Water isn’t just water. At least, not the water that comes from the taps in your house or into dishwashing and laundry machines. This water has different minerals and chemicals dissolved in it. Some aren’t harmful. Many others are, either for the health of the people who drink them or for the appliances and plumbing exposed to them.
We recommend looking into water filtration systems in Santa Barbara, CA to remove the unwanted chemicals, heavy metals, minerals, microbes, etc. that might dwell silently in your water supply. The best way to get started is to arrange for water testing services with us. We’ll be able to tell you exactly what’s in your water and how best we can remove it with filters, purifiers, etc.
Harmful Pollutants We May Discover in Your Water
There is a long list of water-borne contaminants that can make their way into the municipal water supply and then into your house. Below we’ve listed the major ones we test for and can help eliminate:
- Hard water minerals: Hard water contains a high solution of specific minerals that can cause extensive damage to plumbing and make cleaning and basic chores in a house difficult. These minerals include magnesium, calcium, and gypsum. Although rarely harmful to drink, hard water minerals are a common problem that can shorten the life of plumbing and appliances like water heaters.
- Heavy metals: No, not the musical genre. No, not the French fantasy comics magazine. These heavy metals include arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, nickel, lead, and mercury, which seep through groundwater, often from industrial sources or decaying older pipes. The toxicity of these metals varies—but you don’t want any of them in your water.
- Pathogens: This is the nasty stuff, and includes bacteria, protozoans, and viruses. One example: E. coli. Yes, you know you don’t want that in your water supply. Coliform bacteria is another harmful pathogen that may be found in water.
- Chemicals: A range of different chemicals can enter the freshwater pipes through groundwater. High levels of chlorine often come from the water treatment plants themselves. Other chemicals that affect water are pesticides and air-cleaning additives. These chemicals can cause long-term health effects such as leukemia, lymphoma, and tumors.
- High acidity: Waster testing examines pH levels to see if the water is too acidic. High acidity in water is bad news for plumbing.
- Sulfur: Not as alarming a problem, but when notice your water smells like rotten eggs, it means sulfur gas is dissolved in it. Nobody wants smelly water on top of what else may be wrong.
That’s a scary list, but it’s the reason you want water treatment specialists on your side. We have solutions for all of these, such as installing water softeners and powerful reverse osmosis filters to target many of the worst pollutants. Once we’ve finished water testing for your house, we can run you what is in your water, what needs attention, and what we can do about it.
Husted Plumbing has been family-owned and operated since 1934. Call us for water filtration solutions for your home in Santa Barbara or throughout the Ventura County area.