Category: Water Treatment Systems

Ways to Tell It’s Time to Schedule Water Testing

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Water testing does a thorough job of finding out if the water in a home contains unhealthy pollutants. The testing usually takes around a week: a team of professionals comes to the house to take samples from different water sources in the house, and then sends them to a lab. A week later, the lab results return, and the professionals go over the report with the homeowners and offer suggestions for how to improve water quality.

We’re proud to offer water testing services, as well as filters, UV water purifiers, water softeners, and reverse osmosis systems to purifier a home’s water. If you aren’t sure if you should have water testing done, here’s a few ways to tell the time has come:

1. You’ve never had water testing before

Yes, the easiest sign that you need water testing is that you simply haven’t had it done. Almost any home can benefit from water testing—and even if the testing doesn’t find issues that need addressing, you’ll be glad to have the peace of mind.

2. Your water comes from a well

It’s essential to have your water tested regularly (as in once a year) if you receive the water from a well rather than the municipal system. The water from a well doesn’t go through a treatment plant, and there could be numerous ground contaminants in it.

3. High turbidity in the water (i.e. the water looks cloudy)

If you look at a glass of water poured from one of the taps, and it appears cloudy, which means there’s high turbidity in the water. Testing will find out what is causing this and what to do about it.

4. A change in water taste or smell

Unpleasant metal tastes or rotten-egg odors in the water are warnings of problems such as heavy metals and sulfides.

5. Film and build-up over fixtures and surfaces

When water starts to leave a detectable film across surfaces (most noticeable on glass), then it’s likely you have hard water. Hard water also leaves flaky deposits on fixtures and can bleach out colors from clothing in the laundry.

Is a Reverse Osmosis System a Good Option for Clean Water in My Home?

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If you are concerned about the quality of the water that comes into your house from the municipal plumbing system, you aren’t alone… and you probably have a good reason for those concerns. Even the best water treatment plant can’t prevent chemicals, minerals, and heavy metals from entering the water in the pipes as it travels to your house. When you suspect poor quality water, arrange for water testing with us, and we’ll determine what type of water treatment system will resolve the problem.

One of the most common types of water treatment solutions we recommend is the reverse osmosis filtration system.

How Reverse Osmosis Works

A reverse osmosis (RO) filter is essentially a powerful filter that can remove much smaller pollutants than standard adsorption filters. An RO system can eliminate pesticides, nickel, iron, chlorine, sodium phosphate (the source of that “rotten egg” smell everybody hates), arsenic, and even bacteria. But if you know anything about how filters work, you’ll wonder how the water can be forced through a filter powerful enough to trap those contaminants. Wouldn’t it be too thick, and end up stopping the water as well?

This is where the osmosis part comes in. An RO treatment system creates two areas of pressure in the water on the two sides of the filter. The water on the incoming side is kept at a much higher pressure, and osmosis—the natural movement from a high-pressure area to a lower pressure one—forces the water through the semi-porous membrane. The water flow isn’t interrupted, and the unwanted particles are removed.

But to make sure that an RO system is right for your home, leave the work to professionals. Testing and proper installation are necessary to make sure an RO system does the job it’s supposed to, without harming water flow in the house.

Mallick Plumbing & Heating offers extensive water treatment services in Gaithersburg, MD and through the surrounding areas.