One of the factors that make your home a safe haven is water quality. Whether you use it for drinking or other utilities, you need to ensure what you’re consuming is not compromised. But did you know that over 70,000 water bodies nationwide don’t meet water quality standards? This is why you need to ensure your house’s water resources are not on the list. 

You must be wondering how you can do that, right? The smartest and most reliable way is to conduct a water quality analysis. When assessing water quality, three different and most important parameters are taken care of: physical, chemical, and biological.

In this blog, we will discuss all three of these and their further groups that might be the signs of compromised water quality.

The Most Important Water Quality Parameters

Water quality parameters can be divided into different groups, but the three most important ones are physical, chemical, and biological. We can further divide these into different categories, considering what is tested in each of these. The properties tested in each of these are based on different factors like desired water parameters of concern. Usually, during water quality testing, some of these parameters are examined:

• Temperature
• pH
• Chlorine
• Bacteria

Let’s have a more detailed overview of each of the three water quality parameters. We’ll start with physical parameters first.

Physical Parameters

Physical parameters are the most important ones when testing for water quality. You get valuable insights into the condition of your home’s water supply and “see” for yourself if it is safe to consume and not compromised. Here’s a breakdown of what is assessed when we talk about assessing the physical parameters.

Temperature

Water temperature can be a real factor that determines water quality. However, one thing that complexes things is that the compromised water quality is not really the reason for the changes in temperature. In fact, when some of the appliances related to water, let’s say a water heater, don’t work the way they used to, then that might indicate an issue with the water quality. You might not get the desired or the usual water temperature when the water is impure and contaminated.

pH

The changes in water levels are another factor that could determine the condition of your house’s water supply. The standard pH level needs to be 7. If the water is too acidic, then the pH level might be lower than 7, and if it is too basic, then the pH could be higher than 7. In both cases, the water is not just in the right condition for you to consume.

Colour and Odour

If the water you consume shows some apparent and very obvious changes in its color and odor, then it’s a sign that you need to buckle up for some issues coming your way. Normally, water should be clear. But if there are some contaminants added to it, like rust from old pipes or dirt, then the water might change its color. It can appear brown, yellow, and even greenish at times.

However, when it comes to odor, if the water is contaminated, it might start smelling funny because clean water doesn’t really have a smell. It might start smelling like rotten eggs, chlorine (like in a swimming pool), or even chemicals. So, if there is an unexplainable smell coming from the water, then you know something is not right.

Chemical Parameters

Besides physical appearances, the contaminated water also leaves signs chemically. The water quality test provides you with chemical insights, too. You get to know whether there are pollutants, nutrients, or other substances that might affect your and your family’s health. Below, we discuss the key chemical parameters that are assessed during water quality tests.

Nutrients

When testing for chemical parameters, inspectors first off check for excess nutrients. Too many nutrients (for example, phosphorous and nitrogen) in the water might lead to algae growth – compromising the water quality. The algae grow really fast if they get excessive nutrients. This might lead the water to look cloudy and green. Not only this, but the water can also smell bad and definitely becomes unsafe for drinking or swimming.

Heavy Metals

Knowing whether the water has heavy metals might be difficult without conducting a water quality test. Your home’s water source might have heavy metals, and you might not even know about them. Mercury and lead are two examples of heavy metals. These are dense and sink into the water, compromising their quality. Indicating heavy metals is extremely significant as they can be toxic to your health. The worst part is that if the water has heavy metals in it, then it might not taste or smell different. The only solution then left is testing for it.

Chlorine

We often use chlorine in our water sources to kill bacteria and make water safe to drink. However, the problem arises when it becomes excessive. Chlorine might not be harmful in the initial stages, but if you smell a strong chlorine-like smell, then it’s better to test for it. During the test, you will learn whether the chlorine level is just fine or if there’s something to worry about. If the situation says the latter, then you can decide on how to deal with the issue.

Biological Parameters

Biological parameters are the last but very important aspect of giving insight into the standards of water quality. Indicating whether they meet the set standards. During water quality testing, various biological parameters are assessed, but some of the major ones are bacteria and algae.

Bacteria

Sometimes, bacteria from sewage can find their way into the water. Usually, the culprit is the damaged pipes or poor plumbing in your home, but the issue arises as compromised water quality. The bacteria in water can lead to stomachaches or diarrhea, which are major health concerns. Meanwhile, bacteria in the water are undetectable, and they are only visible to the naked eye. This means you can’t just see or smell bacterial water. So, this makes it important for you to conduct water tests regularly as that’s the only way you can be sure of the quality of water you and your family are consuming.

Conclusion

Water quality testing is one of the most important factors for determining that your water supply meets the set standards. This process is rather thorough and gives you a heads-up and an insight into the challenges that you might face during your home ownership. Meanwhile, to maintain your home, you need to make sure that every aspect of it is up to the mark. And a water test is surely one way to do that. With the test, you get to know about all the physical, chemical, and biological variants of your home. You can acknowledge where the loophole lies and later deal with it.

To get the best out of these tests, you must schedule your water testing with a reliable inspection company. Greenworks Inspections is one of the most preferred choices out there. With our detailed testing process, you get the complete picture of your home’s water quality. Schedule a water quality assessment with us and get promising and accurate results.