Water Quality: Testing, Filters for, and Purification of Drinking, Ground and Pool Water » Arsenic in Water

Testing for Nitrates in Drinking Water

Water Testing Blog — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 13:27:49 +0000

Blue baby syndrome. A very good reason to test the water coming up from your well for nitrates.

Blue baby syndrome can also be caused by Methemoglobinemia. It is believed to be caused by high nitrate contamination in ground water resulting in decreased oxygen carrying capacity of hemoglobin in babies leading to death. The groundwater is thought to be contaminated by leaching of nitrate generated from fertilizer used in agricultural lands and waste dumps [4]. It may also be related to some pesticides (DDT, PCBs etc), which cause ecotoxicological problems in the food chains of living organisms, increasing BOD, which kills aquatic animals. ( source )

So… elevated nitrate levels in drinking water can lead to ‘methemoglobinemia’, but what does that word MEAN?

source: Wikipedia User

The disorder methemoglobinemia typically means the blood contains elevated levels of methemoglobin (metHb), a form of hemoglobin that really and truly likes to attach itself to oxygen molecules — and if present in too great a quantity it will latch onto enough oxygen molecules to cause living tissue to die as a result of oxygen-deprivation.

Where does the ‘blue’ part of blue baby syndrome come from?

Without proper oxygenation of red blood cells a condition known as cyanosis occurs. Note: The term has nothing to do with cyanide, though cyanide poisoning can definitely result in skin turning a shade of blue due to oxygen deprivation.

But, since the topic of cyanide has come up, if you believe you may have someone out to get you, maybe you should consider testing your water for cyanide. It will let you test cyanide levels from 0.05ppm up to 200ppm.

Getting back to the topic of nitrates, though, health officials and water quality professionals agree that owners of wells should, at the very least, periodically test their well water for the presence of nitrates & nitrites, coliform bacteria, lead, copper, total iron, total hardness, pH and commonly used pesticides/herbicides.

Moral of the story?

In the end, if you have a private well, the responsibility for making sure the quality of the water coming out of that well falls squarely on… your shoulders. Therefore, test your well water at least once a year. It’s your well, your water, and ultimately your LIFE.

Arsenic Low Range Test Kit

Pesticide Test Kit

Heavy Metals Test Kit

City Employee Gets Probation for Falsifying Water Test Results

Water Testing Blog — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 13:03:44 +0000

We often get asked if people who have city/town water ought to test their drinking water from time to time. If you live in the city of Edgewood, Iowa, you no longer have to ask that question.

While the Iowa Department of Natural Resources says they do not believe any dangerous water safety issues avoided detection, the fact that a city employee responsible for testing the city’s public drinking water supply on a regular basis purchased only enough supplies for 100 tests — despite claiming to have performed 3,889 water tests between January 2006 and July 2009 — would make just about anyone curious.

A former Edgewood city employee has been sentenced to probation after he admitted that he failed to test the town’s water supply and submitted false reports to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

…

Harris, 43, pleaded guilty in April to one count of making false statements in a matter within the jurisdiction of the Environmental Protection Agency.

In the plea agreement, Harris admitted he sent false monthly reports to the DNR from February 2008 and July 2009. He falsely claimed testing for fluoride, chlorine and manganese. DNR tests showed less chlorine in the water than the 1.5 milligrams per liter required by state law to kill bacteria.

The review found lower-than-acceptable levels of fluoride, which reduces tooth decay, and manganese oxide, which helps remove cancer-causing radium from the water. Residents in the eastern Iowa town were not exposed to any short- or long-term health risks, a DNR officer said.

The DNR originally alleged that Harris claimed to have done 3,889 water tests between January 2006 and July 2009, but bought enough material for only 100 tests. Harris resigned in August 2009.

The investigation began after some residents complained about declining water quality. ( source )

OK, now having read that, does the statement, “DNR tests showed less chlorine in the water than the 1.5 milligrams per liter required by state law to kill bacteria.” make you feel… safe?

How about “The investigation began after some residents complained about declining water quality.” Does that give you any sense of security?

Can individuals test their city/town/tap water?

Of course they can! While only certified water testing laboratories can give the absolute last word on the safety and potability of drinking water, at-home drinking water test kits from companies like SenSafe and WaterSafe allow the average homeowner to test critical water parameters on their own, whenever they want, and for little money.

What water parameters should homeowners test?

Given the number of possible drinking water contaminants, the average homeowner would find it difficult (and expensive!) to test for them all… but as a general rule, if typically makes sense for people on city/town/tap water to test for water parameters such as:

free chlorine residual
total chlorine residual
lead in water
copper in water
iron in water
total hardness
bacteria in water
hydrogen sulfide

Should homeowners with city water test for other things? That all depends on where their water company gets its water. As an example, if the water comes from a well, other potentially harmful water contaminants such as pesticides and arsenic could find their way into the water supply and an ill-equipped water treatment facility may not have the proper technology installed to remove them.

As always, though, if you have serious reason to suspect that your tap water has ‘issues’, seek advice from certified water quality experts. Home water test kits serve as great field tests, but the final word regarding a water supply’s potability should come from a certified water testing laboratory.

Man Does Unspeakable Thing in Co-Worker’s Water Bottle

Water Testing Blog — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 13:03:36 +0000

We have all heard the stories about people having date rape drugs slipped into their drinks while out at bars and nightclubs, but how many have heard of THIS? A male co-worker put his own…. ‘seed’…. into a female co-worker’s water bottle. Twice.

Just… Wow. What a flippin’ disgusting individual!

SANTA ANA, Calif. (KABC) — A 31-year-old Fullerton man was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly ejaculating twice into a co-worker’s water bottle.

Authorities said Michael Kevin Lallana was linked through DNA to the crimes.

Lallana allegedly entered the victim’s office and deposited his ejaculation into a water bottle that was on her desk in January. Police said the unsuspecting victim later drank the water, which made her feel sick, so she threw it away.

In April, investigators said Lallana did the same thing, but this time, the victim saved the water bottle and sent it to a private lab for testing. She then reported the results to the Orange Police Department.

Lallana is charged with two misdemeanor counts each of releasing an offensive material in a public place and assault, with sentencing allegations for committing a crime for sexual gratification.

If convicted, Lallana faces a maximum of three years in jail with mandatory sex offender registration. He is free on $500 bond and will be arraigned next month. ( source )

If this little bit of news does not make you want to take proper precautions to guard your water, whether in the bottle you leave on your desk at the office or as the drinking water that comes up from the aquifer and into your home, then perhaps nothing will.

Do you have control over the quality of the water in the aquifer supplying your well? Most likely not, but you always have the chance and opportunity to test the quality of water for unwanted contaminants. Periodic use of a well water test kit helps to ensure that no changes in the quality of your well water have taken place.

What sort of well water testing should well owners consider? At the very least we suggest they test for naturally occurring contaminants such as bacteria, nitrates/nitrates, heavy metals like mercury and lead, arsenic, etc.

Huh? Test for arsenic? Why? Is someone trying to poison us? Most likely not, but we have good reasons to suggest well owners test their water for arsenic. If you want to know why arsenic testing for well owners makes sense, take a look at Arsenic-Test-Kit.Com and ArsenicQuick.Com.

Getting back to the topic of well water testing, the United States Environmental Protection Agency as well as public health officials on State and Local levels urge private well owners to have their well water tested by a certified water testing laboratory annually. Qualified water testing labs like National Testing Laboratories typically provide reliable test results in under two weeks.

National Testing Labs
27 Parameter Test Kit

National Testing Labs
83 Parameter Test Kit

National Testing Labs
97 Parameter Test Kit

Oh, and before we forget, you paranoid folks out there may want to invest in a Cyanide in Water Test Kit… ‘cuz you never know. Maybe your neighbors really ARE out to get you!

6-Stage Inline Filter for Arsenic

Water Testing Blog — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 23:56:26 +0000

This multi-stage (six) inline filter does a lot more than just remove arsenic from water at a rate of up to 1 gallon per minute, a rate perfect for use with water fountains, bottleless water coolers, commercial coffeemakers, and ice machines. It uses all six of its filtration layers to effectively remove a number of drinking water contaminants.

In stages 1 and 6 water flows through pre and post one – micron filters capable of removing suspended particles such as silt, sediment, cyst (Giardia, Cryptosporidium), sand, rust, dirt, and other types of unwanted matter.
In stage 2 water flows through a specially engineered arsenic removal/reduction media.
In stages 3 and 4 water flows through a media bed comprised of high purity KDF-55D ®, and KDF-85D ®, which operate using electrochemical and spontaneous oxidation/reduction (REDOX) principles. The combination of these two special media completely oxidizes any chlorine in the water.

As an added bonus, heavy metals such as lead, mercury, copper, nickel, chromium, cadmium, aluminum, and other dissolved metals also get removed/reduced during this stage of filtration.

While some KDF media beds can harbor unwanted bacteria, studies have shown that this particular unit reduces the likelihood of bacteria growth by as much as 90%, thus eliminating the need for silver, an element considered by some to pose health risks.

Worried about the possible addition of copper or zinc to the water in any significant amount? On a sample of water containing 2.3 ppm chlorinated water, testing after filtration detected <0.05 mg/l copper and only 0.46 mg/l zinc. The EPA has set the aesthetic levels for copper at 1.0 mg/l and 5.0 mg/l for zinc. Additionally, the human body requires both zinc and copper for good health. The FDA recommends a daily intake of 15 mg of zinc and 2 mg of copper.
In the fifth stage of filtration, water flows through granulated activated carbon (GAC) which adsorbs a wide variety of organic contaminants, such as any remaining chlorine (99.9%), chemicals linked to cancer such as Trihalomethanes and benzene, pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, volatile organic compounds (VOC’s), PCB’s, MTBE’s and a laundry list of other chemical contaminants that may exist in your source (i.e. tap or well) water.

What about replacement filters? Will I have difficulty finding them? Highly unlikely! The manufacturer of this inline arsenic filter, Crystal Quest has existed in one form or another in the commercial water purification industry for more than thirty years.

You can order replacement filters for the inline arsenic filter on FilterWater.Com, a leading online vendor of water quality improvement products from Crystal Quest and other manufacturers.

Replacement Arsenic
Filter Cartridge

Countertop Arsenic Filter

Undersink Triple Arsenic Filter

Water Contamination From Torpedo Testing?

Water Testing Blog — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 13:03:00 +0000

Of all the things a person should have to worry about affecting their drinking water, who in their right mind would think that torpedo testing would ever become an issue?

Not us, but folks in the San Gabriel Valley region of California have something to think about… unfortunately.

The San Gabriel Mountains may be an unlikely site for a U.S. Navy torpedo lab, but 17,000 cubic yards of soil contaminated by torpedo tests is going to be hauled away from a lake in a canyon above Azusa, according to reports.

The Navy tested torpedo engines and shapes in the lake behind Morris Dam beginning in World War II. After 50 years, it closed the facility but left behind bad chemical residue.

Perchlorates, a cancer-causing type of rocket propellant, arsenic and other dangerous compounds coat rocks on the 20-acre test site on a peninsula in the lake, which is a domestic drinking water supply for the San Gabriel Valley. ( source )

Yeah… Not too many people will ever have to deal with the residuals of torpedo testing winding up in their drinking water supply, but plenty of other folks — whether they know it or not — really ought to keep a close watch on the quality of their drinking water.

Sneaky contaminants like arsenic, which occurs naturally in the environment, can show up in well water unannounced. Something as simple as a change in the weather can result in increased arsenic levels in well water. Therefore owners of wells owe it to themselves and everyone their wells serve to test for arsenic on a regular basis.

Most health officials suggest that private well owners have a thorough water quality analysis performed at least once a year by a certified water testing laboratory. Whether done by a local lab or a company like National Testing Labs, owners of private wells owe it to themselves and their families to have their water tested on a regular basis.

Arsenic Quick Mini Kit

Arsenic Quick II Mini Kit

Arsenic Quick Full Kit

Chemicals Found in Mountain Island Lake Fish (Metals and PCB’s)

Water Testing Blog — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 13:03:22 +0000

A recent study done on fish and sediment taken from Mountain Island Lake in North Carolina detected higher than expected, and some cases safe, levels of toxic metals and PCB’s.

Toxic chemicals and heavy metals are collecting in the tissue of fish and the sediment beneath the water of Mountain Island Lake, according to a new study out this week.

A recent independent study by the Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation determined that drinking water supplied by the lake is safe but the fish and sediment from the lake contains high levels of unacceptable industrial matter, according to David Merryman, Catawba Riverkeeper.

“I think from these results we should at least evaluate our fish consumption for PCBs, and that’s something I’ll be calling for,” said Merryman.

…

A PCB concentration of 70.7 parts per billion was found in largemouth bass that were tested. That is more than 20 points higher than levels considered safe by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, said Merryman.

Mountain Island Lake provides water to Gastonia, Mount Holly and several other municipalities and is also a popular fishing spot for anglers in the area.

Samples of fish also showed signs of barium, mercury and selenium.

…

Any advisories about the consumption of fish would have to come from the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.

…

The water in Mountain Island Lake proved to be free of PCBs but did include arsenic and barium. Sediment contained arsenic, barium, lead, selenium and mercury. These elements may not surpass acceptable levels, but they are alarming to Merryman.

“This is important. This is the water we drink. It’s where we swim,” he said.

Many of the chemicals detected during the independent test come from the neighboring coal-ash ponds operated by area power plants, according to Merryman.

While the coal-ash ponds are independent of Mountain Island Lake, water is skimmed off the top of the ponds regularly and dumped into the lake.

“Those coal-ash ponds are a source of heavy metals to that lake that a million and a half of us depend on to drink, to cook and wash our clothes,” said Merryman. “We really shouldn’t let industry pump heavy metals into a lake that we depend on.”

Duke Energy is allowed to discharge into the river system under a permit.

…

The Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation contracted with Pace Analytical Laboratories in Huntersville to conduct the tests on Mountain Island Lake.
( source )

We will post more information about the water quality in Mountain Island Lake as we learn it. For now, though, please take a look at the test kits below, as they will work for testing lake water, tap water and well water for potentially hazardous levels of metals in water.

Heavy Metals in Water

Arsenic in Water Test Kit

Lead in Water Test Kit

Arsenic Water Filter for Commercial Applications

Water Testing Blog — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 19:18:44 +0000

We have repeatedly posted information about arsenic remediation systems for residential and small commercial applications, but what about the ‘big boys/girls’ who have arsenic in their water? What about them?

Fear not, because we recently learned that Filter Water a leading retailer of water testing, water filtration and drinking water contaminant elimination equipment has started carrying a line of arsenic removal filters designed specifically for customers whose water requirements range from 15 to 288 gallons per minute (GPM).

A few words about arsenic levels

Based upon a standard dating back to 1942, the USEPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency) enacted legislation that required water systems to make sure arsenic levels did not exceed 50 ppb (parts per billion). More recently, however, health experts and other professionals questioned the safety of water containing 50 ppb dissolved arsenic and in 2001 the USEPA dropped the maximum contaminant level for arsenic in drinking water to 10 ppb.

The debate over what defines a ‘safe’ arsenic level in drinking water will come up again, most likely, because some health officials warn that levels above 3 ppb pose a credible danger to humans.

Need to test for arsenic in water?

For most field/home water testing applications the Arsenic Quick line of water test kits work very well. They have the shorter testing times, safer reagents and greater detection ranges than any comparable test kit on the market.

For information on these kits, visit ArsenicQuick.Com and/or Arsenic-Test-Kit.Com

Arsenic Quick, 2 Tests

Arsenic Quick II, 2 Tests

Arsenic Quick, 100 Tests

Arsenic Removal Water Filter Media

Water Testing Blog — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 13:03:28 +0000

A quick look at the arsenic map on Arsenic-Test-Kit.Com will show you that arsenic can appear in groundwater all across the Continental United States and in some areas naturally occurring arsenic levels in ground water greatly exceed the 10 ppb (parts per billion) limit set forth by the USEPA several years ago.

Want to know if your drinking or well water contains dissolved arsenic in concentrations greater then recommended by the USEPA? At-home test kits such as the Arsenic Quick Test Kits for Drinking Water work well as a field screening tool, but the final word ought to come from a certified water testing lab such as National Testing Labs… or you can find lists of certified water testing labs in your state here.

National Testing Labs

Field Arsenic Test Kit

As more and more people become aware of the fact that levels of arsenic in well water can fluctuate with the changing of seasons, after periods of heavy rain and in periods of drought, the demand for arsenic removal systems for residential and commercial use continues to rise.

One of the most common methods of arsenic removal requires the use of a specific type of water filter media, an example of which is a nano-particle based selective iron oxide resin media designed to remove arsenic (arsenate and arsenite) from water.

A quality arsenic removal resin of that nature will have passed all testing and quality requirements outlined in the NSF/ANSI 61 standard.

Arsenic Multi-Stage Cartridge

Countertop Arsenic Filter

Whole House Arsenic Filter

Fluoride Removal Media for Water Filters

Water Testing Blog — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 13:03:23 +0000

While the debate over public water system fluoridation rages on,

– Arsenic and Fluoride Still a Problem

– Fluoride Exposure Linked to Sperm Damage

– Fluoride in Drinking Water Facts

– More Information on Fluoride in Drinking Water

… more and more people install filters to remove fluoride in their homes, offices and places of business.

While some fluoride removal systems use replaceable filter cartridges and/or reverse osmosis membranes, larger units and whole house systems use special filtration media that must get replaced every so often.

A good quality fluoride removal water filter media will work using both adsorption and chemical reaction and not rely exclusively on an ion exchange reaction only.

The newest fluoride removal water filter media carried by FilterWater.Com contains a synthetic aluminum oxide adsorbent media, a resin designed specifically to have a high affinity for Fluoride, Lead and Arsenic.

Lead in Water Test Kit

Arsenic in Water Test Kit

Multi-Parameter Water Testing Meter

Affordable Arsenic Test Kits for Home Well Water Testing

Water Testing Blog — Thu, 13 May 2010 00:22:16 +0000

The Arsenic Quick Test II Mini-Kit detects low levels of arsenic, as low as 2 ppb (micrograms/L), in just 14 minutes. Testing can take place as easily in the field as it can in a lab, in a home, or just about anywhere.

To make testing for arsenic in private wells more affordable, Arsenic Quick Test II Mini-Kits contain enough of the three needed reagents — tartaric acid (food grade), zinc powder, and monopersulfate — and patented detection strips to run two full tests for arsenic in water.

While other arsenic test kits use harsher acids and have more complex testing procedures, Arsenic Quick Test Kits provide a safer, faster method for testing arsenic in well water, groundwater, surface water, etc.

Arsenic Quick Test Kits work so well, in fact, that the States of Michigan and Arizona have each incorporated an Arsenic Quick Test Kit into their Arsenic Testing Compliance Regulations.

Arsenic Quick Mini Kit
2 Tests

Arsenic Quick II Mini Kit
2 Tests

Arsenic Quick Full Kit
100 Tests