The Importance of Water Testing Before Moving

May 15, 2017 by No Comments

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You have just moved into your new home. It is officially yours and you can begin moving your things in. That is, after you make all of the improvements and renovations you plan to do. Among inspecting the windows, the HVAC system, and the electrical of the house, the water system is also important to inspect. Considering that you and your family will rely on the water system for many purposes, it is best to inspect, and make any necessary whole home water purification changes to it, before moving in.

Possibility of water contaminants
Many new homeowners overlook the possibility of harmful contaminants in their water source. A lot assume that it must be healthy, because it comes from the city. This, however, is not always the case. Firstly, the house?s individual water plumbing system can contribute to poor water quality. If the house is many years old, it is possible that the plumbing system is outdated and contains lead contaminants. Having a lead plumbing system is not a problem in itself, but if it begins to chip and peel away, it could land in your drinking water.

Also, many cities do not effectively check the water source. A lot of people are currently pushing for higher quality inspections, but not every city is there yet. You can start out with a home water testing kit, which will identify the traces of contaminants in your water source. Fortunately, many of these contaminants can easily be corrected with a UV purification system or home water distiller. If testing shows serious contaminants, such as lead traces, you may need to take other actions, like contacting your city.

Water hardness scales and other common problems
There are also some things that naturally occur in water that can affect many parts of your household. Water hardness is one of those common things. Hardness is caused by compounds of calcium and magnesium, and by a variety of other metals. General guidelines for classification of waters are 0 to 60 milligrams per liter as calcium carbonate is classified as soft, 61 to 120 mg per liter as moderately hard, 121 to 180 mg per liter as hard, and more than 180 mg per liter as very hard.

When you have hard water, you will notice dryness to your skin, rough textured hair, less than smooth clothing after washing, and even damage to your faucets and sinks. Because hard water scales can cause so many household problems, many homeowners choose to use a UV purification system. Installing a UV filtration system or one of the best whole home water filtration systems can reduce the calcium and magnesium compounds in your water source.

Existence of positive water ingredients
There are some things in your water source that are actually beneficial. Fluoride is one of these things. Fluoride is important to your bone and teeth health. Switching to bottled water because you do not like the taste or quality of your water can prevent you from gaining these necessary nutrients. EPA has set an enforceable drinking water standard for fluoride of 4 mg per liter (some people who drink water containing fluoride is excess of this level over many years could get bone disease, including pain and tenderness of the bones). EPA has also set a secondary fluoride standard of 2 mg per liter to protect against dental fluorosis.

The requirement of fluoride to your drinking water is another reason that water source testing is so important. If your water source does not contain enough, or too much of the fluoride, you could be harming your overall health. Using a whole home water treatment system with a UV purification system can ensure that your water not only has fluoride, but that it also is within the EPAs recommended limits.

The average daily household water uses 350 gallons. Water is an extremely important part of any household. As you move into your new home and you are completing other important inspections, ensure that you are also checking the quality and ingredients of your water source. It may be beneficial to install a UV purification system, before moving into the house.

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