Even after the lead contamination crisis in Michigan, many of us don’t pay much attention to the water we drink. Instead, we turn the tap on, fill a glass with it, and gulp it down. While obviously, we need water to stay hydrated, what if the water isn’t as clean as it needs to be?
Thanks to somewhat stringent safety standards, people in the US consider municipal water to be potable. In reality, when water travels to your house after leaving a treatment plant, it can become contaminated in several ways. For example, breaks in the waterline can occasionally pollute municipal water. This allows the water to pick up microorganisms like parasites, viruses, and bacteria from animal or human feces.
Due to crop-spraying products to industrial waste, our drinking water can contain a lot of dangerous chemicals. The nitrates used in fertilizers can mix with the water, and lead can leak into your drinking water through old solders and lead pipes. Mercury, lead, and other toxic chemicals can enter your water supply through natural deposits underground or improper disposal of pollutants.
When your home is invaded by one or more of these contaminants, they can harm you and your family, especially infants, children, pregnant women, and their fetuses. By installing a whole house water filter, you can block these contaminants from entering your home in the first place. This article will discuss what is in our drinking water, the types of home filter systems fordrinking water, and the benefits of a whole house water filter. Keep reading!
What’s in our water?
Most municipal water in the US contains moderate to heavy levels of contamination from environmental and industrial pollution. In fact, every source of water contains some level of contamination. Contaminants range from man-made chemicals and by-products to minerals.
Lake or river surface water can be exposed to industrial waste, runoffs from pesticides, stormwater runoff, and acid rain. Water from groundwater (public water supplies or private wells) can be contaminated by agricultural chemicals, hazardous household products, leachate from septic systems and landfills, and disease-producing pathogens.
While level of contamination isn’t usually high enough to cause sickness immediately, it is likely to cause chronic health effects. This means effects that occur after repeated exposure to small amounts of a contaminant.
What are some unwanted substances in our water?
Some unwanted substances in our water comprise:
Drinking water standards only regulate some of the contaminants listed above. This stresses the importance of a whole house water filtration system to safeguard you and your family from the wide-ranging effects of contaminants in your water source.
Types of home filter systems for drinking water
If you choose to install a whole house water system, you can solve an array of problems affecting the appearance, taste, or quality of the water. A whole house filtration system connects a filter to your water line to remove the contaminants from the water. Before being routed to appliances, toilets, and faucets in the house, all the water entering your house will pass through this filter. If you’re on municipal water, it’s recommended that you opt for a carbon filtration system for general multipurpose whole house purification. This is because carbon filtration effectively removes VOCs, (volatile organic compounds) odor, chloramines, and chlorine providing chemical-free water throughout your home.
If you have specific water contaminant issues like bacteria, sediment, too much fluoride, or iron, you’ll need a whole house system tuned to removing that specific contaminant. For instance, if you have brown or orange iron staining around the fixtures in your home, a whole house iron filter will prevent further issues involving iron throughout the home. Note that a whole house softener doesn’t work as a filter, it works to soften hard water. If you need soft water for spotless glassware and to avoid scale buildup, select a whole house softener. You can combine a softener with any whole house filtration system. Both can work together to provide soft, clean water through every faucet.
McCowin Water offers many types of whole house and other water filtration:
Benefits of a whole house water filter
While water from a municipal source is treated, it still exposes you to a number of contaminants. A whole-house system offers you the additional protection needed all around your home. Since contaminants can be inhaled and absorbed through the skin, it’s important to safeguardyourself and your loved ones from them. If you have particular water concerns, you’ll need a whole house system dedicated to treating thoseparticular problems. Enjoy the sense of security that comes with knowing that your water is clean by using a whole house water filtration system.
If you’re on the lookout for the best quality home filtration systems, look no further than what McCowin Water has to offer. Give us a call now!