The residents of Lorain, OH have been facing the issue of brown water running out their faucets for more than 6 years and dozens of fire hydrants outside their homes are not working. There are 3,200 hydrants in the city and currently 220 are what the city calls non-operational or low flow. The residents of this close knit community have been reassured however that in the event of a fire, fire fighters will have enough water to put it out despite not being able to use the hydrants.
Some residents use home filtration systems to treat the water but even after that they avoid drinking it. City of Lorain Director of Public Safety reverse osmosisbert Fowler said the problem lies below the ground and blames the old water lines for the low pressure to the fire hydrants. More than $75 million will be spent to replace the pipes, and the process is expected to be completed early next year. No doubt the replacement pipes will have been carefully made, and potentially have even gone through somewhere like this induction hardening in Wisconsin company to ensure that they are going to be fit for purpose and able to handle the volume of water that will be flowing through them. Officials say this should fix many of the water issues throughout the city.
What Is the Cause of My Brown Water Problem?
In order to choose the right water treatment system for your household, we first need to identify the problem we are dealing with. Contaminants can be health threatening at the MCL (Maximum Contaminant Level) but are not considered to present a risk at the SMCL (Second Maximum Contaminant Level). Secondary standards have been set by the EPA to give public water systems some guidance on removing these chemicals to levels below what most people will find noticeable. The EPA also requested that households still dealing with brown water get in touch with a plumbing service that offers drain cleaning services such as Apollo Plumbing (https://www.apolloplumbing.net/services/drain-cleaning/), which can help to clean and purge their system, ridding it of any excess contaminants.
This step is to be taken should any of the following problems present themselves. There is a wide variety of problems related to secondary contaminants, which can be grouped into 3 categories:
- aesthetic effects: undesirable tastes and odors
- cosmetic effects: do not damage the body but are still undesirable
- technical effects: damage to water equipment, reduced effectiveness of treatment for other contaminants
Aesthetic Effects
Taste, color and odor are useful indicators of water quality. Present methods to measure taste and odor are fairly subjective, and some odors are noticeable even when present in extremely small amounts, making it very expensive and often impossible to identify, much less remove the odor-producing contaminant. Color can indicate:
- dissolved organic material
- inadequate treatment
- high disinfectant demand
- the potential for the production of excess amounts of disinfectant by-products
- inorganic contaminants (metals, for example)
Foaming can also occur, being caused by detergents and similar substances when water has been agitated or aerated. Foaming is commonly associated with an off-taste, described as oily, fishy or perfume-like.
- Standards related to odor and taste: chloride, copper, foaming agents, iron, manganese, pH, sulfate, threshold odor number (TON), total dissolved solids, zinc.
- Standards related to color: aluminum, color, copper, foaming agents, iron, manganese, total dissolved solids.
Cosmetic Effects
Silver and fluoride are 2 great examples of contaminants that cause cosmetic effects. Silver ingestion can cause skin discoloration, called argyria. Although it does not impair body function and has never been found to be caused by drinking water in the US, the EPA has set a standard for silver because it is used as an antibacterial agent in many home water treatment systems. Excess fluoride in drinking water has been a subject of debate for many years, being linked to a number of health effects in children.
Technical Effects
Corrosivity, staining related to corrosion, scaling and sedimentation are processes which have economic impacts, apart from affecting the aesthetic quality of water. Corrosion of iron and copper may stain household fixtures and can give the water a metallic taste, apart from red or blue-green color. If corrosion occurs at the distribution system pipes, the water flow will be reduced. If there is a lot of piping under the foundation of the home that is experiencing this corrosion, it could lead to foundation issues with the need for foundation crack repair in St Louis MO services to be called in to assess what needs to be done to repair and replace the materials in the foundation.
- Standards related to corrosion and staining: chloride, copper, corrosivity, iron, manganese, pH, total dissolved solids, zinc.
- Standards related to scale and sediments: iron, pH, total dissolved solids, aluminum.
Water Treatment Solutions for These Problems
If you notice issues with your water or if you are concerned that your water may be contaminated, the first step to take is to identify your local public water system. Next, contact your local public water system and inquire about your supplier’s monitoring for secondary contaminants. You may receive a public notice regarding drinking standards and a list of secondary contaminants, which are being monitored.
Lorain residents have 2 options when it comes to treating their water. If they want to treat all of the water in their house, then a backwashing filter should be used. The filter needs to contain mixed media, one media being an activated manganese ore and the other being a material called a filter A+, put together in the same tank. The backwashing filter is considered a POE (Point-Of-Entry) system and will provide nice, clear water throughout the house.
If the concern is just in drinking water areas, then they can put a 5-micron cartridge filter underneath the bathroom or kitchen sink. This is a POU (Point-Of-Use) system. The good news is that Lorain’s water can be filtered out, as the problem comes from old water pipes. Even if it is yucky-looking, typically there would not be any health issues with it.
At Dime Water Inc., our engineers are always prepared to help you choose the right water treatment technology to meet your needs.
Contact us at 760.734.5787!
Resources:
Many of Maine’s communities rely on private well water but the water they use for drinking, bathing, and other activities goes untested and is not subject to any state or federal guidelines. People are advised and encouraged to get their water regularly tested to ensure that worrisome levels of bacteria and naturally occurring minerals have not crept in, but many residents fail to do so. If you think that the water in your well may be harmful, it might be a good idea to check out this well water filter by AquaOx, this will ensure that water in the well is safe and clean.
Maine is well-known for its picturesque waters and breathtaking mountains and views, yet the granite mountains affect the quality of water throughout the state. Excess fluoride is leaching out of granite and into Maine’s drinking water, potentially affecting other New England states as well.
The Effects of High Fluoride Levels In Private Well Water
Newly released data shows that in 10 communities in the state, private well water have dangerously high levels of fluoride, some of them containing more than double the level that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has deemed acceptable. When incorporated into the teeth, fluoride can harden the enamel, making it resistant to demineralization, which is the leading cause of tooth decay and cavities. And it may get worse if not treated on time. That is why, if you notice tooth decay in your mouth, contact the dentists Herndon first and then request a water inspection to determine the level of fluoride content in the water you drink.
Excess fluoride may damage both brain and bone in humans and can lead to pitted teeth and discoloration –which might result in people looking for a dentist near them using sites similar to https://www.1800dentist.com/. It also makes bone become brittle and more prone to fractures. Also, recent studies have also linked high levels of fluoride exposure with IQ deficits. Two dozen relevant studies performed outside the States indicated that high fluoride exposures reduced children’s IQs by an average of about 7 points.
Maine Water Data
In Dedham, data from 37 private wells indicates that 37.8% of the water is above the state’s maximum exposure guideline. Surry, Franklin, Prospect, Sedgwick, Penobscot, York, Harrison, and Stockton Springs have more than 10% of the wells with fluoride levels higher than the state cutoff. Homeowners voluntarily sent water samples into state labs for testing, providing a first snapshot of the problem in Maine.
Many public health advocates argue that the state’s suggested limit of 2mg/liter is far too high. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has proposed adding fluoride to water in concentrations no greater than 0.7mg/liter to avoid any unwanted health effects.
Lowering Fluoride Levels in Private Well Water
People living in areas with high fluoride concentrations can take steps to mitigate the problem. People frequently take no action even if their water is contaminated with far more harmful chemicals. 27% of Mainers did nothing about the high levels of arsenic in their private wells. Reports have shown that people lack concern about arsenic and are reluctant to pay for any mitigation action.
There are 4 common solutions to the fluoride problem: distillation, reverse osmosis, activated alumina and BC-Carbon. Distillation is capable of removing just about anything, except volatile compounds from water. Time and energy consumptive, distillation leave water empty and lifeless. You will need to add minerals back to it and should consider structuring and energetically enhancing distilled water.
Reverse osmosis (RO) can remove between 90-95% of fluoride, depending on the efficiency of the system and on how the well system is maintained. Contaminants are trapped by the reverse osmosis membrane and flushed away in the wastewater. Quality reverse osmosis systems include pre-filters, which remove volatile organic compounds, heavy metals, hard water minerals, and other contaminants. You will have to add salts and reintroduce life force to the reverse osmosis water, in order to bring it back to energetic compatibility with the human body.
Activated alumina has a large surface area with a huge array of tunnel-like pores, and is the most commonly used fluoride removal media today. When used properly, it can remove arsenic and up to 98% of the fluoride in water. Although highly effective, the challenges with activated alumina are many:
- water must remain in contact with the media for a long time
- there is not enough time to absorb all the fluoride in the water when the flow rate is faster than ¼ gallon/minute
- the media becomes saturated with fluoride
- systems using activated alumina must be recharged/replaced often
- aluminum is released into the treated water
Bone-Char (BC) Carbon works similar to the way bones in the human body attract fluoride and has been used for centuries to remove naturally-occurring fluoride from water. BC-Carbon can remove up to 90% of the fluoride in water when used alone, but its efficiency can be improved by adding pre-filters that remove contaminants and heavy metals before exposure to the BC-Carbon.
Resources:
- http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-fluoride-in-private-wells-causing-an-iq-decline1/
- https://dancingwithwater.com/how-to-remove-fluoride-from-water/
According to a new study by researchers from the University of Otago in New Zealand, water fluoridation does not lower IQ. The addition of fluoride into drinking water remains one of the hottest topics in the water treatment industry with those for and against the process, equally passionate about their stand on the issue.
Some people claim that fluoridated water is associated with a range of adverse health outcomes. reverse osmosisutinely added to drinking water in the US and other countries as a supplement to safeguard against tooth decay, fluoride is added to public water supplies at an average concentration of about 1 part per million (1 ppm) or slightly below. Naturally occurring fluoride concentrations in surface waters depend on location but are generally low and usually do not exceed 0.3 pm. In 2012, researchers from Harvard University in Cambridge, MA, casted doubts on the health benefits of fluoride in water supplies.
Water Fluoridation and the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Study
Researchers from the University of Otago conducted a study, which involved 1,000 people born in Dunedin in New Zealand during 1972-1973, comparing the IQs of study participants who grew up in suburbs with and without fluoridated water. They also took into account to what extent the participants were exposed to fluoride toothpaste or tablets while growing up.
The IQ scores of 992 participants were examined between the ages of 7-13. Of these people, 942 were tested again at age 38. Lead author Dr. Jonathan Broadbent describes the team’s findings:
“Our analysis showed no significant differences in IQ by fluoride exposure, even before controlling for the other factors that might influence scores. In line with other studies, we found breastfeeding was associated with higher child IQ, and this was regardless of whether children grew up in fluoridated or non-fluoridated areas.”
The Dunedin Multidisciplinary Study, by comparison, is world-renowned for the quality of its data and rigor of its analysis. Current optimal fluoride ingestion from all sources for a healthy adult should be 3-4 mg/day. If you wish to reduce fluoride in your drinking water, you have some options:
- Bottled Water. Beware! Many bottled waters come from municipal supplies that may or may not be fluoridated and may only be filtered or passed through UV light, neither of which will remove fluoride.
- Reverse Osmosis. 75% to 95% reduction depending on system design, water pressure and water chemistry.
- Hydorxyl Apatite Media Filtration. 75% to 95% reduction depending on flow rates and equipment design.
- Activated Alumina Media Filtration. Reasonably effective but only in a narrow band of water pH values.
Resources:
- http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/277240.php
- http://www.livescience.com/37123-fluoridation.html
