The Pure Facts: Why Clean Tap Water Matters
The pure fact is this: water is life. Water makes up around 60% of body weight in adult males, 50 to 55% in females and 75% in a new-born infant. Water really matters. It’s important to know how water consumption affects you and your family mentally as well as physically, and how hydrating the household the clean way is more than essential.
How Much Water Do We Need?
In 1974, nutritionists Margaret McWilliams and Frederick Stare suggested six to eight glasses of water a day is considered healthy. Fruit, vegetables, caffeinated soft beverages and even alcoholic drinks can contribute to this. But what exactly is a healthy intake doing to us?
Hydration - Why is it important?
That 50% - 75% of water splashing around inside you serves many functions and is helping almost every physical process you undertake, without you even knowing it. Sports medicine physician and American Heart Association member John Batson M.D reminds us that keeping hydrated even helps your heart to easily pump blood through the blood vessels to the muscles, helping all of your physical movements along.
Water also plays a vital role in regulating our mental wellbeing. A study in Iran for the World Journal of Psychiatry shows that there is a link between the consumption of plain drinking water and a decreased level of depression and anxiety in adults.
Clean Living means Clean Water
Some of the ingredients commonly found in tap water are calcium and magnesium. Calcium is essential in developing stronger bones and teeth, while magnesium helps to control blood pressure and insulin levels, as well as regulate the rhythm of the heartbeat. Water with high levels of this mineral content is what we call hard water. Fluoride has been added to drinking water in many locations worldwide, since its approval by the American Dental Association for its effective defense against tooth decay.
As well as these life giving ingredients, common contaminants including unwanted bacteria, chemicals, solvents and metals are also at risk of making their way into your home, as a study by the US Geological Survey and the Environmental Protection Agency demonstrates. So how do we know our running water is putting us at risk?
Contaminants: What Can You Do About It?
There are simple measures a family can take to assess the quality of their running water at home. Cloudiness in your glass could be a sign of pathogens or chemicals. A ‘slimy’ sensation after washing your hands could be an indication of higher levels of calcium. The smell of bleach might be a sign of dangerously high levels of chlorine. A metallic or salty taste, in many cases, simply means a low pH level, but in the case of Flint, Michigcan residents in 2014, it was this taste that alerted residents to a developing lead-contaminated water crisis.
The Good News
You can prepare your home in the fight against contamination and maintain a healthy supply of life-giving water for you and your family in the years to come. FlowGuard pipe and fittings demonstrate how CPVC material used to install your home plumbing system is resistant to microbial growth and corrosive additives such as chlorine.
Enjoy the benefits of well hydrated hearts and minds in the home with a thirst for knowledge of what’s in your next glass of water.
Download the Water Safety Guide today so you can answer all your client's questions.
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