What Factors Affect Water Quality Used For Drinking

What Factors Affect Water Quality Used For Drinking

To look at what factors affecting water quality for drinking there is a need to go back to the source and follow its travels till it reaches the household tap.

Tap water starts as rain that falls on hill sides, it then travels downhill till it reaches a stream. From here it moves downwards till it runs into a creek, it then makes its way to a river with many other creeks. This river will run into a catchment for a city supply. On its way through its journey it may pick up all sorts of things, such as contamination from wildlife, bird droppings, dust and dirt, airborne particles and chemicals just to name a few.

This eventually ends up in the supply. To try to make this usable for a city it goes through several filtration processes which remove fine particles, then it has to be disinfected and fluoride may be added, this can depend on the treatment works for different cities.

From here it may be pumped to large reservoir tanks through pipes then distributed to household taps. What comes out of the tap may be contaminated with different chemicals and still have bacteria in it, especially things like Cryptosporidium and Giardia which are not killed by the chlorine disinfectant added at the treatment works.

If fluoride has been added this will also be in the supply, and the jury is still out on whether sodium fluoride is safe or not. Town supplies are treated in a similar way, but these may be pumped from a river into a storage facility and treated there before being pumped to the town.

The contamination of a rainwater tank can depend on where it is. In a town or city, or in the country it can be what lands on the roof, there will be birds, dust, dirt and pollution from automobiles, air planes, factory smoke and other things. If pumping directly from a creek to a tank as some do in the country, then whatever washes down from up stream will also be in the water

Cleaning the liquid so it suitable for human consumption with very few chemicals and little or no bacteria can be done with a filter. These filters improve the quality of the liquid because they take out the bacteria and other contaminates which may be in the liquid. Having a quality substance is vital in keeping your health and wellbeing safe and healthy. They are made for a specific purpose with some going above the sink, others under the sink and there are ones that are gravity fed and several others. It also tastes better and is far more healthier to drink and use.