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Is your City Water Safe?
Learn about cancer risk from Chlorine By-Products in City-supplied Water, as well as Copper and Lead risk from old pipes.
If you live in a city and use tap water for drinking, you should know the following:
Learn about cancer risk from Chlorine By-Products in City-supplied Water, as well as Copper and Lead risk from old pipes.
If you live in a city and use tap water for drinking, you should know the following:
- Chlorine & Chloramine: Chlorine is the weapon of choice for city and municipal water sources for killing waterborne bacteria. Thus, chlorine in general is highly protective of public health. It can, however, have negative side-effects in drinking water when chlorine mixes with organic compounds to form highly dangerous Disinfection Byproducts such as Trihalomethanes (THM) and Haloacetic Acids (HAAs) (see below). Even without the forming Disinfection Byproducts, many experts agree that Chlorine itself can have some negative effects to the human body, including causing skin irritation, rash and dryness as well as stomach irritation in some cases. Chloramines are disinfectants used to treat drinking water. Chloramines are most commonly formed when ammonia is added to chlorine to treat drinking water. The typical purpose of chloramines is to provide longer-lasting water treatment as the water moves through pipes to consumers.
- Disinfection By-Products: When chlorine in water is exposed to Organic Compounds 'Disinfection By-Products'(DBP), such as Trihalomethanes (THM) and Haloacetic Acids (HAAs) can form. Trihalomethanes (THM) and Haloacetic Acids (HAAs) can be carcinogenic (cancer causing). "According to the U.S. Council of Environmental Quality, the cancer risk to people who drink chlorinated water is 93 percent higher than among those whose water does not contain chlorine." (source: Mercola.com)
The trihalomethanes are chloroform, bromodichloromethane, dibromochloromethane, and bromoform. EPA has published the Stage 1 Disinfectants/Disinfection Byproducts Rule to regulate total trihalomethanes (TTHM) at a maximum allowable annual average level of 80 parts per billion. The regulated haloacetic acids, known as HAA5, are: monochloroacetic acid, dichloroacetic acid, trichloroacetic acid, monobromoacetic acid, and dibromoacetic acid. EPA has published the Stage 1 Disinfectants/Disinfection Byproducts Rule to regulate HAA5 at 60 parts per billion annual average. - Trace Metals: Lead & Copper Lead, a metal found in natural deposits, is commonly used in household plumbing materials and water service lines. The greatest exposure to lead is swallowing or breathing in lead paint chips and dust. Lead is rarely found in source water, but enters tap water through corrosion of plumbing materials. Copper is a naturally metal, and commonly used in piping systems for plumbing. Copper enters the water through pipes and plumbing fixtures. Water with a low pH (Below 6.5) is considered aggressive and will cause water to dissolve anything it comes into contact with including copper pipes and other plumbing fixtures.
CityScan Tap Water Test Kit - CityWater Scan $167
-28 Total Contaminants
- 22 Heavy Metals
- Chlorine
- Minerals
- Alkalinity
-VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds)
- Trihalomethanes
CityScan Tap Water Test Kit - CityWater Scan $Complete $250
-28 Total Contaminants
- 22 Heavy Metals
- Chlorine
- Minerals
- Alkalinity
-VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds)
- Trihalomethanes
-Haloacetic Acids
-28 Total Contaminants
- 22 Heavy Metals
- Chlorine
- Minerals
- Alkalinity
-VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds)
- Trihalomethanes
CityScan Tap Water Test Kit - CityWater Scan $Complete $250
-28 Total Contaminants
- 22 Heavy Metals
- Chlorine
- Minerals
- Alkalinity
-VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds)
- Trihalomethanes
-Haloacetic Acids