Your home is where you raise your children and build lasting memories. It’s a soft place to land after a hard day at work. Every day we hear of new threats to the health and well-being of ourselves and our children. The last thing you should have to worry about is the quality of your water, which is why we make it our job to do that for you. The quality of the water that you drink, serve to your family and guests, bathe in, play in and cook with is among the top concerns in our home inspection process. Home water quality inspection kits can cost hundreds of dollars and are still not as thorough and accurate as our water quality testing. To be in good health, a person should consume 2.5 quarts of water per day through what we eat and drink. Americans drink more than one billion glasses of tap water per day. To suggest that water quality is an important part of your home inspection is an understatement. Whether you are planning to sell your home, buy a new home or simply want the peace of mind of a clean bill of heath for your home, we can help you. Our accredited, thorough team will assess the quality of your water and guarantee our results. If your water quality is anything less than what it should be, we will assist you in bringing it up to the standards that your family deserves.
Ensuring that the water quality in your family’s home is well within the EPA standards is of utmost importance to us. We adhere to both the general philosophy as well as the specific mandates of the Safe Drinking Water Act. The Safe Drinking Water Act, or SDWA was a federal law passed by congress in 1974 that ensures quality drinking water to America’s families. Water quality is determined by a variety of factors. The SDWA addresses both primary standards of water quality as well as secondary standards. Primary standards regulate substances in water that may affect your family’s health. Secondary standards address water quality issues such as the odor, taste and appearance of your drinking water.
Levels of contaminants such as lead or copper are something that must be measured. Copper in your water can cause an unpleasant odor and taste in addition to annoying and unsightly stains on porcelain sinks and toilets. More importantly, anything more than trace amounts of copper in your drinking water can also lead to serious health problems for you and your family. Evidence has even shown that there may be a link between high levels of copper in drinking water and Alzheimer’s disease. Lead poisoning leads to a wide range of symptoms, some that can go undiagnosed for long periods of time. Irritability and fatigue can result in both children and adults who have consumed high levels of lead. Children may also experience frequent headaches, muscle fatigue and higher rates of tooth decay. Among the most serious consequences of high levels of lead in your drinking water are seizures, paralysis and coma.
An additional health risk associated with water quality is the level of different viruses or bacteria such as E. coli and others in your water. Such bacteria can lead to unpleasant flu-like symptoms. Your home should not be a source of illness or health problems and we strive to ensure that your water quality is consistent with the health standards you want for your family. These health issues are an even greater concern if your family includes infants and small children, the elderly, a pregnant person or anyone with a weakened immune system. Our water quality testing can provide you with a lot of peace of mind when it comes to your family’s health.
Another important measure of water quality is the hardness of your water which is the level of calcium and magnesium it contains. Hard water does not pose a particular health risk to your family but can cause a build up of mineral deposits and eventually clog your pipes. Repairing such a problem would be time consuming and expensive. In our water quality inspection, we strive to help you avoid such unnecessary future problems. The acidity or pH of your water can have significant effects on your plumbing as well. Low levels of acidity can be corrosive to your plumbing, whereas too little acidity can lead to lead in your tap water. In testing your water quality, we want to ensure that your pH levels are at an appropriate level to avoid either of these problems.
Aside from the previously mentioned expected contaminants that we look for in testing your water quality, there may be local concerns in your own neighborhood. If you live near a landfill or dry cleaning facility, you may be at risk for contaminates seeping into your water from the ground. A fuel leak near your home or possibly a neighbor or nearby business dumping chemicals such as gasoline or paint thinner could have very harmful effects on your family’s water quality. Additional threats include human and animal waste, salts from heavily salted nearby roads, herbicides and pesticides.
When we do a home inspection for you, your family’s health and safety is always on our minds. We live in a country with the cleanest drinking water in the world and often take for granted that the water coming from our tap is good for our health rather than the opposite. Through our water quality testing process, we will either give you the assurance that your water is safe, or alert you to potential problems and assist you with the best solutions for you and your family.
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