A contaminant is an any physical, biological, chemical, or radioactive substance that is present in the water. The point is that many people do not get to know about it until it starts to show its consequences.
Adding to this, the water regulatory authorities are not even in action, taking precautionary measures, to wipe out the most common contaminants in water. Moreover, the system of checking the purity of water is quite outdated, as several contaminants are not included in the list.
With that said, we are to list down the 10 most common contaminants present in our drinking water. And how badly do they affect our health? Besides, we’ll talk about the best possible ways to get rid of these contaminants.
On that note, let’s get straight into it:
What’s in Your Drinking Water?
Water pollution is one of the major dilemmas of this era. And its consequences lead to contaminated-drinking water. You might not be aware of the water pipelines and plumbing fixtures that are playing an important role in making your water contaminated.
The lead particles penetrate the water, making it unhealthy. So we get to the first most common type of contaminant present in water i.e. Lead.
Lead
Lead is one of the most common and dangerous contaminants that you can have in your drinking water. This usually adds into our water from corroded pipelines or other metal fixtures.
In addition to that, lead can cause some serious problems and extra harmful effects on your health. If children are exposed to lead-contaminated water, then they might end up with severe brain damage and learning disabilities. As for the adults, it leads to reproductive issues, seizures, and nausea.
Now, we have the other most common types of contaminants that are present in our water:
Microbes
Microbes or microorganisms are the most familiar type of contaminants that everyone knows about. It includes bacteria, protozoa, viruses, E. coli, and many other unseen living organisms.
With that said, not all of the microorganisms are harmful, rather some of them have no certain impact on your health. So, it is advised to filter your water before using it, as it removes most of the microbes.
Manganese
Manganese is abundantly found in underground water. the reason is that Earth’s crust has an ample ratio of manganese. The manganese-contaminated water can be extremely harmful to health as it can cause serious intellectual disorders.
Mercury
Mercury also comes from the Earth’s crust and enters into the drinking water. Apart from this, it also gets added into water streams through the industrial wastes. So in case, you think that your tap water is not that harmful, you better double-check that again.
Arsenic
Arsenic is also present in the drinking water, however in a small ratio. It usually enters the underground water from the upper-most layer of Earth’s surface.
Chlorine
Chlorine is yet another most common contaminant present in our drinking water supply. One of the major sources of chlorine is the disinfectant used on water supplies. It surely has an impact on the hygiene of the water.
However, when the amount of chlorine gets higher than what it was supposed to be, it becomes toxic.
Chloramine
Chloramine is also a product of disinfectants that are used by the municipalities to keep the water supplies hygienic. It dissolves into the water like no other contaminant, making it unsuitable for health instantly.
Nitrate
Well, nitrate is not that common in urban areas’ water supplies. However, in the rural sides, where there are plants and large fields, the amount of nitrate is comparatively high. The main reason behind the abundance of nitrates is the use of fertilizers.
Radioactive Substances
It sounds unusual that how radioactive substances enter into our drinking water. But here’s the deal:
The radioactive substances enter the ground upon digging for construction, coal-mining, and several other productive projects. These contaminants are also included in your daily water intake.
Copper
Well, copper is not that dangerous, until it reaches a certain level of usage. You got to fix your water old and nasty water pipelines, to reduce the contamination of copper into your water.
Water-Related FAQs:
What are the most common types of contaminants?
There are four major types of water contaminants, that are potentially present in your drinking water. These include physical contaminants, chemical contaminants, biological contaminants, and radioactive contaminants.
Is tap water safe?
To some extent, yes, tap water is quite safe to drink. But as we have discussed in detail that what different types of contaminants can be there in your water supplies, so you better make sure to filter even the tap water.
What are the major sources of contaminants in water?
The water contaminants come from different places and get dissolved in your water. Some of the most common sources of water contaminants include underground water reservoirs, unchecked industrial wastes, and excessive use of disinfectants.
How do you remove contaminants from the water?
While it’s almost impossible to remove every type of contaminant from water, you can take help from water filters or Reverse Osmosis systems. These kinds of filters are meant to remove most of the harmful contaminants from water, i.e. chlorine, lead, mercury, chloramine, and zinc. So, that’s one of the best ways to remove contaminants from water.
Summing Things Up:
Now you know the most common types of contaminants that normally exist in the tap water or any other source of drinking water. You better have a quick fix to get rid of this nasty water and have great-tasting, healthy water instead. Better check out for the whole house filtration systems, or else get filtered water pitchers for instant clean water.
So go grab the possible thing you can and save your family from waterborne contaminants.
Don’t hesitate to mention your queries regarding the main topic and I’d be more than happy to help you.
