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Home Improvement: Household Tips to Improve Water Quality
Water plays a vital role in our daily lives.
Maintaining the quality of your home’s water supply is essential to avoiding potential health risks. Your home’s water supply serves many purposes, from showering and washing hands to cleaning and cooking. It is vital for the water that flows through your home’s taps to remain as pure as possible.
By taking personal responsibility and integrating water education with awareness, you can improve the quality of the water entering and leaving your home.
Checking the source of your water supply
The first step in improving the water quality in your home and throughout local water infrastructures is understanding where it comes from.
For many towns and municipalities, water is sourced from groundwater. Theoretically, groundwater is supposed to be cleaner than surface water due to the soil and ground acting as a natural filter.
Surface water, on the other hand, is sourced from lakes, streams and rivers, which are more prone to surface pollutants such as industrial or agricultural waste and runoff. This is not to say that groundwater is not susceptible to pollutants and contamination.
To inquire about the source and quality of your water, call your local government or regulatory agency for information. Your water bill will also have a local phone number that can address your questions regarding the source and quality of your water.
Questions to ask
To determine the quality of the water entering your home, inquire about the last time the water was tested for quality assurance purposes.
Ask about the results of the most recent tests and what monitoring and treatment solutions, such as bioremediation and bioaugmentation for groundwater, are in place to maintain a high standard of water quality.
If you receive unfavorable responses from your water utility company, contact your local health department to find out more about water regulations in your town or municipality.
Household tips to improve water quality
There are several things you can do throughout your home that can prevent contaminants and health hazards and deliver better water quality. As a homeowner, there are several actions you can take to protect the quality of your household water.
1. Filter your water
Water filtration or purification systems treat water by removing harmful chemicals, contaminants and other undesirable elements while maintaining quality.
Filtering water eliminates elements such as chlorine (and chlorine byproducts) and lead, two toxic chemicals harmful to humans.
In fact, lead remains one of the primary health hazards to family members, and exposure to lead has been attributed to learning disorders in children as well as kidney and brain damage.
Filtration systems ensure your family has control and access to treated and safe quality water.
Additional benefits of a water filtration system include:
- Reducing your carbon footprint
- Saving on water expenses
- Softer water
2. Reduce your home’s runoff
What goes down your drains can have a significant effect on the water quality entering your home.
Contributing to excess runoff can negatively affect your local watershed, an important body of water that’s responsible for consumer and commercial purposes. Drinking water, recreational fishing, manufacturing and agricultural processes, and local plants and wildlife all rely on the local watershed.
Preserving your local water infrastructure is crucial to the quality of life, public health and economic vitality. And it all starts at home.
Here are a few steps every homeowner can take to reduce their home’s runoff:
- Care for your home’s pipes (avoid flushing medication, “flushable” wipes or facial tissues, and paper towels down the drain).
- Don’t pour grease, oils and fats down the kitchen sink.
- Keep septic tanks well-maintained to avoid leaks or overflows.
- Properly dispose of pet waste.
- Regularly check pools, spas or outdoor faucets for leaks.
Other ways to improve your water quality
Other simple things you can do that will contribute to improving the water quality in your home include:
- Washing water containers regularly (items like household pitchers and water bottles can become dirty and contaminated over time).
- Maintaining your water softener (check at least once a month).
- Replacing old household plumbing (potential sources of lead).
- Choosing low-flow and high-efficient appliances and point-of-entry water supply lines.
While innovative environmental products exist to address water pollutants and contamination, doing your part as homeowners and taking action can result in healthier, clean water for your home and community.
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Patrick Randall
Patrick Randall is the Vice President of National Sales at Hepure Technologies. He holds a BS in Mechanical and Chemical Engineering from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and an M.S. in Civil Engineering from CSUS. He has been working in the environmental and bioremediation space since graduating in 1986.
