Every day a person consumes several liters of water (in pure form or with food), and it is not surprising that many people worry about whether it is possible to use tap water, how safe it is, how to clean it.
What determines the quality of water in your apartment?
Unfortunately, this question cannot be answered unequivocally, because in different regions of Russia, city districts and even individual houses, the water quality can vary significantly. And that's why:
- Different water treatment and the quality of the source of natural water.
In regions that use surface water, the water is muddy and dirty, and water treatment is the most difficult. At the same time, Moscow, St. Petersburg and other million-plus cities are rich cities that can afford the most advanced water treatment technologies (for several years Moscow and St. Petersburg abandoned chlorine). In other regions, due to inadequate funding, problems often arise, which result in rusty tap water .
- Deterioration of water supply networks.
In some regions, more than 60% of pipelines are in disrepair and worn out. That is, while the water reaches the apartment, secondary pollution occurs. Again, in Moscow and St. Petersburg the situation is best - there is a program according to which worn pipe sections are changed every year. True, these measures do not give a 100% guarantee that the water will be clean - now most often they use plastic pipes, they last about 50 years, they perform well, but there is one big minus - such pipes are easy to fake. And in the pursuit of economy, contractors buy pipes made of low-quality material that release toxic substances during operation. This problem can be solved if a technical requirement for the production of such pipes is developed at the level of legislation. Or use pipes made of ductile ductile iron. Such pipes serve more than 100 years, do not crack and practically do not give in to corrosion. But it is worth noting that they cost more. That is why their use is not universal.
By the way, it is important to understand that there are trunk pipelines, but there are intra-quarter pipelines. This means that up to a certain point, the water canal is responsible for the quality of the water, and then the city authorities and the housing office.
How to determine if it is possible to drink tap water?
- The most accurate way to submit water for analysis is to make sure that it is high quality water that gets into your apartment. You will have to pay for such a procedure, but you will definitely know what composition of water is. By the way, it is important to remember that by standards the content of substances can be within the normal range, but if you consume water with a high content of, for example, iron for a long time, this can negatively affect your health. On the contrary, a lack of calcium affects the nervous system and heart, and fluorine affects the condition of the teeth. That is, such water can only be safe in certain quantities.
- If it is not possible to pass water for analysis, then you can try to determine by eye or taste. But one can only understand if the water is very polluted and contains a lot of impurities. More often, impeccably clean and clear water can contain bacteria that are harmful to health. So, it will be very difficult to say about the safety of such water.
How to protect yourself and purify water?
- There are a large number of different filters (from jugs to reverse osmosis) that allow you to locally purify water from some impurities. The most popular is the jug, which is in almost every apartment. More advanced filters are step filters, they are connected to the pipe and allow to purify water from mechanical impurities, manganese, heavy metals, chlorine, removes salt compounds. Reverse osmosis allows you to completely purify the water and make it safe. Of course, it is best to do a water analysis and choose a filter based on its results.
- Some boil water, but in this case, the water becomes "dead", and some compounds can react at a temperature of 100 degrees.
- It is believed that water can be cleaned with quartz stones or shungite. In fact, it is useless, because silicon oxide and graphite do not dissolve in water, but bacteria are oxidized and accumulate.
Thus, many factors affect the quality of tap water. And in order to accurately verify its safety, you need to do a water analysis. If this is not possible, then at least let it go for a few minutes until the water from the main water supply (water should be icy) goes. And, of course, it is better to use cold water in everyday life, since hot water pipelines often fail, are susceptible to corrosion.