The Water Quality Association has tips and tricks to help improve the overall quality of your water, whether at home or in the office.
Eric Yeggy
Director of Technical Affairs, Water Quality Association
Water quality issues can be difficult to understand, but water treatment solutions don’t have to be. By focusing on easy treatment solutions and resources, you can help improve the water quality in your home or workplace.
Aesthetic water quality issues are probably the most common reason people install treatment in their home or business Hardness is a common household water quality issue that reduces the effiency of your water heater and other appliances. A third-party certified water softener can protect your appliances and save you money on rising energy bills.
This can be helpful, especially because some businesses may have special water quality needs to protect their equipment, or because water is an ingredient in a product they sell. In coffee shops, for example, the water chemistry impacts how the coffee will taste.
Health contaminants and how to treat them
When it comes to lead, any amount that is in drinking water is unsafe and harmful to your health. Because lead can come from the pipes leading to your home, or from pipes and fittings within your home, the best treatment is a point-of-use (POU) device — at the faucet or dispenser — certified to treat drinking water for lead.
Per-and poly fluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) are health contaminants that are frequently in the news. We don’t know exactly how many of these chemicals there are. At the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Summit on PFAS in 2018, it was estimated to be 3,000 to 4,000, but more recent estimates have pushed that number to 5,000 or higher.
Laboratories can test for only about 40 of these chemicals, and researchers are still studying the toxicity and environmental fate of PFAS. The EPA suggest that PFAS may be dangerous even at concentrations so low that we wouldn’t be able to detect them using current test methods. Luckily, there are products available for the home and office are certified to treat drinking water for PFAS.
Staying on top of your water quality
Maintenance is critical to ensure these devices continue to provide the same level of protection. Therefore, it pays to shop around for systems that have an indicator to warn the user when maintenance is necessary. POU devices often come with a light or visual indicator telling the user when it is time to change out consumable cartridges.
For those who would rather hire someone to take care of water quality issues, the Water Quality Association recommends going through a certified water treatment professional. Certified professionals must complete nearly a year-long course of study, successfully pass a comprehensive exam on water quality and water treatment, complete 20-30 hours of continuing education every three years, and abide by a strict code of business ethics.