Home Water Systems

We take some things for granted. In western society, it's water that tumbles out of the faucet when we turn on the tap. We also expect water that's clean, safe and suitable for all household tasks.

Your Own Water System

In recent years, there has been a growing concern about contamination of our water supplies. Out of necessity or out of choice, some homeowners maintain their own water supplies. Certainly, if you drill your own well, the safety and cleanliness of the supply is directly your responsibility.

For most of us, our water comes from a public or municipal system. This means it's regularly tested for contaminants regulated by federal and state standards. These include microbial pathogens, radioactive elements, and certain toxic chemicals. These contaminants affect the safety of water and are potential sources of health problems. If your water supply does not come from a public source, a home water treatment system is necessary to protect your health. Some water quality problems, such as hardness, corrosiveness, foaming, staining or bad tastes, smell or color are undesirable. These factors do not, however, necessarily make the water unhealthful.

If your water supply is a private well, you are personally responsible for avoiding health risks by testing and treating the water. One of your major concerns should be microbial pathogens, such as bacteria, virus, and parasites. This is especially important if your well is near a septic tank, or an area subject to animal wastes or nitrates. It's a good idea to request a copy of a booklet titled Water Quality Problems - Health and Household and Testing for Water Quality from your Cooperative Extension Service agent.

Treatment or Conditioning?

Actually, you'll probably need to treat and condition. Water treatment deals with the health and safety of the water. It refers to systems that reduce harmful contaminants, such as high levels of coliform, nitrates, arsenic, lead, and pesticides. These are examples of harmful contaminants, and must be treated before water is safe to drink. Methods used to improve the quality of water are referred to as treatment or conditioning. Water conditioning refers to water problems that affect the taste, color, odor, hardness, and corrosiveness of your water. The presence of high levels of magnesium, calcium, iron, manganese and silt are common contaminants that require water conditioning.

Types of Home Water Systems

A partial list of treatment and conditioning methods includes: mechanical or sedimentation filtration, activated carbon filtration, reverse osmosis or membrane filtration, water softener or cation exchange, and chlorination disinfection. Of course, this list is incomplete. Consult an expert before selecting your system. In-home water treatment systems are usually categorized in point-of-entry, where all of the water entering and used in the home is treated; in-home water treatment systems categorized under point-of-use requires treatment of part of the water in the distribution system, usually at one faucet.