Let’s talk about your water, which is a topic that doesn’t normally generate a ton of discussion until and unless there’s a problem. In particular, let’s talk about why periodic water tests in Berryville, VA matter, what they do, and what benefits they provide to you, as a homeowner.
Before we do that though, let’s back up and start by saying this: If something happens and you’re unable to get to the grocery store, it’s a problem but not an immediately life threatening one most of the time. A person can go for longer than a month without food. It wouldn’t be a very pleasant month, and there would be some side effects associated with that, but it’s doable for most folks.
You can’t go nearly that long without water. After three days, you’ll start suffering from serious side effects and much beyond that, you’ll wind up in the hospital. Losing your water source is a very big deal. Unfortunately, people tend to take their water for granted. Most don’t think about it at all, until and unless there’s a problem.
If you live in the city, at least part of that attitude is understandable. After all, water comes out of your faucets almost like magic. Any time you want it, there it is, and it usually tastes okay too. The city has people who are tasked with the responsibility for making sure the water keeps flowing and that there are no major problems with it.
All of that is true, but only to a point. Municipalities do have a mandate to provide safe drinking water, but the definition of ‘safe’ is laughably broad, and sometimes, the people in charge of the city water supply can’t even manage that. Flint Michigan is a classic case in point. You can bet that the residents there assumed that people were taking care of it, right up until it became impossible to think that. Flint is still suffering from serious water problems to this day, though things are slowly improving.
And Flint isn’t unique. Right now, there are more than a thousand other communities scattered all across the USA that have water problems as bad as Flint’s, and in some cases, even worse. All that to say, just because you live in town, it’s not correct to assume that your water is safe to drink, and note that municipalities are under no mandates at all to ensure good quality drinking water. That’s another reason why periodic water tests in Berryville, VA matter. If nothing else, having one performed at regular intervals gives you the peace of mind that comes with knowing that your water isn’t going to hurt you or your family.
If you live outside the city limits, an annual water test in Berryville, VA is even more important because there’s no government agency that goes around checking on the safety of well water. If you have a private water source, that responsibility falls squarely on your shoulders.
Whether you live in town or in the country, we recommend having your water tested once a year, and again, any time you detect a change in the smell or the taste of the water. Those things are clear indicators that something in the water is different, and until you know exactly what that difference is, you may be putting your family at risk. Even if it turns out that the thing impacting the smell or taste of your water isn’t harmful, it’s still almost certainly degrading the quality of your water, and that’s never a good thing.
That brings us to the next point. As the region’s largest and most respected independent lab, we offer a dozen different water tests that fall into two broad categories: Safety and Quality.
Naturally, water safety tests get most of the attention because if the water in your area starts making people sick, that’s the kind of thing that generates national headlines. On the other hand, nobody but the people in your immediate area are going to care much that your water doesn’t taste very good, or has a fishy smell to it, or leaves stains in your clothing when you do a load of laundry.
Depending on where you live, any number of contaminants can find their way into your water supply. If you live inside the city limits, the biggest concern, health-wise is probably total coliform bacteria, and that’s one of the many things we test for. If you live in an older home and the plumbing hasn’t been updated in a long while, then lead in the water might be another possible point of concern.
If you’re worried about possible health risks but you’re not sure which tests to order, that’s okay too. Just give us a call and spend a few minutes describing the issues or concerns you have about your water and our techs will be able to guide you to the tests that would be the most beneficial to you.
Quality is another matter altogether. Nobody’s going to get sick and die because the water quality isn’t great, but periodic water tests in Berryville, VA to address quality issues still matter because if you can’t stand the way your water tastes or smells, you’re probably going to spend a fortune on bottled water to avoid drinking what’s coming out of your faucets. Unfortunately, that doesn’t do anything to actually solve the problem.
Here are just a few of the water quality issues you might experience, and note that people who live in town aren’t immune to these kinds of things:
- Water that has a funny smell
- Water that has a funny taste
- Water that feels oily when you drink it
- Extreme bitterness
- Water that leaves reddish stains on your shower walls and in rings at the water line inside the commode
- That stains your teeth and/or clothing
- And water that leaves slowly growing mineral buildups on your shower head and water faucets
Each of these issues has a different root cause, and if you experience any of the above, just call our office and tell the tech you speak with what kind of issue you’re having and they’ll be able to recommend the best water test in Berryville, VA for you.
It matters because once you can confirm what’s causing the issue, you can take steps to mitigate the problem and thus, improve the quality of the water your family is relying on. That’s a much better plan than spending hundreds of dollars a year on bottled water in an attempt to try and work around the issue.
The reason we recommend annual testing is simply this: The water table changes over time. If you live in a remote area without many neighbors and over time, more people start moving in and the level of farming activity picks up notably all around you, don’t be surprised when an increasing concentration of nitrates begins seeping into your well water, for example.
So, things change. Granted, most of the changes happen gradually over time, which is why it’s not always easy to notice the change until the problem becomes quite severe. Testing your water at regular intervals helps with this, however, because you’ll be able to compare each new year of water testing data with all of your prior years, which lets you track the profile of your drinking water over time. You’ll be able to spot slow, incremental changes well before they become serious problems and that will give you the ability to step in and make corrections before things get out of hand.
Best of all, our collection process is exceedingly simple and we get accurate results back to the clients we serve quickly, so you won’t be stuck waiting for weeks or even months to find out what’s going on with your water.
If all that sounds good to you and you’re ready to start testing to find out what’s going on with your water supply, help is just a phone call away, and we’re looking forward to assisting you. Give our office a call today. You’ll be very glad you did!