Defining Drinking Standard Water
Perhaps not enough can be said about the safety, rather the lack of, of drinking water these days. Indeed, the growth in technology and industry has taken its toll on the safety of drinking standard water and the hazardous effects it has on one's health. Filtering or purifying water may be ways to eliminate the harsh elements found in drinking water to make it safe, acceptable and fit for consumption. It is for this reason that the government and water associations came up with guidelines to measure water standards prior to the distribution of safe drinking standard water. Although there is no single filtering or purifying method that can render water 100% free from elements and contaminants, the same able and reliable agencies have set acceptable standards making drinking standard water safe for consumption. Since the costs of filtering or purifying water can be quite costly, the government finds it impossible to provide everybody with water at the ideal safety levels, free from all known contaminants. As a compromise, the involved agencies have come up with a standard measure that can make drinking standard water potable, balancing both costs and public safety.
Standard Water Criteria to Enable Drinking
Government and health agencies, together with water associations have determined certain criteria to ensure that drinking standard water will be safe for the masses. Turbidity or the measure of the cloudiness of water, considered as a sign of microorganism presence that can cause gastrointestinal or stomach trouble, is the first criteria agencies watch out for during the post-filtration process. There are several factors that contribute to the turbidity of water that makes drinking standard water risky for people; these factors include pipeline contamination that may taint water with lead, vinyl chloride, cadmium, and copper, which may result to illnesses and diseases through long-term use.
Another source of water contamination that renders drinking standard water risky is the presence of fertilizer debris and septic tank leaks that dramatically increases the nitrate content of water. The presence of nitrate increases the risks of cancer and reproductive complications, and also increases infant health problems. Drinking standard water is also made safer by evaluating the residual disinfectant level of the water and its corresponding residual disinfectant level goal to reduce the risks of developing cancer and anemia.
Consumers must be aware that although standard water is evaluated based on similar criteria, the actual water safety levels also vary depending on state, water filtration and purification facilities and water quality. Clean water may be one of the most important needs of living creatures, including human beings, and something as essential as drinking standard water may no longer be granted to most people, how ever sad this sounds.
