5 Chemicals You Might Be Drinking Today

Totally pure water is nonexistent. All water supplies contain additives designed to protect, and bacteria and chemicals which may cause harm in vast quantities. But a healthy background knowledge of what’s inside your water can help you to prepare your plumbing system to provide safe water to your family for many years to come. 

Chlorine

One of the first additives to come into contact with drinking water is chlorine. This essential chemical serves as a strong defence against microbial waterborne pathogens. Since the chlorination of water at treatment plants began, many waterborne diseases such as typhoid have become non-existent in the resulting water supply. This is especially important in Saudi Arabia, where the fast growing population has resulted in one third of the world’s capacity for water desalination being based here.

Copper

Copper based Algaecides are among the most popular chemical compounds which fight against harmful algae blooms on surface water. However, copper can also be found in water which has been transmitted through corrosive pipes. Copper present in water is recognised for its’ blue-green tint, high levels of which can cause anaemia, liver and kidney damage.

Lead

The recent Flint Water Crisis in Michigan highlighted the real dangers of lead contamination in drinking water. What started as an unusual smell and taste led to an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease. Flint leaders switched the town’s water source to the Flint River, sending potentially unsafe water into the homes of 100,000 residents. Lead is a toxic metal at high or low levels of consumption and while it should not be present in properly treated water, it can still be found in plumbing pipes, water tanks and fittings.

T-butanol and MTBE

Before Flint, another controversy escalated in homes in the United States, but unlike the Flint River, this crisis originated inside the homes themselves; new homes, custom-built to the value of around half a million dollars each. The cross-linked Polyethylene tubing used in the plumbing system was responsible for the contamination of residents’ water, found to contain t-butanol and MTBE, fingerprints for gasoline.

PFAS: Forever Chemicals

More recently, a number of businesses in Delaware were found to have “Forever Chemicals” in their drinking water. First discovered at Dover Air Force Base in 2014, PFOS and PFOA are long-living man-made chemicals with links to kidney cancer, testicular cancer, thyroid disease, high cholesterol, ulcerative colitis and pregnancy-induced hypertension. Their long life earned them the moniker “Forever Chemicals.”

Fighting Chemicals With Chemicals

It is impossible to avoid contamination in drinking water. The goal of health-conscious homeowners should not be to eliminate it, rather, control it. There are measures you can take to significantly reduce contamination in your home through chemical leaching and dangerous installation methods. FlowGuard CPVC is protected by large chlorine molecules, preventing corrosion of the pipe’s surface from the chlorine in your water. It keeps the water in your home safe with its natural resistance to corrosion, allowing for a much more natural drinking water to pass through your home.

Download the Water Safety Guide today so you can answer all your client's questions. 

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