Tap water
The problems with tap water are numerous. This is unavoidable. The federal government and the EPA set maximum levels of various contaminants in drinking water. When any of these levels are exceeded, there is nothing much the City can do between the time a p roblem is discovered and when the p roblem is resolved. The only protection for the consumer is to install a water treatment unit that addresses these issues. Quality H2O, Inc. is your solution.
Tap water is treated with chlorine, amines, or a combination of both (chloramines) which presents several problems:
- Chlorine byproducts from water treatment have been associated with bladder and rectal cancer.
- Chlorine in water can also initiate and aggravate allergic reactions and skin irritation.
- Chlorine reacts with water-borne decaying organic matter creating trihalomethanes (THMs), one of which is formaldehyde, a known carcinogen.
- Chloramines do not create THMs and has increasingly replaced chlorine as a disinfectant, but greater concentrations need to be used compared to chlorine, and chloramines have been shown to be an irritant.
Tap water may absorb pollutants through the miles of plumbing water travels through.
- The pipes may add lead, asbestos, copper, or PVC breakdown products to your water, all of which are toxic.
- The pipes may also be decayed and have holes that allow bacteria to proliferate or ground contaminants (pesticides, arsenic, and other petrochemicals) to seep into the pipes.
- Cysts of protozoa (giardia) can persist even in chlorinated water.
Solutions
The answer to all common water problems that everyone is vulnerable to, one must consider a water system that meets the following requirements. Compare these requirements to learn to choose the best system to suit your needs.
- Consider a system that takes care of physical contaminants like dirt, particles, and any large object that can be dragged through the water pipes before it enters your house. Quality H2O, Inc. addresses this in two separate process steps. First Quality has a pre-filter that can be easily replaced. The other process step is a quartz media filtration which filters out particles and large microorganisms, which is self-cleaning.
- Shop for a system that removes chlorine, sulfur, bad taste, and odors from your water. Quality H2O eliminates those issues and leaves the water refreshing and healthy.
- Look for a system that removes and eliminates organisms such as bacteria and viruses, including those in spore form. Common water borne organisms like Giardia, E. Coli, and Cryptosporidium are all common and may survive in water treated by the City. Quality H2O addresses this p roblem by its proprietary use of KDF ensuring all water that gets treated through our systems pass through the KDF media, destroying all organic matter, for the useful life of the system.
- Protect your family from trace elements of lead, iron, and corrosive salts such as Calcium carbonate and Magnesium Sulfate (hard scale). Quality H2O provides this solution by absorbing lead and deactivating iron, Calcium and Magnesium, protecting your family against lead and other hard metals; protecting your plumbing and appliances against pipe scale and clogging.
- Look for systems that are virtually maintenance free, that do not require the additions of chemicals, salts, or manipulating valves. Quality H2O’s systems are virtually maintenance free. Most Quality water systems are self maintaining where it keeps its efficiency consistency for its useful life. Only the changing of a simple pre-filter which takes only 15 minutes to perform, around once a year, will suffice.
- Sponsor companies that benefit the environment; use water systems that do not produce hazardous waste. Quality H2O’s process is all beneficial to the environment. Unlike water softeners which produces a high concentration of salt called Brine, all of Quality H2O’s process water flows are environmentally safe. All process materials that treat the water is also recyclable and non-hazardous.
- Look for companies that stand behind a product with its warranty program. Quality H2O’s system has been proved in the market for 15 years. All our whole house water filtration systems have 10 year warranties.
- Look for systems that will stand the test of time and come in handy in the event of a true emergency. Quality H2O’s customers have experienced times where the units have come in handy during times of need. During the San Diego forest fires, residents were experiencing taste and pressure issues in their water supplies. Customers with Quality units were filtering out soot, leaves, and dead organic matter by-products (THM’s).
- Look for a company that has actively participates in the water industry, beyond the residential market. Quality H2O, Inc. not only specializes in residential water solutions, Quality H2O also provides water solutions to industrial and high purity water, namely in the biotechnology and electronic manufacturing industries.
- Narrow down your choices with a company that will stand behind its product. The product Quality H2O will stand behind is the solution to your water needs.
Which microrganisms in water cause diseases?
Sometimes microrganisms that cause health effects can be found in drinking water. However, as drinking water is thoroughly disinfected today, disease caused by microrganisms is rarely caused by drinking water.
Bacteria are not only known to cause disease when they enter a human body through food, untreated water may also be an important source of bacterial infection.
Bacteria |
Disease/ infection |
Symptoms |
Aeromonas |
Enteritis |
Very thin, blood- and mucus-containing diarrhea |
Campylobacter jejuni |
Campilobacteriose |
Flue, diarrhea, head- and stomachaches, fever, cramps and nausea |
Escherichia coli |
Urinary tract infections, neonatal meningitis, intestinal disease |
Watery diarrhea, headaches, fever, homiletic uremia, kidney damage |
Plesiomonas shigelloides |
Plesiomonas-infection |
Nausea, stomachaches and watery diarrhea, sometimes fevers, headaches and vomiting |
Salmonella |
Typhoid fever |
Fevers |
|
Salmonellosis |
Sickness, intestinal cramps, vomiting, diarrhea and sometimes light fevers |
Streptococcus |
(Gastro) intestinal disease |
Stomachaches, diarrhea and fevers, sometimes vomiting |
Vibrio El Tor (freshwater) |
(Light form of) Cholera |
Heavy diarrhea |
Protozoa can accumulate in certain body parts, after they have penetrated a human body. The accumulations are called cysts.
In this table you can see various protozoa that can be found in surface water, and the diseases they cause when swallowed in large amounts, along with the symptoms.
Microrganism |
Disease |
Symptoms |
Amoeba |
Amoebic dysentery |
Severe diarrhea, headache, abdominal pain, chills, fever; if not treated can cause liver abscess, bowel perforation and death |
Cryptosporidium parvum |
Cryptosporidiosis |
Feeling of sickness, watery diarrhea, vomiting, lack of appetite |
Giardia |
Giardiasis |
Diarrhea, abdominal cramps, flatulence, belching, fatigue |
Toxoplasm gondii |
Toxoplasmosis |
Flu, swelling of lymph glands |
How do we eliminate harmful microorganisms from water?
Quality utilizes KDF, which is an extremely effective biocide!
Click here to find your solution.
Bottled vs. Tap Water:
Bottled water may be in distribution for several weeks, therefore storage conditions such as temperature may adversely affect quality. In terms of bacterial content, it is questionable as to whether bottled water is better than most municipal tap water; much less conditioned water by Quality H2o!
Sales of bottled water have increased dramatically over the last few years. Bottled-water companies and public water systems often battle over the relative merits of their products. EPA regulates public water systems. FDA regulates bottled water that crosses state lines.
Public water systems are generally disinfected with chlorine. Bottled water is commonly disinfected by ozone treatment. Ozone is high-strength oxygen that quickly reverts to normal oxygen. It is a strong oxidant, like chlorine, but does not add taste like chlorine does. The length of time chlorine and ozone remain active in water depends on many factors, including temperature. Chlorine usually provides residual disinfections throughout the public-water distribution system. Ozone provides residual disinfections for a limited time. However, bottled water may be in distribution for several weeks and storage conditions, especially temperature, may adversely affect quality. In terms of bacterial content, it is questionable as to whether bottled water is better than most municipal tap water.
Bottled water often is purchased for its good taste. However, taste does not always indicate safeness. At the concentrations present in drinking water, most harmful substances (including some disease-causing microorganisms, nitrates, trace amounts of lead and mercury, and some pesticides and organic materials) have no taste. Differences in taste among bottled waters generally are due to differing amounts of carbon dioxide, calcium, iron compounds, sodium, and other minerals and mineral salts. Differences also may be due to the amount and type of processing.
Whole House Filters: Safe Water at Every Tap
A whole house water filter is installed at your water system's point-of-entry -- where water enters and is distributed to different areas of your house.
Many people filter their drinking water, yet are willing to wash their dishes and brush their teeth with unfiltered water. If you feel your water is unsafe to drink, it's also unsafe to use for these activities.
A high-quality whole house water filter will remove chlorine and its by-products, harmful organic materials, sediments and hundreds of chemicals, many of which are identified by the EPA as harmful and common in tap water.
The EPA reports that most American homes have elevated levels of chloroform gas due to chlorine in unfiltered toilets, washing machines, and other appliances. You release chloroform gas into your home every time you flush a toilet or wash your clothes.
Countertop and under-sink filters purify your drinking water. Shower filters cleanse your shower water. But only whole house water filters remove harmful chemicals from every tap in your house-including dishwashers, toilets, and washing machines.
Chlorine and other chemicals become embedded in your clothes when you wash them in unfiltered water. Over time, these chemicals can contribute to skin irritation and disease. Only whole house filters remove contaminants from the water you use to wash your clothes.
Because bath faucets are not standardized, there are no filters on the market for baths. Chlorine evaporates from hot bath water just as quickly as it does from shower water -- and it's just as harmful. Only a whole house filter can purify bath water.
A whole house filter might seem expensive. But when you add up the cost of multiple tap filters and shower filters, plus replacement cartridges, you'll see that buying a whole house filter may actually save you money.
So which system works the best and where do I get one?
The answer is easy; Quality H2o is your answer. Sure there are other companies that provide whole house water treatment systems, but none provide as complete a system for the cost. The standard technology in the Quality H2o system is the most modern and up to date available. Every Quality H2o system is pre-filtered as well as contains a patented process KDF and they are the ONLY systems that come standard with a our proprietary descaling system There is not a single home water treatment system produced today at any cost that can provide you with safer, cleaner and healthier water than the ones produced by Quality H2o.
We present the following in the belief that once you know the facts you will take action. There are articles discuss the many benefits of not just clean water but also conditioned and filtered water.
Newsweek:
"Several million Americans are drinking water that is potentially hazardous due to chemical or bacterial contamination"
LA Times:
"Communities with drinking water contaminated by chemicals are being hit with strange patterns of illness"
ABC Network News:
"U.S. Industries ... Generate some 88,000,000 pounds of toxic wastes a year, 90% of which, the EPA estimates, are improperly disposed."
The New York Times:
"More than one in five Americans unknowingly drinks tap water polluted with feces, radiation or other contaminants ... Nearly 1,000 deaths each year and at least 400,000 cases of waterborne illness may be attributed to contaminated water."
Houston Chronicle
"The parasite [Cryptosporidium} that killed more than 100 people in Milwaukee in 1996 has been found in drinking water systems that serve 45 million people."
USA Today
"Parasites in water is widespread ... can be dangerous, even fatal, to people with weakened immune systems."
U.S. News and World Report
"Some individuals, federal officials said last week, should not drink water straight from the tap because a disease causing parasite can slip right through many municipal water treatment systems."
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Contaminants
Fluoride
The American Dental Association and the American Medical Association endorse fluoridation. Yet, after more than 40 years of fluoridation, nearly 40 percent of tap water remains unfluoridated. Opponents have long argued that fluoridation violates individual rights, certain religious beliefs that ban medications, and does not prevent tooth decay. They also claim it promotes a variety of ills. A recent study in which male (but not female) rats given water with high levels of sodium fluoride developed a rare bone cancer, added fuel to their concerns. Proponents counter that fluoridation is not a form of medication, but an adjustment of an essential nutrient to a level favorable to health.
Like most elements, fluoride appears to be both beneficial to health and potentially toxic. The goal is to determine the optimum level and then decide how best to achieve that level. The EPA currently sets the maximum allowable level of sodium fluoride in drinking water (natural or added) at 4 milligrams per liter (4 parts per million) and the maximum recommended level at 2 milligrams per liter. The EPA reviews drinking water standards every three years.
Quality H2O’s products reduces the amount of Fluoride in your water.
Lead
Lead is a toxic heavy metal known to turn up in drinking water. Recent data indicate that levels formerly safe may threaten health, especially among infants and children. In an 1986 EPA survey, an estimated 40 million Americans (one in five) were using drinking water that contained potentially hazardous levels of lead.
Acute lead poisoning can cause severe brain damage and death. The effects of chronic, low-level exposure, however, are more subtle. The developing nervous systems of fetuses, infants, and children are particularly vulnerable. Recent studies show that lead exposure at a young age can cause permanent learning disabilities and hyperactive behavior. Low-level lead exposure also is associated with elevated blood pressure, chronic anemia, and peripheral nerve damage.
Natural water usually contains very little lead. Contamination generally occurs in the water distribution system or in the pipes of a home or facility. Lead pipes, brass faucets and lead solder used to join copper pipes are the culprits. If your home was built before 1986 when a nation-wide ban on lead pipes and lead solder went into effect, it is likely to have lead-soldered plumbing.
The severity of lead contamination depends in part on how "corrosive" your water is. Soft or acidic water is more likely to corrode plumbing and fixtures, leaching out lead. According to the EPA, about 80 percent of public water utilities deliver water that is moderately or highly corrosive.
Quality H2O is extremely effective in virtually eliminating all trace lead content in tap water.
Nitrate
Nitrates may be found naturally in water or may enter water supplies through a number of sources (fertilizers, animal wastes, septic systems). High nitrate-containing water is a serious health concern for pregnant women and infants under the age of 6 months. Bacteria in the infants' digestive tracts may convert the relatively harmless nitrate to nitrite. In turn, the nitrite combines with some of the hemoglobin in blood to form methemoglobin that cannot transport oxygen.
Quality H2O reduces nitrates in tap water.
Sulfate
Sulfates occur naturally in groundwater combined with calcium, magnesium and sodium as sulfate salts. Sulfate content in excess of 250 to 500 ppm (mg/l) may give water a bitter taste and have a laxative effect on individuals not adapted to the water.
Water that smells like rotten eggs has a high level of hydrogen sulfide gas. The gas may occur naturally in water near oil or gas fields or as the result of bacterial contamination. To test for bacterial contamination contact the county health department or a commercial testing lab.
Quality H2O is particularly effective in absorbing sulfates.
Organic Chemicals
The term "organic chemical" includes such products as pesticides, herbicides, petroleum products and industrial solvents. Although most have not been routinely monitored, hundreds of different organic chemicals have been found in drinking water from accidental spills, improper disposal or non-point movement through soils to groundwater. Today, municipalities are required to monitor an increasing list of organic chemicals under the Safe-Drinking-Water Act.
As with other contaminants, the danger from organic chemicals in water is hard to assess. In high doses and pure form some of these chemicals may promote cancer, impair the nervous system or damage the heart. In low doses, organic chemicals may have cumulative effects, but so far not much is known about their nature or magnitude.
Once groundwater is contaminated, cleanup of that groundwater is extremely difficult. If the water is unsuitable for human use, it also may be unsuitable for agricultural uses and alternative sources of water may need to be found. Organic chemicals and groundwater contamination is an area where much research is needed. In the meantime, the prudent use and disposal of all chemicals (agricultural, industrial, home and garden) can go a long way to protect the environment and groundwater from contamination.
Quality H2O is extremely effective with eliminating Organic Chemicals.
Radon
Radon is a radioactive gas, a decay product of uranium, that can dissolve into water supplies. The gas also is found in rocks and soils that contain granite, shale, phosphate, and pitchblende. It is odorless, colorless and tasteless.
The EPA considers radon to be a major potential health threat, causing an estimated 10,000 to 40,000 lung-cancer deaths each year. While most deaths are from radon accumulated in houses from seepage through cracks and holes in the foundation, 30 to 1,800 deaths per year are attributed to radon from household water. Showering, dish-washing and laundering agitate water and release radon into the air. The EPA estimates that at least 8 million people may have high radon levels in their water supply. Radon is most likely to be present in water from private wells or from small community systems. Large systems usually provide some kind of water treatment that aerates the water and disperses any radon gas that may be present.
Quality H2O has the capacity to absorb radon from the tap water.
