Each year we celebrate Earth Day on April 22. Earth Day is a global event each year, and is estimated that more than 1 billion people in 192 countries now take part in what is the largest civic-focused day of action in the world.The importance of protecting our earth is paramount; by raising awareness each year it will keep environmental issues in the forefront of our minds, whether that is tackling plastic pollution, saving endangered animals or protecting our drinking water - do your part, get involved.
In April, the new schedules for drinking water systems are uploaded to the state website. Whether you are transient, non-transient non-community or community water system, you should be reviewing these items and talking to your designated inspector if you have any questions. A & L Laboratory is also available for any questions, guidance or sampling bottles/instructions. Each month, we automatically send out our clients required test kits and make sure to remind each system of any samples that have not been collected. However, it is important that you, too, stay proactive with your sampling and follow your required testing schedule.
Contact your Inspector:
(207) 287-2070 Contact the lab: (207) 784-5354
or htoye@granitestateanalytical.com
Chloramines vs. Chlorination in Drinking Water
Chloramines are disinfectants used in treating drinking water; they are a group of chemical compounds that contain chlorine and ammonia. The chloramine used in drinking water disinfection is called monochloramine. Monochloramine is mixed into water at levels that kill germs but is still safe to drink.
Chlorination vs. chloramination: There are pro's and con's to both methods of disinfection.
Chlorination is a very effective method of disinfection but it gets used up quickly sometimes leaving the outliers of a public water system without adequate or any disinfection to harmful pathogens. Chlorination also produces disinfection by-products that can be harmful if consumed over a long period of time. Disinfection by-products, harmful chemicals, are created when the water has high levels of debris or pathogens and the chlorine reacts with them. These are monitored through out public drinking water systems to ensure levels do not exceed a safe limit.
Chloramination is another very effective method of disinfection. It last much longer than chlorination and can reach the ends of the system resulting in adequate disinfection. It doesn't create as many disinfection by-products because it is less reactive than chlorine with natural organic matter but the ones that can occur can be more harmful than chlorination.
The Safe Drinking Water Act is the federal law that protects public drinking water supplies throughout the nation. Both methods are currently acceptable methods of disinfection under the SDWA.
Salt in Drinking Water
The Department of Transportation does their absolute best during the winter to ensure public safety including salting the roadways to prevent unsafe driving. This leads to a big problem over time: salt water runoff into the well water source. The EPA has set a secondary limit at 250mg/L for sulfate and chloride ions; however, these secondary issues are not health issues. If you are on a low sodium diet due to hypertension and/or high blood pressure, you should limit your sodium intake through your water to 20 mg/L.
If you have tested for sodium, chlorides or sulfates and have high levels, there are treatment options available to remove it from your well: Reverse osmosis: In a reverse osmosis filtration system, water flows through a membrane, filtering out some of the molecules within the water, including sodium. The treated water is stored in a small storage tank until needed.
Distillation: A distillation water treatment system uses temperature change to evaporate and recondense clean water. Inorganic minerals, such as such as sodium, do not usually transfer into the condensed water, but some organic contaminants will.
Deionization: Deionization is simply an ion-exchange process in which water flows through resin beds. Cation resin exchanges hydrogen ions (H ) for positive ions, and anion resin exchanges hydroxide ions (OH-) for negative ions.
