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Will boiling my water get rid of
contamination?
How
do I have my water tested?
Where
does my water come from?
My
water smells like chlorine; what can I do?
Should
I be concerned about chlorinated water?
How
can I obtain water quality information from my
utility?
Is
my well water safe?
Do
community water systems filter out disease-causing bacteria like Giardia
and Cryptosporidium?
My
water is clear and tastes fine; should I still be concerned about water
quality?
How
do I know if there is lead in my drinking
water?
How
do I know if there is radon in my drinking
water?
How
can I trust lab tests?
Is
bottled water safer than tap water?
Will boiling my
water get rid of contamination?
No. Boiling water only eliminates
bacterial contamination. Many non-bacterial pollutants, such as
nitrates,
do not boil out of water. In some
cases, boiling contaminated water can concentrate the pollutants
because
boiling reduces the volume of water
remaining by 20%.
How do I have my water
tested?
We suggest that you contact
your water utility and ask for a water quality report. If you have a
private well,
contact a water testing laboratory, or
contact your state or local health department. Important note: a
water
test will only tell you what is in your water
on the day it is sampled. Pollutants or public water
treatment
plant failures can occur intermittently
(e.g. after heavy rains, seasonal changes, agricultural fertilization,
or
pesticide application).
Where does my water come
from?
Your water either comes from a private well or from
a community water system. Well water
typically
comes from an underground aquifer. Community
water systems obtain water from a variety of sources
including lakes, reservoirs, and rivers. If
you receive community water and do not know it's origin,
contact your water utility (their phone number is
listed on your water bill).
My water smells like
chlorine; what can I do?
Your water utility regulates the amount of chlorine
added to disinfect your drinking water. Sometimes,
after hard rains or during high spring runoff, or in
dry seasons, more chlorine may be added to ensure
that your water is safe to drink. If you
dislike the taste or smell of chlorinated water, you
should
consider installing a water filter. Our filter
will reduce the chlorine in your tap water.
Should I be
concerned about chlorinated water?
Chlorine is a disinfectant
that is added to water to eliminate disease-causing bacteria. For
more than 80
years, chlorine has proven
effective at greatly reducing the number of diseases caused by
contaminated
water. However, some
scientists are now concerned that chlorine in water can react with
other
contaminants and organic material in the
water to form substances like chloroform. These
substances,
called "disinfection
by-products" or DBP's, might cause other health problems such as
cancer.
Recently, some researchers have
expressed concern that chlorinated water may be dangerous
for
pregnant women (click here for Associated
Press article "Dirty tap water risk for pregnant
women",
January 8, 2002)
Our carbon filter cartridge
can considerably reduce the chlorine in your drinking
water.
How can
I obtain water quality information from my
utility?
The best way to check on
water quality is to call your water utility. Their number is on your
water bill.
Or you could look up your city's public
works department in your phone book. Since
1999,
water utilities have been required to notify
their customers every year of the levels of
regulated
contaminants they find in their drinking
water, as well as the presence of other suspicious, but as
yet
unregulated substances.
Is my well
water safe?
Not necessarily. There
are many sources of contamination that can leak into your well
water. Homes
with wells usually have their own
septic systems that often leak into wells. Farms can
easily
contaminate their own wells with germicides,
herbicides, pesticides, or nitrates from fertilizers
which leach into the ground water. Also, underground water can
migrate considerable distances.
A gas station a few
miles up the road my be slowly contaminating your well water with
gasoline
leaking from an underground
tank.
Do
community water systems filter out disease-causing bacteria like Giardia
and Cryptosporidium?
Giardia and Cryptosporidium
are parasites commonly found
in lakes and rivers, particularly if
these bodies of
water are contaminated with animal wastes or sewage. Both parasites
exist
as cysts in the environment, which act as
protective covers to the parasites inside them.
Giardia
and Cryptosporidium are very resistant to
disinfection, and even well operated water treatment
systems cannot ensure their completer removal. Currently,
an Environmental Protection
Agency
(EPA) drinking water standard is established for Giardia, but the
regulations do not adequately
address the complete
removal of Cryptosporidium.
Our filters can remove
Giardia and Cryptosporidium cysts from your drinking
water.
My
water is clear and tastes fine; should I still be concerned about water
quality?
The look, taste, and smell of
water are not necessarily indicative of its quality.
There are a number of problems that can affect your water that are
completely
invisible. The only way to be
certain of your water's quality is to have it
tested.
If you receive water from a community water
treatment facility, you can request
the results of
the tests they perform to satisfy EPA mandates.
How do I know
if there is lead in my drinking water?
Lead is rarely in drinking
water when it leaves the water treatment plant. Instead, it
leaches
drinking water from older lead pipes and
plumbing fixtures. Unfortunately, lead cannot
be
seen, smelled, or tasted in water. If your
home dates from 1986 or later, your pipes and
plumbing fixtures likely do not contain lead. If you live in an
older home, you should
have your water tested for
lead.
Our filters remove lead from
drinking water.
How do I know
if there is radon in my drinking water?
Radon exists as a gas
in the soil. Therefore, it can sometimes be present in
underground
water sources. Radon is known to
cause lung cancer if high levels of it are inhaled
over
time. To test for Radon in your drinking
water, contact a water testing lab.
For more
information on Radon, call the National Safety
Council's Radon Hotline
at
800-55-RADON, or the EPA's Safe Drinking Water
Hotline at 800-426-4791.
How can
I trust lab tests?
If you call a water testing
lab, be sure it is certified by your state. You can call
your
State Certification Officer for a list of
certified water testing labs in your state.
Is bottled water safer than
tap water?
Bottled water is not
necessarily any safer than your tap water. However, the
National
Sanitation Foundation (NSF) certifies some
brands of bottled drinking water. To find out
which brands are certified, either visit NSF's website
or call them at
800-673-8010.
An important fact to
remember: bottled water is up to one hundred times more
expensive
than filtered tap water. Plus,
filtered tap water offers the convenience of clean
water
on demand.
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