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.

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.

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.

Since we started this blog articles about ‘new’ dangers posed by lead in water have come up from time to time… and we have posted articles about them as soon as we became aware of them. Does that make us sensationalists or couriers of messages and news intended to make people cognizant of potential dangers posed by the possibility of lead in their drinking water?

You will have to answer that question for yourself, and while you ponder that query, please also take a moment to think about the possibility that any number of manufacturing errors could possibly result in the improper distribution of lead in brass fittings — as alleged by researchers investigating alarmingly high levels of lead found in water produced by water fountains after technicians took several steps to make them lead-free.

Hidden elements in drinking-water lines can shed large amounts of lead, a toxic heavy metal. And it’s quite legal, even if it does skirt the intent of federal regulations.

University researchers, who uncovered this problem the hard way, have published a case study on the offending hardware in the November issue of the journal of the American Water Works Association.

Lead adds ductility to brass, making it easier to bend or machine into desired shapes. To limit the risk of lead poisoning, U.S. law prohibits new brass plumbing parts in drinking water lines from containing more than 8 percent lead by weight. Yet two shut-off valves containing only about 6.5 percent lead leached toxic amounts of the metal into drinking fountains at the University of North Carolina.

What happened: During manufacturing, the lead did not uniformly distribute throughout the brass, but ended up preferentially settling at or near the surface. As a result, the outside of affected valves—the side visible when looking at a water line (see photo)—slightly exceeded the lead limit. That shouldn’t have posed a health problem, since this surface doesn’t touch water. However, the valves’ interior surface, which does, contained at least 18 percent lead by weight. ( source )

After reading that, and seeing how careful steps taken by knowledgeable people failed to get rid of all the lead in the plumbing of water fountains on a college campus, would you still think us alarmists by giving the topic a few minutes of publicity?

What levels of lead in water pose a danger?

The United States Environmental Protection Agency has ruled that public water systems may not contain more than 15 ppb of dissolved lead and that any system found to have that amount or greater in the water it distributes must take immediate steps to remedy the situation.

While that sounds like a great plan, the fact remains that pretty much all lead found coming out of faucets in people’s homes entered the water at some point after the water left the water treatment facility. Old water service lines, fittings in people’s homes, and older solder used to join pipes all could contribute lead (and other metals) to the water they come in contact with — especially if the water has aggressive tendencies.

Aggressive tendencies? Water can have a bad attitude and start fights? Well, no, but throwing water on someone in a bar or dance club will put them in a bad mood and possibly start a fight.

When we say water has aggressive tendencies, we mean it has low total hardness and/or a low pH; both of which would make the water want to pull elements (metals and other things) out of any surfaces it comes in contact with.

And in conclusion…

Enough evidence exists out there pointing to the fact that dissolved metals in water have a probability of causing health problems that we do not know WHY anyone would not want to test their drinking water (note: tap water and well water can both can contain dangerous concentrations of dissolved metals) for the presence of metals periodically.

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.

While neither iron, manganese nor hydrogen sulfide pose a ‘serious’ health risk in most cases when found in drinking water, they certainly do fall in the nuisance family. Iron and manganese can ruin loads of laundry, clog plumbing and leave stains on fixtures. Hydrogen sulfide in water just plain… stinks like rotten eggs.

Note: When choosing a test kit for iron in drinking water, keep in mind that you may commonly found iron in one of two forms in water: Ferric and/or Ferrous. Some test kits only test for one type… but the visual iron test kit above manufactured by SenSafe has a detection range of 0ppm to 5ppm total iron (ferrous & ferric).

What do I do if I find iron, manganese or hydrogen sulfide in my water?

If you’ve tested your water and found one (or more) of those three contaminants, you probably want to know if someone makes a filter to remove them. Conveniently, a Filter Water recently started carrying a whole house dual filter system designed to remove iron, manganese and hydrogen sulfide.

While some filters for manganese, iron and hydrogen sulfide do not address the issue of other possible water contaminants, the Crystal Quest Dual Filter Iron, Hydrogen Sulfide and Manganese Filter System contains a 20″ solid carbon cartridge made with high-grade granulated activated carbon which puts a final polishing touch on the water by removing volatile organic carbon compounds (VOC’s), insecticides, pesticides and industrial solvents — if present in the water.

Quite frankly, this filter system uses a number of different filtration components to get the job done”

A 20″ sediment filter cartridge removes sediment, silt, sand and dirt which would otherwise clog up the other filtration elements and shorten their lifespans.

A (large) special manganese, iron and hydrogen sulfide removal mineral tank does… well, exactly what its name says it does.

In the second large tank, a series of beds containing ERA-9500 media, ERA-6500 media and Granular Activated Carbon remove hundreds of contaminants if they exist in the water.

In the last stage, the 20″ solid carbon cartridge mentioned previously takes out volatile organic carbon compounds (VOC’s), insecticides, pesticides and industrial solvents — if present in the source water.

What about when the filter gets ‘full’? What then?

The Crystal Quest Dual Filter Iron, Hydrogen Sulfide and Manganese Filter System comes equipped with an electronic microprocessor that keeps track of filter life and automatically initiates backwash cycles when needed.

Will I need to replace the media?

Even with scheduled backwashing/recharging of the different media types the various filtration elements will need replacing.

• The 20″ sediment filter cartridge has an expected life expectancy of 6 to 8 months.

• The 20″ carbon filter has an expected life expectancy of 6 to 8 months.

• The iron/manganese/sulfur filtration media has an expected life expectancy of between 5 and 8 years depending upon contaminant concentration levels.

This means a properly installed unit will provide homeowners with quality water for long periods of time without the homeowners needing to perform any sort of maintenance.

Replacement cartridges readily available?

One thing that really irritates most folks… Buying a product and then hot having the ability to locate necessary replacement parts or components. You won’t have that problem with this Crystal Quest Iron/Manganese/Sulfur Filter System because it uses industry-standard filter cartridge sizes (20″ x 2.5″) and the filtration media can easily get replaced.

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.

The other day we received an email from ErnieB_121 who had a question about filtering hot water before use in his restaurant.

Hi, I hope you can help me with a problem I’m having in my restaurant. I’m getting ridiculous amounts of buildup clogging the prefilter things on the hot water line of my dishwasher and tell the truth I’m sick of replacing the d#amn things. Not that they cost a lot, but it’s a pain in the #ass to get to them and one day I’m afraid I might strip the fittings and then I’ll REALLY have a problem. So do they make filters for hot water lines? All the filters I’ve seen in stores work for cold water lines only. Thanks. ErnieB_121

Thank you very much, Ernie, for a colorful email. Ha ha. We can totally understand your frustration with having to replace hard-to-reach inline filters.

We believe you may find a filter housing and filter for your application at WaterFilters.Net, an online retailer of commercial and residential water filtration products. When last we checked they carried three different styles of housings for hot water filters and a good assortment of filters to go in them.

One thing you failed to mention Ernie… Where does the residue clogging your lines come from? What does it consist of? Calcium? Iron? Manganese? Radioactive sludge from the planet Mars? Not poking fun at you, just trying to make a point: you need to test your hot water — after it cools — and find out what sort of deposits you have so you can purchase the correct filter for your needs.

The links below will take you to products you may find useful when attempting to determine what contaminant(s) you have in your hot water line:

As with any water quality investigation, if you have reason to suspect contamination of your water supply with potentially harmful compounds and/or chemicals, we highly recommend having your water tested by a certified water testing laboratory such as National Testing Laboratories.