Amy wrote in with a few questions about city water testing…

Hi ~ thanks for this blog! Do cities provide free water testing as a service?

How would I know if my apt building has lead pipes?

Thanks!

Amy

To our knowledge most cities and municipalities do not provide free water testing as a service, though we have read that some areas will offer deeply discounted testing rates through local laboratories, or their own labs, in response to localized events such as regional flooding.

You can, however, call your local water company and request a copy of its most recent Annual Drinking Water Quality Report. Some cities opt to post their reports online and you can check to see if your area water company posts its report online at the EPA’s Safewater Project Web Site.

With regard to your question regarding whether or not your apartment building contains lead pipes, first determine the approximate age of the building.

Older houses are more likely to have problems with lead than houses built since 1988. Before that time, lead piping and lead solder were widely used in household plumbing systems as well as in the service lines that connect houses to street water mains. In 1986, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) banned the use of lead pipes and lead solder in plumbing systems because lead is an insidious and dangerous poison. The EPA set an “action level” of .015 milligrams per liter of water for lead, stating that levels higher than that in water could pose a risk to human health. ( source )

In all honesty, though, even if your building does not have lead someplace in its water delivery system, lead can enter your drinking water other ways…

Lead rarely occurs naturally in drinking water. It’s far more common for lead contamination to occur at some point in the water delivery system. It isn’t well known, but household plumbing is usually the culprit when it comes to high levels of lead and copper in drinking water. Lead and/or copper pipes, fittings and other components are commonly found in many plumbing systems. Metallic alloys such as brass and bronze often contain lead, so brass faucets or plumbing fittings may also release lead into home water systems. ( source )

With so many ways for potentially harmful levels of metals such as lead and copper to enter one’s drinking water, the only way to know for sure if you have lead in your water (which is what REALLY matters) involves testing your water.

Now of COURSE we suggest using a certified water testing lab such as Suburban Water Testing Laboratories, or another similarly qualified water testing service, but that does not mean you cannot test your own water from time to time for dangerous metals such as copper and lead.

Water Metals Test Kit

Water Quality Test Kit

Lead in Water Test Kit

Nitrate: In inorganic chemistry, a nitrate is a salt of nitric acid with an ion composed of one nitrogen and three oxygen atoms (NO₃). In organic chemistry the esters of nitric acid and various alcohols are called nitrates. Nitrogen trioxide is an alternative name for nitrate. ( source )

Nitrite: The nitrite ion is NO₂. The anion is bent, being isoelectronic with ozone. More generally, a nitrite compound is either a salt or an ester of nitrous acid. ( source )

WaterWorks™ Nitrate / Nitrite (as Nitrogen) test strips make in-home and field testing for nitrates and nitrites in water a fast, easy process. This product requires no tablets, powders, or counting of drops… making it well-suited for on-site well testing or the occasional testing of drinking water at home.

Each WaterWorks™ Nitrate / Nitrite test strip performs (1) one nitrate test and (1) one nitrate test.

* Dip strip into sample for a period of two seconds
* Remove strip and wait one minute
* Compare developed colors on test pads to color charts on bottle label

Each bottle of WaterWorks™ Nitrate / Nitrite test strips comes with a total of (50) fifty nitrite tests and (50) nitrate tests.

Detection Ranges:

Total Nitrate (NO3): 0, 0.5, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 ppm (mg/L).

Total Nitrite (NO2): 0.15, 0.3, 1, 1.5, 3, 10 ppm (mg/L)

Going to the tap on the front of the refrigerator instead of the using the faucet may not do you any favors when it comes to filling your glass with better, safer drinking water. The water line running to the tap on your refrigerator typically comes straight from the wall… so the quality of the water coming from the refrigerator will match the quality of the water coming out of any other faucet in your home.

While some newer refrigerators do come with inline filters for water and ice cubes, some do not. Check your manual to see if your refrigerator came with some sort of inline refrigerator water filtration unit. If it did, and you have not changed the filter in a long time — or perhaps ever — you may want to consider doing that real soon.

Some filters do not simply clog up when they become full. Instead, some clogged water filters allow unfiltered water to bypass their filtration media. That unfiltered water winds up floating in your iced tea and/or crystallized in your ice cubes. Not a very appetizing thought, right?

As always, before toy invest in a water filtration system of ANY kind, make sure you get your water tested by a certified water testing laboratory such as Suburban Water Testing Labs, Inc. and perform routine at-home water quality tests to make sure the filtration system you purchased continues to do its job correctly.

Going to the tap on the front of the refrigerator instead of the using the faucet may not do you any favors when it comes to filling your glass with better, safer drinking water. The water line running to the tap on your refrigerator typically comes straight from the wall… so the quality of the water coming from the refrigerator will match the quality of the water coming out of any other faucet in your home.

While some newer refrigerators do come with inline filters for water and ice cubes, some do not. Check your manual to see if your refrigerator came with some sort of inline refrigerator water filtration unit. If it did, and you have not changed the filter in a long time — or perhaps ever — you may want to consider doing that real soon.

Some filters do not simply clog up when they become full. Instead, some clogged water filters allow unfiltered water to bypass their filtration media. That unfiltered water winds up floating in your iced tea and/or crystallized in your ice cubes. Not a very appetizing thought, right?

As always, before toy invest in a water filtration system of ANY kind, make sure you get your water tested by a certified water testing laboratory such as Suburban Water Testing Labs, Inc. and perform routine at-home water quality tests to make sure the filtration system you purchased continues to do its job correctly.

Angela from Wisconsin asked…

First of all, I love the format of your site. It gives useful information in a clean way that pretty much anyone can understand — even a non science person like me.

When my husband and I bought our house it came with a Moen water filter and none of the local stores in our area carry the right replacement cartridge. Can you help us with this problem?

Thank you for writing in, Angela. Without knowing the model of your Moen filter we cannot promise that we have the CORRECT answer for you, but we can promise that we know of a place to get replacement Moen water filter cartridges.

Take a trip over to Filters Fast and click on Moen Water Filters.

Not everyone has the luxury of a Whole House Water Filtration System in their home so devices such as shower filters can do a whole lot to reduce the amount of chlorine, hardness and other unwanted impurities in a person’s shower water.

OK, fine… but what if you want to take a bath? Does anyone make a safe and easy-to-use product to remove chlorine from bath water as well?

Of course they do! The Rainshow’r Bath Ball works perfectly for those who want to enjoy a leisurely bath in water free of chlorine. Simply swish the ball in the water for 2 minutes after drawing a nice, hot bath or place the ball directly under the faucet while letting the bath water run.

A few advantages of Rainshow’r Bath Ball:

• The crystal ball for the bath requires no plumbing attachment
• Compact dechlorination device works right in the tub
• Removes 90% or more of total chlorine for healthier bath water

In recognition of radon’s serious and sometimes deadly nature, the United States Environmental Protection Agency has deemed January “National Radon Action Month”

Unclear about radon and what it can do to you and your family? Try this information on for size:

Radon — the naturally occurring, odorless, colorless gas that is produced when uranium breaks down in soil, rock or water — also is deadly.

After smoking, radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in many countries. A World Health Organization report in September 2009 estimated that the number of deaths due to radon-induced lung cancer in the United States ranged from 15,400 to 21,800 a year.

A group called the Environmental Health Committee recently put those figures into rather startling context: Radon caused more deaths in the United States last year than drunken driving, fires and carbon monoxide combined. ( source )

So… how can you acquire a Home Radon Test Kit? Simple: The links below will take you to the National Safety Products web site which has a good selection of test kits designed to pick up traces of radon in air AND in water.

Electronic Radon Gas Detector & Monitor 0.1 to 999.9 pCi/L (HS71512) Pro Series 3, EPA Approved, Digital Result in 48 Hours w/85dB Alarm		$150.00 $119.95
Radon Gas in Air Test Kit: Long Term, 3 to 12 Month Period (AT100) Alpha Track with Lab Analysis Included		$22.55
Radon Gas in Air Test Kit: Short Term (rn-can) 4″ Calibrated Canister w/Lab Analysis Included		$12.99
Radon Gas in Air Test Kit: Short Term (rn-LS) Scintillation Vial w/Lab Analysis Included		$12.95
Radon Gas in Water & Air Combination Test Kit (rn-dlx) Long & Short Term with Radon Awareness Booklet; Lab Analysis Included		$59.95
Radon Gas in Water Test Kit (rn-h2o) with Lab Analysis Included		$24.75
Radon Monitor: Electronic Continuous Radon Monitor (RS300) Radstar CRM w/Key Lock & Tamper Resistance		$795.00
Radon Monitor: Electronic Continuous Radon Monitor (RS800) Radstar CRM w/Key Lock & Tamper Resistance		$3,895.00
Radon Test Kits: Long Term (12 pack) 91 to 365 Days (rn-AT-12) Alpha Track with Lab Analysis Included		$239.00
Radon Test Kits: Radon Gas in Water (25 pack) with Lab Analysis Included		$575.00
Radon Test Kits: Short Term (100 pack) Liquid Scintillation Vials (rn-LS-100) with Lab Analysis Included		$844.00
Radon Test Kits: Short Term (24 pack) Liquid Scintillation Vials (rn-LS-24) with Lab Analysis Included		$219.95
Radon Test Kits: Short Term (25 pack) 4″ Charcoal Canisters (rn-CAN-25) with Lab Analysis Included		$249.00

Tags: national radon action month, Radon, radon test kit, radon testing

As a general rule, the Unites States Environmental Protection Agency sets guidelines and tells individual States that they may not set their own guidelines in a less stringent manner. States may, however, establish and enforce more restrictive guidelines when it comes to environmental issues.

In this case, however, it appears as though the USEPA has deemed Florida’s environmental laws pertaining to the disposal of compounds containing nitrogen and phosphorous too lax and not enforced heavily enough.

TALLAHASSEE — In a move cheered by environmental groups, the federal government on Friday proposed stringent limits on “nutrient” pollution allowed to foul Florida’s waterways.

The ruling — which will cost industries and governments more than a billion dollars to comply — marks the first time the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has intervened to set a state’s water-quality standards.

“I’m thrilled,” said Linda Young, director of the Clean Water Network, an advocacy group. “It is something that will ultimately start restoring Florida’s waters.”

The agency issued the proposed regulations after reaching a settlement in August with five environmental groups that sued the federal government in 2008 for not enforcing the Clean Water Act in Florida.

The caps on phosphorus and nitrogen levels in Florida’s lakes, rivers, streams, springs and canals would replace the state’s vague “narrative” approach to monitoring the effects of waste and fertilizer runoff, which the EPA deemed insufficient. The proposed rule includes provisions giving the EPA oversight authority to enforce the standards. ( source )

As one would expect, though, not everyone applauds the EPA’s involvement…

But a coalition of agriculture and industry groups – which formed two months ago to oppose the EPA rules – responded quickly by calling the proposed limits a “water tax.”

“This terrible regulation is not needed because Florida nutrient standards are perfectly adequate,” said Jim Alves, a lobbyist who represents power companies and wastewater utilities. “The science isn’t there to do this regulation.”

Barney Bishop, the president of Associated Industries of Florida, said the cost – which his group estimates at more than $50 billion – would hurt business recruitment and job creation.

“It’s onerous, stupid, ridiculous and idiotic,” he said.

Ever since the lawsuit settlement, political officials and special interests have waded into the debate. Gov. Charlie Crist, Attorney General Bill McCollum and Agriculture Commissioner Charlie Bronson previously voiced strong objections and suggested the state might sue the EPA.

The issue is expected to generate intense political debate ahead of three public hearings throughout the state in February. The final rule takes effect in October. ( source )

No matter whose side you agree with and/or side with, the fact remains that large amounts of agricultural runoff containing phosphorous, nitrates, nitrites and other compounds capable of damaging Florida’s waterways will continue until the State of Florida tightens up its enforcement or the EPA steps in and attempts to tighten up enforcement in a different, probably less friendly manner.

In the meantime, individuals can check the quality of their own water using simple, at-home drinking water test kits. Granted these drinking water test kits will not take the place of water tests conducted by certified water testing laboratories, but they will do a great job of helping people keep an eye on some critical water quality parameters.

Well Driller Master Test Kit

Each Well Driller Master Test Kit includes the following tests:

• 50 Free Chlorine Test Strips
• 50 Ultra Low Total Chlorine Test Strips
• 50 Hydrogen Sulfide Test Strips
• 50 Total Hardness Test Strips
• 50 Nitrate/Nitrite Test Strips
• 50 pH Test Strips
• 24 Manganese Tests
• 50 Water Metals Test Strips
• 10 Arsenic Test Strips
• 50 Iron Test Strips
• 50 Copper Test Strips
• 2 Lead in Water Tests
• 2 Pesticide Tests
• 1 bottle of Bacteria Test

It always pleases us to see companies thinking outside the box when it comes to coming up with new and efficient ways to produce safe, clean drinking water. In this case, a company called Puralytics has developed a chemical-free solar powered water purification system that creates no waste stream.

By combining the work of five photochemical processes at once, Puralytics water purification systems break down or remove contaminants from water by actually destroying contaminants rather than capturing them and creating a hazardous waste disposal problem.

1. Photocatalytic Oxidation — Previously unobtainable, selected wavelengths of UV light generate unprecedented levels of hydroxyl radicals (OH-) without any chemical additives.

2. Photocatalytic Reduction — Reduces toxic species such as mercury (Hg II), silver (Ag I), arsenic (As V, and chromium (Cr VI) to more readily adsorbed materials.

3. Photolysis — Direct disassociation of contaminants by high intensity UV light, including atrazine, amoxicillin, DEET, and all estrogenic chemicals.

4. Photoadsorption — The catalyst strongly adsorbs heavy metals including mercury, lead, selenium, and arsenic, permanganate, and other compounds.

5. Photo Disinfection — Multiple wavelengths and high intensity UV disinfect pathogens more effectively than standard UV germicidal.

Below you will find the Press Release issued by Puralytics on January 14th, 2010 from their Beaverton, Oregon office:

Puralytics, an emerging leader in advanced water purification technology, announced it has been selected as a finalist in the first Imagine H2O prize. This year’s prize focuses on water efficiency, and Puralytics is able to remove contaminants from water without water loss and without generating a waste stream, which is common with other technologies.

Imagine H2O is a non-profit organization founded in 2007 by a team of leading venture capital firms and financiers, water technology leaders and academics from Harvard Business School. The Imagine H2O Prize Competition highlights new technology that can address critical water challenges. Puralytics was selected as a finalist because of their unique, chemical-free purification capability, and water savings of thousands of gallons per day.

Puralytics has developed a new photo purification technology for water which uses precise wavelength LEDs in conjunction with a fixed photocatalyst to effectively remove organic compounds, heavy metals, and pathogens from water. For more information on the Puralytics technology and products, please visit: www.puralytics.com. The Shield 500 is available for industrial and commercial applications, and the sunlight powered SolarBag for developing world and disaster relief applications will be available in early 2010.

About Puralytics

Puralytics is an early stage company in Beaverton, Oregon, developing water purification products that effectively remove all of the emerging contaminants such as petrochemicals and pharmaceuticals, eliminate heavy metals like arsenic, lead, and mercury, and provide disinfection of bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens. These products have wide applicability for ultrapure and laboratory processes, well water purification, waste and grey water processing, and remote drinking water purification. Puralytics was also chosen by The Artemis Project as a Top 50 Global Water Technology Company competition winner, announced on Earth Day 2009.

Contact:
Dave Moser
Vice President of Business Development
Puralytics, Inc.
15250 NW Greenbrier Parkway
Beaverton, OR 97006-5764
USA
Ph: +1 503 913-5194
dave.moser@puralytics.com
www.puralytics.com (source )

So you may now wonder what exactly this company has created that has gotten them all this attention. Stay tuned for future Water Testing Blog entries on the topic of Puralytics Water Treatment Devices.