Tap water can be used as drinking water just as well as any other form of pure water, given that it’s clean. If not, you can use whole house water filtration to get pure water. However, you should identify what impurities are present in your tap water first. Here’s how to test and check for tap water impurities.
Water Testing Kits
There are many kits that are easily available in the market which can help you to test the water in the comfort of your own. They are very easy to use and they will be almost accurate. Here are some tests that you can use to test your tap water for impurities.
Testing Strips
These strips are made out of special paper which changes color when a certain impurity reacts with the surface of the paper. This will tell you about the hardness of the water and also what kinds of salts and impurities are present in the water to avoid health problems. There is usually a result chart that comes with the test and you can compare your results with the predetermined test results and find out what impurities your water contains.
Color Disk Test
This test is specifically for testing the hardness of water and usually that is the main problem with tap water that can’t be noticed by the naked eye. You can test the water if you put a testing strip in a cup of water taken from your tap. This will give you a color that you can compare with the coloring wheel given with the test.
There are certain shades of red and orange which give the hardness level of the water. This will be a good sign to let you know that you need to soften the water in order to use it for other things around the house.
Look At The Color
For impurities of metal and dirt, you can easily spot them by looking at the water. If the water is murky and dirty, then it means that the supply water has dirt in it. If the water is leaving behind green spots around the sink, then it has ferrous in it. If the water is coming out of the tap with a red tinge, then it has chromium in it. If the water smells extremely foul and like rotten eggs, then the water has hydrogen sulfide in it.
These things are easily spotted through your sight or smell and you can identify the impurities present in the water.
Advanced Water Tests
If you can’t pinpoint the result of the impurities present in the water through test strips, then you can use advanced and digital methods to help you with that. There are digital meters and testing prods that come with a measuring device and these devices will tell you how acidic or impure the water is.
You can easily put in the testing prod inside the water which is filled in a cup and then the device will measure exactly how much impurities are present in it. This will give you a good and very accurate measure of impurity and then you can go and invest in a good water filter that will take out these impurities.
For very impure water, use a reverse osmosis filtration method as this will help to remove most of the impurities present in the water. For normal impurities, use a simple water filter or pitcher-type filter. That will work just as good.
The Government Will Tell You
Usually, when your monthly water bill comes, it will have a detailed description of the types of impurities present in the water. This is also a good navigating sign that your water is impure and it needs a certain type of filter to become pure and safe for drinking. If you don’t get this report, then you should contact your local water company or the municipal water department to issue you a report of the water and what types of impurities are present in it.
Conclusion
There you have it! These small tests and tell-tale signs are enough to tell you that your water needs to be purified and you can use an appropriate water filtration system Meadville to do just that.
