The Truth of Water – Answers

• 30Nov

  Rusty Water – A Health Hazard?

  Drinking Water, health 6 Comments

  Joanne from Australia Writes:

  We just bought a house thats about 50 years old.  The water has a faint brown colour.  I think the pipes may be rusty.  Is it a health hazard to drink and cook with this water.  I mean by giving us cancer etc

  Hi Joanne, thanks for writing in.

  If your water has a brownish or reddish colour to it, this could indeed be rust.  To find out for sure, put this water into a clear glass and let it sit for a few hours.  If the water clears and you see some sediment or a film at the bottom of your glass, this is oxidized iron.

  This rust can come from several places.  It can come from older galvanized steel piping.  If you have municipal water, it is common to get some discoloured water when the water operations staff do routine flushing of the pipes.  This should go away very shortly.

  If you have a well, the colour could be coming from an iron well casing, or from the water itself. It is very common for ground water to have dissolved iron in it, and as you pump it you add oxygen to the water, oxidizing the iron into insoluable form and causing the discolouration.

  A small bit of oxidized iron is not bad for you.  Your body uses this naturally occurring mineral. The only concerns are aesthetic, as no one wants to cook with or drink coloured water.

  Often with older piping or wells if the water has not been used for a siginificant period of time this can lead to leaching the iron. Try running all of your taps for 10 or 20 minutes each.

  A sediment filter can also remove the rust, and these are available inexpesively at your local hardware store.

  I hope I’ve answered your question to your satisfaction. If you have any more questions or require further clarification, do not hesitate to write in again.

  

  Tags: health hazard, rust, rusty water

• 26Nov

  Rotten Egg Smell from Only One Tap

  disinfection, microorganisms 2 Comments

  Allan from from Chatham County, NC wrote in about a very particular rotten egg smell problem, one I have yet to encounter.  Below is the string of emails of Alan and myself communicating about this problem.  It’s an interesting one, and worth the read if you are having some localized rotten egg smell problems in your plumbing.

  My wife and I live in a small 30-year old house with well water
  and copper plumbing, a 17-year old 80-gallon hot water heater, and a pretty
  standard inline cartridge sediment filter.

  Recently, we started noticing a rotten egg smell (probably hydrogen
  sulphide?) coming from ONLY the upstairs bathroom sink COLD water tap after
  several hours of not being used.  The smell disappears quickly after 5-10
  seconds of running the water.  The taste of the water appears to be
  unaffected.

  I’ve checked all the other taps throughout the house (hot and cold
  including the toilet tanks and bowls, bathtub, shower, and clothes washer),
  and none of them have this smell, even after much longer periods of not
  being used.

  My thought on an inexpensive remedy would be to remove the sediment filter
  case and cartridge, fill the case with clorox, and temporarily reinstall the
  case without a new cartridge.  Then, I would turn on only the affected cold
  water tap upstairs until I smell chlorine.  Just as soon as I smell the
  first traces of chlorine, I would immediately turn off the tap, thus
  trapping a fair amount of chlorinated water in the affected line only.  I
  would then wait, say, overnight for the chlorine in that line to do its
  anti-bacterial duty.  Then, the following morning, I would turn on the cold
  water tap again to flush out all traces of the chlorinated water.

  Sound like a plan?  Or does it sound like a plan of someone who’s way off
  base?

  Thanks in advance for your reply.

  Hi Alan

  Usually, the rotten egg smell (hydrogen sulphide) comes from one of two places:

  1) Directly from your well.  The bacteria can usually be found deeper in overburden aquifers

  2) From sewer gas escaping through your drain pipes

  It could be that you have some biofilm accumulated in that line, and some of the bacteria are of the sulphur reducing variety.

  Your original plan is a good one, if that is indeed the problem.  The only thing I would add is to run water vigorously through the tap first, to create a scrubbing effect with the water.  Make sure no other tap or appliance that uses water is on, and open the tap full on for 5 or 10 minutes.  This might produce enough velocity to start breaking up the biofilm, making your chlorination process more effective (as chlorine is only a surface disinfectant).

  Thank you very much for writing in. I’m grateful you did as this is a problem I’ve never heard before.  Please let me know how you make out.

  Problem solved.  Here’s what I did:

  • Before bedtime on Sunday evening, I removed the 10″ cartridge from the filter case and filled the case with 100% Chlorox.
  • I reinstalled the case without a filter and reopened the shutoff valves.
  • I went upstairs and turned on only the cold water tap to the bathroom wash basin (the culprit producing the smell) and let it run until I started smelling chlorine gas.
  • I immediately turned off the cold water tap and we went to bed.
  • When we got up on Monday morning, I turned on the cold water and let it run to flush out all the Chlorox.  I also turned on all the other cold water sources in the house to hasten that process.  There was quite a large amount of ruddy brown water that flowed for quite some time, but then it gradually disappeared.
  • When the Chlorine smell and the ruddy brown water had disappeared, we began using cold water again.  I then installed a new 10″ filter.
  • We then went to work for the day at about 7:30 a.m.
  • When I returned from work at about 6:30 last evening, I immediately went upstairs and turned on the wash basin’s cold water.  No smell whatsoever.  The smell normally had reappeared after about three hours of nonuse.
  • Again this morning, no smell.

  Looks like the problem may have been somehow isolated to the cold water line to the upstairs wash basin.  But that doesn’t explain why there was no smell to the toilet water tank, the shower, or the bathtub water faucet, all of which receive their cold water from the same cold water line.  My best guess now is that somehow, the faucet assembly, which I replaced about a year ago, somehow became contaminated.

  Thanks for your help.

  Great to hear it worked.

  There very well could have been some contamination when you changed your tap.  We live in a bacteria world and contamination happens very easily without you knowing it.

  One of our standard municipal procedures is to disinfect any and all plumbing and fixtures if the system has been opened to air, to do a repair or replace a fixture, for example.  It would be a good idea for you to do the same if you do any other work like that because you have your own well supply and there is no secondary disinfectant in your water.

  

  Tags: disinfection of plumbing, plumbing, rotten egg smell

• 24Nov

  Use of recycled water

  Conservation, Drinking Water No Comments

  Chris from Toronto writes:

  Hi there, I am doing a research project on the viability of implementing some rural water saving solutions in the city.  The one idea I had was to use rain barrels on top of larger buildings to supply the occupants with their water.  I figured that anything we can do to reduce the load on the city reservoirs the better, especially to conserve the electricity that our pumps use.  I was wondering if you could give me some input…Aren’t apartment buildings built with an internal reservoir system already that purifies the water and distributes it onsite?  If not, do you think it could be practical to just tie into systems that don’t require purifying, like toilets and washing machines?  I’d really appreciate your help.  Thanks

  Hi Chris, thanks for your question.

  There are two truths happening right now:

  1. An increase in population
  2. A water supply steadily decreasing in availability

  As our population goes up, our ideas of housing is changing.  In larger cities, more and more condominiums are rising to the sky, housing more people in a smaller area.  In smaller cities, new housing developments are severely cutting the land around houses, packing them in closer and closer.

  Working in the water treatment section of a municipality, it always amazes me how much water is being treated to tough potable standards, and how little of it is used for potable uses like drinking and cooking.  Most of it goes to washing and industrial purposes.

  Currently most water is used as a once through application.  It goes down the drain and dissapears to the waste water treatment plant, for treatment and release to the environment.  But as water becomes more scarce, water will have to be recycled if we would like to continue to use water as we are.

  I don’t know the current status of most apartment buildings. However, sustainability projects such as you propose are feasible.  The infrastructure on older buildings would be expensive, but it would be relatively cheap to integrate into brand new apartment buildings.

  Potable water from the city could still be piped in.  However, you would have a tap or taps designated as potable in your apartment, such as the kitchen sink and the bathrooms. Your drinking, cooking and other miscellaneous uses (such as brushing your teeth) would come from these taps.  To ensure that the potable water does not get cross contaminated from any other water source, the piping would have to be completely separate from other sources.

  Separate from your drinking water, showers, laundry facilities and outside hose bibs could be recycled grey water mixed with rain water collected on the roof.  Simple centrifugal separators, filtration and light disinfection (U.V. and/or chlorination) could make this water clean, clear and useful for such washing applications.  The water sent to your waste water treatment plant would be a more concentrated form of the contaminants removed.

  Using a system like that would mean existing water treatment plants would be able to supply cities far into the future with their potable water needs without the need for further and further expansion.

  I hope that gives you a direction for your research project, Chris.  If you have any further questions or would like further detail, please do not hesitate to write in again.

  

  Tags: future water use, recycling, water conservation

• 22Nov

  Mercury and Fluoride in Drinking Water

  Drinking Water, health No Comments

  Pat from San Diego, California writes:

  I am fearful of drinking our tap water, as I have been hearing of the dangers of mercury in our water and its proliferation due to the Bush policies that have encouraged polluters to increase its concentration. But the last straw was when our local county boards started adding fluoride to our water. It was then that I started buying bottled water for all of our drinking needs.

  Could you please tell me where I could take my drinking water for testing of these 2 pollutants?
  Could you discuss what type of water treatment could be relied upon to remove mercury and fluoride?
  I was very hopeful about buying a steam-condensing system and then I read your comments about distilled water (I presume that’s what such a system produces) and now I am fearful of distilled water too.

  Hi Pat, thank you for your question.

  I’d like to address fluoride first.  Fluoride is an interesting chemical and has been the source of much debate among water purveyors and health professionals. While it is considered a toxic chemical in it’s concentrated forms, in trace amounts it is actually beneficial for the health and strength of teeth.  Typically, water supplies that do not have a high enough naturally occurring fluoride concentration have been fluoridated to compensate for this.  The argument is whether this is needed or not, as some feel there is enough fluoride in tooth paste and food items to provide for the bodies need for trace amounts of fluoride.  The trace amounts of fluoride in your water will not harm you. In fact, you should check the label of the bottled water you have been using. Often, bottled water will contain as much or more fluoride as your tap waters.

  I understand your concern of mercury. This contaminant is a dangerous one, and no doubt you have heard of Minimata Japan, where Minimata disease was first found, which is mercury poisoning.  While mercury in your water supply is something to be concerned about, you should be much more concerned about mercury poisoning in fish.

  When mercury enters a water supply, microbes can convert it to an organic form of mercury.  Larger animals eat these microbes, and so on and so forth up the food chain in a process called biological magnification. This biological magnification causes a significant amount of mercury to be bound up in the muscle tissue of fish, who do not have the same capacity to remove trace mercury from their systems as mammals do.

  Under the United States EPA, municipal water purveyors are required to test for mercury at a regular basis.  If they detect a level above 2 parts per billion, they are then required to impliment measures to remove it as well.

  Just to let you know, bottled water retailers are under no such regulation and can bottle anything they want.

  Tap water is your safest alternative.  Most people do not realize just how regulated municipal water is. In addition, those who sell home water products use fear mongering techniques to instill the unwarranted fear that tap water is not safe.

  The municipality I work in has a policy of full disclosure.  We provide detailed records of all water tests on our website, and will provide them upon request.  Please do not hesitate to contact your municipality, they will be most likely be more than happy to provide test results on concentrations of mercury and fluoride.

  If you still would like to test your water for contaminants at your own expense, contact the USEPA. They will be able to guide you to the closest licensed laboratory for drinking water testing. It is important to use a licensed lab, as they have met minimum quality guidelines.

  Finally, please refer to this article on about.com:chemistry. It gives some useful tips about reducing fluoride from your diet from water as well as sources that are not from drinking water.

  I hope I’ve answered your question to your satisfaction.  If you have any other questions, or need further clarification, please do not hesitate to write in again.

  

  Tags: bottled water, fluoride, mercury, tap water, water treatment

• 21Nov

  The necessity of home water treatment

  Drinking Water, health No Comments

  Sylvian from Orlando, Florida writes:

  Should I treat my tap water? I was going to buy a water ionizer machine, but after reading your site, I won\’t buy it now. But what about a product called “RAINSOFT”? It’s a whole house water treatment/purification system which has a brine filter tank and an external salt pellet tank. Is this a scam too? What do you suggest I do? Should I simply drink tap water???

  Hi Sylvian, thanks for writing in.

  Very simply, here in North America municipally treated tap water is safe to drink.  The regulations are strict and much time and money is spent ensuring the public water supplies will do no harm.

  Unfortunately, many water treatment companies rely on fear mongering tactics to sell more home water treatment equipment.  If a company that sells home water treatment equipment tells you that your municipally treated tap water will kill you or harm you in anyway, don’t believe them.  Much of these claims are based on half truths associated with treated water.  For example, while it is true that there is a potential for chlorinated water supplies to form carcinogenic compounds, it is not true that they will always be in your drinking water.  It’s also not true that municipalities don’t know/care about any of these things.  Some companies go so far as to say they are not tested for, which is completely untrue.

  Municipal drinking water goes through a gambit of testing on a regular basis not only to ensure the water is free from harmful pathogens, but that is it contains less than the maximum allowable concentration of potentially harmful chemicals, both from natural water supplies and potentialy produced from the water treatment process.

  All maximum allowable concentrations of chemicals are continuously under review by water treatment, health and government officials.

  The bottom line is the quality of your drinking water is produced and monitored by people who are more qualified than any employee of a home water treatment store. And unlike some of these private treatment equipment sales organizations, the only ulterior motive water treatment professionals have is to ensure your water is safe to drink.

  Now that you know that tap water is safe to drink, you can shop for water treatment devices without being lead astray by over zealous sales people looking only for more money.

  If this Rainsoft product uses salt, it is an ion exchange unit designed to soften water.  While this will improve lathering and reduce the need for soap, it also adds sodium to your water, making it less healthy to drink.

  Other considerations for aethetics are taste.  Carbon filters are available that removes the trace amounts of chlorine in your tap water and makes it more palitable but remember: change your filter often as carbon filters can be a place where bacteria can accumulate and grow.

  I hope this has answered your question. Please write in again if you need further clarification or have another question.

  

  Tags: home treatment, tap water, water saftey

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