From Guest Blogger Lizzie Weakly: Clean H2O–How to Get Better Water Quality in Your Home

It should now be more obvious than ever just how important it is to have access to clean drinking water. The EPA regulates the levels of more than 90 different potential drinking water contaminants. This helps to ensure that the United States has some of the safest drinking water in the world. Nonetheless, drinking water contamination can and does still occur. As well, your home’s plumbing can also contribute to lower quality drinking water. In light of these facts, here are a few simple steps you can take to improve your home’s water quality.

Replace Your Old Pipes and Plumbing

If you own an older home that hasn’t been fully renovated, there is a high chance that your home’s pipes and plumbing could be contributing to lower water quality. Although most cities began fully moving away from the use of lead pipes in municipal water systems by the 1920s, the fact is that national building codes still allowed the use of lead pipes and lead solder in drinking water systems until the 1980s.

As a result, this means your home’s drinking water could potentially be contaminated with lead without you being aware of it. Not only that, but even old cast iron pipes can potentially cause issues with your drinking water due to both rust and the potential to let in other contaminants. For these reasons, one of the best things you can do to improve your home’s water quality is to have all of your old plumbing replaced with new PVC piping.

Drain Your Water Heater Once a Year

Your water heater can also be another possible cause of poor water quality in the home. As the water sits in your heater’s tank, the eventual result is that sediment, heavy metals and bacteria can begin to build up inside it. Over time, these various contaminants cannot only affect the quality of your water, but they can also have a negative impact on your home’s water pressure. Luckily, this one is an easy fix as it all it takes to solve both of these issues is remembering to fully drain your water heater’s tank once a year or so.

Install a Water Filtration System

Having a home water filtration is a fantastic choice for anyone who wants to permanently improve their home’s water quality. Various types of home water filtration systems are available ranging from simple filters that install over an individual water tap to whole house systems that provide clean water to every tap and other water source in your home. The big advantage of these systems is that they are capable of cleaning out heavy metals, bacteria and other chemicals that may pass through your municipal water treatment system.

The unfortunate truth is that contaminated drinking water has the potential to seriously damage you and your family’s health. Worse still, there have even been numerous deaths associated with drinking contaminated water. Therefore, it is essential that you take whatever steps you can to ensure your home’s water is as clean as possible.