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Here we review various options for correcting unsanitary or unsatisfactory drinking water. Various water treatment methods for contaminated water are reviewed and the pros and cons of each are discussed.This series of articles explains many common water contamination tests for bacteria and other contaminants in water samples. We describe what to do about contaminated water, listing common corrective measures when water test results are unsatisfactory. We include water testing and water correction measures warnings for home owners and especially for home buyers when certain conditions are encountered, with advice about what to do when these circumstances are encountered. Also see DRINKING WATER PURIFICATION for a discussion of various methods used to purify emergency drinking water.

© 2009 Daniel Friedman, All Rights Reserved. Information Accuracy & Bias Pledge is at below-left. Use links at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website.

Water Treatment for Contamination, Hardness, Odors, Sediment, Etc: choices of systems, recommendations

While we distinguish between having to treat water because it is not potable, and wanting to treat drinking water because of an aesthetic concern like odor, taste, smell, or staining, it is often the case that the equipment used for one purpose can also address the second set of concerns.

Here we are discussing water treatment, not water testing. See WATER TEST CHOICES & WATER TEST FEES for choices of water tests and our advice about choosing among them.

If community or private wells are back in operating and providing water, do not assume that the water is sanitary and ok to drink until responsible authorities have said so. Even then, local water pipes in a building may be unsanitary and additional cleaning or disinfection may be needed. See WELL CHLORINATION SHOCKING PROCEDURE and See WATER TESTS, CONTAMINANTS, TREATMENT for advice on using a private well for drinking water.

When is it reasonable, desirable, or actually necessary to install water treatment equipment:

• time does not permit thorough diagnosis and determination of the source of water contaminants (you have to move in and drink the water, or the bank won't issue the mortgage for a property purchase)
• water potability appears to be unreliable: a bacteria problem may have been temporarily masked or "corrected" by "shocking" the well in the past but follow-up testing suggests that it returns, perhaps seasonally as water tables change. See "When and How to Shock or Chlorinate a Well - Procedure for Shocking a Well to (temporarily or maybe longer) "Correct" Bacterial Contamination".
• There is a persistent source of water contamination - a potability or health issue
• There is a persistent source of an aesthetic water problem: hard water, sulphur odors (rotten eggs), iron, or other such contaminants.
• When people in a residence are at unusual health vulnerability: immune impaired, elderly, sick.

Pros/Cons: Advantages and Problems with Various Types of Water Treatment Equipment for Bacterial or Bacteriological Contamination

• Water Filters as Purifiers
• UV -ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT TREATMENT as a Water Purifier
• REVERSE OSMOSIS WATER TREATMENT Systems for Water Purification
• CHLORINATORS & CHARCOAL FILTERS for Water Purification
• Aesthetic water contaminants and treatment systems: sediment, iron, odors, taste
• Water Softeners for correcting "hard" water - clogs pipes, poor washing & bathing, mineral deposits, reduced hot water output from water heaters and tankless coils
• Sediment filters and Iron filters to reduce red iron stains on fixtures & clothings
• Sulphur odor filters or Sulphur Treatment Systems - get rid of that "rotten egg" smell
• WATER TREATMENT CHEMICAL SAFETY Warnings

Water Filters as Purifiers

Water Treatment Chemical Safety Warnings

Drinking water should be tested periodically, at least annually, especially if there is a known contamination issue - to make sure that the well has remained sanitary, or to make sure that the treatment equipment is working properly. Perhaps also to get lucky and find that treatment is no longer needed.

A minimum test is to collect a sample of treated water for this purpose. IF you also test water collected ahead of the treatment system you can confirm what treatment is needed.

Water treatment chemicals can be highly toxic or caustic and should be kept out of reach of children.

List of Principal Methods Used to Purify Contaminated Drinking Water when Camping or in an Emergency

• Boil the water to make it suitable for drinking.
• Bleach: Use chlorine (bleach, sodium hypochlorite) to purify the water. (see warnings just above). Permanent well water chlorination systems are discussed at CHLORINATORS & CHARCOAL FILTERS.
• Chlorination: where electrical power and water pressure are present and the equipment is already installed, a chlorinator or water chlorine injection treatment system, usually combined with a charcoal filter for water treatment may be functional. See CHLORINATORS & CHARCOAL FILTERS for details.
• Giardia in Drinking Water - a review of the health hazards & typical equipment costs for portable and whole house water treatment to remove Giardia cysts from drinking water
• Iodine: Use Iodine tablets or a liquid tincture of iodine to purify the water for emergency use (see warnings just above)
• Hydrogen peroxide may be used (maybe) to purify water for emergency drinking use. [The concentration and exposure time data are still needed for this application.]
• Water purifying filters: Use a filter designed for water purification, particularly ceramic filters and silver-ceramic filters. See WATER FILTERS for a separate discussion of home water filters used for sediment, odors, etc.
• Use a water purifying pump such as models sold by camping equipment suppliers to purify the water - typically these pumps use a ceramic or other filter
• Use a water distiller such as a home or portable distillation unit (our photo just above/left shows a Sears® Kenmore home water distiller) (You'll need electrical power or a source of heat to distill water). This device processes about one gallon of water per cycle. We have been using this Sears Kenmore water distiller, model 5000 for more than fifteen years without a hitch. A disposable charcoal post-distillation filter is available for use in the drip spout of the unit - a potential source of contamination if it is not changed occasionally.
• Reverse osmosis: use a Reverse osmosis water filtration system if water pressure is available or if a portable R.O. system is available. See REVERSE OSMOSIS WATER TREATMENT for details. RO treatment systems may work where there is no electrical power provided that you have water pressure, such as in some municipal water situations.
• UV Lights - ultra violet light used for water sterilization - see UV -ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT TREATMENT
• Vinegar is sometimes used as a vegetable wash and may be effective against some microorganisms in water - we have not yet found authoritative data on this application.
• Mixed oxidants electrochemically generated from brine have been used for water disinfection
• Halogenated resins have been used for water disinfection
• Home Made & Expedient Water Sterilization Methods: Matthew Stein describes a variety of home-made, expedient, and partly effective water filters and water treatment methods in When Technology Fails. With plastic and a few sticks you can build a solar water sterilizer (solar water disinfection or SODIS systems).
  
  Stein also explains that slow sand filters have been used for partially cleaning and treating water for a very long time. A crude home made charcoal filter will remove some odors, bad tastes, organic toxic chemicals, and radioactive fallout. Mr. Stein also describes sari water filters used in Bangladesh after flooding, but includes a critical warning that filtering water through cloth is by no means really safe.
  
  Our favorite of his suggestions is using a plant to form a water collector and filter system, an idea which reminds us of native Americans who knew how to obtain water from desert barrel cactus. We enjoyed this book and provide this purchase link for it.

Basic water purification procedures that can be used in an emergency are described just below. If community or private wells are back in operating and providing water, do not assume that the water is sanitary and ok to drink until responsible authorities have said so. Even then, local water pipes in a building may be unsanitary and additional cleaning or disinfection may be needed. See WELL CHLORINATION SHOCKING PROCEDURE and See WATER TESTS, CONTAMINANTS, TREATMENT for advice on using a private well for drinking water.

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• InspectAPedia Bookstore lists recommended books, organized by topic & available for purchase. Most of our articles also include a list of recommended books for the specific article topic as well as other references, and information sources.
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Use links just below or at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website.

PLUMBING TOPICS
CHLORINE IN DRINKING WATER
CHLORINE IN SEPTIC WASTEWATER
WATER SOFTENERS
WATER TEST INTERPRETATION
FAILED WATER TESTS - WHAT TO DO
FAILED WATER TESTS - WHEN to RE-TEST
ODORS in WATER - TYPES, CAUSES
WATER TREATMENT EQUIPMENT CHOICES
  FILTERS for WATER
  FILTERS - SEDIMENT & IRON
  FILTERS - SULPHUR ODOR
  CHLORINATORS & CHARCOAL FILTERS
  REVERSE OSMOSIS WATER TREATMENT
  REVERSE OSMOSIS CONCENTRATE DISPOSAL
  UV -ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT TREATMENT
  WATER SOFTENERS
  WATER TREATMENT CHEMICAL SAFETY
EPA GUIDE to WATER QUALITY
FHA WATER TESTS REQUIRED
LEAD in WATER, ACTION GUIDE
ODORS IN WATER
SEWAGE CONTAMINATION
WATER CONTAMINANT LEVELS
WATER TEST INTERPRETATION
WATER TESTING GUIDE
WATER TREATMENT EQUIPMENT CHOICES
WATER ODORS, CAUSE CURE
WATER PUMPS & WELLS
WATER QUALITY TESTS, CONTAMINANTS, TREATMENT
WATER QUANTITY IMPROVEMENT
WATER QUANTITY USAGE GUIDE
WATER SOFTENERS
WELL SHOCKING GUIDE
WELLS CISTERNS & SPRINGS
  WATER PRESSURE LOSS
  WELL CLEARANCE DISTANCES
  WELL LIFE EXPECTANCY
  WELL PIPING CHECK VALVES
  WELL PIPING FOOT VALVES
  WELL PUMP TYPES & LIFE EXPECTANCY
  WELL PUMP PRIMING PROCEDURE
WELL CHLORINATION SHOCKING PROCEDURE

Books & Articles on Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, & Repair

• Our recommended books about building design, inspection, and repair, and about indoor environment testing, diagnosis, and cleanup are at the InspectAPedia Bookstore.
• Potable Aqua® emergency drinking water germicidal tablets are produced by the Wisconsin Pharmacal Co., Jackson WI 53037. 800-558-6614 pharmacalway.com
• Principles and Practice of Disinfection, Preservation and Sterilization (Hardcover)
  by A. D. Russell (Editor), W. B. Hugo (Editor), G. A. J. Ayliffe (Editor), Blackwell Science, 2004. ISBN-10: 1405101997, ISBN-13: 978-1405101998.
  "This superb book is the best of its kind available and one that will undoubtedly be useful, if not essential, to workers in a variety of industries. Thirty-one distinguished specialists deal comprehensively with the subject matter indicated by the title ... The book is produced with care, is very readable with useful selected references at the end of each chapter and an excellent index. It is an essential source book for everyone interested in this field. For pharmacy undergraduates, it will complement the excellent text on pharmaceutical microbiology by two of the present editors."
  The Pharmaceutical Journal: "This is an excellent book. It deals comprehensively and authoritatively with its subject with contributions from 31 distinguished specialists. There is a great deal to interest all those involved in hospital infection ... This book is exceptionally well laid out. There are well chosen references for each chapter and an excellent index. It is highly recommended." The Journal of Hospital Infection.: "The editors and authors must be congratulated for this excellent treatise on nonantibiotic antimicrobial measures in hospitals and industry ... The publication is highly recommended to hospital and research personnel, especially to clinical microbiologists, infection-control and environmental-safety specialists, pharmacists, and dieticians."
  New England Journal of Medicine: City Hospital, Birmingham, UK. Covers the many methods of the elimination or prevention of microbial growth. Provides an historical overview, descriptions of the types of antimicrobial agents, factors affecting efficacy, evaluation methods, and types of resistance. Features sterilization methods, and more. Previous edition: c1999. DNLM: Sterilization--methods.
• Handbook of Disinfectants and Antiseptics, Joseph M. Ascenzi (Editor), CRC, 1995, ISBN-10: 0824795245 ISBN-13: 978-0824795245 "The evaluation of chemical germicides predates the golden age of microbiology..." -
  This well-focused, up-to-date reference details the current medical uses of antiseptics and disinfectants -- particularly in the control of hospital-acquired infections -- presenting methods for evaluating products to obtain regulatory approval and examining chemical, physical, and microbiological properties as well as the toxicology of the most widely used commercial chemicals.
• When Technology Fails, Matthew Stein, Chelsea Green Publisher, 2008,493 pages. ISBN-10: 1933392452 ISBN-13: 978-1933392455, "... how to find and sterilize water in the face of utility failure, as well as practical information for dealing with water-quality issues even when the public tap water is still flowing". Mr. Stein's website is www.whentechfails.com/

More Information on Building Diagnostic Inspections and Repairs

• Cheating on water tests: Testing Water for Real Estate Transactions - make sure your water test is valid
• Drinking Water Testing Advice for home buyers home owners home inspectors
• Interpreting Drinking Water Test Results and Correcting Unsatisfactory Water
• Drinking Water Contaminant Levels - Maximum Allowed
• Drinking Water Contamination and Pollution How to Detect, Test, Correct, and Prevent Well Water Contamination - US EPA - Groundwater
• Lead Contamination in Drinking Water: Testing & Correction - Advice (This Article)
• Lead Testing & Correcting Contamination from Lead Water Supply Lines/Entry Mains - Lead Pipe Problems/Advice
• Extreme Lead Poisoning Symptoms Suggested by Feb. 2006 NY Times Article on Kosovo Roma Camps
• ATSDR: Nitrate/Nitrite Toxicity [Big, Slow-Loading File] U.S. Government ATSDR Science Corner - 2.5MB PDF
• Water testing for Pesticides: comprehensive and pesticides-example parameters
• Water Testing: background comments on classes of water contaminants, & links to home buyer advice about water testing, drinking water, water supply
• When and How to Shock or Chlorinate a Well - Procedure for Shocking a Well to (temporarily or maybe longer) "Correct" Bacterial Contamination
• Water Requirements, Home & Outdoor Living
• Typical Water Tests & Fees this water test fee schedule applies when testing is combined with other onsite building inspection services
• Drinking Water testing, contamination, correction - all topics
• General water testing and corrective measure advice: contact your local health department.

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