These materials are the copyright of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and any dissemination, distribution, or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. Water Treatment WQA Special Edition These materials are the copyright of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and any dissemination, distribution, or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. Water Treatment For Dummies® , WQA Special Edition Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River St. Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774 www.wiley.com Copyright © 2013 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or trans- mitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, record- ing, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without the prior written permission of the Publisher. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748- 6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions. Trademarks: Wiley, For Dummies, the Dummies Man logo, The Dummies Way, Dummies.com, Making Everything Easier, and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. WQA and the WQA logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of the Water Quality Association. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: THE PUBLISHER AND THE AUTHOR MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE CONTENTS OF THIS WORK AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION WARRANTIES OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. NO WARRANTY MAY BE CREATED OR EXTENDED BY SALES OR PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS. THE ADVICE AND STRATEGIES CONTAINED HEREIN MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR EVERY SITUATION. THIS WORK IS SOLD WITH THE UNDERSTANDING THAT THE PUBLISHER IS NOT ENGAGED IN RENDERING LEGAL, ACCOUNTING, OR OTHER PROFESSIONAL SERVICES. IF PROFESSIONAL ASSISTANCE IS REQUIRED, THE SERVICES OF A COMPETENT PROFESSIONAL PERSON SHOULD BE SOUGHT. NEITHER THE PUBLISHER NOR THE AUTHOR SHALL BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES ARISING HERE- FROM. THE FACT THAT AN ORGANIZATION OR WEBSITE IS REFERRED TO IN THIS WORK AS A CITATION AND/OR A POTENTIAL SOURCE OF FURTHER INFORMATION DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE AUTHOR OR THE PUBLISHER ENDORSES THE INFORMATION THE ORGANIZATION OR WEBSITE MAY PROVIDE OR RECOMMENDATIONS IT MAY MAKE. FURTHER, READERS SHOULD BE AWARE THAT INTERNET WEBSITES LISTED IN THIS WORK MAY HAVE CHANGED OR DISAP- PEARED BETWEEN WHEN THIS WORK WAS WRITTEN AND WHEN IT IS READ. For general information on our other products and services, or how to create a custom For Dummies book for your business or organization, please contact our Business Development Department in the U.S. at 877-409-4177, contact [email protected], or visit www.wiley.com/go/custompub. For information about licensing the For Dummies brand for products or services, contact BrandedRights&[email protected]. ISBN 978-1-118-64358-7 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-118-64410-2 (ebk) Manufactured in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Publisher’s Acknowledgments Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following: Acquisitions, Editorial, and Composition Services Vertical Websites Senior Project Coordinator: Kristie Rees Project Editor: Jennifer Bingham Layout and Graphics: Melanee Habig Editorial Manager: Rev Mengle Proofreader: Lindsay Amones Business Development Representative: Business Development Karen Hattan Lisa Coleman, Director, New Market and Custom Publishing Project Specialist: Brand Development Michael Sullivan These materials are the copyright of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and any dissemination, distribution, or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. Table of Contents Introduction .................................................................. 1 About This Book ............................................................1 Foolish Assumptions .....................................................1 Icons Used in This Book ................................................2 Where to Go From Here ................................................2 Chapter 1: What Is Water, Anyway? ........................ 3 Where Does Water Come From? ..................................3 How Water Gets to Your Home or Business ...............5 Counting Your Gallons ..................................................8 The Bottom Line ............................................................9 Chapter 2: Benefits of Good Water Quality ........... 11 Water and Health Are Linked .....................................11 Good for Appliances, Too ...........................................12 The USEPA Talks Sense ...............................................14 Water Quality Tips .......................................................15 Chapter 3: What’s in Your Water? .......................... 17 How Pure Is Pure? ........................................................17 Diagnose Your Water...................................................18 Is My Water Hard or Soft? ...........................................25 Is My Water pH Neutral? .............................................26 What Do You Call Safe? ...............................................26 These materials are the copyright of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and any dissemination, distribution, or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. iv Chapter 4: Finding the Right Water Treatment Products ................................................... 29 Condition Your Water .................................................29 When to Seek Professional Help ................................38 Finding the Best Products ..........................................40 Greener Water Treatment ...........................................41 Chapter 5: (More Than) Ten Questions to Ask a Water Quality Professional ...................... 43 These materials are the copyright of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and any dissemination, distribution, or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. Introduction ater, water everywhere. But is it good and safe to Wdrink or use? How can you tell if the water in your home is healthy for you, your family, and for that prized front-loading washing machine? What can you do if your water doesn’t measure up? Read on to find out. About This Book Water Treatment For Dummies, WQA Special Edition, answers your water quality questions. This book shows that you have options and tools available to help you take steps to ensure good quality drinking water for you and your family. Foolish Assumptions When we wrote this book, we made some assumptions about you. For example: ✓ You drink and use water every day (well, duh!), and you want that water to be clean and safe. ✓ You have some say in ensuring the quality of your water — most likely, you’re a homeowner. ✓ You don’t want to earn a PhD in water quality — you just want to be able to turn on the tap and be confident in the H2O that comes out. These materials are the copyright of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and any dissemination, distribution, or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. 2 Icons Used in This Book We want to help you soak up the most important points, so we’ve used handy icons to get your attention. These sentences are among the most impor- tant ones when it comes to understanding your water quality. You want to make your life easier? Then focus your attention on the item shown here. We know you don’t want a PhD in these topics, but here are extra details you might find interesting. We’re talking matters of health here, so watch out when you see this icon. Where to Go From Here Onward, of course! Or backwards! It’s your book; read it any way you like. The point is, we’ve tried to make it easy for you to do just that. Read it all the way through if you want, or skip from here to there to find just the tidbits you need. Turn to Chapter 1 to find out where your water comes from and how it gets to homes and businesses. Chapter 2 explains the benefits of good water quality. Chapter 3 explains why cleaner or conditioned water is good for you, your appliances, and your budget. Chapter 4 goes over the various options available for your water needs. These materials are the copyright of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and any dissemination, distribution, or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. Chapter 1 What Is Water, Anyway? In This Chapter ▶ Getting water to your tap ▶ Calculating the cost of water hat is water? Water is a molecule called H2O Wthat contains two atoms of hydrogen and one atom of oxygen. It’s a transparent, odorless, tasteless liquid that you can find in lakes, rivers, and oceans. It falls from the sky as rain or snow. Water is bottled and sold commercially, but it is also a key ingredient in thousands of products, from lotions and cosmetics to cleaners and beverages. Where Does Water Come From? If you’re fortunate, water is all around you, in just the right amounts and in the right places. But it didn’t just get there by magic. Ultimately, fresh water is the result of the Earth’s water or hydrologic cycle (see Figure 1-1). Basically, the sun’s heat causes surface water to evaporate. It rises in the atmosphere, then cools and con- denses to form clouds. When