Top Contaminants In Drinking Water That A Plumber Can Help With | Waxahachie, TX
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We’ll lead with this, under almost all circumstances your tap water is safe to consume and is the most highly regulated item in the country. But, that doesn’t mean there can’t be contaminants in your home water supply that a plumber may be able to address for you. Having a hookup in Waxahachie, TX means you’re connected to a large water system that is overseen by appropriate experts.
Basic Elements Inside
We all know that water’s base elemental name is H20 but that doesn’t mean that other items can’t follow the water along. The first we’ll talk about is chlorine. It has a very specific smell, and is used in most water treatment facilities to remove bacteria from the water. If you are having issues with overly chlorinated water you could contact a plumber to get chlorine levels tested and talk about adding a water filtration system. Chlorine is one of the major culprits of what is considered hard water.
Next is one that could mean you have corroding pipes in your house or in your feed lines, that’s iron. There are two different types or iron contamination ferrous iron which will look clear coming out of the faucet but will change color as it sits. The other is ferric iron that will come out yellow/red. The second one can be seen often when your municipality clears their water lines using their hydrants. Either way, if you suspect you have an iron problem contact a professional to get this problem solved.
If your water is hard and you have ruled out chlorine it could be manganese. Most plumbers know that manganese is a natural element in soil and rocks and humans do need it in our lives but having too much can be bad. Having manganese in your municipal water supply should never be too high but if you’re tapped to a private well it could quickly get up to six times higher than recommended levels and will start leaving brown stains in sinks and taste metallic.
The last element we’ll bring up is sulfur, which when mixed with water comes out as hydrogen sulfide. This is more likely to be an issue in private well as it comes from decaying organic matter like dead plants and animals or their waste. The gas itself is locked up until it comes in contact with a liquid like through sewage. However it can also happen from water coming into contact with petroleum. If you smell rotten eggs call a plumber and ensure that this isn’t a chronic problem in your supply because it can be extremely difficult to fix the issue.
Cause Based Issues
Looking at your water you may want to call your plumber the first time something doesn’t look quite right, and that may very well be warranted but remember that if you can’t repeat the issue you’ll be calling for nothing. The first we’ll discuss is something that likely means you have issues with your pipes and that’s cloudy water. While not a guarantee that it’s coming from your pipes its possible that contamination is coming from a break in your feed line from your water source, but this will more likely be an issue from inorganic matter getting into a private well or runoff hitting a water treatment facility.
Having a low pH level could also lead to issues in your water appliances and drinking water. Pure water will have a pH level of 7 and having the number decrease means it is more acidic and can cause a multitude of problems. For example pollution like carbon dioxide or acid rain can make water acidic and can be hard to correct. Metallic tasting water will generally mean that your water is getting acidic and if you have blue-green stains near your faucets you can almost guarantee your having low pH water run through you pipes and a call to a plumber may be at hand.
Other Contaminants And Compounds
The following compounds can come into your house and generally come from contaminants in the water source or the pipes in your home as opposed to your treatment system. The first major contaminant we’ll talk about is arsenic. Arsenic is dangerous as it is odorless and tasteless. It appears naturally in the soil and air as well in some plants but is also used in cleaning products and metals and is used as a wood preservative. If it is near the source of your water it can cause issues but has not been an issue in Waxahachie, TX.
Lead as a contaminant was really brought to the attention of America when the issues in Flint, Michigan became national news. Lead has been slowly being removed from homes across the country but houses built before the 1920s and some as recent as 1986 when they were outright banned still have lead pipes. Lead pipes, if in good shape, shouldn’t leach into the water supply. But a change in pH in the water or some minor damage and that goes out the window. If you think you have lead pipes have a plumber confirm or deny that.
Nitrates from farm runoff can also cause issues to your water supply but generally happen in rural communities and seasonally, although this doesn’t excuse them from being problems. Fertilizer is the main culprit and is a double edge sword, helping feed our communities but possibly contaminating the water we drink.
When you need to call a plumber to see if a water supply issue is coming from inside your house or from your water hook up contact Bahama Plumbing to have your home plumbing inspected. From basic drain cleaning to full refitting job the plumbers at family owned Bahama Plumbing can do it all for you. Give them a call or visit their website to go through their 40 years of combined experience for all your residential and commercial plumbing needs across the entire Waxahachie area.