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Tagged In: Clean Water, Green Living, Water Pollution
Ensuring Safe Drinking Water is a Collaborative Effort: Spotting Problems and Safeguarding your Home’s Drinking Water
The following is a list of tips and conditions to stay aware of to ensure that your home’s drinking water supply is safe. The list was developed and adapted from information on the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s website regarding testing wells to safeguard your water.
These tips should not be substituted for the advice of and consultation with a certified water quality expert.
If you have concerns regarding your water you should contact your public water utility or local health department. Your public water utility or local health department may be able to assist in testing your water supply and should be able to answer any questions or concerns you have about your home water supply’s safety.
Should you require or wish to test the quality of your water, use of a state certified water quality lab is recommended. A list of Ohio certified water quality labs, can be found here.
Potential Concerns That May Indicate The Need to Test Your Water and Applicable Test:
| Potential signs of a problem | What to test for |
| 1. Household plumbing contains lead | Lead, copper, pH |
| 2. Corrosion of pipes, plumbing | Lead, corrosion, pH |
| 3. Staining plumbing fixtures | Iron, copper, manganese |
| 4. Objectionable taste or smell | Hydrogen sulfide, corrosion, metals |
| 5. Nearby intensive agriculture | Nitrate, pesticides, coliform bacteria |
| 6. Coal or other mining operations nearby | Corrosion, metals, pH |
| 7. Gas drilling operations nearby | Chloride, sodium, barium, strontium |
| 8. Odor of gasoline or fuel oil, and home located near a gas station or buried fuel tanks | Volatile organic compounds |
| 9. Dump, junkyard, landfill, factory, gas station or dry-cleaning operation nearby | Volatile organic compounds, total dissolved solids, sulfate, chloride, metals, pH |
| 10. Recurring gastrointestinal illness | Coliform bacteria |
| 11. Radon in indoor air or home located in radon rich area | Radon |
| 12. Water appears cloudy, frothy or colored | Color, detergents |
| 13. Rapid wear of water treatment equipment | Corrosion, pH |
| 14. Water softener needed to treat hardness | Iron, manganese |
| 15. Salty taste, or a heavily salted roadway nearby | Chloride, sodium, total dissolved solids |