Why Filter Your Water?

Is your water just H2O? Does it have a funny taste or smell?
Do you want your appliances and water fixtures to last longer?

In the U.S., we often take clean water from our taps for granted. But just because your water looks clean doesn't mean it is clean. Threats to drinking water quality are on the rise, and the EPA cannot always keep up.

Since passage of the Safe Drinking Water Act in 1974, the EPA has set standards and treatment requirements for municipal water suppliers — almost 80 to date. Many of these pollutants can have adverse effects on your health, causing anything from an unpleasant taste to cancer. Public water utilities are required to provide water that does not contain pollutants above the levels specified by EPA's regulations. Although they usually provide good quality water, these water treatment plants are not always effective at removing contamination that may harm public health. Sometimes, certain pollutants, like rust or lead, can enter your water after it has left the water treatment plant.

Boiling your water isn't always the answer. In fact, unless the contamination is caused by bacteria or a virus, boiling your water can make the problem worse by concentrating the pollutant in the reduced volume of water left in the pan.

Public Water Utility and Private Well Water Purification Systems

In the U.S., there are about 55,000 public water purification systems. EPA mandates that these plants test for close to 80 contaminants. In 1996, 7% of these plants, or 4,151, reported one or more violation of EPA standards for these regulated contaminants. Less than 2%, or 681, did not use an EPA-required treatment technique to eliminate certain pollutants.

Most community water purification systems obtain their water from surface sources, like rivers, lakes, and reservoirs. These bodies, open to the environment, are susceptible to pollution. Animal waste can contaminate surface sources with bacteria like Giardia and Cryptosporidium. Industries can discharge their wastes into surface water, adding hazardous organic contaminants to the source you may drink. Storm water drains can empty into rivers and lakes with rainwater that's carrying gasoline, oil, and any number of hazardous and bacterial wastes. Rainwater can also carry fertilizers and pesticides from fields into streams, rivers, lakes, and reservoirs. Even train derailments and truck accidents that cause tankers to spill their contents can contaminate surface sources.

Cryptosporidium in particular is difficult for treatment facilities to eliminate. Each Cryptosporidium microorganism is covered by an outer shell, called a oocyst, that is impervious to disinfection chemicals like chlorine. On rare occasions, these oocysts pass untreated through treatment plants to your home. 

In 1993, the City of Milwaukee experienced a severe Cryptosporidium outbreak. The parasite passed through the treatment and disinfection process and caused over 400,000 people to contract Cryptosporidiosis, a gastrointestinal disease that can be fatal to people with a compromised immune system. More than 4,000 people were hospitalized, and more than 50 people died. The original source of contamination is uncertain.

Chlorine itself is another potentially harmful chemical. While it is vital to disinfection, chlorine can bond with naturally occurring organic matter to form potentially harmful substances, such as chloroform. 

Other substances that can enter your drinking supply are rust, sediment, and even lead. While flowing through distribution pipes from the treatment plant to your home, it can pick up these pollutants after it's already been treated. 

So how do you find out what's in your source? The best way is to call your community system and ask for a quality analysis. You can compare the results to EPA's National Primary Drinking Standards and National Secondary Standards to find out if it falls below levels EPA thinks are safe for certain contaminants. As of 1999, your community system will have to send you yearly reports with this information. 

A note of caution: a test will only tell you what is in the liquid that day. Public treatment plant failures can occur intermittently, and pollutants can be present after these failures or after other events (e.g., after farm fertilizing periods, heavy rains, or season changes).

Knowing what's in your source will help you select an OMNI Filter. If it is high in rust and/or sediment, or if you wish to reduce odors and chlorine in all your faucets, showerheads, and appliances, we recommend installing a Whole House filter. If you are concerned about bacteria, lead, or volatile organic compounds (VOCs), we recommend additionally installing an Undersink filter. Or if you just want great tasting refreshment, we also recommend installing an Undersink filter. People who use private wells are not immune from problems either.

Private Well And Public Source Water Filtration Systems:

Approximately 23 million people in the U.S. get their water directly from private wells, many without water filtration systems . Most wells tap an underground aquifer (also known as ground water). Although ground water appears protected from sources of contamination, it can become polluted from industrial spills, underground fuel tank leaks, fertilizer, or wastes that seep into the ground. Ground sources can migrate several miles, which means your well may be contaminated by an industrial facility or farm miles "up gradient" from your home. Wells are also susceptible to sediment contamination, so the water in your home may appear discolored or "dirty." Even public treatment plants are not 100% effective.

For this reason, you should have your well tested annually. To have it tested, call a local analysis laboratory. Lists of laboratories certified by your state or EPA may be available from your state or local health department. Some local health departments also test private wells for free.

Tests for contaminants such as nitrate and coliform bacteria performed by a private laboratory usually cost between $10 and $20. Cost increases if you ask the laboratory to test for other contaminants. Once the laboratory performs the tests, it will mail you the results. You can compare the results to EPA's National Primary Drinking Standards and National Secondary Drinking Standards to find out if your source falls below levels EPA thinks are safe for certain contaminants.

A note of caution: A test will only tell you what is in the source that day. Public treatment plant failures can occur intermittently, and pollutants can be present in your water after these failures or after other events (e.g., after farm fertilizing periods, heavy rains, or season changes).

Knowing what's in your source will help you select an OMNIFilter. If your water is high in rust and/or sediment, or if you wish to reduce odors in all your faucets, showerheads, and appliances, we recommend installing a Whole House filter. If you are concerned about bacteria, lead, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in your well source, we recommend installing an Undersink filter. Or if you just want great tasting refreshment, we also recommend an Undersink filter.

Safe Drinking Water Act — Highlights

The Safe Drinking Water Act was enacted on December 16, 1974 to protect public drinking water systems in the U.S. from harmful contaminants. The Act directs EPA to develop:

• Set drinking water regulations for 83 specified contaminants by 1989.
• Establish requirements for disinfection and filtration of public water supplies and provide related technical assistance to small communities.
• Ban the use of lead pipes and lead solder in new drinking water distribution systems.
• Establish an elective wellhead protection program around public water supply wells.
• Establish an elective demonstration grant program for States and local authorities having designated sole-source aquifers to develop ground water protection programs.
• Issue rules for monitoring wells that inject wastes below a drinking water source.

To date, EPA has established close to 80 National Primary Drinking Water Standards. The agency has also issued secondary drinking water regulations that protect the public from drinking water with an unpleasant odor or appearance. These secondary standards are merely guidelines for public water utilities to follow; they are not enforceable.

Features of the 1996 amendments include the establishment of programs to train and certify competent water treatment plant operators, as well as the establishment of key drinking water standards for Cryptosporidium, certain carcinogens, and other contaminants that threaten drinking water in the U.S. In addition, the amendments will require community water systems serving more than 10,000 customers to notify them annually of the levels of federally regulated contaminants in their drinking water. These notifications must also include information on the presence of suspicious but still unregulated substances. If there is a violation, the notifications must contain information about the health effects of the contaminants in question.