Hello Dr.Thomsen,
A few years ago we received a notice about there being contaminants, such as lead, in our tap water because of old pipes. Are generic water filters that can be attached to faucets enough to deal with this? Or is getting bottled water in large quantities safer?
Thank you,
Kareem of Barrington 10/01/11
Kareem,
Both "Pur" and "Brita" have filtering systems that can be attached to faucets and they both remove lead from water. To be effective they require maintenance. The filters have to be changed on a regular basis and this constitutes an ongoing expense. Before committing to one of these systems, I recommend that you have your tap water tested. BACOG conducts a water testing program. Their Level 2 test includes lead as well as additional metals and other contaminates and costs $35 (click here for more information). Barrington is required to test their water on a regular basis and they report that lead levels are consistently below action levels, therefore, unless lead piping is part of your delivery system, your tap water should be fine. If you don't know the state of your water delivery system, then running your tap water for 30 second to two minutes before you use it is a good precaution.
Dr. Kurt O. Thomsen 10/06/2011
|
Hello Dr.Thomsen,
I am doing the level 3 testing tomorrow on my well water. I put the
water softener on bypass. Then I ran many taps for a while to flush out the
softened water. Unfortunately, I left one running by accident for 5 hours. I am
worried that this could affect the accuracy of my test sample. The maps of the
water supply fields leads me to believe that this water supply is so vast that
hopefully, it won't affect my sample. I would be very grateful for your
opinion.
This website is really interesting!
Thank you,
Louise of Barrington Hills 9/26/11
Louise,
Leaving
the water run for five hours before sampling will have no effect on the sample.
As a matter of fact, normal sampling procedures require that you run the water
or purge the well for a short period of time before sampling so that you're
sure of getting a fresh sample. Of course running the tap for five hours is
overdoing it a little bit. You are correct in assuming that there is a large
supply of water available, but the water that you finally sampled originated
fairly close to your well even though your tap was running for five hours.
Also, the sample will have the characteristics of the water in the aquifer
located directly below your neighborhood.
Dr. Kurt O. Thomsen 9/27/2011
|
|
