A Drinking Water Inspection is designed to ensure the quality of the drinking water.Generally, domestic water is supplied to homes through private wells or public water companies. If it is supplied by public water companies it should be safe to drink without posing any health risks. The quality of drinking water these companies supply is periodically checked, as it must comply with strict standards set by the U.S. EPA.
The EPA, however, has indicated that roughly 40 million people have been using drinking water containing potentially hazardous levels of lead. In this case, the problem is not with the water supply, but with distribution piping, solder used at the pipe fittings, and fixtures in the house. In some older homes, for instance, the inlet water pipe is made of lead, the solder used on pipe fittings in homes built prior to 1988 contained lead, and lead is also contained in the metal alloy used in the manufacture of many faucets.
Drinking Water Inspection – Guide to Water Quality
The contact time between the water and the lead is the most important factor causing a high concentration of lead in water. Moreover, hot water dissolves lead more quickly than cold water.
If lead dissolves in water, it has no odor and cannot be seen or tasted. The only way to determine whether the drinking water has high levels of dissolved lead is testing by an approved laboratory. The test usually consists of two parts: a “first draw” sample is collected from water that has been sitting in the pipes overnight or at least four hours; then, a “fully purged” sample is collected – the water is turned on and allowed to flow for at least one full minute before a sample is collected.
According to preliminary studies at the University of North Carolina, roughly 30 percent of homes have a high lead concentration in the first draw, but purging corrects the condition more than 90 percent of the time. Current federal standards limit the amount of lead in water to 15 parts per billion (ppb), i.e. 0.015 milligrams per liter (mg/l).
Besides lead concentrations, another drinking water quality issue is excessive sodium. The condition is caused by using a water softener in the water supply, because the softener replaces the calcium in the water with sodium. When the sodium concentration in the water is greater than 28 mg/l, it can affect people with high blood pressure and low-salt diets. When using a water softener, the sodium concentration generally reaches 100 mg/l or more. Have the pipe that supplies water to the kitchen sink bypass the water softener to correct the problem. All drinking water and cooking water should then be taken only from the kitchen sink.
Lastly, domestic water supplied by a private well can be contaminated by harmful bacteria resulting from faulty septic tanks, chemicals from a past toxic spill, leaking underground storage tanks, pesticides, fertilizers or others. The only way to check water quality and determine whether it is potable or not is to have it tested. The tests for pesticides and other chemicals are more complex and costly than the routine tests for bacteria and minerals. Before inquiring about water test costs, water quality improvement, water test parameters, water treatment equipment or other related issues, contact your county officials to find out whether contamination problems have been reported in your area. As a precautionary measure, the water from a private well should be analyzed on an annual basis and checked for bacteria to ensure that it is potable.