. Most contaminants have a higher boiling point than water which is why they are left behind when the water becomes steam. The steam is collected and transformed back to water in a separate container. The disadvantage to this type of filtration is some contaminants such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) boil at a lower temperature than water and they evaporate with the steam and can remove beneficial minerals in natural water during the filtration process.

Ion Exchange

This filter is very good at softening hard water by removing limescale. The process is done with chemical filtration method by releasing ions, like sodium, and exchange them for unwanted ions like heavy metals found in your water. The result is better-tasting water, however, the sodium is simply another form of contaminant, so the ion exchange doesn’t exactly make the water “pure”. This option is not the best for people on low-sodium diets. The second disadvantage of ion-exchange filtration is that it will need to recharge the filters occasionally with more sodium ions by adding a certain type of salt.

The experts at Reynolds Water Conditioning have a solution to your homes unique water quality needs including: arsenic, bacteria, chlorine, rotten egg smell, fluoride, hard water, iron, lead, acid, tannins, radon, and more.  More information on our water treatment solutions including water softeners and conditioners, water filtration and purification, reverse osmosis drinking water, and iron & odor removal can be found online at https://reynoldswater.com.

Like this post? Share it!

New Membranes Created For Water Purification

A new development has been made with the creation of plastic membranes that could be the solution to more effective and affordable options for water purification. These membranes are created by polymers that produce a shape like a fusilli pasta that has microscopic hydrophilic pores that attract water. The pores can capture the water molecules and ions of a specific size. This new finding shows that this membrane can catch the water particles that are unsuitable for drinking and can also catch lithium from the water that can then be reused for batteries. Developing countries can most definitely find this new research very valuable since nearly half of the world is having issues with water scarcity so these membranes can be very promising for creating new freshwater options and for large scale renewable energy storage. More information on this new development in membranes can be read here.

Like this post? Share it!

Hard Water Impacts More Than Just Our Homes

When dealing with hard water, many homeowners know that hard water will affect the taste of their water, leave orange stains on many hard surfaces, create a more difficult time cleaning, and can cause damage to our appliances with time as hard water leaves behind mineral deposits. When looking at the effects hard water has on the environment, it is less known. In this article, many of the environmental elements that can be affected by hard water are discussed further. Some of the impacts can be positive, such as hard water playing an important role in pH regulation in water bodies that will make a difference for fish and other aquatic animals. Another positive point of view is for the industrial buildings to create the ability to make concrete. On the other hand, there are many disadvantages of hard water such as with the pharmaceutical and textile industries with more waste created causing even larger problems. One thing is for sure that hard water should be treated in order to prevent the disadvantages from occurring in o outside our homes. It is recommended to have your water tested by local water experts and solutions such as a water softener can be put into place.

Like this post? Share it!

Why You Should Test for Lead in Your Water

Over the past several years lead in water has become a hot issue amongst homeowners, especially after the events and discovery of lead in Flint, MI water systems. Lead in your water can be a very big issue for not only you and your family but your home as well. No matter how old or new your house is, no home is truly immune to the effects of lead in water, although older homes with older plumbing systems are more susceptible than newer, more modern homes. The effects of lead in the water are the same across all instances, however, and having a proper understanding of them can help you and your family better prepare yourselves if you find yourself experiencing this troubling issue.

Your Home

As mentioned, homes with older plumbing systems can be more susceptible to having lead contaminates in the water. This is because the pipes themselves experience natural corrosion over time, and thus experience a higher probability of contaminates getting through as these pipes age and deteriorate. It benefits both your home and your family to consistently replace the piping of a home over the course of your life to ensure the pipes you don’t see aren’t causing health issues for your family. This is also beneficial to ensure the pipes don’t deteriorate too much to a point where damage is caused in your home by water leakage, which can cause even more damage that can get very expensive to fix.

You and Your Family

Lead in your water can be an invisible issue that may go unnoticed for years until very visible damage is caused to your family’s health. While every member of a family can be negatively affected, infants, young children, and pregnant women are the highest risk for visible health damage. According to a HealthyChildren article, infants drinking formula prepared with lead-contaminated water can be at an even higher risk due to the large amount of water consumed relative to body size.

Concerned parents can have their local pediatrician test their children for lead deposits in their blood so parents can be on top of their children’s health. Because lead in water cannot be seen, tasted, or smelled, having your child tested is the only way to confirm lead in your water. Once that is done you can take the necessary steps to replace the piping in your home or install the proper equipment to better the quality of your water.

___________________________________________________________________________________

The experts at Reynolds Water Conditioning have a solution to your homes unique water quality needs including: arsenic, bacteria, chlorine, rotten egg smell, fluoride, hard water, iron, lead, acid, tannins, radon, and more.  More information on our water treatment solutions including water softeners and conditioners, water filtration and purification, reverse osmosis drinking water, and iron & odor removal can be found online at https://reynoldswater.com.

Like this post? Share it!