What Are the Real Risks with Your Water?

We all take some level of risk

I ride a motorcycle. I'm not going to tell you not to take risks.

I'd be a hypocrite to tell you not to take any risks with your health. I take a risk every time I get onto my bike. We all take risks.

Well, you know that.

Here's the thing, though. There's a difference between a risk you choose and a risk you don't even know is there.

What about the stuff you don't even know that you don't know? How do you determine the real risks? There's a lot going on with water. It is best to have a trained man test your water at your tap. Not just at the water treatment plant.

The plant tests the water where it leaves the plant. That's their job, and they do it. But then that water travels to your house through miles of old pipe. What comes out of your faucet is not the same water they tested.

Water goes through old pipes. Galvanized pipe breaks down. The zinc coating on that pipe carries cadmium with it — the two come together in the metal, and as the pipe corrodes, both of them leach into your water. Cadmium is a known damager of kidneys. The EPA's limit for cadmium in drinking water is 5 parts per billion, and the EPA itself names the corrosion of galvanized pipes as a source.

And it doesn't stop at cadmium. The EPA's drinking-water table reads like a chemistry list: antimony, 6 parts per billion. Beryllium, 4. Cadmium, 5. Lead, a health goal of zero — there is no safe level. Some of it comes off the pipes themselves. The rest rides in through the system. Either way, it all comes out of the same faucet.

Your water system adds orthophosphates to help. They coat the inside of the pipes and slow the metals from leaching out. It helps. But they do not eliminate the risk. A coating is not a cure.

Under two dollars a day

What if I were to tell you that for under $2.00 a day, I could drastically reduce the risk of the chemicals your family consumes?

Here's the math, straight. A whole-home system around $6,000, spread over ten years, is about $1.64 a day. That's the system itself — salt and filters are on top of that, and I'll put those numbers in front of you before you sign anything. No hidden anything. You see the numbers before you decide.

What if I told you that boiling water reduces germs, but actually increases the risks from other chemicals?

Boiling is the surest way to kill germs. The CDC says so, and the CDC is right. But boiling does NOT remove chemicals. The germs die. The lead, the nitrate, the arsenic — they stay in the pot. And as the water boils off as steam, what's left behind gets more concentrated. Boil off a tenth of the pot, and the chemicals left in it are about 11 percent stronger. That's not a scare line. That's the math of a pot.

Sized off the tests in your kitchen

I build treatment systems for Michigan water, and I further size those systems based on the water tests I do in your kitchen. Not at the plant. At your tap — where your family actually drinks it.

No pressure. We all take risks. I'm not going to tell you to live in a bubble. I ride a motorcycle.

But there's a difference between a risk you chose and a risk you never knew was there. A free water test costs you nothing, and it tells you what's actually coming out of your faucet. Then you decide.

No pressure — just the results.

— Scott Britton, third generation water guy

Hambly Water Conditioning — free water test.

Sources

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Primary Drinking Water Regulations — antimony MCL 0.006 mg/L (6 ppb); beryllium MCL 0.004 mg/L (4 ppb); cadmium MCL 0.005 mg/L (5 ppb), health effect "kidney damage," source "corrosion of galvanized pipes"; lead maximum contaminant level goal: zero. https://www.epa.gov/ground-water-and-drinking-water/national-primary-drinking-water-regulations

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Consumer Factsheet on Cadmium — "cadmium can be released to drinking water from the corrosion of some galvanized plumbing and water main pipe materials"; lifetime exposure above the MCL can cause kidney, liver, bone and blood damage. https://permanent.access.gpo.gov/websites/epagov/www.epa.gov/OGWDW/contaminants/dw_contamfs/cadmium.html

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), ToxFAQs: Cadmium — "Cadmium damages the kidneys, lungs, and bones"; "Long-term exposure to lower levels of cadmium in air, food, or water leads to a buildup of cadmium in the kidneys and possible kidney disease." https://response.epa.gov/sites/16277/files/tfacts5.pdf

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Frequently Asked Questions — "Public water systems commonly add phosphates to drinking water to prevent the release of metals in drinking water. Orthophosphate is most commonly used for lead and copper control"; "Lead can enter drinking water when plumbing materials that contain lead corrode." https://www.epa.gov/faqs/search?f%5B0%5D=topics%3A315231

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Boil Water Advisory — "Boiling is the surest way to kill disease-causing organisms, including viruses, bacteria, and parasites... Boiling does NOT remove chemicals." Rolling boil 1 minute; 3 minutes above 6,500 feet. https://www.cdc.gov/natural-disasters/psa-toolkit/boil-water-advisory.html

Warren et al., "Heavy Metals, Iron, and Arsenic in Water and Sediment from a Cold Spring in Southwest Ohio," Environmental Engineering Science 36(10), 2019 — "Zinc galvanized coatings may contain 0.5–1.4% lead by weight with traces of cadmium as a contaminant. Leaching of Zn, Pb, and Cd from galvanized pipes can result in significant contamination of drinking water." https://www.researchgate.net/publication/334525783_Heavy_Metals_Iron_and_Arsenic_in_Water_and_Sediment_from_a_Cold_Spring_in_Southwest_Ohio