Whether your home is supplied by well water or municipal water, you can ensure the best quality drinking water for your family by knowing what’s in your water. A thorough and professional water analysis can tell you if your water contains nitrates, fluoride or microplastics, all of which are harmful to health.
- If your home is supplied by well water, then you should know that nitrates are a very common contaminant that can be harmful to health.
- Fluoride is added to municipal drinking water in about three-quarters of America’s public water systems. The intention of adding this chemical to water is to strengthen dental enamel. Whether or not you want fluoride in your water is really your choice. If you aren’t on municipal water but you consume well water, fluoride can make its way into your water due to its presence in the local groundwater.
- Microplastics are a water contaminant that people are just becoming aware of. Because it is difficult to remove these substances from the body, it is better if you can avoid drinking them. They can cause a wide variety of health problems.
Knowing how to eliminate these substances from your water helps your family stay healthier. In order to remove contaminants from water, the first step is finding out what’s in your water and in what quantity. Then you can plan the water filtration or treatment system that will address the exact contaminants in your water. Professional water tests are the only accurate way to get a measurement of the quantities of the pollutants and to identify which contaminants need to be removed.
Detecting Nitrates in Well Water
Nitrates are chemicals that occur naturally in soil and water, but they are also produced as a result of human activity. Fertilizers contain high quantities of nitrates and can run off agricultural lands and leach into the soil. Leaking septic systems and animal waste from feed operations can also add nitrates to soil, which can eventually make their way into groundwater and then your well. Industrial processes such as metal manufacturing can also add lesser amounts of nitrates to groundwater.
How Do Nitrates Harm Your Health?
Nitrates in drinking water have an effect on the ability of your body to transport oxygen to all your cells. The Environmental Protection Agency has set a limit of 10 milligrams of nitrates per liter of water to protect your health. But this limit is only enforced on municipal water suppliers. A well owner must test their own water to find out if this contaminant is present.
If the water contains less than 10 mg/L of nitrates, most healthy people would not suffer harm from drinking it. Babies, those who are pregnant or some people with cancer may still suffer harm at this level.
Because infants drink far more water for their weight than adults, it can be very dangerous for their formulas to be prepared with high-nitrate water. This could lead to methemoglobinemia, or “blue baby syndrome,” a potentially fatal condition that prevents their blood from carrying sufficient oxygen. As a result, the baby can take on a bluish color.
How Do Nitrates Get Into Well Water and Municipal Water?
Homeowners whose homes are supplied by private wells should pay close attention to the possible presence of nitrates in well water by professionally testing their water annually. However, even though municipal systems test their own drinking water for nitrates, local events like floods or malfunctions in water treatment can spike the quantity of this contaminant.
How Can You Get Accurate Test Results for Nitrates?
You can find nitrate tests in home improvement stores or online but they only give you a rough estimate of the presence of nitrates in your water. They may also provide a false negative or positive test. Professional water testing services can provide accurate results and tell you if your water is well below EPA limits or above it. If your household has infants, pregnant women or anyone with cancer, an accurate test result is vital.
Fluoride in Municipal Drinking Water or Well Water
Fluoride is a naturally occurring mineral that the majority of U.S. water utilities add to water supplies to harden tooth enamel. In recent years, the controversy around this practice has grown. Initial studies indicate that fluoride can have adverse effects on the developing brains of babies. Elevated fluoride intake during early development can also result in reduced IQ.
What Are the Health Risks of Fluoride?
If the fluoride contamination of drinking water gets too high, the following types of harm can result:
- Dental fluorosis resulting in discoloration and damage to tooth enamel, especially in children.
- Skeletal fluorosis that causes joint pain and stiffness due to the accumulation of this mineral in bone.
- The difference in IQ scores between children exposed to higher fluoride levels compared to children with lower exposure showed an average difference of 7 points.
The EPA has set the Maximum Contaminant Level for fluoride at 4.0 mg/L, and the U.S. Public Health Service recommends 0.7 mg/L for dental health.
How Does Fluoride Get into Well Water and Municipal Water
In addition to fluoride being added to municipal water, fluoride can make its way into private water wells from natural deposits in soil and rock.
- Municipal water: Most city water supplies add fluoride under controlled guidelines, though levels can vary. The information on how much fluoride is in municipal water is disclosed in the Consumer Confidence Report that is available from your water utility.
- Well water: Since fluoride naturally occurs in some rock formations, especially in the Southwest regions of the U.S, groundwater fluoride can be higher than the limit recommended by the EPA. Because wells are not monitored by any local agency, regular testing of a personal water well by the homeowner is crucial.
How Can You Get Accurate Tests for Fluoride?
Most home kits do not typically include a test for fluoride. It is not possible to get an accurate measurement of this substance without expensive lab equipment. Professional laboratory testing can provide you with an accurate measurement of fluoride in either well water or city water.
If you rely on well water, select a water test every year that includes fluoride in its analysis. If new babies, children or pregnant women will be added to the home, do a new test of the water before they arrive.
Microplastics in Drinking Water
Microplastics are tiny plastic particles less than 5 millimeters in length. These particles come from a variety of sources: synthetic clothing, packaging, tires, cosmetics, and plastic waste that has been broken down into smaller bits.
These particles can enter water systems through runoff, wastewater contamination and even the atmosphere. Microplastics have been detected in well water, rainwater, groundwater, tap water and bottled water. How do they get there?
- Municipal water systems draw from rivers, lakes, and reservoirs, which are more exposed to microplastic contamination than deep aquifers.
- Most treatment plants are not equipped to remove the very smallest microplastic particles, so they can make it into the drinking water in your home..
- Well water is typically less exposed to microplastics, but can become contaminated if the well is shallow or it is not properly sealed at the surface.
What Are the Health Risks of Microplastics?
While the harm caused by microplastics is still a developing topic, it is known that exposure to many plastics exposes people to phthalates, bisphenol A (BPA), heavy metals or the group of persistent industrial toxins referred to as PFAS. The full effects of consuming microplastics will require further research.
At this time, research has indicated that the chemicals in microplastics can cause endocrine disruption, metabolic disorders, poor organ function and toxicity to the nervous system. Once microplastics are consumed, they can accumulate in the organs of the body. These interferences could result in health issues like these:
- Impaired fertility
- Irregular menstrual cycles
- Early puberty
- Miscarriages
- Greater risk of obesity
- Insulin resistance
- Thyroid dysfunction
- Developmental abnormalities in children
- Impaired cognitive functions
- Changed immune responses
- Increased risk of certain hormone-related cancers
- Impairment of heart health or circulation
Unfortunately, further research and experience will be required to finally determine the effects of microplastics. As the research progresses in this area, it’s possible that more harm will be understood. Currently, there is no limit set by the EPA for microplastics in drinking water.
How Do Microplastics Get Into Well Water and Municipal Water?
- Municipal water: Water treatment plants are not currently designed to filter out microplastics, especially the smallest of these particles. Some studies show municipal water systems contain microplastics even after treatment.
- Well water: While deeper aquifers are generally more protected, shallow wells can become contaminated from surface runoff or leaching from damaged septic systems. Very tiny microplastics can become airborne and come down with rain. If this water infiltrates the well, then the well water can contain microplastics.
How Can You Get Accurate Tests for Microplastics?
The plastic particles are too small and too varied in composition to be detected by any test you could obtain at a home improvement store. Professional water testing is required. A qualified lab can filter the water to collect particles, count the number of them with the use of a microscope and then use more sophisticated equipment to analyze the chemical composition. At this time, only specialized labs can perform these tests.
Testing for microplastics and even smaller nanoplastics is available from ETR Laboratories. Until you can have your water tested, you can focus on filtering microplastics and nanoplastics from your water. High-quality carbon block or reverse osmosis filters help reduce this contamination. Avoid drinking bottled water, which contains more microplastics than tap water. If you rely on well water, keep your well properly maintained to prevent contamination from surface waters.
Choosing the Right Water Testing Service
No matter which of these three types of contaminants you want to test for, ETR Laboratories can provide you with fast and accurate service. While many water testing companies send their samples to other labs for analysis, ETR Laboratories performs all its own testing. Their lab is staffed with technicians who have extensive experience running thousands of well and municipal water tests.
Once ETR Labs’ customers receive their test results, they often need an understanding of the meaning of their tests and what actions they should take. ETR Lab’s technicians help customers with advice on the type of water filtration that will remove the specific contaminants in their sample. It may also be necessary to zero in on deeper causes of poor water quality with an additional test. ETR Labs technicians can provide this guidance as well.
Which Water Test Do You Need?
At ETR Labs, there are multiple tests that can meet your needs. There are individual tests that look for the specific contaminants listed in this article:
Microplastics and nanoplastics
There are also comprehensive tests that look for 53, 113 or 249 different contaminants. If you are just starting your water testing journey of either well or municipal water, a comprehensive test such as the Premium Water Test is an excellent place to start. In addition to fluoride and nitrates, this test analyzes metals, minerals, coliform and E. coli bacteria, radon and more than thirty industrial chemicals. The Premium Water Test is an excellent examination of the quality of your drinking water.
To get comprehensive water test results into your hands quickly, select the Premium Water Test from ETR Laboratories now.
