Does your water supply taste or smell odd? Could something in your water be damaging your plumbing pipes? Alternatively, could your pipes be making your water unhealthy? Home water problems are more prevalent if your water comes from a pond or well, or if you live in an older home in the Indianapolis area.
For some situations, you may just need an inexpensive water filter to correct your home water problems. For others, you may need professional help to diagnose and correct water quality issues.
Common Problems in Your Household Water Supply
- Strange smells or taste: An activated carbon water filter or oxidizing filter can help solve many issues. A rotten egg smell, which may indicate the presence of hydrogen sulfide, typically requires multistage water filtration to help prevent rusty, leaking pipes.
- Moldy or fishy odors: If you smell or taste mold in your tap water, you may have a serious problem — organic contamination from the sewer. Make sure to schedule a professional inspection of your plumbing and sewer system to protect your family’s health. Once the system is repaired, chlorine additives may be used.
- Lead: Old copper plumbing pipes can cause lead contamination. This is because piping was often soldered with lead. Lead can go unnoticed in your water supply, where it’s odorless, tasteless and invisible, so have your water supply professionally analyzed if your home is older. A carbon block or a reverse osmosis filter may be recommended.
- Calcium and magnesium: Both are common minerals present in hard water. They can cause lime scale buildup, restrict water flow and damage plumbing pipes. An ion-exchange water softener is recommended to replace other minerals with sodium.
- Iron and manganese: These minerals make water cloudy and/or brown-tinged, causing a metallic taste. You may also see rust stains on dishes, laundered clothes and fixtures. For minor problems, traditional water softening should be sufficient. At concentrations above five parts per million, use colloidal iron or oxidizing filtration.
Make sure to get expert help with your home water problems! Contact the plumbing professionals at Mowery Heating, Cooling and Plumbing today.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Brownsburg, Indiana and surrounding areas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).
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