As a homeowner in the DFW area, you already know you have hard water coming through your taps, but do you know what your water is treated with from the almost dozen reservoirs that supply the area?
When the water is collected in the reservoirs it doesn’t automatically go out into the cities and communities. It must be treated in accordance with the guidelines set forth by the EPA and their Safe Water Drinking Act.
Cities, like Dallas and Fort Worth use chemicals to treat water to help with many issues such as germs, pollution, corrosion and more.
In the last blog we talked about how water is a universal solvent and we are going to expand on this topic as we discuss what kind of chemicals are used to treat your drinking water.
Assistance From The Environment Protection Agency
Because the abundance of the water that comes through our homes is from the reservoirs we want to have some type of cleaning process to ensure we aren’t consuming contaminated, polluted water.
As we said above, city water needs to follow the strict guidelines set by the EPA.
These include maximum level limits on almost 100 contaminants, testing and monitoring for lead and copper and what chemicals need to be used to treat water issues.
Not All Chemicals Are Bad
When you see the word chemicals you most likely think of harmful, dangerous ones, but in truth not all chemicals are bad, especially those used to treat water.
Here is a brief overview of how our cities use chemicals to treat water and what role they play in the treatment process.
Disinfectants
The most common chemical used in treating water is chlorine. It disinfects the water by killing bacteria, parasites and viruses. 🦠
Chloramine is a mixture of chlorine and ammonia. This mixture is a longer lasting disinfectant which helps to protect the water as it moves from the reservoirs into your homes. Dallas and Fort Worth both utilize chloramine at the water treatment facilities.
Coagulants
A coagulant used in water treatment is Aluminum Sulfate. The purpose of this is to clump all the harmful particles in the water together so they don’t make it through the filtration process.
pH Balancers
We discussed this topic heavily in a recent blog, but pH is important to water chemistry because it’s what keeps it from being too acidic (sour tasting) or basic (bitter, soapy tasting).
A few pH adjusting chemicals that are used include calcium hydroxide (raises pH – reduces acidity) or sodium hydroxide (lowers pH).
Corrosion Preventatives
Corrosion preventative chemicals called phosphates are introduced to the water to actually coat the pipes the water runs through to help prevent lead, copper and other corrosion pollutants from entering the water
Fluoride
When you think of water treatment, you properly think of fluoride. This is probably the most common water treatment additive you’ve heard about since grade school.
Fluoride is an essential chemical used to help strengthen teeth and prevent cavities.
This chemical isn’t used as a water cleaning solution, but a health benefit for the entire community to help with tooth decay.
What Happens Next?
Now that the water has been cleaned and disinfected, it’s safe to enter your home.
HOWEVER we don’t really want to ingest all of those chemicals that have already done their jobs. Remember how we said water is the universal solvent? Well we don’t want to drink all of that or bathe with it.
All of those additives plus the water hardness, isn’t considered a high quality of water, especially for drinking.
That’s why it’s important to install a water filtration and purification system to ensure that all of that is eliminated leaving you with the purest, freshest, highest quality water on the planet.
Learn More About Water Systems With EcoWater Texas!
With our knowledge, experience and advanced water filtration systems, you don’t need to look any further than EcoWater Texas for all your home water needs.
We offer the best solutions, guarantees and water resources in the DFW area.
Set up a free in-home water test today to go over your options!