A while back we posted an article about the extent of mercury contamination in freshwater streams and rivers in the United States and in that article we told you how fish from ALL 291 bodies of water tested came up positive for mercury. Therefore an article which recently appeared on the Denver Post web site about smallmouth bass in the Juniata Reservoir coming up positive for mercury contamination did not surprise us.

How certain government officials proposed to DEAL with the problem, however, DID shock us.

GRAND JUNCTION — A reservoir that provides drinking water for Grand Junction is closed for fishing because smallmouth bass there have tested positive for mercury contamination.

Steve Gunderson, director of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s water- quality division, says the mercury levels in Juniata Reservoir are extremely low, but mercury accumulates in fish. He says state health officials are meeting with city officials about keeping the reservoir off a list of bodies of water that don’t meet water- quality standards, if they can get rid of all contaminated fish or isolate the reservoir. ( source )

Sounds to use like the officials seem more concerned about keeping this body of water off the ‘contaminated list’ than they do about the actual underlying problem: Mercury in the water!

Granted the article only gave a brief overview of the situation at Juniata Reservoir, but we really find it strange that the proposed method of ’solving’ the problem involves removing (killing) all the smallmouth bass… and/or keeping those fish from migrating to another body of water.

No matter how you look at it, once again it seems that certain government bodies care more about regional revenue from tourism, revenue from sport fishing, and revenue in general than they do about finding the underlying cause of all the problems… and this means, to some extent, that the general public must keep a vigilant eye on issues involving contamination of lakes, rivers, ponds, streams, and any other bodies of water because government agencies have their own agendas which may or may not include keeping toxic materials out of the water.

Testing for Metals in Water

A quick and efficient way of testing for the presence of metals in your water involves the use of a water testing product such as the SenSafe Water Metals Check which provides users with semi-quantitative water metals levels in under three minutes.

SenSafe Water Metals Check requires no iodine indicator solution, no meter, and no specialized training. Just dip the strip for 20 seconds, wait two minutes, and match color on the end of the strip to the color chart provided on the bottle.

Metals detected by SenSafe Water Metals Check include, but are not limited to, copper, cobalt, zinc, cadmium, and nickel.

SenSafe Water Metals Check has a low detection limit of 10ppb (parts per billion), much lower than any comparable product on the market.

What About Testing for Mercury in Water?

Simple test kits exist for testing mercury levels in drinking water as well. SenSafe manufactures two different Mercury in Water Test Kits and both, like SenSafe Water Metals Check, require no meter or special training to use and yield results in a matter of minutes.

If we had a dollar for every time we got asked the first question below, we’d all drive expensive cars and dine on lobster for lunch… instead of taking the bus and eating Ramen Noodles every day.

T_RadioMan in Clifton Park, NY asked…

Why do I always get staining in my sinks? Is my well water polluted? Is it dangerous?

Slow down, killer. Slow down. One question about the quality of your water at a time, OK?

Staining… of fixtures often happens when water contains dissolved metals. Have you tested your water for metals?

• Iron in Water — may leave brown, yellow and/or orange stains in sinks and on fixtures

• Manganese in Water — may leave dark brown, black or deep purple stains in sinks and on fixtures

• Copper in Water — may leave blue, green or dark stains in sinks and on fixtures

Polluted… drinking water may not ever show any signs of contamination. Only testing the water will tell you if your water contains dangerous contaminants and if you know nothing about the quality of the water, it definitely makes sense to opt for a thorough water quality analysis conducted by a qualified laboratory such as National Testing Laboratories or a local laboratory w/ similar qualifications.

National Testing Laboratories offers three levels of certified drinking water testing and their customers get test results within two weeks.

• WaterTest Basic tests for 27 water quality parameters

• WaterCheck test for 83 water quality parameters

• WaterCheck w/ Pesticides tests for 97 water quality parameters

Dangerous… water also may not show any obvious signs of it malignant nature so having testing performed by a qualified laboratory to find out if the water contains harmful contaminants or a dangerously low/high pH makes sense if you know nothing about the water and have ‘problems’ with it such as skin irritation, staining of fixtures, foul odor, nasty taste, or unexplainable recurring gastrointestinal troubles.

To conclude, T_RadioMan, you really won’t ever know the cause of your water woes until you get that water of yours checked out by a certified water testing laboratory.

SusanB wrote us recently to ask a question that many people people have probably asked after reading some of the postings here on the Water Testing Blog, but never bothered to ask anyone at the Water Testing Blog…

Your site and many others talk about ‘reverse osmosis‘ water treatment systems all the time but never really explain how they work. Are they just some sort of fancy carbon filter or something? I really want to know because I need to do something about my bad water and if they’re no different, except in price, than a simple carbon filter then I won’t waste my money on one. Can you explain the difference? IS there a difference? Thanks!

Actually, SusanB, we have posted information on Reverse Osmosis Water Filters in the past that addresses most of the questions you asked…

• What is Reverse Osmosis
• How Do Reverse Osmosis Systems Work
• Why Install a Reverse Osmosis Water Filter?
• Where Can I Buy Replacement RO Membranes?

And now, after re-reading our own posts we have decided that we really ought to locate and re-post a more user-friendly definition and explanation of reverse osmosis water filtration.

There are a range of water filtration systems available to today’s consumer to meet the different challenges of raising water quality. Often, a simple activated carbon filter does the trick, but many people have more complicated water problems, and find that they need more complex water filtration systems because of this. A reverse osmosis water filtration system will, in many cases, solve these more advanced problems.

Reverse osmosis (RO) water filtration is a multi-step water filtering process which works slowly but is extremely effective. Reverse osmosis systems are generally used to treat cooking and drinking water supplies. It’s often used in industry but works very well in the home. Reverse osmosis uses the principles of osmosis (in which material passes slowly through a membrane and is concentrated and purified in the process) to produce very clean water.

The first step is that a simple sediment filter is installed and all water to be used passes through it; the filter catches large particles of materials such as rust or calcium carbonate (a compound which is not at all harmful but which isn’t desirable in your drinking and cooking water – it’s commonly used as an antacid). Sometimes a second filter of a similar design, but more fine, is used after the initial filtering. An activated carbon filter traps organic chemicals, and then the RO filter, which is a very fine membrane, is used. It may be helpful to think of all these filters as being similar to sieves with differently-sized holes. Basically, the process of reverse osmosis water filtration would be akin to draining cooked food through a series of increasingly-fine sieves, rather than just emptying the pot into a basic perforated colander. Reverse osmosis water filtration systems, being more complex and increasingly sensitive, can trap far more contaminants than just one simple carbon filter. Some RO systems will, even after the water has passed through the RO membrane, use yet another carbon filter or, alternatively, an ultra-violet lamp, to purify the water even further. The result of all of this filtering is extremely high quality water.

Reverse osmosis is not the most efficient of all water filtration systems, and some have expressed concern about the fact that it takes approximately four gallons of processed water to result in one gallon of clear water. However, its effectiveness makes it a preferred water filtration method for many. Some describe it as “ultrafiltration,” which gives a sense of how powerful RO is. RO results in very pure water. The Water Quality Association says that RO filter systems produce water purity levels as high as 95 percent, which is extraordinary.

The fact remains that reverse osmosis water purification systems remove an astounding range of contaminants from your water. Arsenic, barium, cadmium, chromium (hexavalent), chromium (trivalent), copper, lead, nitrate, nitrite, radium 226/228, selenium, iron and TDS are all removed from your water with an RO system.

A reverse osmosis water filtering system is obviously more complicated than a simple carbon-filter water pitcher, but the benefits of its complex design are also obvious. For those who are concerned not merely with the aesthetics of their water – taste – but have more concrete problems with water quality, an RO water filter may be the best solution to your problem. ( source )

Well, SusanB, and everyone else reading this, we hope the information above helped you to understand a little bit more about the ways in which reverse osmosis water filters operate and the benefits they offer. Below you will find links to three popular reverse osmosis water filters units available from WaterFilters.Net.

Some people live in older homes where the plumbing may still contain copper and/or lead pipes. If the water entering those residences has a low pH value, meaning the water is acidic, the possibility definitely exists that the water may corrode the piping and pull dissolved and potentially dangerous amounts of metals into itself.

Maximum Contaminant Levels

For copper, the USEPA suggests that people ingest drinking water containing no more than 1.3ppm (mg/L) of free dissolved copper. Health officials have determined that short term exposure to high levels of dissolved copper in drinking water can cause gastrointestinal distress and that long term exposure can result in liver and/or kidney damage.

When it comes to maximum contaminant level for lead in drinking water, the USEPA set the limit at 15ppb. Routinely ingesting higher quantities of lead in water may result in delays in physical or mental development and in infants and children. Problems with attention span have also resulted. In the case of adults ingesting higher than acceptable amounts of lead in drinking water, kidney problems and high blood pressure have resulted.

Acidic Water Causes Other Problems

Not treating, or correcting the pH of, acidic water can result in costly corrosion problems in plumbing and it may also drastically shorten the life expectancies equipment that uses water such as dishwashers, washing machines, hot water heaters, etc.

Treating Acidic Water

If you have acidic water and wish to treat it, installing a device such as a Whole House Acid Neutralizing Water Filter will help to keep your water’s pH level in an acceptable range.

The Acid Neutralizing Water Filter works by slowly dissolving calcium carbonate into water with a pH level below 6.8. The dissolved calcium carbonate acts as a pH increaser.

According to the manufacturer of this unit, Crystal Quest, the calcium carbonate media in the tank will last approximately 2 to 3 years and the system has a backwash feature to help prevent compaction which would impede the flow of water through the system.

For more information on the Whole House Acid Neutralizing Water Filter manufactured by Crystal Quest, visit the FilterWater.Com web site.

Amy wrote in with a few questions about city water testing…

Hi ~ thanks for this blog! Do cities provide free water testing as a service?

How would I know if my apt building has lead pipes?

Thanks!

Amy

To our knowledge most cities and municipalities do not provide free water testing as a service, though we have read that some areas will offer deeply discounted testing rates through local laboratories, or their own labs, in response to localized events such as regional flooding.

You can, however, call your local water company and request a copy of its most recent Annual Drinking Water Quality Report. Some cities opt to post their reports online and you can check to see if your area water company posts its report online at the EPA’s Safewater Project Web Site.

With regard to your question regarding whether or not your apartment building contains lead pipes, first determine the approximate age of the building.

Older houses are more likely to have problems with lead than houses built since 1988. Before that time, lead piping and lead solder were widely used in household plumbing systems as well as in the service lines that connect houses to street water mains. In 1986, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) banned the use of lead pipes and lead solder in plumbing systems because lead is an insidious and dangerous poison. The EPA set an “action level” of .015 milligrams per liter of water for lead, stating that levels higher than that in water could pose a risk to human health. ( source )

In all honesty, though, even if your building does not have lead someplace in its water delivery system, lead can enter your drinking water other ways…

Lead rarely occurs naturally in drinking water. It’s far more common for lead contamination to occur at some point in the water delivery system. It isn’t well known, but household plumbing is usually the culprit when it comes to high levels of lead and copper in drinking water. Lead and/or copper pipes, fittings and other components are commonly found in many plumbing systems. Metallic alloys such as brass and bronze often contain lead, so brass faucets or plumbing fittings may also release lead into home water systems. ( source )

With so many ways for potentially harmful levels of metals such as lead and copper to enter one’s drinking water, the only way to know for sure if you have lead in your water (which is what REALLY matters) involves testing your water.

Now of COURSE we suggest using a certified water testing lab such as Suburban Water Testing Laboratories, or another similarly qualified water testing service, but that does not mean you cannot test your own water from time to time for dangerous metals such as copper and lead.

Water Metals Test Kit

Water Quality Test Kit

Lead in Water Test Kit

Many of the emails we receive ask questions about topics involving testing for metals in drinking water and/or ways to effectively remove metals from drinking water.

Whether listed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency as a serious health concern or just a general nuisance, most people care about only one thing: Testing for metals in drinking water and removing them ASAP!

Commonly asked about metals include…

Questions about other metals such as manganese, copper, chromium and, of course, our dear friend arsenic, also make their way into emails sent through our Contact Us page.

Why the Concern Over Metals in Water?

Health officials unanimously agree that excessive exposure to dissolved metals in water can in many cases lead to serious side effects such as cancer, organ damage, impairment of the nervous system, the development of a life-threatening condition where the immune system attacks its own cells, a reduction in the growth and development of cells, joint problems/diseases, circulatory system problems, and last, but definitely not least… death.

Younger people stand to suffer the effects of exposure to metals more than adults do to their small body masses. In other words, an 8 oz glass of water containing X ppm (parts per million) of heavy metals will result in a much higher dose in a child than it will in an adult who drinks the same glass of water.

Some health officials theorize that very young children and unborn babies whose bodies develop at a rapid pace absorb the metals readily into their systems. Exposure of this nature often results in learning difficulties, damaged nervous systems, memory deficiencies, and even behavioral problems such as hyperactivity and aggressiveness.

More Information on Metals in Water:

• Lead Testing in Humans… Without Needles
• Study Links Manganese Exposure to Cancer
• Chromium in Drinking Water
• Mercury Found in Fish From All 291 US Streams & Rivers Tested
• Filters for Mercury in Drinking Water
• Copper in Drinking Water
• Information About Mercury
• Visual Test Kit for Lead in Paint
• Rust Color in Drinking Water

Some people believe they have to sacrifice creature comforts such as a ‘cool’ showerhead that gives the sensation of standing in the rain if they want to install a shower filter that will reduce chlorine taste, chlorine odor and water harness. Those people clearly have not done their research!

After only a short web search we located a rain simulating showerhead manufactured by Paragon Water that has a built-in (replaceable) filter good for 10,000 gallons of shower water.

The filter uses a mixture of KDF and proprietary media to filter out impurities in the water. KDF stands for ‘Kinetic Degradation Fluxion’ and contains a high-purity copper-zinc formulation which uses a chemical process known as redox (oxidation/reduction) to reduce chlorine, lead, mercury, iron, and hydrogen sulfide levels in water.

For folks who may have other water quality issues, health officials and water professionals suggest using KDF shower or other point-of-use KDF filters in conjunction with other water purification methods since KDF filters alone will not remove potentially harmful contaminants such as bacteria, viruses, fluoride, and nitrates.

Spencer wrote in and asked…

Hello,

I am looking for an all-in-one home test kit that will show ppm levels. I thought I saw a product that was around $30 but now I can’t find the web-site.

Do you have any suggestions?

Thanks,

Spencer

Thank you for your question, Spencer. For the most part all drinking water test kits (worth buying) should the majority of their results in parts per million, with the exception of some tests for metals which report their results in parts per billion. Example: Heavy Metals Check.

Getting to the rest of your question, a brand of home water test kits called WaterSafe manufactures a test kit called the All-in-One and it tests drinking water for the following: Bacteria, Lead, Pesticides (atrazine & Simazine), Iron, Total Chlorine, Total Hardness, pH, and Nitrates/Nitrites.

In our experience the average consumer can pick up the WaterSafe All-in-One Water Test Kit for around $20 from several online vendors including, but not limited to, the following:

• Filters Fast (www.filtersfast.com) — WaterSafe All-in-One Test Kit

• Filter Water (www.filterwater.com) — WaterSafe All-in-One Test Kit

Hopefully we have given you the information you asked for. In the event that you did not mean the WaterSafe All-in-One Water Test Kit specifically, and instead used the term ‘all-in-one’ in a more general manner, you may want to take a look at another brand of home water test kits: SenSafe.

Under the SenSafe brand you will find test kits such as the Drinking Water Quality Test Kit which typically costs a little bit more than the WaterSafe All-in-One Water Test Kit, but tests for additional parameters: Copper, Free Chlorine, Sulfate, Chloride and Hydrogen Sulfide (rotten egg smell).

You can usually find the Drinking Water Quality Test Kit by SenSafe selling online for around $32 to $36 depending upon where you look.

Feel free to contact us again, Spencer, if you have any other water quality testing questions!

We talk all the time about the importance of having safe, clean drinking water available for consumption but we seldom address another point: Drinking ENOUGH safe, clean water.

Water: indeed you are what you drink and should take care of your body of water. A baby is almost 90% water but this % reduces continuously to almost 60% and even less as we truly age. Our blood is 92% and our brain is 75% water just to name these. So avoid dehydration at any moment of the day and of your life. Good health is determined by the cells’ ability to receive water. When the cells walls are no longer flexible – aging begins. The amount of water you retain has nothing to do with the amount of water you drink. When the body is forced to retain water, as it is getting less than needed, it will do this at all costs. If the fluid intake is insufficient to provide all the water required, the body withholds water from the kidneys and the urine becomes scanty and highly concentrated, imposing a certain strain on the kidneys. If that is insufficient, excessive water will be with-drawn from the intestinal tract, with the result that the feces become hard and dry. On the other hand if you drink more than your body requires, the surplus is promptly and easily eliminated. Trying to prevent the body from retaining water by drinking less is therefore not only futile but even harmful and will provoke among many other troubles and diseases edema formation, cellulites and obesity. Drink daily enough pure water! For details consult our ‘Enjoyvity, your full spectrum of life’. ( source )

Athletes and athletically inclined people drink water all the time while exercising and many of them drink water all the time when not exercising, too. Why? Because they realize how heavily their bodies rely upon water to function properly not just in time of stress, but also in everyday life.

One could wager that people who drink a lot of water for their health also make sure the water they drink gets filtered properly at some point before it touches their lips. Whether drinking water at home that has gone through a whole house water purification system, undersink water filtration system or countertop filtration system… or at work drinking water that comes from a bottled water cooler of some sort, those people want to make sure the water they drink does not contain harmful contaminants like lead, bacteria, copper, pesticides, or other substances known to harm the human body.

Another town has received notification that their drinking water may contain levels of lead and copper higher than deemed acceptable by the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

A few residents have experienced lead in their drinking water in recent weeks, prompting discussion of Belleville’s aging infrastructure and a warning to people about how to protect their health.

Township Manager Victor Canning said that “a couple of samples” of tap water tested positive for lead, and by law the township had to send notices to those residents. He said there is a bigger picture problem.

“This is something that has to be addressed in areas with older infrastructure,” Canning said.

For now, he has this advice: “People should let the water run for a couple of minutes to remove any lead or copper issues.”

The substances come from old underground water pipes that need replacing, an expensive proposition, he said.

“We are trying to address this, spending a couple of hundred thousand [dollars], but we’re talking millions and millions to fix it all,” Canning said. ( source )

As stated in the article, tearing up and replacing older copper water lines joined together with solder that contains lead costs a pretty penny and a lot of towns like Belleville simply cannot come up with the money. Therefore residents in these towns owe it to themselves to test their drinking water for dangerous heavy metals such as copper and lead on a regular basis.