In the hectic humidity of Toronto’s summers, keeping yourself, your family and your pets hydrated is important to prevent heat exhaustion. But what kind of water should you be drinking, and how do you know the water installation in your home is pure enough to drink? The City of Toronto maintains its water supply is fit for drinking, but with multiple incidences worldwide of people becoming ill after drinking contaminated water, you need to be certain. Our local plumbers have some suggestions on how you can protect your family from drinking contaminated water.
Water Contamination
Water contamination isn’t just the stuff movies like Erin Brockovich are made of:
- A recent study conducted in the United States by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) showed evidence that 100 percent of American adults tested turned up traces of at least 13 different pesticides in their systems. The quantities were even more concentrated in young women and children, most of whom obtained the bulk of their drinking water from their household water service installation.
- In New York in 1999, two people died and more than 1,000 became ill after drinking water contaminated with E.Coli bacteria.
Lurking Chemicals
And it’s not just about contamination. In various countries, the levels of arsenic in drinking water are believed to be higher than is safe. Arsenic from natural deposits enters the water installation through rusted pipes and damaged infrastructure, and prolonged exposure can cause internal organs to break down. Water treatment plants actually add chemicals such as fluoride and chlorine to the water to kill bacteria and aid in dental health, and these have been linked to a variety of diseases including birth defects, heart disease, and cancer.
Water Filtration
Most water purification systems make use of charcoal as a medium to filter impurities from the water installation. Charcoal, which is carbon in its most basic form, has been used to filter water intended for drinking since the ancient civilizations in India and Egypt. The charcoal filtration layer traps organic compounds in the carbon and prevents them from passing through into the water. A variety of filtration systems are available for household purposes, ranging from a simple purification jug kept in the refrigerator to a whole house filtration system that must be professionally fitted into your water service installation by your local plumbers.
Types of Systems
Various filtration systems can help make your drinking water safer. The systems come in a variety of different models, such as:
- Faucet-mounted filters that attach to the kitchen cold water supply
- In-line filters spliced into the cold water installation supply line beneath your kitchen sink, or
- Line bypass filters with a separate faucet on the sink for drinking water.
These systems only treat the cold water, not the water that passes through the hot water tank.
Whole House System
A whole house filtration system is the Rolls Royce of the options. It is professionally fitted into the water installation pipes at the point where they enter the home and treats all water used in the household. This type of system is more expensive and contains a denser layer of charcoal than some of the smaller systems, but it has been shown to remove most of the minerals and chemicals that regular municipal purification misses. You’ll need a high level of skill and the right tools to fit this kind of system, or your Toronto plumbers will have to fit it for you.
Additional Benefits
Whatever system you use, you’ll find the purer water improves the taste of everything you make with it. Your dishes and china will come out sparkling clean and you’ll never need to de-scale the kettle or coffee machine again. With a whole house filtration system, you can increase the efficiency of your hot water heater by around 30 percent, and at the same time, the use of cleaner water will extend the life of your water installation. You’ll also see improved water pressure and flow as a result of lower calcium build-ups in the pipes. Your hair will feel softer and your bathroom will need less scrubbing.
Contact your local plumber today for a free consultation and an estimate to fit a whole house water filtration system in your water installation, and see your family start reaping the benefits of pure, clean household water immediately.
