Drinking Water Analysis – Where Does Drinking Water Come From and How Safe Is It to Consume

Laboratory drinking water analysis is the only scientific way to determine how safe tap water is. If you are interested in where drinking water comes from, it is mainly obtained from underground reservoirs and surface sources. Despite filtration, while passing through the pipes water often becomes secondarily contaminated, so controlling its composition is very important.

Water is the foundation of the existence of life on Earth and the most essential component of the human body. Approximately 60-70% of our body consists precisely of this universal liquid. In everyday life, when we turn on the tap or fill a glass, we rarely think about what path this liquid travels to reach our glass. For most people, the main thing is that the water be visually transparent, have no sharp smell, and be pleasant to drink. However, under the conditions of modern ecological challenges and outdated infrastructure, visual assessment alone is insufficient. Professional drinking water analysis gives us the opportunity to study, at the microscopic and molecular level, what we consume every day.

In this blog, we will talk in detail about the sources of water’s origin, ecological factors, health risks, and about why laboratory testing is already a necessity today.

Why is drinking water analysis necessary?

Many customers ask the question: if the water comes from the central system and passes through the city’s treatment facilities, why do I need an additional drinking water analysis? The answer is hidden in infrastructural and environmental factors. The clean water that comes out of the central reservoirs passes through kilometers-long metal or cast-iron pipes that were, in many cases, installed decades ago. It is precisely while passing through these pipes that so-called “secondary contamination” occurs.

Hidden chemical dangers: From old, corroded pipes, excess iron, rust, and other heavy metals (for example, lead) get into the water, and their accumulation in the body causes serious damage to the nervous system and internal organs. Professional drinking water analysis precisely reveals the concentration of these invisible enemies.

Microbiological risks: Minor damage to the pipes, a drop in pressure, or the infiltration of groundwater can cause pathogenic bacteria, including E. coli (intestinal bacterium), to get into the water. This is especially dangerous for children, pregnant women, and people with weak immunity.

Side effects of chlorine: To destroy microbes, water supply companies use chlorine. It is true that chlorine kills bacteria, but when reacting with organic substances it produces carcinogenic toxins. Laboratory testing helps us determine whether the level of residual chlorine exceeds the safe norm.

Taking all of this into account, a timely conducted drinking water analysis is the best preventive mechanism, which protects us from unexpected and severe diseases.

Where does drinking water come from?

In order to fully grasp the essence of the problem, we must know where drinking water comes from and what path it travels from nature to our homes. Urban and regional water supply systems mainly rely on two main sources:

Surface waters: This includes rivers, lakes, and specially created artificial reservoirs. Surface waters are most prone to climatic changes and environmental pollution. During rains, garbage, agricultural chemicals, and animal feces are washed into the reservoirs from the surrounding areas. Therefore, liquid taken from such sources requires the strictest, multi-stage filtration and chlorination.

Underground (ground and artesian) waters: These are natural reservoirs located in the deep layers of the earth. The water passes through the natural filter of rocks and sand, due to which it is microbiologically much cleaner. However, underground waters are often characterized by high mineralization – they are rich in calcium, magnesium, and iron. If you live in a private house and have a borehole, you must necessarily conduct testing, because harmful substances can get in even in the depths of the soil.

Regardless of where drinking water comes from in your region, a natural source is never 100% protected until it is tested in a laboratory.

Drinking water and a clean environment – the ecological connection

It is impossible to talk about human health and not mention ecology. Drinking water and a clean environment are directly and inseparably connected to each other. The more we damage nature, the more the quality of the liquid we consume every day worsens.

The excessive use of pesticides and nitrogenous fertilizers in agriculture causes these poisonous substances to seep into the soil and ultimately mix into the groundwater. A high content of nitrates in water is a direct result of incorrect agro-policy. Water contaminated with nitrates is especially fatal for infants, because it causes so-called “blue baby syndrome” (methemoglobinemia) – a condition in which the blood loses its ability to carry oxygen.

In addition, the incorrect management of industrial waste, the massive use of plastic, and the spread of microplastics into the world’s oceans and freshwater reservoirs has become a huge global problem. Therefore, when we talk about the topic – drinking water and a clean environment – we must remember that protecting nature directly means protecting the safety of the liquid in our own glass. In such an ecological reality, systematic drinking water analysis helps us to timely detect those changes that environmental pollution causes.

Important information about drinking water – what parameters do we test?

In order for the customer to be fully protected, a comprehensive examination is carried out in the laboratory. Here is what basic and important information any person should know about drinking water when reading the analysis results:

pH value (acidity-alkalinity): The pH of normal drinking water should range from 6.5 to 8.5. A very low pH means that the water is acidic and can cause corrosion of the pipes, while a high pH gives it a bitter taste.

Total hardness: This is the total amount of calcium and magnesium ions. It is true that these minerals are essential for the body, but high hardness destroys household appliances (produces scale) and dries out a person’s skin and hair.

Heavy metals (lead, arsenic, copper): Their presence in water is categorically inadmissible above the established small norms.

Microbiological index: Includes total coliform bacteria and fecal streptococci. In safe water this indicator should be equal to zero.

As you can see, a full-fledged, multi-component drinking water analysis is quite a complex and responsible process, which requires ultra-modern equipment and experienced personnel. That is precisely why this information about drinking water is so important – it gives us the opportunity not to trust the tap blindly, but to know precisely the level of our family’s ecological safety.

What happens after the testing? Take care of your safety

After you conduct the testing and the laboratory drinking water analysis confirms to you that there are certain deviations from the norm in the water, it is essential to react in a timely and correct manner. Fortunately, modern technologies give us the opportunity to effectively eliminate any type of contamination.

Depending on the type of problem, experts will select the appropriate filtration system for you:

If the water is hard, softening, ion-exchange stations are installed.

In the case of iron and rust, special mechanical and catalytic filters are used.

In the case of bacteriological dangers, the best solution is ultraviolet (UV) sterilizers.

And if you want ideally clean water, filtered at the molecular level, reverse osmosis (Reverse Osmosis) systems are used.

If you already have a laboratory conclusion, or for preventive purposes you want healthy drinking water to come out of your tap, our team of professionals is ready to help you. We ensure the selection and installation of engineering solutions tailored to your individual needs and budget.

Caring about health begins with that simplest and most important element that we consume every day. Systematic and precise drinking water analysis is not simply a routine procedure, it is a guarantee that your future and your children’s future are protected from invisible ecological dangers. We already know what a difficult path it travels and where the liquid we drink comes from, so we should express trust only in scientific, laboratory evidence.

Do not wait for the problem to worsen, for diseases to appear, or for expensive household appliances to break down. Do you have questions or want to receive a consultation? Our experts are ready to help you.

Call us at 599 27 00 49