More Home Water Treatment Information
Before you buy a water treatment unit, you should get water-quality information from your local public water or health departments. Then, if necessary, you should contact a water quality contractor or a testing laboratory for special assistance, as explained in the next section. Once problems with your drinking water are identified, you can select a particular unit designed to address your drinking water problem.
In addition to choosing a system appropriate to your water problem, you probably will have opportunities to make choices in terms of price, installation, maintenance, and warranties. To help you understand the most common treatment units, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has supplied us with these facts with assistance from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It answers questions you should ask yourself before you buy a water treatment unit.
How Do I Know if I Need a Water Treatment Unit?
Consumers get their drinking water primarily from two sources: public water supplies and private wells. Under the Safe Drinking Water Act, all public water supplies are required to meet the drinking water standards set by the EPA. Occasionally, there also are more stringent standards set by state governments. For information about the quality of your public drinking water, contact your local water utility office.
In contrast, private well owners are subject only to state and local laws, and they are responsible for the quality of water from their wells. Although the water from many wells is safe, the water from some Wells may require treatment. For assistance with possible drinking water problems in a private well, contact your local health department. You also may want to hire a competent water-quality contractor to help identify the appropriate water treatment unit you need to address your drinking water problem. In addition, you may need to have your drinking water analyzed by a state-approved testing laboratory.
What Kind of Water Treatment Units Are Available?
After you have decided that you want additional treatment for your drinking water, you need to select a unit that is technically suited to the problem. Listed below are descriptions of many common types of water treatment units along with explanations of how they work.
Physical filters are simple units designed to remove particles from the water, such as grit, sediment, dirt, and rust. They often are made of fabric, fiber, ceramic, or other screening material. Some filters can remove even small organisms like cysts and bacteria and small particles like asbestos fibers. Because physical filters cannot remove all disease-causing organisms from water, they are inadequate to treat microbiologically unsafe water.
Activated charcoal (carbon) filters generally can remove some organic chemical contaminants from water that may cause undesirable tastes, odors, and colors. Some inorganic chemicals, such as chlorine, also may be reduced by activated charcoal filters. However, the filters usually will not remove most inorganic chemicals, such as salts or metals. Certain specially prepared activated charcoal filters can remove lead from drinking water. If you have lead in your drinking water and wish to use an activated charcoal filter, ask the sales person for a written assurance of its effectiveness against lead. Although activated charcoal filters may improve the taste and appearance of drinking water and may remove certain chemicals, they should not be used exclusively on water that contains harmful organisms. You also should know that charcoal filters may become saturated with the chemical impurities they remove, and, for that reason, they have a limited lifetime. Therefore, you should change the filter cartridge according to manufacturer instructions.
Another caution: Although most municipal drinking water is disinfected to remove harmful bacteria, drinking water still usually carries harmless levels of bacteria. These bacteria can collect and multiply on an activated charcoal filter. Therefore, activated charcoal filters should be maintained properly and replaced periodically. Before purchasing an activated charcoal filter, ask the dealer about the filter. Find out whether it can be replaced; how frequently replacement is necessary; how to determine when it needs replacement; where replacement filters may be purchased and their price. Activated charcoal filters are available in several forms: granular; powdered; powdered coated paper; and pressed charcoal block.
Charcoal filters, registered as bacteriostatic by the EPA, are marked by the presence of the pesticide silver in the filter. Registration, as required by the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act, does not indicate recommendation, approval, or endorsement of the product by EPA. Studies on the effectiveness of bacteriostatic filters have shown unpromising results as to their ability to control bacterial growth. Further, a bacteriostatic charcoal filter is not adequate to treat water that is microbiologically unsafe, such as fecally contaminated water.
Reverse osmosis units remove substantial amounts of most inorganic chemicals, such as salts, metals (including lead), asbestos, minerals, nitrates, and some organic chemicals, by allowing tap water to pass through a membrane and collecting the filtered water in a storage tank. Alone, reverse osmosis units are not recommended for use on microbiologically unsafe water.
Before you buy an reverse osmosis unit, be aware of its characteristics. Typically, about 75 percent of tap water put into the reverse osmosis system is wasted, so it may take 4 gallons or more of tap water to get one gallon of reverse osmosis filtered water. Also, the tap on the tank where the treated water is stored flows more slowly than the tap on your regular faucet. In addition, the most common membranes used in reverse osmosis units are subject to decay and failure and must be replaced periodically. Owners of reverse osmosis units should follow the manufacturer's recommendations about proper maintenance and use.
Distillation units come in many different shapes and sizes, but all vaporize the water and then condense it. This process removes most dissolved solids, such as salts, metals, minerals, asbestos fibers, particles, and some organic chemicals. Distillation units, however, may not remove all chemical pollutants, and some bacteria may pass through in some instances. Although distillation may be an effective water treatment, the water heating will add to your energy use. Also distillation removes flavor from water, leaving it "flat" to many people.
Ultraviolet (UV) disinfection units may destroy bacteria, inactivate viruses, and leave no taste or odor in the water. However, UV units are not effective to remove most chemical pollutants from water, and the EPA questions whether UV is effective against spores and cysts. As with all water treatment units, UV disinfection units must be properly maintained. Dissolved and suspended solids from the water may build up on the unit, blocking the ultraviolet light from reaching the running water. To ensure that the water is adequately exposed to the light, users must clean their UV units periodically.
What Are Some Other Selection Options?
In addition to buying a treatment unit that is technically suited to address your water problem, you may wish to take time to comparison shop for costs; cancellation and refund policies; installation methods; maintenance requirements; and warranties.
Installation. Home water treatment units are installed in different ways. Some units, installed under the kitchen sink, treat all cold water going into the tap. Other units only treat water diverted from the cold water line and deliver it to a separate faucet. Some units are mounted on the faucet, while others rest on the counter top. Be sure to ask your salesperson which method of installation is required for your water treatment unit and who is responsible for the installation. If the unit must be installed by a professional, ask whether the cost of installation is included in the purchase price.
Maintenance. Proper maintenance of the unit is essential to effective home water treatment, and some units require more maintenance than others. Before you buy, ask about the unit's maintenance requirements and, if possible, review the owner's manual or manufacturer's recommendations. You might find out, for example, how frequently unit parts must be replaced, the cost of replacement parts, and where they can be purchased -- whether from local stores or only from the manufacturer.After using a water treatment unit for a time, be aware of noticeable changes in sediment, water pressure, and taste in your water. Such changes as these may indicate that your filter should be replaced.
Warranties. If a filter comes with a written warranty, you should take the time to read what parts and costs are covered under the warranty, and, if you have problems with the unit, whether you can get a replacement or a refund. You also might ask where repairs would be done. If the unit needs to be repaired by the manufacturer, ask how long the repair usually takes and who pays the shipping charges.
How Can I Protect Myself From Deceptive Sales Practices?
Although many sellers of water treatment units are legitimate, some are unscrupulous. As part of their sales pitches, some dealers may falsely claim that the drinking water in your area contains a harmful level of chemical contaminants, such as chlorine or lead. Although certain communities may experience various levels of water contamination, your particular community may not. Therefore, you may wish to verify the dealer's claims about your drinking water with your local or state department of health before purchasing any product.
Some dealers also may claim that certain government agencies require or recommend widespread. use of water filters in homes or restaurants, or that the government approves a particular unit. This is not true. If you see an EPA registration number on a product label, it merely means that the manufacturer has registered its product with the EPA. A registration number does not mean that the EPA has tested or approved the product or substantiated the manufacturer's claims.
Some sellers advertise in the local media, offering a free in-home test of your drinking water if you call. Although in-home testing may be a legitimate sales tool, some promoters use unsophisticated tests to convince you of the need to purchase their product. For example, they may test only for acidity/alkalinity, water hardness, iron, manganese, and color. None of these indicate the presence of harmful contaminants. Others may test only for chlorine, which, although present in your drinking water, may not be at harmful levels. As explained in the beginning of this factsheet, if you suspect your water is contaminated, review all sources of information, consult a qualified water quality contractor and/or have your water tested by an independent laboratory before investing in a water treatment unit.
Be aware that water filters sometimes are sold as part of prize promotions, which may not be legitimate. Some companies send out postcards saying that you have been selected to receive a prize, and, to receive further details, instruct you to call a telephone number, usually toll-free. If you call, you may discover that you must purchase a water treatment unit to be eligible for a prize, which may be of little or no value. Sometimes sellers will request your credit card number, saying they need to verify your eligibility for a prize or to bill your account. Be cautious about giving your credit card number over the telephone to someone you do not know. Many consumers who have purchased water treatment units from telephone salespersons have found later that the units do not remove contaminants from the water and that they cannot cancel their orders or return the products to obtain refunds.
If you are considering purchasing a water treatment device from a manufacturer unfamiliar to you, contact your state consumer affairs office or your local Better Business Bureau to learn if it has received any complaints against the company. In addition, you can contact the National Sanitation Foundation, which operates a voluntary certification program for water treatment products. Although this organization cannot rate or recommend a particular brand of water treatment unit, it may be able to provide you with useful information about various water treatment devices and technologies. The address of the National Sanitation Foundation is provided with those of other resources at the end of this brochure.