Summer weather appears to have made its presence known in a few places already this year and many people have already started planning their annual vacations. While making those plans we ask that you add one small note at the bottom of your schedule or itinerary:

Flush your home’s water lines for a bit when you return from vacation

When water sits stagnant for a while any residual disinfectant can lose its efficacy and bacteria could begin to grow. Also, the water may start to take on contaminants from the plumbing if it sits in contact with fixtures, pipes, etc. for an extended period of time.

People living in older homes should definitely consider flushing their water lines after a few days away from home since older homes more than likely have older copper plumbing that may have gotten connected using lead-based solder. The longer the water sits idle in metal plumbing the greater the risk of metals dissolving into the water.

Testing for metals in drinking water?

Typically the action level, or concentration of dissolved metals in water that warrants immediate action on the part of homeowners as suggested by the USEPA, gets measured in parts per BILLION so make certain the test kit you select can accurately detect concentrations of dissolved metals in the parts per billion range.

We have found that the SenSafe Heavy Metals Check test strips do an excellent job of detect the presence of dissolved metals in the parts per billion range. This product has a low detection level of just 10 ppb, requires no formal training, and has a total test time of well under 5 minutes.

Why test for metals like lead in drinking water?

Time and time again studies have shown a direct correlation between the presence of dissolved heavy metals such as lead in drinking water and birth defects, developmental disabilities in children, gastrointestinal disorders, organ damage, etc.

In many cases the dissolved metals in a home’s drinking water will have no distinct taste, color or smell to them and still exist in concentrations linked to the health issues mentioned above. Only testing for metals in drinking water on a regular basis can alert homeowners to their presence.

It shocked us that we received so many ‘negative’ responses to the recent string of pool and pool water articles on our site… because millions of Americans each year get sick in some way, shape or form from swimming (or as some people call it bathing) in water that contained harmful biological contaminants.

Even worse, a good number of the sufferers contracted their illnesses not from public pools and swimming facilities, but rather from private pools at friends’, neighbors’ and family members’ homes.

If I can smell chlorine, the water is safe, right?

Not always and in some cases the powerful smell of chlorine in the air ought to tell you something may have gone wrong with the water recently. In general, with indoor pools excluded (for the most part), an intense smell of chlorine in the air tells you the pool may recently have received a dose of chlorine shock OR the water has very recently had a larger than normal biological load (i.e. people in the pool, someone had an ‘accident’ in the pool — see 1 in 5 Americans Admits Peeing in Swimming Pools), or the water has an overabundance of combined chlorine with little or no free chlorine available to combat bacteria, viruses, etc. in the water.

Pool water gets in eyes, noses, ears, mouths… and unmentionable areas areas each time you take a dip in the water. Allow us to repeat ourselves for the purpose of making our point:

Pool water gets in eyes, noses, ears, mouths… and unmentionable areas areas each time you take a dip in the water.

We hope this posting will teach at least a few folks the importance of carefully monitoring the quality and condition of pool water.

PLEASE don’t get us started on spa and hot tub water.

As a final, and quite NASTY reminder, some folks out there DO use public (and private) pools as a way to clean themselves after a day (or few days days) out in the hot sun.

Gross? Yes. But STILL a reality. Remember that.

A plethora of water quality improvement products exists and sometimes the choices seem overwhelming — even to folks with more than a little knowledge on the topics of water quality and water quality improvement.

Today’s inquiry came to us from ‘Ric C’ who asked a very wise question about a water filtration unit he may wish to purchase (HomePure AP-0930):

Hi
Am dealing with a product that has an NSF certification, and below is the address;

http://www.nsf.com/Certified/DWTU/Listings.asp?TradeName=homepure&Standard=&ProductType=&PlantState=&PlantCountry=&PlantRegion=&submit3=SEARCH&hdModlStd=ModlStd

Does this mean the product is good?

Quite honestly, we have never seen the HomePure AP-0930 before but as we said previously, the marketplace has a ton of water filtration units out there and we seriously doubt that anyone could know the in’s and out’s of every single water filtration unit currently available for purchase.

With that said, we looked at the NSF credentials supplied by Ric and saw that this unit has tested and certified to NSF/ANSI STANDARD 042 (Drinking Water Treatment Units – Aesthetic Effects) for the reduction of chlorine taste and odor as well as NSF/ANSI STANDARD 053 (Drinking Water Treatment Units – Health Effects) for the reduction of volatile organic compounds (VOC’s).

While having NSF Certification does give the HomePure AP-0930 a bit of credibility, please keep in mind that not every water filter will work in every application — even with NSF, WQA, etc. certifications to back up its capabilities.

Think of it this way: A high quality hammer won’t do you a bit of good when you need to turn a screw.

Testing your water first?

Yes! Do it! Test your drinking water before spending money on a water filter!

Before investing in a water filter for your home or office make sure you test your water for as wide a range of potential contaminants as possible. Doing so could save you the expense and aggravation associated with installing a filter that addresses the wrong water quality issues.

Anything specific about the HomePure AP-0930 catch your eye?

We like the fact that the HomePure AP-0930 has NSF certifications. As we said before, it means the unit certainly has some credibility.

One thing we did not like about the unit dealt w/ it inability to filter out heavy metals such as lead, copper, iron, chromium, etc. In our opinion a well-rounded, general purpose water filter would also have the ability to remove/reduce levels of heavy metals in drinking water.

Older homes most likely contain metal piping and the majority of public water systems contain metal pipes, as well. “But, we live a newly constructed home.” Does not matter (in our opinion). Newer homes, while mostly containing PVC or some other type of plastic piping, still get connected to public water systems that contain miles and miles of metal pipes.

Depending upon the quality of the water when it leaves the water treatment plant, it has the opportunity to pick up anywhere from traces of metals to noticeable levels of metals as it travels through those miles of metal pipes to homes and offices on the water system.

Interesting fact: The literature for the HomePure AP-0930 water filter system did mention metals and say that metals in water may cause problems, but the HomePure AP-0930 does not remove/reduce metals.

Replacement filters for the HomePure AP-0930?

According to the NSF web site, the HomePure AP-0930 uses a replacement filter element with model number “AP-0931″. A quick search of three popular online water filter web sites (FilterWater.Com, FiltersFast.Com and WaterFilters.Net) and a google search yielded no locations where a person could purchase replacement filters.

Not a particularly good sign! What happens in 3 months or a year when the original filter kicks the bucket?

Moral of the story?

Not all water filter systems are created equal and even though some bear seals of certification and/or endorsement from well-known, reputable organizations such as NSF or WQA, not every one of those ‘certified’ products will clean up every possible water quality condition.

So, test your water to see what problems/issues it may have and THEN set about the task of locating the correct water quality improvement device for your water.

Look for products that bear the NSF and/or WQA logos, but do not assume the logo automatically means that a particular device will do what you need it to do.

Oh, and one last thing: Check to make sure you can easily acquire replacement filters for any water filter you consider buying.

With so many people in the world out to make a dollar — usually at the expensive of others — it comes as no surprise that a number of companies have tried to find fault with reverse osmosis systems… because they do such a good job of removing contaminants from drinking water.

Apparently some folks believe that water lacking ANY minerals will somehow cause problems for people who consume it as drinking water, cook with it, bathe in it, etc. While somewhat true that water produced by reverse osmosis may have ‘aggressive’ tendencies in certain plumbing situations, we have found that the largest ‘problem’ people have with demineralized reverse osmosis water… is its flat, boring taste and not its lack of minerals.

Water’s ‘taste’ comes from its dissolved minerals content so it stands to reason that without any minerals would also have no ‘taste’ — a problem easily remedied by the use of a remineralizing cartridge after the reverse osmosis system.

Don’t we need minerals in our water for health?

To this day we have not personally found any solid evidence to support the notion that an appreciable amount of necessary dietary elements gets absorbed by the body from drinking water — unless, of course, the water got used to wash down a vitamin or supplement.

Humans obtain the bulk of nutrients required for healthy living from the foods they eat… EXCEPT when they eat mostly (and too much) fried stuff like this.

Moral of the Story?

Eat healthy and drink clean water… and don’t buy into every ‘health trend’ and health fad’ that flashes on your television screen or in banner ads that pop up on web sites you visit.

The water we drink needs to have unwanted impurities removed. End of story.

If given a choice, we’ll take flat-tasting water over water containing potentially dangerous and/or bothersome levels of dissolved heavy metals (i.e. lead, copper, iron, manganese, chromium, arsenic, etc.) and other junk any day of the week!

As usual the warmer weather (in most of the US) has brought out the folks who have questions about pool water and how best to take care of it. Today’s question comes from ‘ActionLassie007′ who asked,

“Do they make meters for pool testing that regular people can afford? Last yr our poolguy had a meter and I asked him how much it cost. He told me one thousand and some change. He lie to me so I would not go get one and he loses a customer?”

Wow. Interesting situation, right? Personally we’d have fired the guy for telling an outlandish lie. Yeah, sure, SOME equipment used to test pool water MAY cost upwards of a thousand dollars or more, but would the average pool maintenance person REALLY spend that kind of money? We doubt it.

We suggest, Lassie, that you take a look at the eXact Micro 7+ Pool Water Testing Meter… which costs well under a thousand dollars, by the way.

Combining the reliability and repeatability of a photometer w/ the dependability of proven chemistry methods such as DPD (for chlorine testing) and phenol red (for pH testing), the eXact Micro 7+ Pool Testing Meter puts the power of accurate water testing into the hands of the people who need it most: pool owners.

A definite advantage offered by this particular pool meter: Versatility. The pool testing meter tests for 7 critical pool water parameters directly and with the use of a conversion chart and correct reagentstrip it can test for a number of other water parameters, as well.

What comes in pool water test kit?

In the basic kit you will find everything you need to test for free chlorine, total chlorine, pH, calcium hardness, total alkalinity, dissolved copper, and cyanuric acid.

Not a fan of chloramines in your drinking water? You now have a means of removing those pesky chloramines!

Chloramines? What are chloramines? Take a look at this earlier Water Testing Blog entry on Free Chlorine, Combined Chlorine and Total Chlorine and get a quick education on the topic!

Whether created as a byproduct of disinfection via free chlorine or the intended disinfectant in a water system, most people do NOT like the taste and odor of chloramines in their water.

Thankfully Pentek has come out with a product called the Pentek ChlorPlus 10 Chloramine Removal Water Filter Cartridge that fits in standard 10″ (x 2.5″) filter housings used in filter sytems produced by companies such as Pentek (obviously!), US Filter (recently acquired by Pentek!), Cuno, Filterite, Keystone, US Water, Water Resurces, Harmsco, and many other popular brands of water filtration systems. If your system uses a standard 10″ x 2.5″ housing, the Pentek ChlorPlus 10 ought to fit just fine!

Having said that last bit, please check the dimensions of your current filter and/or housing before ordering this product!

Looking for a 10″ replacement filter with NSF Certification? The Pentek ChlorPlus 10 uses a component tested certified to NSF Standard 42.

What does the Pentek ChlorPlus 10 remove/reduce? Using 1 micron carbon block technology this product (255416-43) should seriously reduce chloramine concentrations in drinking water and in doing so remove the (offensive) taste and odor associated with chlorine while also helping to pull out unwanted sediment, if present.

Back in the old days, pool water professionals had no way to determine the cause of a stain on pool liners, plumbing fixtures, steps, or stairs. They just tried every trick they could think of to remove them until they came off… IF they ever came off.

These days, however, companies like Jack’s Magic specialize in making products that allow even the most inexperienced pool operator to quickly identify stains and remove stains.

Pool owners/operators who’ve tried Jack’s Magic Stain Identification Kit say it has saved them countless hours of wasted labor (scrubbing!) by taking the guesswork out of the satin id’ing and removal process.

How does it work? Quite simply, one of four (4) simple topical tests will pinpoint the nature of the stain and the included guide then tells users which Jack’s Magic Stain Removal product will work best to remove your swimming pool stain.

Where do pool water stains come from?

Typically stains result from unwanted water contaminants such as metals (i.e. iron, copper and manganese) which find their way into pool water via the fill water used to top off or initially fill up a swimming pool. Therefore we always suggest testing fill water before adding any chemicals. This simple step can save you tons of aggravation.

Why? Because if you discover ahead of time that your pool water contains metals, you have the opportunity to add the correct sequestering compounds and metal chelating compounds before adding the sanitizers that would bind with metals, form precipitates, fall out of solution, and create stains.

Need a test kit for your pool water? Take a look at Taylor-Test-Kits.Com or the eXact Micro 7+ Pool Testing Meter.

Although MOST of us still have snow on the ground and/or ridiculously cold temperatures outside our windows, some other folks have started to experience weather warm enough to make them start thinking about… testing their pool water.

‘TommyT’ wrote in and asked, “Due to a bad cover and probably a hole in my liner we will need to add a lot of fill water this Spring. We have a well and know we will need to shock real well come Spring, but will we need to test for things like iron or is that all a bunch of hype about iron and metals ruining pools?”

Definitely NOT a bunch of hype, Tommy. We highly suggest that anyone needing to add water to their pool from a well, or ANY source for that matter, perform a number of tests on the water BEFORE adding chlorine, bromine, etc. If present in the water, minerals like iron and copper will immediately get oxidized by sanitizers ‘drop out of solution’. When that happens, they land on pool fittings, liners, steps/stairs, etc. and could leave permanent stains!

Yeah, sure, we would still suggest adding products like Sea Klear Metal Klear or Jack’s Magic Pink Stuff even after testing, but the testing will let you know if you need a lot of those products or just a normal maintenance dose.

Trust us when we say that the time and money spent testing the water before shocking does not compare to the amount of time and money wasted when people have to clean up stains caused by metals in their pool water!

With all of the recent publicity that chromium has gotten as a result of EWG Reports Finding Chromium in Municipal Water Systems, we figured some of you might want to know a bit more about the health effects of chromium, where chromium comes from, how to test for chromium in drinking water, and most importantly… how to get rid of chromium if detected in one’s drinking water.

• Chromium will appear in nature in one of three forms: Chromium(0), Chromium(III) or Chromium(VI).

• Chromium(0) gets used in the production of steel.

• Chromium(III) and/or Chromium(VI) may appear in compounds used for chrome plating, making dyes and pigments, tanning leather, and preserving wood.

• Chromium(III) aids the human body in its use of sugar, protein and fat, though health officials suggest not using excessive amounts of dietary supplements containing chromium compounds.

• Higher levels of chromium(VI) may cause irritation to the lining of the nose, ulcers in the nose, runny nose, and other breathing problems such as asthma, coughing, shortness of breath, and/or wheezing. While both Chromium(III) and Chromium(VI) in air can cause the aforementioned problems, effects occur at much lower concentrations of Chromium(VI) than Chromium(III).

• Chromium(III) and Chromium(VI) may exist in drinking water and have no associated tastes or odors.

• If ingested, Chromium(III) compounds tend to have less toxic tendencies and appear to cause fewer health problems than Chromium(VI) which causes anemia, irritation of the stomach, ulcers in the stomach, and ulcers in the small intestine.

• Some laboratory animals exposed to Chromium(VI) experienced sperm damage and damage to the male reproductive system.

• Some Chromium(VI) compounds may cause skin ulcers and a percentage of the population have extreme sensitivity to Chromium(VI) and/or Chromium(III) with allergic reactions manifesting themselves as severe redness and swelling of the skin.

• The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), and the EPA have determined that Chromium(VI) compounds are known human carcinogens. ( source )

• Some developmental effects have been observed in animals exposed to Chromium(VI). ( source )

Regulations, rules and recommendations pertaining to Chromium?

The EPA has determined that exposure to chromium in drinking water at concentrations of 1 mg/L for up to 10 days is not expected to cause any adverse effects in a child. The FDA has determined that the chromium concentration in bottled drinking water should not exceed 1 mg/L. The Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) has limited workers’ exposure to an average of 0.0005 mg/m3 chromium(VI), 0.5 mg/m3 chromium(III), and 1.0 mg/m3 chromium(0) for an 8-hour workday, 40-hour workweek. ( source )

What NSF/ANSI Standards apply to chromium in drinking water?

Standard 53, Standard 58, and Standard 62.

For more information on the specifics of those NSF/ANSI Standards and others, take a look at the NSF International Web Site. It offers a wealth of information for both the consumer AND water professionals alike.

Removing chromium from drinking water?

As far as units for the average consumer, pretty much only reverse osmosis makes any sense. One could use a process like distillation, but it has a flow rate that most likely would not meet homeowner needs and a much higher entry cost.

As an example of a reverse osmosis that carries NSF Certification for chromium reduction, you may want to take a look at the Pentek RO-3500 which has a price tag of under $270 and appears to offer a lot of filtering power for the money.

Pentek RO-3500 Reverse Osmosis Water Filters have tested and certified to NSF/ANSI Standard 58 for the reduction of Pentavalent Arsenic (Arsenic V), Barium, Cadmium, Copper, Hexavalent & Trivalent Chromium (Chromium VI & Chromium III), Cyst, Fluoride, Lead, Nitrate/Nitrite, Radium 226/228, Selenium, TDS and Turbidity.

Rude family members contribute to a lack of cold, clean drinking water? Apparently so because ‘Kaytee’ has more than a few issues with her greedy, insensitive, water guzzling family.

“My husband and kids have no manners. We live in a place where temperatures hit the high 90′s for a good part of the year and since our tap water pretty much stinks (literally! yuck! so much chlorine!) we bought a Riviera filter by Brita and so far it has worked out GREAT — except that my family can’t seem to figure out how to refill the friggin’ thing so that when I get home I can have a glass of water, too! Do they make a larger pitcher or do I need to go out and get another Riviera and write my name on it?”

Ha ha. We have all grabbed a carton of milk or orange juice out of the fridge only to find that it had no weight and no contents. Now a similar heartbreaking event happens with filtered drinking water? What’s this So annoying! Well, lucky for you some folks at Brita must also have lazy family members because Brita does actually make a larger version of its very popular Riviera model.

The Riviera holds approximately 64 ounces of filtered drinking water at most which makes it kind of heavy when full so rather make a larger pitcher, Brita decided to make an in-fridge water dispenser called the Brita UltraMax Dispenser capable of holding an additional ten full 8-ounce glasses of cold, refreshing filtered drinking water more than its cousin the Riviera.

What do these Brita filters remove/reduce?

Both the Riviera Pitcher Filter and UltraMax Dispenser use the OB03 Water Filter, a filter certified by the NSF and the Water Quality Association to reduce levels of copper, mercury, cadmium, chlorine, and zinc in drinking water.

What NSF Standards does the Brita OB03 water filter certify to?

A very good question! While cruising around the web we found a number of sites claiming that the Brita OB03 water filter does a number of things… that we could NOT verify on the NSF, WQA or Brita web sites.

Therefore, we proudly present certification information about the Brita OB03 water filter that we COULD verify:

1) The Brita OB03 water filter has certified to NSF/ANSI Standard Number 53 (Health Effects) for the reduction of Copper, Mercury and Cadmium.

2) The Brita OB03 water filter has certified to NSF/ANSI Standard Number 42 which deals with the reduction of specific aesthetic or non-health-related contaminants (chlorine, taste and odor, and particulates) that may exist in drinking water for the following: Aesthetic chlorine, taste & odor, and zinc.

3) None of the three web sites mentioned earlier say anything about the OB03 having certifications for it’s ability to remove lead or volatile organic compounds (VOC’s).