What Is Chlorinated Water?
Water chlorination is relatively new, beginning in 1905, bringing safe water to the public by eliminating dangerous diseases such as dysentery, salmonella & cholera – drastically improving the quality of life for millions around the world. Liquid chlorine, or Sodium Hypochlorite, is generally used in modern sanitation through adding the chemical in water treatment plants before being pumped off through our cities water lines.
However, despite the countless benefits of safe, drinkable water available on tap to most in the United States, there are drawbacks that can leave residents with a less than satisfactory experience. Chlorine has many adverse health effects and without proper filtration, the quality of life for people with chlorinated water is less than satisfactory.
Health Effects of Chlorinated Water
Dry hair and skin is a common issue. Chlorine takes natural oils from your skin and hair, leaving them dry and coarse. Chemical reactions occur in your hair, which can change the natural color, weakening hair strength that result in split ends. The removed oils from your skin leaves it red and irritated as well, depending on your sensitivity.
Additionally, adverse health effects from chlorine treated water are well documented, in 2007 The American Journal of Epidemiology found a strong link between bladder cancer from chlorine byproducts, chemicals called trihalomethanes (THM) that are broken down in our water. Inhalation of chlorine from shower steam and ingestion from drinking water are the main routes they enter to our body.
Lead is another problem common in Arizona water, with dozens of schools in the Phoenix area finding alarming levels of the chemical in their drinking water. Lead is so toxic, the EPA recommends absolutely zero amounts of it in drinking water for the health risks associated range from heart & kidney failure to neurotoxicity and even death in prolonged exposure.
Finally in recent years as homes have moved from copper to PEX piping, the degradation of plastic from chlorine exposure has begun to surface as a problem to the long term lifespan of home plumbing system, as well as any other plastic components found in water connected appliances.
Cities with high concentration of chlorine treated water have seen houses experience failures years and decades before expected, with a Washington home having their entire PEX plumbing system replaced after a systemic failure of vital pipings with months of each other, due to the Pex piping cracking, expanding and even the line ink leaking to the inside of the pipes.
How Carbon Water Filtration Works
The AquaClean Home Water Carbon Filtration system is the best choice for preventing these problems stemming from chlorinated water. Filled with activated carbon, water is flushed through the tower and absorbed through the porous carbon leaving as pure, fresh water.
Passing slowly through the carbon filtration system, the natural coconut substrate removes sediment, volatile organic compounds and other contaminants, eliminating the culprits behind foul taste, odor and health dangers found in even treated water provided by your municipal water. Water moving through the vortex filter placed at the bottom of the AquaClean system prevents any filter from entering into your home water before entering back into your home water supply.
Health Hazards From Arizona Water
On whether or not chlorinated water is being used in your city and within your home or office space, it could be important for you to check in on the EPA yearly consumer confidence report. This is a report that will allow you to check in on the status of your water supply each year including all of the elements that have been discovered in previous water testing. These reports are essential to learning more about where your water is coming from as well as the various elements that can be found throughout your water that could result in impurities and more.
Chlorinated water is safe for drinking. It’s been readily added to a series of water supplies over generations. With the extremely low concentration of chlorine in water supplies, drinking water that has been contaminated with chlorine is never a major concern. Even if your water begins to smell of bleach or chemical residue, it is very unlikely that it could present a serious danger to human health.
Avoiding the ongoing consumption of overly chlorinated water can be quite important. Overly chlorinated water that is consumed regularly can lead to a chance for increased asthma attacks in children as well as a series of long-term health risks in adults. De-chlorinating your water or using a filter can help to control the water that you’re drinking outside of your home or at the office. If you notice that your water seems to be regularly over chlorinated, it may be wise to abstain from drinking from that water supply as an ongoing resource.
Fresh Tasting Drinking Water In Arizona
Lowering chlorine in drinking water typically starts with a water filtration system. Choosing a quality water filtration system can help you achieve fresher tasting water and cleaner water out of every faucet within your home or office. Filtration technology can include on Filters as well as systems that can be integrated with your water supply under sinks and more. Choosing the ideal type to suit your needs ultimately comes down to demand and the number of residents that you live with.
Activated carbon filter is one of the most typical and inexpensive filters that you can use for filtering your water supply. Carbon filters will remove contaminants like excessive chlorine through an absorption method. D loose carbon inside the filter soaks up particles just the same way that a sponge does to water. Particles bond to a carbon filter through the process of absorption.
Carbon filters have porous areas throughout them and this can soak up a variety of bacteria that can cause odors, poor tasting water as well as remove particles like chlorine. Carbon filters will require regular changing as water flows through them but the tiny pores within carbon called microns will continue to provide filtration solutions as long as they remain unclogged.
Using one of these carbon filters can be extremely safe as most are rated for third party material safety. Carbon filters are often rated for their ability to remove chlorine, taste and odor or CTO. These filters often remove many of the components that are missed through regular water filtration technology. You can often find a variety of carbon filters with certifications that vary based on the types of products that they can remove. Looking into the NSF certification on a carbon filter can determine what it is possible to remove it from your water supply.
Carbon Water Filtration Benefits
Almost every carbon filter has the ability to remove chlorine, bad tastes and odors as well as THMS, pesticides and herbicides and Mercury. Certified water filters will also have the option to remove iron and heavy materials, lead and a variety of bacterial types. A carbon water filter will not handle items like hard water from calcium or magnesium. These nutrients are simply too small for the carbon filters to absorb and installing one of these filtration systems would not be the best option for removing problems with hard water.
Carbon water filters can be used in a number of settings including the point of entry and point of use versions. A point of entry carbon filter is designed to filter the water in the entire home or business. This ensures that all of the water coming out of your tap is completely clean to cook and drink. Point of use introduces a series of carbon filtration systems that are activated at each point of use. These are filters that can find their way into systems like tap filters, shower heads and more. The overall benefit of these filtration systems is to provide an easy way to install a carbon filter. Point of use devices can quickly install on taps or throughout your home and often without a contractor assistance.
Water Filtration Maintenance
Changing a carbon filter is something that is going to be required regardless of the system that you put into use. Most carbon filtration devices would suggest a change over at least once every six months to a full calendar year. Make sure that you are not using a carbon filter for longer than one full year as waiting to change the filter can often make your water worse than it was before it was treated. Using a clogged filtration system can cause some of the collected particles to break away from the carbon and flow directly into your water supply. When you install a carbon filter make sure that you can add the date to your calendar and regularly change up the filter every six months to one year.
Having a carbon filter in place whether it’s on your tap or put into use as a whole home filtration system can reduce contaminants and regularly filter them out. If your water supply does contain a large number of inorganic compounds as well as dissolved solids in the form of hard water it could be wise for you to upgrade to an improved level of filtration such as throat reverse osmosis system. For the purposes of filtering out chlorine, almost any carbon filter will provide you with the tools that are required to enjoy better tasting water and a reduction in the overall chlorine content.
Installing a whole home filtration system can often be one of the best ways to protect yourself and your family. Rather than having just a few points throughout your home that are producing safe water without a high chlorine content, you can ensure that every area throughout your home that utilizes water is going to be using only the best quality of water that has been properly filtered first.
Whole Home Carbon Filtration Systems
A whole home carbon filter is a system that simply works in place while you enjoy your day-to-day life. Changing the carbon filter at least once every six months is all that will be required to gain clean water for your entire home.
A service technician will be able to take you through a list of the appropriate replacement filters as well as show you how you can quickly change out the filter when the time is right. Making sure that you know how to change up the filter can ensure that the process can be done swiftly when it needs to be. Most carbon filters can be swapped out within just a few minutes.
The process generally involves first turning the input valve on your water purifier off, loosening the housing on top of your water filter with the instructions provided, removing old filters and cleaning out the housing with mild dish soap, placing a replacement filter inside the housing, tightening the housing back up, turning the water and let back on and then checking for leaks.
The whole process isn’t more difficult than changing out batteries in a device and it can provide you with six months to a full year of clean water for use throughout your home or business.
In Summary
Taking on water purifier maintenance by yourself after the installation process is often a requirement but it is important to follow manufacturer specifications to ensure you can keep your water filter functioning normally. Make sure that you’re always using the best quality of products and certified replacement parts for your replacement filters.
While the treatment of water found around us all is one of the great advancements in society, there’s always room for better quality. Taking the extra steps with Aqua Science’s help, fresh tasting water that leaves your hair and skin healthy with no lingering odor of chlorine or other foul smelling compounds, protecting your home and body has never been easier. Call us today to schedule your AquaClean Water Filtration System today!
