Water is at the heart of a lot of things your family does in the house! Not only do you drink water, but you shower in it, wash your clothes and dishes in it, and even bathe your kids with it. You want it to be as clean and pure as possible! But how can you know for sure it is?
Leaking Toilets, Faucets, or Water Lines
If you’ve been dealing with a lot of pesky leaks around your house, it might be a sign that you have hard water or a lot of chlorine in your water. Both things can lead to leaks throughout your plumbing system. If you’re noticing this problem, it’s best not to wait! Small leaks don’t get better on their own, and over time, even a little drip can cause a lot of damage.
Dry Hair or Dry and Itchy Skin
Your water quality isn’t only important for your drinking water. Your skin absorbs water through your pores while you shower! If you have poor water quality, it doesn’t matter if you filter your drinking water or only drink bottled water. It’s going to impact your skin! Often, homes that rely on city water have high levels of chlorine. While chlorine is great for killing germs in your water, it’s not great to have excess chlorine. It dries out your hair and skin and can make you itchy. It’s especially bad for your skin if you suffer from eczema!
Not only does chlorine dry out your hair and skin, but too many minerals like iron, calcium, and magnesium in your water can also dry things out. The only way to know for sure what’s causing your dry skin and hair is to have a professional out to test your water quality!
Respiratory Problems
Not only does your body absorb water from your shower, but you inhale the steam as well! If you have problems like high chlorine levels in your water, you could be inhaling it during your hot showers. This can cause respiratory problems over time.
Your Water Has a Smell or Unpleasant Taste
There could be a number of things impacting the taste and smell of your water. One of the most common culprits of unpleasant drinking water is excess chlorine. If your water smells like a swimming pool, you might have too much chlorine in it. Often, people who have water that doesn’t smell or taste good will actually drink less than the recommended amount because of it. You deserve water that’s refreshing!
Your Clothes Are Fading or Staining in the Wash
Are those brand-new black jeans already looking like a dull gray? If your clothes fade way too fast, it’s likely because of your water quality.
If your clothes are developing mysterious stains, it could be from minerals like iron, sulfur, and manganese in your water. When your water has too many minerals, it’s called “hard water.” Hard water can leave yellow stains (especially on lighter colored clothes) or white streaks (especially on darker clothes). Even though your laundry is fresh and clean, hard water can make it look dirty and dingy. When one of our water experts comes out to test your water quality, they can talk to you about some options to fix your water woes, like water softeners!
Water Spots in Dishes and Shower Tub
If you have hard water, minerals can easily build up on your dishes. Even when you’ve just pulled them out of the dishwasher, they can look dirty and spotted. And they don’t just rinse off. After all, the problem is coming from your water!
Calcium Buildup or Scale on Shower Heads and Faucets
Do you have white build-up on your faucets? That stuff can be pretty tricky to get rid of, and it always seems to come out of nowhere! No, it’s not toothpaste. That scaley build-up is from calcium in your water. Growing up, we always heard how important it was to have enough calcium to grow up big and strong, but calcium isn’t good for your home’s plumbing. Not only does it cause ugly marks all over your faucets and fixtures, but it can cause clogs and damage to your home’s drains and pipes.
You’re Pregnant or Have Small Children
Nitrates in your water could lead to birth defects (not to mention thyroid disease and an increased risk of colon cancer). That’s why it’s especially important to make sure your water is pure if you’re pregnant! Not only is poor water quality dangerous for children before they’re born, but children in general are more sensitive to contaminants in water.
Sulfates in your water can cause illness in people and animals. Infants are especially at risk! And too much chlorine can be damaging to a child’s skin. Let us make sure your family gets the safe and pure water they deserve!
How to Test Your Water Quality
If you suspect your water quality isn’t what it should be (or if you just want to play it safe), give us a call or text us! We can send one of our water experts out to do a basic water test for FREE! This test checks your chlorine levels and some other basic things.
If you’re looking for a test that’s more in-depth and accurate, we can handle that, too! Our photometer testing is great for checking about ten different parameters of your water. During that test, we’ll sample your water and run it through our in-office laboratory equipment. We’ll follow up with you the next day to talk about the results and help you understand what we found. If your water needs some help, we’ll teach you about the different options that could help get your family the best water possible. Our Priority Advantage® Members get this testing (normally $149) for FREE! And when you’re a member, we take our lab equipment to you, so you get the results the same day.
If you have major concerns about the safety of your water, we have another test that checks 87 different things, such as lead and bacteria.
Not sure which test is right for you? Give us a call, text us, or message us online!
What to Do About Poor Water Quality
After your water quality test, the next step is to figure out an action plan to clear up your water issues. When you schedule a water quality test with Morris-Jenkins, we’ll have one of our water experts go over your test results with you. They’ll answer any questions you have and teach you about all the options we have to get your family the best water possible based on your specific water quality! Once you decide which option is best for you, we can get your water filtration or water softener installed right away. You could have pure water that very same day!
