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.

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.

We get asked this question more times than we care to count… and we don’t mind answering it because at least it means the people asking us have taken an interest in the quality of the water they drink, cook with and use for showering/bathing.

Natural Contamination

Contamination of natural bodies of water (including lakes, streams, aquifers and groundwater) can have numerous characteristics and sources. While many believe only ‘big business’ causes water pollution, all humans and animals release waste products that eventually find their way into lakes, rivers, streams, oceans, etc.

Scientists refer to this occurrence as ‘nutrient loading’ and when it happens too often in one location nutrient loading may result in bacterial contamination that eventually becomes detrimental to the environment and harmful to humans who unknowingly consume the water.

Contaminants often included in the list of ‘natural’ contaminants include things such as coliform bacteria, nitrates, nitrites, etc.

Therefore, if your drinking water comes from the ground (i.e. a well) you may have ‘natural’ things to worry about… and even municipal (i.e city, town, etc.) water sources have problems from time to time. Need proof? Ever hear of things called boil water advisories?

Unnatural Contamination

This type of contamination typically comes from accidental or intentional dumping of foreign matter into or too close to a body of water either on the the surface or under the ground.

Common sources of groundwater and surface water contamination include improper disposal of industrial waste products, faulty septic tanks and waste water storage or processing equipment, landfills, pesticides and fertilizers.

Many experts believe the practice of hydraulic fracturing certainly belongs in the category of unnatural water contamination and pollution… and, of course, many other experts (who often work for or get funding from gas drilling companies) believe hydraulic fracturing poses no (or extremely limited) risks to the environment.

Thus far OUR opinion falls more in line with the folks who suspect that fracking (the nickname for hydraulic fracturing) may pose risks and that more research needs to get done before we turn the Marcellus Shale Formation under the United States into swiss cheese whose holes we filled with ‘questionable’ fluids containing a host of unknown compounds.

Moral of the Story?

You will NEVER know if your water contains unwanted contaminants UNTIL YOU GET IT TESTED and for that task you have several options: 1) Test for the basics yourself using a drinking water test kit; 2) Have a qualified drinking water laboratory test your water; or 3) test for the basics yourself with a water quality test kit and enlist the services of a qualified water testing lab from the list posted on the EPA’s Safe Water Web Site

As if having your entire town turned upside down, both literally and figuratively, did not do enough damage, now residents in Joplin, Missouri have a new problem to contend with: Higher than normal levels of lead showing up during environmental sampling.

In tests of 44 properties in Jasper County, 19 showed high levels of lead, prompting the city’s mayor to ask the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources for help in testing for, and cleaning up, the element, according to the Los Angeles Times.

For more than 100 years, beginning in the mid-19th century, Jasper County was at the worldwide forefront of lead and zinc mining. The area included town names like Leadville Hollow and Minersville.

According to Dan Pekarek, director of the Joplin Health Department, a waste product from lead mining called “chat” was dumped in several spots around the city of Joplin, and simply covered with soil. Those sites we likely exposed when the F-5 tornado ripped through the city. ( source )

So… What does that mean for the residents of Joplin in terms of water quality and drinking water safety? It means they will more than likely begin regular testing for lead and other potentially dangerous metals in their drinking water!

The United States Environmental Protection Agency has determined that consuming food and drink containing levels of lead at or above 15ppb (parts per billion) can cause serious health problems.

Why did companies dump ‘chat’ all over the place?

At the time no one probably knew the dangers posed by the material so government did not really care where the material ended up. Hence the reason the article mentioned how people used it as fill material under houses, in yards, etc.

Now, however, science and the medical profession both agree that material containing such high levels of lead pose quite a threat, mining companies would need piles and piles of permits before they could dispose of a substance like ‘chat’ and they would more than likely remain on the hook for the safety of surrounding areas for many years.

Testing for lead in water? Soil?

Can the average person test for the presence of lead in their water and soil? Absolutely! SenSafe makes several affordable products that work well for field testing.

Right now (11/09/11) TestProducts.Com has SenSafe’s Lead in Water Test Kit available at a discounted rate of around 18 dollars for two tests and you can use the kit to test for the presence of lead in either soil or water.

A company called WaterSafe also manufactures a Lead in Water Test Kit, but that kit does not include instructions for determining lead levels in soil.

Ever wonder about the quality of water coming out of a drinking water fountain? Perhaps you should since a good number of drinking water fountains in public places still may contain older plumbing that contains pipes joined together with lead-based solders.

Below you will find excerpts from an article published last week about high levels of lead found in public fountains and sinks:

Even as universities across the country are banning bottled water, alarms are going off about the safety of the water coming out of drinking fountains at some Canadian campuses.

Concerns over water quality at school drinking fountains are not new. A US investigation in 2009 turned up lead-contaminated drinking water at schools in every American state. Some of the lead came from the school’s own well or local water supplies, while lead-soldered pipes were identified as culprits in other cases. In Canada, one study found that 27 per cent of “first draw” samples taken in Ontario schools had high levels of lead, and 9 per cent still had high levels even after the system was flushed. source

We included that last paragraph so that no one would say, “Oh, well see? It’s just a Canadian problem. We’re safe here in the United States…” And yes, we get emails from people all the time saying silly stuff like that.

Why has lead in drinking fountains gone unnoticed for so long?

Honestly, we do no know. We’d guess that many people just assumed removal of older, lead-baring piping inside and hooked up to drinking water fountains would take place when all of the other piping in buildings got replaced, and as you can see they must have guessed incorrectly.

“Recently, the Albany City School District voluntarily decided to test the water in all of their school buildings. In at least six school buildings, 32 faucets came back with high, unsafe levels of lead in the water. While one would think this problem would only affect older buildings, some of the affected faucets were in buildings that had been renovated.” source

How do we test for lead in drinking fountains?

While qualified laboratories use sophisticated testing equipment that may cost thousands of dollars, the average person (like you and me) can acquire simple, easy-to-use and highly affordable lead in water test kits.

One kit in particular, the Watersafe Drinking Fountain Detective Kit (WS-207T), includes supplies for testing (12) twelve water samples, comes with a data tracking sheet to record results, provides results in just ten minutes, requires no special training or testing skills, and contains an interactive CD designed to help create a presentation template for the testing data.

What about other metals? Can we test for those, as well?

Absolutely! While more complicated test kits do exist, the average person (like you and me) can use simple, dip-n-read test strips for metals in water such as the SenSafe Water Metals Test Kit to perform on-the-spot testing. Products like this detect heavy metals such as lead, copper, iron, chromium, nickel, cadmium, etc. and alert users to the presence of metals — down to levels as low as 10 parts per billion!

Note: Although Sensafe Water Metals Check does have the ability to detect really low amounts of metals in water, it does not have the ability to tell user which metal or metals it has detected.

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.

We had a feeling that chromium would pop back up in the news again… and this time residents in the Chicago area had the (dis)pleasure of finding out that recent test result showed the presence of an unhealthy level of a heavy metal (chromium) in their water supply.

Chicago’s first round of testing for a toxic metal called hexavalent chromium found that levels in local drinking water are more than 11 times higher than a health standard California adopted last month.

But it could take years before anything is done about chromium contamination in Chicago and scores of other cities, in part because industrial polluters and municipal water utilities are lobbying to block or delay the Obama administration’s move toward national regulations. ( source )

As some of you may recall, we wrote about chromium showing up in drinking water in the past and from the sounds of things we will very likely find ourselves writing about it many more times.

The discovery of hexavalent chromium in drinking water is renewing a debate about dozens of unregulated substances that are showing up in water supplies nationwide. Potential health threats from many of the industrial chemicals, pharmaceutical drugs and herbicides still are being studied, but researchers say there is strong evidence that years of exposure to chromium-contaminated water can cause stomach cancer.

Test results obtained by the Tribune show that treated Lake Michigan water pumped to 7 million people in Chicago and its suburbs contains up to 0.23 parts per billion of the toxic metal, well above an amount that researchers say could increase the long-term risk of cancer. ( source )

For those of you not familiar with the articles previously written about chromium in drinking water on this site, the following links will really come in handy:

• Chromium in Drinking Water
• Chromium in Drinking Water Information
• Specifics From EWG’s Report on Chromium in Drinking Water
• Meter to Test Chromium in Water

We have written more, but the ones above ought to give you a pretty good understanding of the chromium in drinking water situation facing many areas of the United States. Water supplies previously deemed ‘safe’, and we include both municipal and private water supplies in this statement, have come under new scrutiny and many do not measure up to the current quality standards.

Speaking of tests, can the average person test for chromium in drinking water? Of course they can — but as always the best testing solution comes in the form of analysis by a certified water testing laboratory.

If, however, you would like a fast and easy method to test for the presence of chromium in water, you will definitely want to take a look at the chromium test strips produced by SenSafe/WaterWorks. They make field testing for hexavalent chromium in water a simple and inexpensive process.

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!

Given how BUSY most people get during the rest of the year, why would Summer offer them a break in their hectic routine? Therefore it definitely didn’t shock us one bit when ‘Mary12Adam’ wrote in and asked,

“My husnband and I both work 2 jobs and take turns shuffling the kids around to all their school, soccer, band and scout stuff. We don’t have time to run back and forth to the pool store every week for more pool chemicals. Do you know a chemical kit that will last us most if not all summer long?”

We certainly empathize with your situation, Mary, since we have kids, too, and have to create time to do ANYthing other than work, housework and drive them hither and yon.

We typically stock up on chemicals from our local pool supply store early in the season and don’t have to make a trip back until at least 3/4 of the way through the season, though sometimes a bit sooner if we get a lot of rain or have 2 or 20 more social gatherings at the homestead.

Since it sounds like you clearly don’t have a lot of time on your hands, Mary, for going to the pool store even ONCE, we suggest that you look into a pool chemical package like the Chemical Season Supply Kit (Large) from Amerimerc.Com, a leading online retailer of pool chemicals, pool test kits, pool supplies, and, of course, pool toys.

What does the kit contain? So glad you asked!

• 50 lb.3in Tablets — Great for day-to-day chlorinating
• 1 qt. Poly 60 Algaecide — A necessary tool for fending off unwanted algae
• 1 qt. Conquest Super Rust & Scale — Keep pesky metal stains out of your water
• 24 x 1 lb. bag Dura Shock — Excellent for shocking & superchlorinating
• 4 lb. pH Increaser — Effective way to elevate the pH of your pool water
• 6 lb. pH Reducer — Effective way to decrease the pH of your pool water
• Aqua Chek Chlorine 3-Way Test Strips — Fastest way to test your pool for vital parameters

Looking for other chemicals and supplies for your swimming pool and want them delivered right to your door? Check out the latest offerings on Amerimerc.Com!

Every once in a while we get inquiries about the water quality in specific areas or regions of the country. While we wish we could answer every one of those questions in great detail, we just cannot do so — but links off of the EPA’s Safe Water Web Site probably can.

Today’s question comes from Sandy and she asked, “I live in Minnesota. Looking for information as to what’s in our public water supply. Can you recommend a good brand of home test kits for fluoride or other heavy metals?”

We took a quick look at the EPA’s Safe Water Web Site and found that it contained a feature called Safe Drinking Water Search for the State of Minnesota.

On that page you can search for Safe Drinking Water data in the SDWIS database in Envirofacts. You can choose from four possible search options: water system name, county name, population served, and/or system status.

You can access the State of Minnesota’s Drinking Water Program on this page and you will find that organization’s contact information listed below:

Drinking Water Protection Section
Dept. of Health
625 Robert Street North
P.O. Box 64975
St. Paul, MN 55164-0975
Phone: 651-201-4700

Home test kit for metals and fluoride?

A company called Test Country offers a relatively simple test kit for metals and fluoride. Granted you will have to send in the sample to a laboratory for analysis, but not too many other ways exist for homeowners to test for potential drinking water contaminants such as antimony, barium, beryllium, uranium, selenium, fluoride, arsenic, thallium, nickel, copper, iron, manganese, aluminum, zinc, chromium, mercury and lead.

Oh, and the kit also tests the acidity level (pH) of the water sample as well as for any fluoride that may or may not be present in the sample.

Who will perform the water testing?

Glad you asked! These days one has to use caution when selecting a testing service because some ‘water professionals’ lack the official training and credentials to call themselves professionals.

NOT the case with Test Country since they use the services of a CLIA Accredited Laboratory (CLIA ID: 14D0646470, Medical Care Provider No: 148453) that claims to performed millions of comprehensive drinking water tests since 1972.

What if I don’t know how to read the report?

Don’t worry. The Test Country Lab Report won’t blind you with confusing charts, figures and things best left for scientists. Take a look at this sample water test report and see for yourself!