Unthinkable or Drinkable: How to Check Water Quality
You may have access to water in your home from your tap and sure it might be consumable. But are you sure it is the safest to drink? Are you aware of the chemicals and treatments added to it? If you often wonder about the quality of the water you’re drinking, it might be about time to put it to test. How to check water quality and assess whether it is safe to drink can be determined on various levels. Keep reading on to find out more about quality checks on your water.
What does water quality mean?
According to the United States Geological Survey, water quality is a measure of the acceptability of water for a particular purpose based on specified physical, chemical, and biological parameters. As a result, it is a measurement of the state of the water in relation to human needs or purposes or even the needs of different kinds of land or aquatic animals.
Following are the many water quality classifications based on their various purposes.
- Suitability of water for human consumption
- Water purity for domestic and industrial use
- Water environment quality
How to check water quality through physical parameters
People determine if water is safe to drink without the assistance of water testing equipment by looking at its color, odor, taste, and cloudiness. Unappealing water may actually be safe, and water that will make you sick may appear to be fine. Unfortunately, though we can check water’s quality for some extent through physical parameters, these physical characteristics are a poor indicator. Still it can be useful to keep an eye on them because physical characteristics may lead consumers to reject particular water sources.
Major physical parameters to check on:
- Turbidity - As turbidity rises it depicts chlorination efficiency is reduced. A low-tech method of gauging how turbid the water is is to use a turbidity tube.
- Color - With the caveat that it is not advisable to taste water of unknown quality, these properties can be noted by simple observation. For color comparisons, there are many common solutions that can be applied.
- Water temperature - This has an impact on dissolved oxygen levels, microbial activity, and ecosystem performance. With a regular thermometer, it is simple to measure. Modern water quality monitoring probes frequently have a temperature sensor built in.
Effects of water quality on human health
Insufficiently clean water for drinking, domestic usage, or even fun water activities can make people sick. Water tainted with microorganisms is a major cause for many diseases like diarrhea, cholera, dysentery, hepatitis A, typhoid, and polio, that account for a large portion of the world's disease burden.
The WHO estimates that cholera kills 21,000 to 143,000 people annually and affects 1.4 to 4 million people worldwide. Human risk arises from pollutants like pesticides, heavy metals, and solvents contaminating water sources. The risk of blood, lung, liver, and other cancers can rise with prolonged exposure to heavy metals such arsenic, chromium, lead, mercury, and cadmium.
Select the testing settings
Depending on your application there are a variety of elements and contaminants that you may wish to test for in order to determine the quality of the water. Here are some things to think about:
- pH values
To determine how acidic or alkaline water is, this is one of the most often performed water quality tests. Aquatic organisms' lifespan, microbial activity, chemical behavior, and nutrient density can all be affected by the pH of the water. By counting the free hydrogen and hydroxyl ions in the water, one can determine the pH. A higher amount of hydroxyl ions implies alkalinity, whereas a higher concentration of free hydrogen suggests acidity.
- Diffuse oxygen (DO)
Because oxygen is essential for all life forms, the level of Diffuse oxygen in water is correlated with health. Nothing will flourish in water that has too much oxygen in it.
- Salinity
Water's salinity, which refers to its salt content, is determined by analyzing its electrical conductivity. Compared to water with little or no salt, saltwater is more conductive.
- Ammonia/ammonium
Another critical indicator of water quality is the presence of ammonia, which may be measured in water. High quantities of ammonia can be a sign of pollution from pollutants like fertilizer and waste from the production of plastics, rubber, and other materials.
- Blue-green moss
Both freshwater and marine environments with warm, nutrient-rich water are suitable for the growth of this photosynthetic bacteria. If toxic algal blooms develop, they may inhibit the development of other plants below and cause the water to become hypoxic (oxygen-starved) and unlivable. In order to determine the health of a body of water, blue-green algae must be tested.
ETA Bottle vs water quality
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Learn how to check the water quality and to keep yourself and your family safe from the adverse effects of bad hydration due to water quality. Using ETA works exactly like a safety net—irrespective of whether a hazard occurs or not, you’re covered against a potential turn of events. Feel the difference by switching from regular water to safe and quality water from ETA