What’s In Your Water?

Published August 7, 2024 in Plumbing & HVAC Magazine
By John Cardiff, Canature WaterGroup

Over the past several decades, the quality of water found at taps across Canada has come increasingly under scrutiny. While municipally treated water is required to meet the Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality set by Health Canada and the Federal-Provincial-Territorial Committee on Drinking Water (CDW), more and more Canadians are realizing that their water contains unwanted hardness, disinfectants and in some cases harmful contaminants.

What should we remove from municipal water?

• Hardness (magnesium and calcium)

• Disinfectants (chlorine and chloramines)

• Harmful contaminants (PFAS, lead, microplastics, chromium, and others)

Approaching in-home water treatment with these three primary areas in mind can help you give your customers water solutions that will protect the health of their family members and pets; prevent damage to plumbing, fixtures and water-using appliances; and give them optimal water for healthy hair and skin, sparkling dishes, and softer laundry.

Harmful Contaminants and Environmental Diseases

The links between disease and exposure to environmental pollution or chemicals is becoming better understood. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), chromium, microplastics and lead are four harmful contaminants that all Canadians should be aware of and remove from their water.

In 2023, the Canadian Environmental Law Association published a map of all airports and military bases that are known to or are suspected of being contaminated with PFAS. The map brings awareness to the possibility of PFAS contamination in communities near the identified sites.

While lead is a more commonly known contaminant, Canadians may still be surprised to know it could be in their home’s tap water. A large source of lead in drinking water is a result of the widespread use of lead service lines to move water from municipal treatment plants to homes and businesses. Lead lines were installed throughout Canada until 1975 and the use of lead soldering for these lines continued until 1986. In 2019, a Global News story published a comprehensive investigation that compared the lead levels in 5 Canadian cities to Flint, MI. The results show that Canadians have good reason to pay attention.

Microplastics, extremely small pieces of plastic that are a result of degrading plastic garbage and industrial water, have links to severe health diseases including asthma, pulmonary cancer due to inhalation, liver damage, nerve and brain damage and kidney diseases. In October 2022, CNN reported that we likely consume the equivalent of one credit card of plastic a week.

Chromium has been linked to several health effects including kidney and liver damage, abdominal pain, and respiratory cancer. While chromium does occur naturally, more that 70% of it comes from industrial and manufacturing process according to Health Canada.

Solution for PFAS, Lead, Chromium & Microplastics

Reverse Osmosis (RO) is the best solution to remove contaminants from water. Health Canada specifically cites RO technology as an effective way to remove chromium from water in its “Chromium in Drinking Water” publication (2015). Customers who want to remove harmful contaminants from their drinking water can install a point-of-use RO system in their home. Commercial sized systems can be installed to provide whole-home membrane filtration.

When choosing a RO system look for the NSF 58 certification. Systems certified to this standard have been tested and verified to meet their claims for contaminant reduction, structural integrity, TDS reduction performance, safety of materials in contact with drinking water and efficiency rating. Within the NSF/ANSI 58 certification process, systems can be tested to verify reduction claims for specific contaminants including lead, PFOS/PFOA, hexavalent and trivalent chromium, and radium. To find out if a system has been certified to reduce specific contaminants, check the system’s certification badge, product literature, or the certifying body’s website.

This is an example of a certification badge for a RO system that is certified to the NSF/ANSI 58 standard and has been verified to reduce specific contaminants.

Municipal Water

It’s well known that municipal water treatment plants use chlorine to treat raw (source) water to make it safe for public consumption. While chlorine is an effective disinfectant that kills bacteria, viruses, and other microorganisms in water, it can have unintended side effects like forming trihalomethanes when it encounters organic matter.

More recently, chloramines have become a popular water disinfectant. Both chlorine and chloramines, a mixture of chlorine and ammonia, can cause the formation of potent carcinogens N-nitrosodimethylamine and other N-nitrosamines in water.

Chlorine and chloramines are known to damage plumbing and pipes and can be harmful to humans and pets. These chemicals also degrade water softener resin, turning it into a jelly-like substance that can significantly restrict flow rates. Adding a carbon filter in front of a water softener will protect the resin.

Solution for Chlorine and Chloramine Removal

Granular Activated Carbon (GAC): The best all-around adsorbent available for removing organic chemicals and contaminants is granular activated carbon. GAC is made from high carbon-based materials such as coconut shells or coal and is well-known for its ability to remove chlorine, tannins, phenols, pesticides, tri-halomethanes (THMs) and toxic organic compounds from water.

Catalytic Carbon

Catalytic carbon is created by using a high-temperature gas process to alter the electronic and surface structures of activated carbon. This higher level of catalytic activity gives it the ability to reduce chloramines and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) in water. Regular GAC cannot remove chloramines.

Types of in-Home Carbon Filters

• Inline filters

• Dual inline filters

• Whole-home filters (backwashing and non-backwashing)

Whole-home filters offer the most contact time and chlorine or chloramine reduction.

Hardness Removal

The Canadian Water Quality Association (CWQA) considers water with 1-3.5 grains/gallon (gpg) to be slightly hard; 3.5 – 7 gpg to be moderately hard and 7 gpg or higher to be hard.

Hardness map of Canada