Is tap water safe?

Every day a person consumes several liters of water( in pure form or with food), and it is not surprising that the questions, whether it is possible to use tap water, how safe it is, how to purify water, excite many.

What determines the quality of water in your apartment?

Unfortunately, it is impossible to answer this question unequivocally, because in different regions of Russia, city districts and even individual houses, water quality can differ significantly. And here's why:

1. Different water purification and quality of the original natural water.

In regions that use surface water, muddy and dirty water, and water treatment is the most difficult. At the same time, Moscow, St. Petersburg and other cities with over one million people are rich cities that can afford the most advanced technologies for water treatment( several years Moscow and St. Petersburg abandoned chlorine).In other regions, due to inadequate funding, there are often problems with rusted water from the tap.

1. Deterioration of water supply networks.

In some regions, more than 60% of pipelines are in an emergency condition and worn out. That is, while water reaches the apartment, secondary pollution occurs. Again, in Moscow and St. Petersburg, the situation is best - there is a program according to which the worn sections of pipes change every year. True, these measures do not give a 100% guarantee that the water will be clean - now plastic pipes are used most often, they serve about 50 years, they show themselves well in operation, but there is one big drawback - they are easy to forge such pipes. And contractors in pursuit of savings buy pipes from poor-quality material, which in the course of operation emit toxic substances. This problem can be solved if a technical requirement for the production of such pipes is developed at the level of legislation. Or use pipes made of high-strength cast iron with a spherical coating. Such pipes serve more than 100 years, do not give cracks and practically do not give in to corrosion. But it is worth noting that they are more expensive. That is why their use is not universal.

By the way, it is important to understand that there are trunk pipelines, and there are intraquarter pipelines. This means that up to a certain moment the water canal is responsible for the water quality, and then - the city authorities and the housing office.

How to determine if it is possible to drink tap water?

1. The most accurate way to pass the water for analysis is to make sure that it is in your apartment that the water gets high quality. You will have to pay for such a procedure, but you will know exactly what water is made up. By the way, it is important to remember that according to standards the content of substances can be within the limits of the norm, but if you consume water with a high content, for example, iron for a long time, it can negatively affect your health. On the contrary, the lack of calcium affects the nervous system and the heart, fluoride affects the teeth. That is, such water can only be safe in certain quantities.

1. If it is not possible to pass the water for analysis, then you can try to determine by eye or taste. But you can understand only if the water is very dirty and contains a lot of impurities. More often, impeccably clean and transparent water can contain bacteria that are hazardous to health. So, it's very difficult to say about the safety of such water.

How to protect yourself and clean water?

1. There is a large number of different filters( from jugs to reverse osmosis) that allow you to locally purify water from certain impurities. The most popular is the pitcher, which is practically in every apartment. More advanced filters are stepped, they are connected to the pipe and allow to purify water from mechanical impurities, from manganese, heavy metals, chlorine, remove salt compounds. Reverse osmosis allows you to completely clean the water and make it safe. Of course, it is best to do a water analysis and select a filter based on its results.
2. Some boil water, but in this case the water becomes "dead", and some compounds can react at a temperature of 100 degrees.
3. It is believed that water can be cleaned with quartz stones or shungite. In fact, this is useless, because the silicon oxide and graphite do not dissolve in water, but the bacteria are oxidized and accumulated.

Thus, the quality of water from the tap affects a number of factors. And in order to make sure it's safe, you need to do a water analysis. If this is not possible, then at least a few minutes, until the water comes from the main water pipe( the water must be icy).And, of course, it is better to use cold water in everyday life, since hot water pipelines are more often out of order, are corroded.