“My girl and me just bought a new place but the water well it sucks. Got white buildup and other colors of stuff building up in the sinks and the water kit we bought, that sensafe one on your site, says we got all sorts of problems like metals too. A friend says we need a filter and a softener but I don’t know if they make a all-in-one type filter softener thing… but my girl says we gotta do something, so can you help?”

Thank you for your question Marquis and it sounds to us like you and your girlfriend have a real mess on your hands when it comes to the quality of your water.

Question: Well water or city water?

If well water, then we suggest looking in the phone book for a certified well contractor and having them come out to look at the condition of your well.

If city water we suggest contacting your local water department and requesting the latest copy of their Consumer Confidence Report, an annually published document that discusses how good (or bad) a job the department did at keeping its water quality readings in line with Federal Guidelines.

In either case, certainly get your water tested by a qualified water testing laboratory before investing – and yes, we said investing – in a water filtration and/or water conditioner for your home. Otherwise you may run the risk of purchasing the incorrect unit for your specific water remediation requirements.

In other words you may buy the wrong tool for the job… and that could mean a whole lot of wasted money and continued water quality troubles.

Cost of combination water filter & water softener

Definitely not cheap, but if you have drinking water in desperate need of improvement then investing in a whole house water filter & water softener system such as the Whole House Filter and Anti-Scale Conditioner Combo made by Crystal Quest may make sense.

With pricing for the Whole House Filter and Anti-Scale Conditioner Combo (CQE-WH-02136) starting at around $2,900 you really, really, really want to make certain you 1) Need a water filter; 2) Need a water softener; 3) Know for sure that the unit will correct the specific water quality issues that you have.

Moral of the story?

Not all water treatment options will work in every application so before you plop down your hard earned money, get your water tested by a qualified drinking water testing laboratory. If you cannot locate a local laboratory we suggest you consider using the testing services of an accredited mail-in water testing laboratory such as National Testing Labs.

Test for Hard Water

Test for Metals

Test for Arsenic

]]> http://watertestingblog.com/2011/12/07/multistage-water-filter-plus-softener-do-they-make-one/feed/ 0 http://watertestingblog.com/2011/08/09/chromium-found-in-chicago-water/ http://watertestingblog.com/2011/08/09/chromium-found-in-chicago-water/#comments Tue, 09 Aug 2011 15:11:12 +0000 Water Testing Blog http://watertestingblog.com/?p=4688 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.

Today we stumbled across an article from a Chicago area paper talking about how a Federal Judge must decide whether or not a water company and also two of its employees should face charges for allegedly raising free chlorine levels intentionally right before taking readings and then allowing them to drop to potentially unsafe levels at other times throughout the day.

In the spirit of allowing both sides to present their case, we will post the entire article… which left us with more than one nagging question.

Our first question…

… deals with the frequency of testing: “Why did the plant only need to test in the mornings?”

Our second questions deals with the real results of the raising chlorine levels (supposedly) to pass inspection and then lowering them to potentially unsafe levels: “Did anyone get sick or suffer any form of harm as a result of these actions?”

Don’t get us wrong based upon that second question. We just want to know more about how these folks got caught. If someone got sick as a result of what the water company did, then this case would have ended in a guilty verdict without the need for the judge to deliberate longer… right?

Bitter truth about public water systems?

While few people would argue that the United States of America, when examined as a whole, has one of the most technologically advanced network of public water distribution systems in the world. This does not, however, mean that all of the systems do all of the testing they should at all the right times.

The article above, as well as articles we’ve read over the years about public officials and private firms fabricating water test results in an effort to save money, makes us leery of our great system… yet grateful as heck that for the most part our greatest fears about our public water supply deal mostly with ‘minor’ breaches in protocol rather than instances of blatant disregard for the maintaining of sanitary practices in our water treatment facilities.

Testing for chlorine in drinking water at home?

Do average people have the ability to keep tabs on the amount of chlorine in their drinking water? Absolutely! Companies like WaterSafe and SenSafe make reliable, accurate and completely affordable test kits for detecting levels of both free and total chlorine in tap/drinking water.

All in One Water Test Kit

Chlorine and Hardness Test Kit

Well Water Test Kit

]]> http://watertestingblog.com/2011/07/16/monkey-business-at-the-wastewater-treatment-plant/feed/ 0 http://watertestingblog.com/2011/04/09/water-testing-meter-for-municipal-water-testing/ http://watertestingblog.com/2011/04/09/water-testing-meter-for-municipal-water-testing/#comments Sat, 09 Apr 2011 19:56:34 +0000 Water Testing Blog http://watertestingblog.com/?p=3782 In our last posting we mentioned a relatively new water testing meter called the eXact Micro 8 because of its ability to test for both free dissolved iron and total iron. We since have received a number of emails from our readers asking for more information about the eXact Micro 8.

Below you will find a list of the water quality parameters that this meter will test along w/ the meter’s detection levels for each parameter.

Testing Capabilities of the eXact Micro 8 Meter

While this meter seems to offer tremendous promise for water quality professionals, we do not think it will work well for the average homeowner who will more likely have more of a need to test for things like free & total chlorine, (standard) pH and copper than they would ammonia, cyanide and phosphates.

This meter, we feel, will have a lot more popularity with water and waste water professionals who, we hope, will do their due diligence and test for things like ammonia, cyanide and phosphates in drinking and process water.

So… What meter can the average homeowner use to test drinking water?

If the convenience, repeatability and accuracy of a water testing meter appeals to you, then take a look at the predecessor to the eXact Micro 8: The eXact Micro 7+ Water Testing Meter.

We have yet to find a simpler, more versatile water testing meter than the eXact Micro 7+ Water Testing Meter. It can test for Total Alkalinity, Bromine, Calcium Hardness, Free Chlorine, Total Chlorine, Copper, Ozone, Permanganate, and pH directly — providing you use the correct reagentstrip.

With the use of optional reagentstrips and a conversion-lookup table, the eXact Micro 7+ Meter has the ability to test water for these other parameters, too: Ammonia, Bromine, Chloride/Salt, Chlorine Dioxide, Chromium Hexavalent (Chromium VI), Copper, Cyanuric Acid, Fluoride, Iodine, Iron, Low Range Total Hardness, Manganese, Nitrate, Nitrite, Ozone, Acid pH, Alkali pH, Potassium, Sulfate, Sulfide, and Turbidity.

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.

Test for Free Dissolved Iron

Test for Total Iron

Meter for Testing Total Iron

]]> http://watertestingblog.com/2011/04/04/municipal-water-testing-prompts-company-to-install-additional-filtration-unit/feed/ 0 http://watertestingblog.com/2011/02/10/epa-to-regulate-perchlorate-in-drinking-water-finally/ http://watertestingblog.com/2011/02/10/epa-to-regulate-perchlorate-in-drinking-water-finally/#comments Fri, 11 Feb 2011 00:54:38 +0000 Water Testing Blog http://watertestingblog.com/?p=3746 We recently read that the United States Environmental Protection Agency plans to enact new guidelines aimed at monitoring perchlorate levels in drinking water and requiring corrective actions if higher than acceptable levels get detected.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced in early February it will be implementing a standard that regulates the amount of perchlorate that can be in drinking water. Perchlorate (a salt derived from perchloric acid) is a man-made and naturally occurring substance that is found in rocket fuel, fireworks, and other combustible products and has been linked to thyroid problems in young children and pregnant women.

Between 2001 and 2005, the EPA monitored drinking water sources in sources all over the United States and found that 153 sources in 26 different states contained perchlorate. In most positive sources, the drinking water was contaminated by improperly disposed rocket fuel and other chemicals at plants, testing sites, and even military bases. ( source )

What prompted the EPA to take closer look at perchlorate in drinking water? According to the EPA’s own web site,

“Scientific research indicates that perchlorate may disrupt the thyroid’s ability to produce hormones that are critical to developing fetuses and infants. Monitoring data show more than 4 percent of public water systems have detected perchlorate and between 5 million and 17 million people may be served drinking water containing perchlorate. The science that has led to this decision has been peer reviewed by independent scientists and public health experts including the National Academy of Sciences. Perchlorate is both a naturally-occurring and man-made chemical that is used in the manufacture of rocket fuel, fireworks, flares and explosives, and may be present in bleach and in some fertilizers. This decision reverses a 2008 preliminary determination by the previous administration, and considers input from almost 39,000 public comments.”

So… How can a person learn if their tap, city and/or municipal water supply contains unacceptable levels of perchlorates? Each year your local water department must make available Consumer Confidence Report that tells consumers what contaminants showed up during routine testing throughout the year and from source(s) it extracted its water.

Removing/Reducing perchlorate levels in drinking water?

As usual, when dealing with a particularly unpleasant drinking water contaminant, water professionals suggest the use of a quality reverse osmosis drinking water system for the job.

Watts 315 Reverse Osmosis System Meets NSF/ANSI Standard 58

Watts 415 Reverse Osmosis System Meets NSF/ANSI Standard 58

Watts 525 Reverse Osmosis System Meets NSF/ANSI Standard 58

We think that will change now that the Environmental Working Group (EWG) has released the findings of recent tests performed on municipal water supplies around the United States.

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) released a report today stating that at least 31 U.S. cities have tap water that is contaminated with a dangerous chemical known as chromium-6.

…

According to the Environmental Working Group, chromium-6 is technically deemed cancerous if inhaled. However, the EWG are investigating the extent to which chromium-6 is cancerous when ingested. Water supplies are usually contaminated with chromium-6 by eroding steel and metal plating facilities.

Rebecca Sutton, a senior scientist with EWG and lead author of the study, explained to CNN that there are a significant amount of documented studies showing a positive correlation between contact with chromium-6 and an increased risk of stomach cancer in humans.

As stated in EWG’s report, “Studies in both animals and people show that exposure to [chromium-6] via drinking water leads to elevated chromium levels in tissues, particularly the gastrointestinal tract, blood, liver, kidneys and spleen, and in increased toxicity.”

Opting for bottled water isn’t necessarily a safer choice either because it isn’t guaranteed that there aren’t traces of chromium-6 in it. “There is no legal limit for [chromium-6] in bottled water either, so consumers cannot assume it is free of the contaminant,” stated in the report.

Sutton recommends investing in a quality water filter to protect yourself.

The cities with the highest level of chromium-6 in their tap water are Norman, Oklahoma; Honolulu, Hawaii; and Riverside, California. ( source )

We often get email from ‘unhappy’ readers who claim we exaggerate points and repeat ourselves ourselves ourselves. Oh, well we prefer to think of it as stressing important points and emphasizing them by means of repeated exposure because sometimes a message just doesn’t get fully understood the first time a person hears it.

As an example, no matter how many times we tell people they have ultimate responsibility for the quality of their drinking water, a good number of people STILL think some agency in the government goes around testing tap water at private citizens’ homes as a courtesy and warns citizens when their water contains unwanted contaminants that entered the water supply after it left a water treatment facility.

Let us say again that no such branch or division of State, Local or Federal Government exists!

On occasion a water department worker MAY test the water coming out of fire hydrants in your neighborhood but they will not knock on your door and ask if you’d like a free municipal water test. If you want to know what the water at YOUR house or place of business contains, YOU will have to test it or have it tested.

OK, well how do I test for chromium in tap water?

Easiest method for chromium testing: Chromium test strips manufactured by SenSafe detect Chromium (VI) levels down to 0.1 ppm (mg/L).

• 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.

Water Metals Test Kit

Ordinarily when a water treatment facility’s product tests positive for too great a concentration of a heavy metal such as lead, copper, iron, mercury, etc. all sorts of people — especially environmental watchdog groups — lay the blame on the doorstep of the water treatment facility.

But not this time. Environmental Working Group (EWG), a lobbying group hailing from Washington, D.C., regards the finding of hexavalent chromium in several public water supplies as a problem, yes, but not necessarily all the fault of local water treatment facilities.

Instead, EWG would like for people to place the blame with the sources of chromium contamination.

Makes perfectly good sense to us. Stopping the flow of pollutants from entering the water supply sure would take a lot of the burden off of water treatment plants and ultimately off of the end user… AKA: All of us in the general public.

A Washington D.C. based environmental group says it’s not trying to put blame on local cities for contamination of hexavalent chromium. A single sample taken an Avion Water Company customer’s tap was one of 35 taken across the country that showed levels in excess of what the State of California is proposing as a public health standard. “This is an upstream pollution problem that needs to be stopped at the source. We need better water source protection and while we do advocate all utilities do their own testing for this and let their all their customers know the results, this doesn’t mean that they’re the ones responsible for the pollution.”

Leanne Brown with the Environmental Working Group says the only consumer level filtering system that can remove this chemical is a reverse osmosis system. Hexavalent chromium can come from manufacturing, pulp mills, and leather tanning. ( source )

So where does that leave average people like us? In the exact same place as before this result… in charge of making sure we have safe, clean drinking water going into our glasses.

Obviously a problem with chromium-6 pollution exists in this country and we, as end users, will not know whether or not we personally have chromium-6 (hexavalent chromium) in our own water supplies unless we perform testing on a periodic basis.

How to test for chromium-6 (hexavalent chromium) in your water

As usual, nothing beats laboratory testing of your water by a certified water testing laboratory (i.e. National Testing Labs)… but that does not mean each and every test needs to get shipped off to a lab.

Periodic testing for chromium-6 using at-home drinking water test kits between annual (or more frequent) lab testing provides continual piece of mind and does not cost a fortune.

SenSafe manufactures a simple dip-n-read test strip for hexavalent chromium (chromium-6) that provides results in under 2 minutes… and 50 tests costs somewhere in the neighborhood of around $17.00 (just $0.34 per test!).

Detection Levels for the SenSafe product: 0.1, 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2.5, 5, 10, 25, 50 mg/L (parts per million).

If we found one metal, might there be more?

No one can answer that question honestly… without conducting additional testing. A home or business owner might assume that the presence of chromium or other heavy metals such as lead, mercury, etc. also exist in their water supply, but as we said, without additional testing no one will know for sure.

A good way to test for metals commonly found in drinking water?

If you want a fast and inexpensive testing method for metals in drinking water that will tell you if you have a dissolved metals concentration greater than 10 parts per billion in your water, take a look at the Water Metals Check Test Strips.

While this product will not tell you exactly WHICH metal(s) your water contains, it will allow you to quickly and easily determine whether or not you will want to opt for other, more ion specific testing.

Test Strips for Manganese

Lead in Water Test Kit

Mercury in Water Test Strips

]]> http://watertestingblog.com/2010/12/30/chromium-found-in-drinking-water-water-systems-not-to-blame/feed/ 2 http://watertestingblog.com/2010/12/29/why-do-cities-issue-boil-water-advisories/ http://watertestingblog.com/2010/12/29/why-do-cities-issue-boil-water-advisories/#comments Wed, 29 Dec 2010 19:03:10 +0000 Water Testing Blog http://watertestingblog.com/?p=3459 The other day we received an email from ‘SandraDiDeeYo’ who asked a question we could not believe no one had asked us in the past…

“The news is full of boil water advisories in my state recently. Maybe I never paid attention before and they were always in the news but since now I am paying attention I want to know why do cities advertise boil water advisories?”

A very good question, indeed, and not one that has a definite set of answers… though we will attempt to give a few reasons anyways explaining why cities might issue boil water advisories.

1. Water main breaks: Unexpected ruptures in the previously sealed system may allow unwanted bacteria and other contaminants to enter the water supply.

2. Scheduled water line maintenance: Opening the previously sealed water line for any reason, even for scheduled maintenance, can allow unwanted contaminants access to the water supply.

3. Pump failures: If a pump or related component fails water pressure in the lines drops. When that happens, back pressure in the water lines could possibly ‘suck’ unwanted contaminants into water supply via small cracks or fissures ordinarily not considered a problem because normal operating pressure expels water out through those openings in the form of small leaks.

   WaterSafe All-in-One Test Kit Tests for Bacteria, Lead, Pesticides, Nitrates, Nitrites, Chlorine, pH, and Hardness

4. Water quality testing reveals contamination: Seemingly an obvious reason, but we mention it to remind everyone that municipal and private water treatment facilities must, by law, perform a set number of tests on the water they distribute each and every day, hour, week and month.

   If a predetermined number of tests come back positive for bacteria the facility must, by law, notify local authorities who will issue a boil water alert until the situation gets remedied.

Having said what we just said, we’d now like to take a moment to thank the dedicated men and women who spend their days monitoring the quality of the drinking water too many people take for granted.

Interested in learning more about the quality of the tap water in YOUR area? Contact you local water treatment facility or health department and ask for the most recent Water Quality Report. By law they have to provide you with a hard copy or the link to where they have the information posted online.

What does boiling the water do?

Quite simply, it kills off any potentially harmful that may have slipped into the water supply on its way to your home or office. Do make sure you bring the water to a full rolling boil before use and make sure you do not leave the water sitting around too long out in the open (unsealed) because boiling will have also removed any disinfectants normally found in your water that provide a buffer against incidental bacteria floating around in the air.

One danger associated with boiling water, aside from the risk of getting scalded or badly burned by hot water, has to do with metals in drinking water. Boiling water concentrates the metals — if present in the source water — so if your water normally contains dissolved metals you may want to consider switching to bottled water instead of boiling your water until the boil water advisory gets lifted.

Interested in removing metals from your drinking water? You may want to consider a reverse osmosis water filtration system.