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How Your Plumber Can Improve Your Water Quality In Five Simple Steps | Sugar Land, TX
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The water quality in your home is incredibly important to you and your family’s health. Poor water quality can cause health problems and damage your home’s plumbing or appliances. Keep reading for a comprehensive list of five tips on how a plumber can help you improve your water quality.
Why Does Water Quality Matter?
First, we should really outline why water quality matters. Poor quality water can contain germs that lead to health issues. Some of the most common examples of health conditions from drinking low quality water are:
- E. coli bacteria: can cause diarrhea, intestinal cramping, and sometimes kidney failure
- Hepatitis A: a severe and contagious liver infection
- Shigellosis: a contagious diarrhea-causing bacteria infections
- Norovirus: an incredibly infectious virus that can cause diarrhea and vomiting
- Giardiasis: a disease caused by microscopic parasites that can result in diarrhea
It’s not just drinking poor quality water that is dangerous. Simply inhaling contaminated water droplets in the shower can lead to serious respiratory problems, Legionnaires disease, and in severe cases, death.
Common Water Quality Issues
Some of the most common water quality problems are:
- Hard water: Hard water has a high amount of dissolved minerals in it. While not a health risk, it is unpleasant to drink. Additionally, hard water can cause mineral buildup in heating systems, dishwashers, water pipes, tubs, and showers. One of the most common signs of hard water (other than the taste) is chalky deposits on faucets and pipes. If you have hard water, you can call a plumber to install a water softener.
- Foul taste or smell: Water coming from your taps should never have an unpleasant taste or smell. Usually, a foul smell or taste is from decaying organic matter in your drains or pipes. If left unaddressed, this decaying matter can cause clogs, health problems, and other plumbing issues. If you have tap water with a bad taste or smell, it’s essential to call a plumber right away for inspection.
- Acidic flavor: Pure water has a pH level of 7. Usually, the water coming from your tap won’t be at an exact 7, but it should be in the range of 7 and 10.5 pH. Water above a 10.5 pH will often taste bitter and leave mineral deposits on your plumbing fixtures. Water that has a pH that is too low may require a water softener. If your water tastes acidic, it likely has a pH level that is above recommended. You can consult a plumber to install an acid neutralizer system to bring the pH level down to a more acceptable level.
How to Improve Your Water Quality
Now that you fully understand the types of poor water-quality issues and their associated risks, you’ll want to fix the problem. We’ve gathered the best five tips for improving the water quality in your home.
Tip One: Test Your Water
The first step is to test your water to verify that you do, in fact, have poor water quality. You can do this by purchasing a water test kit online or in a home improvement store. These kits are quite user-friendly and easy to follow. The kit will identify any contaminants and tell you whether the water is safe to use. If your kit is saying the water is concerning or unsafe, call a plumber immediately. The plumber will test the water, identify the problem, and take any necessary steps to fix it.
Tip Two: Boil Your Water
Boiling your water is a short-term fix while you wait for your plumber to arrive. When you boil water, any existing bacteria and parasites are killed. First, pour the water from the tap into a glass or container. Next, if you have a filter, run the water through a filter. If you don’t have a filter, you can use a coffee filter or clean cloth. After the water has been filtered bring it to a rolling boil for at least 60 seconds.
Note that people living at a high elevation of 6,500 feet or more will need to boil their water for at least three minutes.
Tip Three: Consider Filtering Your Water
If you believe you have a sediment problem in your tap water, a good filter can often be a solution. First, still call in a plumber to ensure you’re only dealing with sediment and not any other issues. If that is the case, ask your plumber about possible whole-home filtration or purification systems.
Tip Four: Install a Water Softener
If you have ‘hard water,’ then your tap water is full of minerals. This type of water is often difficult to drink and can do significant damage to your plumbing. We suggest hiring a plumber to install a water softener. A water softener will remove iron, calcium, and magnesium from your tap water. This device will make your water safer, taste better, and will prolong your plumbing and appliances.
Tip Five: Maintain Your Pipes
Water pipes that are old or damaged have an increased chance of allowing harmful bacteria and chemicals into the water supply. To reduce this risk, make sure to schedule regular pipe maintenance with your plumber. We recommend scheduling annual pipe maintenance. As your home gets older, you may need to have more frequent appointments.
bluefrog Plumbing + Drain in Sugar Land, TX
Don’t live with poor water quality. It’s a danger to yourself, your household members, and your home’s plumbing. Most often, low water quality can be a simple fix. But, if you let it go on for too long, it can result in significant plumbing problems that will be expensive to fix or serious medical bills!
If you’re looking for a plumber in Sugar Land, TX, then bluefrog Plumbing + Drain is your top choice. Whether you have poor water quality issues, pipe drain problems, or any other plumbing issue, we can be there to provide top-quality services. Our expert technicians are friendly, provide upfront pricing, and always get the job done right the first time. Contact us today to book an appointment or find out more.
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