Your plumbing system carries all your water, including your drinking water, from your well or your city water hookup to your home. If there are problems with the plumbing system, the water quality can sometimes suffer.
Here are some water quality problems you may notice in your drinking water. You may need to have your plumbing system checked out to see if you can remedy the problem with a quick plumbing repair.
1. Visible Particles in Water
Visible particles in the water could be due to deteriorating pipes, some type of contaminant in the municipal water supply, sediment in the hot water heater, or simply very hard water. So while this problem may be related to a plumbing malfunction, it could also mean that you simply need a plumber to install a water softener.
2. Invisible Heavy Metal Contamination
Heavy metal contamination can be a huge health and safety hazard and can often be totally invisible. Just because something's leaching out of your pipes doesn't mean it will show up as small particles. Extremely high amounts of copper may sometimes cause water to turn greenish blue, but in other cases, the contamination won't be visible to the naked eye.
Heavy metals may contaminate your water because your plumbing is old and falling apart, especially if you have galvanized pipes. Galvanized pipes can cause lead to contaminate your water once they get old and start deteriorating. Too much copper in your water can also have a toxic effect.
Acidic water is especially good at leaching substances out of pipes, but any type of water can become contaminated if your pipes have heavy metals in them. Your plumber can help you test your water for heavy metals and also check your entire plumbing system for copper pipes or old, deteriorating galvanized pipes that might be causing this issue.
3. Rust-Colored Water
Rust-colored water could be from a variety of problems. Sometimes rusty-looking water is perfectly safe to drink. For example, if your area has lots of iron in the water, you could be used to drinking slightly rustylooking water every day.
But if it's a new problem, you more likely have rusty pipes or rust in your water heater. Your plumber can help you get to the bottom of this potentially hazardous issue. Rust in your pipes could mean they're galvanized and pose a lead risk.
4. Water Heater Problems
Water heater problems can cause several different water quality issues. For example, you could face burn risks if your water heater is turned up too high. Or you may have problems with contaminated water if your water heater's tank is rusty on the inside. This is a sign of a rapidly deteriorating tank and typically only occurs if the tank's anode rod hasn't been replaced.
The sacrificial anode rod is made of an easily corrodible metal that acts as a decoy so that the water will corrode the cheap, replaceable rod rather than the entire tank. Once the anode rod has been completely dissolved, however, there's nothing to keep the inside of the tank from getting rusty. This is why simple water heater maintenance is so critical.
These are some of the water quality problems you could expect to stem from plumbing issues. However, many other water quality issues can occur due to groundwater contamination, city water problems, or other issues. No matter where the problem stems from, your plumber can help you get to the bottom of it and choose the correct mitigation procedures.
If you're concerned about your water quality and suspect a plumbing malfunction could be the cause, get in touch with Art Douglas Plumbing Inc. today. We'll be glad to come out and assess the situation.