What Type of Water Treatment Do You Need in Your Home?

If you have a well system or have had problems with your water quality in the past, you may be wondering what type of water treatment is best for use in your home. While there are several different treatment and whole home filtration systems available, the type that is best for your home and family will depend on several factors. To narrow it down, here are the basic types and how they are used to improve water quality.

  • Reverse Osmosis. To remove water contaminants, a reverse osmosis system flows pressurized water through a membrane. This will remove many minerals, chemicals and organisms from the water. Often, these systems are often paired with a filtration system which removes even more impurities.
  • Ionization or softeners. For homes with hard water with heavy mineral content, a water softener or ionization system may be used. These replace minerals such as calcium or magnesium with ions.
  • Filtration systems. Water filtration systems can help remove organic contaminants from water, such as some metals, chlorine or chemicals. Most filtration systems are designed to work with water that has already been treated through either a city water system or home water treatment.

To decide what type of water treatment or filtration you need for your home, the first step is to have your water tested. Your local plumber can professionally test your water, and offer advice about what systems would be best to clean and protect the water in your home. Every home and region is different when it comes to water treatment needs, so having a professional opinion is advised to get the healthiest water for your family.

Seagraves Plumbing Sewer & Septic
4980 Plant Atkinson Rd SE
Smyrna, GA 30080
(494) 792-2221

How Safe Is Your Drinking Water?

It’s easy to take clean, safe drinking water for granted. It’s easy to enjoy the convenience of having water ready to use, right from the tap, without giving it a second thought. Even households which use bottled water or a filtered water pitcher for drinking often still use tap water for cooking and watering their pets. However, there could be contaminants entering your water supply without your knowledge, bringing harmful substances into your home through your faucet. 

Testing For Water Pollutants

The only way to know for sure your water is free from contaminants or pollutants is to have it tested. Whether you are on a private well or use a city water system, it’s prudent to have your water tested at least once a year. Old pipes, agriculture chemicals and other pollutants in the ground can cause your water to become tainted, and unsafe for consumption. 

There are home water tests available if you want to test your water on your own. However, some of these tests many only detect a few common contaminants. Most plumbing companies offer more comprehensive water testing, which will scan the water for a variety of substances, including lead, e-coli, trihalomethanes (THMs), chemicals and many other harmful agents. Your plumber can also suggest water filtration options which can keep your water safe between your annual testings to ensure your family has clean, safe water all year round. 

Having safe water is essential to your family’s health. If you have not had your water tested, call your local plumber and schedule an appointment today. It is worth the investment to ensure that you and your family are not being exposed to harmful pollutants in the water you use every day.

Posted on behalf of Find Local Plumber

Improving Water Quality

Generally the quality of the water found in municipal water systems and wells in the United States is excellent, however sometimes homeowners and business owners will experience a number of water quality issues.  These water quality issues can lead to staining of sinks and toilets, clogging of pipes and the pre-mature failure of plumbing fixtures, water heaters and boilers.  In addition, water quality issues result in water that is not pleasant to drink. 

The two most common water quality issues are “hard water” and water that smells bad.  Hard water is water that contains a high concentration of minerals, while water that smells bad is often the result of minerals reacting with naturally occurring bacteria found in the water.  Generally these two types of water quality issues do not have any adverse health effects. 

The treatment of hard water or smelly water is similar, with the water being chemically treated to remove the hardness or the odor.  In the case of hard water, the water passes thru a water softener first, which removes the minerals, while in the case of smelly water, the water flows thru an advanced filtration system, where minerals and bacteria are removed.  In both cases the water is treated at the point where it enters the building and before it flows to the water heater and the domestic cold water system.  Generally the only maintenance and service required is a periodic replenishment of the chemicals or filtration media used in the system.  

Once these systems are installed, the improvement in the quality of the water is immediate and dramatic!

Posted on behalf of Find Local Plumber

Is Your Water Safe to Drink?

While most tap water is safe to drink, there is no way to be sure unless it is tested. Many cities still have lead piping and many old houses have it as well. There are other contaminants that can find there way into your tap water and be harmful to your family. The best way to be sure is to have your water tested.

What Should Water Be Tested For?

Depending on where you live and what industry is near by, there is several possible contaminants that could possibly get into your water supply. A water test will only tell you if certain elements are in your water. For example:

  • Agriculture. If agriculture areas are near by, testing for pesticides would be important.
  • Private well. Testing for bacteria and nitrates is very important when you receive your water from a well.
  • Lead. Regardless of the age of your home, testing for lead is always important.

Trihalomethanes (THMs). If you are on city water that uses chloride, make sure they test for THMs or test for them yourself. These are chemicals that can cause miscarriages in pregnant women.

Although there are home water tests, these only test for certain substances. The best way to test your water is to call a professional plumber who can have your water tested for specific contaminants. Otherwise, the generic tests may not test for the particular elements in your area.   Since clean healthy water is essential to our every day lives, it is worth the time and money to find out exactly what is in the water you drink, cook and bathe with daily.

Your plumber can also help you select and install a whole house water filter that can remove most common contaminants and help ensure your water supply is clean and safe.

Get Rid Of the Foul Smell and Bad Taste in Your Water For Good

Nothing is worse than bringing a glass of water to your lips and smelling a bad odor coming from it. Water is supposed to be what we use to clean our bodies, inside and out, not contaminate it. When the water from your home has a bad smell or odor, it is time to consider getting a filtration system so you can have clean, healthy water again.

Many regions of the country have problems with contamination of their tap water from heavy metals, bacteria and other potentially harmful pollutants. Although the water may have been treated, it still can contain chemicals such as chlorine and other elements such as lead, mercury and copper. To make sure your water is safe to drink, cook with and wash in, getting a home water filtration system may be the answer.

Although there are many different types of water filtration systems, some are only for just the sink or refrigerator instead of the entire water supply in the home. To ensure all water is drinkable from all sources, a whole home water filter system is needed. Once again, there are many choices out there but the best way to ensure you get a certified system is to call a local reputable plumber to install the filtration system for you.

Having clean, healthy water is something that every home should have. If you have been buying bottled water and living with foul water odor, it is time to get a filtration system and feel good about the water in your home. In the long run, it will be a healthier and most likely less expensive choice for your family.

Home Water Filters

If you are unhappy with the test of the tap water in your home, but tired of buying bottled water, a home water filter may be the answer.  Tap water can contain all kinds of contaminants including lead, bacteria, sediment, rust, and many others.  Water quality varies highly from place to place so your water could contain some, none, or all of these contaminants.

Bottled water is usually a great alternative, but in many cases bottled water is little more than filtered tap water.  Bottled water is very expensive compared to tap water, and our landfills are filling up with empty plastic bottles.

A home water filter professionally installed by your plumber is much more cost effective and environmentally friendly solution to get great tasting, healthy drinking water.  Depending on your needs and water quality, you will need to choose between a whole house water filter or one or more undersink water filters.

Undersink filters are mounted under the sink and filter all of the water at that tap.  They are much less expensive than whole house water filters and can be a great choice if your goal is to have one source of clean, filtered drinking water and there is no problem with showering, washing dishes and clothes, and cooking with unfiltered tap water.

A whole house water filter has the advantage of filtering all of the water in your home including water for your dishwasher, showers, ice maker, and at each tap. It is installed in your main water supply line and filters all of the water coming into your home. If your water has an unpleasant odor or if you want clean filtered water throughout your home, a whole house filter would be an excellent choice.  These are more expensive to install than under sink models, but they can filter thousands of gallons of water.

Advantages of a Whole House Water Filtration System

If you are not satisfied with the water quality in your home, you have a few options when it comes to great tasting drinking water.  Many people choose to buy bottled water, but over time bottled water can become very expensive.  Depending on what type of bottled water you buy, it can cost from 200 to 10,000 times more than tap water.  In addition, millions of gallons of oil are used to manufacture the bottles which then take up space in our landfills.

A much better solution is to filter the tap water to reduce the amount of chlorine, chemicals, metals and other contaminates in the water.  A sink mounted filter can do the job, but a whole house water filter installed by your Buckhead plumbers is a much better alternative.  With a whole house water filtration system, the water coming out of every tap in your home will be clean and purified.

Even the water in your showers, toilets, washing machine, and dishwasher will be cleaner and healthier.  You and your family will bathe in purified water and your clothes and dishes will be washed in purified water.  In addition, the indoor air quality in your home will be improved by a whole house water filter.  These filtration systems reduce the amount of chlorine that off-gasses from your water into your home and forms chloroform.

Your Buckhead plumbers can help you select and install a whole house water filter that is right for your home.  The system is installed at the point of entry of your water supply so all the water in your home is clean and safe.  You and your family will enjoy fresh, clean great tasting water!