Can you get orange hair from tap (or well) water? Some residents in the Boulder Hill area of Illinois have presented their local water department with evidence that it can happen… and have water test results documenting the presence of three times the normal level of iron in their tap water.

Last week, residents complained about the water quality at a Village Board meeting and brought pictures of children with orange hair, damaged pipes and water sample results that documented the iron content was some three times the normal level.

This week, after action taken by the village, residents say things are looking up.

“It is looking better, this is good news,” Karol Armbruster, one of the residents affected by the rusty water, said Tuesday.

Her daughter has had to visit a hair salon on two occasions due to the rust in the water, she said. “It was turning orange and a had a little green tint,” she said,

“It doesn’t seem to be as bad,” said Debbie Way, another resident.

The water problems began Nov. 19 when the motor that runs Well 14 broke. At that time, village officials began sending water to the area from other wells.

The rust is the result of a change in direction of the water flow in the pipes.

“The cause of the rust was a build-up of iron deposits inside the pipes for some 50 years,” said Michael Pubentz, Montgomery public works director. ( source )

For these folks water conditions will improve once the new well pump comes online, according to the article, but what about YOUR water? Do you know how much iron or other metals it contains? While some metals (like iron) usually pose more of an aesthetic problem, other metals such as lead, mercury, chromium, etc. can have lasting detrimental health effects.

Moral of the story?

If you notice sudden changes in water quality could mean problems with the safety of your water and only testing the water for its purity will let you know for sure if the changes mean action needs to get taken by your water company or, if your water comes have a private well, you need to take action.

In this case the water district had a pump fail and needed to redirect water through different lines that had not seen a lot of use in a long time and years of corrosion got pumped to people’s homes. We believe that local residents’ seeking testing and banding together to lobby for prompt action on the part of the water company resulted in the situation getting cleared up a lot faster than may have happened if residents had not presented test results along with their complaints.

Certified water testing data gets results. So, as we like to say, “It’s your water, your health… and ultimately your LIFE.”

Take an interest in the quality of your water and perform spot checks from time to time — especially if you notice a ‘change’ in the color, taste or smell of your water. Doing so could, in some cases, possibly save your life or the life of a loved one.

Interested in removing iron from drinking water? Whether you need a replacement 10″ iron filter cartridge, replacement 20″ iron filter cartridge or a whole house iron removal system, we believe FilterWater.Com may have the perfect solution for your water quality situation.

Anyone that has taken the initiative to install a water filter or water purification device/system in their home deserves a bit of praise… and those that continue to take an interest in the quality of their water after installing a water treatment system deserve even MORE for their efforts.

As an example, ‘J. Mampilly’ from India installed a system and now seeks to determine if he has installed the correct unit. He asked,

I would like to know about how i can confirm the effectiveness of my water purifier. Labs in India that can certify and throw light on the camparative quality of water before and after using a water purifier. Thank You

Unfortunately we do not have familiarity with water testing laboratories in India and cannot directly assist with this situation. We can suggest, however, that you contact your local health department and ask them for a list of certified water testing laboratories in your area.

Coliform Bacteria Test Kit

Before…

In order to know what type of filter or what filtering capabilities you should purchase, invest (yes, we said invest) in a thorough water analysis performed by a qualified water testing laboratory. Here, again, we suggest contacting your local board of health and asking them, for a list of certified drinking water testing labs. Alternatively, or if no labs exist in your immediate vicinity, you can use the services of accredited water testing companies such as National Testing Labs.

No matter what, though, always have your water tested BEFORE deciding on a water treatment system. Oh, and one more thing: Don’t think for one second that a salesperson doing an in-home water test has the same water testing tools or qualifications as a reputable water testing laboratory. Remember: 99% of all salespeople attempt to sell things and not accurately analyze a situation — especially if accurately diagnosing a situation could cost them a sale!

And after!

As ‘J. Mampilly’ has done, we should ALL take an interest in comparing the quality of water that comes out of our water filter systems. Only then will we know if the money we invested in (not spent on!) a quality drinking water filter system performs as expected.

Testing water quality beforehand gives us not only an idea of what we need to filter out of our water, but also a checklist of water quality parameters to monitor post-filtration. Should follow up water testing reveal that these ‘issues’ did not get corrected or suddenly show up months after the installation of a water system, perhaps the water filter has stopped working or never really worked properly in the first place and needs service of some sort.

And in conclusion…

Many people go through life ‘deaf, dumb and blind’ when it comes to the quality of their water — until an (initially) unexplainable health problem pops into their life. Then, and unfortunately sometimes too late, those same people get very interested in the quality of their water and want to punish or otherwise penalize others for allowing them to consume tainted, polluted and/or contaminated drinking water.

Although we feel much sympathy for the victims of poor quality drinking water, most of us here in the United States have the ability to at least once every great while perform basic testing for critical water quality parameters such as heavy metals (i.e. lead, mercury, copper, iron, etc.), coliform bacteria, pesticides (i.e. atrazine and simazine), chlorine levels (free and/or total), total hardness, total dissolved solids, and many others.

Many times the contaminants in a water supply will have no taste, carry no odor and not appear before the naked eye. Only testing will alert you to their presence.

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!

We have gotten a number of requests for information on iron bacteria recently. Most notably, people have asked us what ‘clues’ to look for to determine if they should test for iron bacteria

Bad Taste and Foul Odor — Iron bacteria often produce nasty tastes and odors commonly reported as: “smells swampy,” “has an oily or petroleum like smell,” “smells remotely like cut cucumber,” “sewer smell” “stinks like rotten vegetation,” or “stale and musty.”

Often times the bad tastes and odors will seem noticeably stronger after a long period where the water has not run.

Note: If you smell a “rotten egg” smell, this odor most likely comes from something other than iron bacteria. You may want to test, instead, for dissolved hydrogen sulfide in your water.

Discoloration — Iron bacteria have a knack for leaving orange, brown, red or slightly yellow stains on your normally pristine white fixtures and may even cause water in toilets and toilet tanks to become discolored.

Some folks (who have lots of iron bacteria in their water) have even reported seeing rainbow-colored oily residues on surfaces exposed to their water.

Slimy Red Deposits — Should you happen to notice a sticky slime with a rust-like color — or possibly orange, brown, red, slightly yellow or even gray color — in your toilet tank, iron bacteria may have made their home in your water supply.

So… Those Simple ‘Tests’ Always Work?

Not even in a fairytale world, pal! Each of the ‘signs’ and ‘indicators’ of iron bacteria listed above could also come from drinking water contaminants such as ferrous iron, sulfate, hydrogen sulfide, manganese and/or other biological organisms frequently found in water supplies such as sulfur bacteria.

So… How Can I Know for Sure That I’ve Got Iron Bacteria?

No method other than having your water tested by a certified water testing laboratory (such as National Testing Laboratories) will tell you for certain whether or not you have iron bacteria in your water.

Residents in a community on Long Island (NY) have something to celebrate these days… tap water with a heck of a lot less iron and a much clearer color.

It seems that after years of complaining and the outcry for action seen on one man’s Facebook page, local authorities in Malverne finally found a way to force Long Island American Water Company’s hand — by having samples of water pulled from random homes in the area and tested by an outside, independent water testing laboratory.

We will let the article tell you the rest…

The results are in!

In response to the overwhelming amount of complaints from residents about the brown water coming from their tap, the Malverne Civic Association (ar)ranged for a handful of homes to go under the microscope.

Water samples were taken from five houses located on Oak Street, Scarcliffe Drive, Walker Street, Rider Avenue, and Nassau Boulevard in Malverne and sent to an H2M, an independent lab in Melville for testing.

Earlier this month Bill Varley, president of Long Island American Water, the utility that provides water to homes in Malverne and surrounding areas, announced that the results were in. (Days later, the company also finally put its $7.5 million iron treatment facility in Malverne into service.)

As promised, Varley shared the results with the Civic, including Tom Grech, the Malverne man who was instrumental in rallying residents to speak out about the issue using a Facebook page he created called “I Love Malverne…but hate the brown water (From LI Water).”

Residents were mostly concerned with the levels of naturally-occurring iron in their tap water. While the Nassau Count Department of Health does not recognize iron has a health hazard it does set standards for aesthetic reasons, since the iron can turn the water brown and even stain laundry.

The Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) for total iron in cold water states that it should be less than 1.50 mg/L. None of the samples taken from homes in the village came close to hitting this limit. The highest level, 1.15 mg/L, was taken from a kitchen faucet in a home on Walker Street.

The samples also fell within the acceptable water color standards. None of them met the criteria for being considered “discolored” or odorous, and were within the pH range of 7.5 to 8.5 units that the health department recommends.

As for oxidized iron levels, there were a couple of samples that came back higher than the standards, but these are guidelines set forth by Long Island American Water itself and not any health agency.

…

While some residents reported having “very brown water” two days after the plant when into service, Varley said that homeowners could see the water look worse before it gets better. This is the result of reverse air flow that got into the system when they put the plant on line and is only temporarily. The company has been flushing hydrants around the neighborhood to counteract this.

It appears that some residents are now starting to see the benefits of the plant, reporting noticeable improvements in the color of their water.

One resident, commenting on the Facebook page, wrote, “I have run several baths for my kids over the last few days and the water has been the clearest I have ever seen it.”

Another added, “Mine too – not totally clear, but much clearer than I have seen in years!” ( source )

There you have it. Concerned citizens just like you decided they wanted change and through their diligent efforts they got it. When it comes to the safety of your drinking water, you, too have a say and your opinion DOES matter — but only if you speak up and don’t take ‘no’ for an answer.

Testing for iron in drinking water

First of all, not every iron in drinking water test kit does the same job. Some only test for ‘free dissolved iron‘ while others test for ‘total iron‘. Clearly we suggest testing for total iron, but in some instances testing for only dissolved iron does actually make sense.

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!

We get asked about this all the time, so once again we will address the topic of rotten egg smells in water… this time for a woman who suspects something has gone wrong with either her or her neighbor’s septic tank.

Sandra77D wrote in and asked, “Hi. My water stinks like something awful. Rotten eggs and nasty smelling funk. Especially the hot water. A neighbor says he has teh same problem and blames his old septic tank. Our houses were built in the same year. Should we blame the septic tank, too?”

In all honesty, Sandra, we do not have the credentials or knowledge to answer that question for you. We can, however, give you a quick education on hydrogen sulfide in drinking water.

Water containing dissolved hydrogen sulfide gas produces an offensive (and VERY unpleasant) “rotten egg” or “sulfur” odor and will also have a similar taste. In a lot of cases the odor seems a lot stronger when one first turns on the water or runs hot water from the faucet.

Higher temperatures result in the generation of hydrogen sulfide gas at a faster rate and this can make showering in water that contains hydrogen sulfide particularly unpleasant!

Blame it on the hot water heater?

Occasionally water that smells like rotten eggs will actually have acquired that smell from a corrosion control rod in the hot water heater. Over time the magnesium-based rod can chemically reduce sulfates in source water to hydrogen sulfide.

If you only get the rotten egg smell from your hot water tap, check the corrosion control rod in your hot water tank.

Can the rotten egg smell harm people?

Aside from its noxious nature, it really does not present all that much of a danger unless the hydrogen sulfide fumes build up in confined spaces. High concentrations of hydrogen sulfide gas in the air can cause headaches and make people pass out… pretty much like any other gas.

The bigger problem people face when dealing with hydrogen sulfide comes from its tendency to corrode iron, steel and copper — three commonly used metals for plumbing fixtures. It also tends to tarnish silverware and discolor copper and brass cooking utensils.

In houses with hydrogen sulfide problems kitchen and bathroom fixtures will typically develop yellow or black stains and beverages such as coffee and tea will have odd discoloration. Foods cooked with hydrogen sulfide water may have unusual appearances and/or tastes.

I’ve heard that water softeners can create rotten egg smells, too?

While not as common as problems with the corrosion control bar in the water heater, yes, water softeners can serve as the source of hydrogen sulfide smells in water. Certain types of bacteria can flourish in the bed of a water softener where they will reduce any sulfate that passes through the bed to hydrogen sulfide.

If you get a black slime on the inside of your water softener and a rotten egg smell to your water despite having no hydrogen sulfide detected in your source water, you may have a problem with bacteria in your water softener.

Hydrogen sulfide from sewage?

Definitely possible! While water containing hydrogen sulfide by itself most likely will not cause disease, hydrogen sulfide smells can possibly come from sewage that certainly CAN can contain disease-producing contaminants.

For that reason, health officials and water experts suggest testing for bacterial contamination when investigating a hydrogen sulfide smell in drinking water.

Getting rid of hydrogen sulfide smell in water

Several different methods for getting rid of hydrogen sulfide in water exist, but as you can see, you must first figure out the source of the gas. Did it come from the source water (if you have well water)? Does it only show up in hot water? Do you have well water and a septic tank? Do you smell it outside of your home on not-so-windy days?

Depending upon the source AND amount of hydrogen sulfide in water, shock chlorination, water heater alteration (changing the metal of the corrosion control rod), activated carbon filtration, oxidizing filtration, or oxidizing chemical injection may reduce or eliminate hydrogen sulfide in water.

In certain cases the preferred method for reducing or eliminating hydrogen sulfide levels in water also has the added benefit of reducing/removing iron and manganese at the same time.

After consulting with a certified water testing professional…

If you have very concentrations of hydrogen sulfide originating from your source water, a filter such as the Crystal Quest Faucet Filter may get rid of the smell using on of its 5 stages of filtration.

If you have higher concentrations of hydrogen sulfide in your source water, you may need to use a much larger systems such as the Crystal Quest Whole House Iron & Hydrogen Sulfide Filter which uses three stages of filtration to filter out unwanted contaminants… including up to 5 ppm (parts per million) of hydrogen sulfide, 15 ppm of total (ferrous & ferric) iron and 10 ppm of manganese. This particular water filter system works well as an add-on to aeration, chlorination, ozone or other pretreatment methods in cases where extremely high levels of hydrogen sulfide exist.

We get asked this a LOT. Quite a few people write in ask things like, “I have city water, but it tastes funny. Should we test it?” or “The water in my town tastes different on different days. Is that a problem?”

In both cases, and so many more, we would suggest getting a test kit such as the Water Quality Test Kit made by SenSafe or the All in One Water Test Kit made by WaterSafe… and doing some preliminary testing of their own.

In most cases people complaining about city water will have problems caused by contaminants such as dissolved metals (i.e. lead, iron, copper, etc.), chlorine content (free and/or total), total hardness (calcium and/or manganese), and/or rotten egg smells caused by dissolved hydrogen sulfide.

If you get unusual or questionable results, definitely seek the services of a certified water testing laboratory; preferably one not affiliated with a water filter system distributor.

What about bacteria?

We also get asked quite often about the likelihood of harmful bacteria showing up in tap water. Despite the efficiency of modern water treatment facilities and the exemplary track records most have when it comes to the quality of the water they produce, one must always remember two things:

1) Accidental machinery malfunctions can occur.

2) City water travels through lots and lots of piping before it gets to your tap… meaning it passes over thousands of joints where leaks in the pipes could allow the introduction of dangerous bacteria.

If you suspect for any reason that your water supply may contain bacteria, although home drinking water test kits work well as screening methods, times like this call for the services of a certified water testing lab.

You local health department can suggest a water testing laboratory in your area or you can use a mail order laboratory such as National Testing Labs.

‘Tanya1975′ asked…

We bought a house that has a system for water filtering in it and we think the earlier owners were kinda’ nasty and probably did not change the stuff in the system. Ever. And it looks like it’s been here a while. Do you know where we can get new filter stuff for out filter?

First of all, yes we know where you can get replacement water filter media, but we have no idea if they carry the right type of filter media for your filter. You will have to determine what type of filter you have (i.e water softener, iron/manganese removal system, fluoride removal system, arsenic removal system, general water filter, etc.) and what type of filter media it contains.