Local vs Whole House FiltrationFiltration is a critically important piece of the water treatment puzzle. It comes from the water utility company as "Utility Grade Water" which is generally safe for drinking,
But it is absolutely NOT optimized or ideal for human consumption. Further filtration of utility grade water, at the very least, is strongly recommended. But do you filter the entire water supply coming in to your home or do you just filter it at the point of use such as the kitchen sink or shower? There are advantages to both methods so let's discuss. The Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, oversees water treatment for larger communities like Dana Point. Here's what the EPA says about how water gets treated from its source. "Water suppliers use a variety of treatment processes to remove contaminants from drinking water. These individual processes can be arranged in a “treatment train” (a series of processes applied in a sequence). These are all good things when it comes to the treatment of public water systems. There are so many possible contaminants and harmful micro lifeforms in raw water that it would be irresponsible to let the public drink poorly treated raw water. Overall, this is a good thing.
But there have been side effects and problems that arise from this public treatment of water. The EPA in the same booklet said, "Disinfection of drinking water is one of the major public health advances of the 20th century. However, sometimes the disinfectants themselves can react with naturally occurring materials in the water to form unintended byproducts, which may pose health risks. EPA recognizes the importance of removing microbial contaminants while simultaneously protecting the public from disinfection byproducts, and has developed regulations to limit the presence of these byproducts." So we're on a fine line of cost vs benefit in the way we treat public water. We're referring to cost of health here too. Like we said previously, utility grade water that comes from our wonderful Dana Point Water treatment companies is SAFE, but not ideal. Here's what the EPA responded in answer to the question, "Can I do anything in my house to improve the safety of my drinking water?"
"Most people do not need to treat drinking water in their home to make it safe. However, a home water treatment unit can improve water’s taste, or provide a factor of safety for those people more vulnerable to waterborne disease." Do you see what we mean about SAFE? They're implying it's safe for MOST people, but may not be "for those people more vulnerable to waterborne disease."
Gives you a warm fuzzy feeling all over, right? There are two possible solutions to convert "safe" utility grade water into "safer" working grade water.
Point of Use treatment systems can be installed at the tap, above the counter, under the counter, in the shower, or even in the laundry room. Optimized water falls under this category of treatment systems. Point of Entry treatment systems treat all water entering the building as the name implies. It involves several different types of treatment including filtration, reverse osmosis treatment, distillation, ion exchange, etc. At Dana Point we are almost always delivered safe utility grade water through our pipes, but sometimes events happen that may make that no so. Again, let's see what the EPA has to say on such matters: "Local incidents, such as spills and treatment problems, can lead to short-term needs for alternative water supplies or in-home water treatment. In isolated cases, individuals may need to rely on alternative sources for the long term, due to their individual health needs or problems with obtaining new drinking water supplies." We all know that no system is perfect 100% of the time, including our public utilities. By adding on in-home water treatment systems, whether at the point of entry or at the point of us, you are adding one more layer of security for this most vital resource of life.
If you're not sure what type of in-home water treatment systems is best for your situation, give us a call and we'll be happy to discuss the options with you. All at no obligation of course. Call us at 949-441-5030 And if you're curious about the rest of what the EPA says in "Water on Tap" you can download the whole booklet here. 
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