What’s the best way to determine if you need a water filter or water treatment system? How do you know what’s in your water? The National Sanitation Foundation, which tests water filters and treatment systems for safety and performance, offers these tips:
Step 1: Find Out What’s In Your Water
Start by getting a copy of your water quality report (called a CCR or consumer confident report) from your local water utility/city or rural water plant. If you have a private well, consider having your water independently tested.
Step 2: Decide What Contaminants You Want to Reduce
Once you know what contaminants are in your water, you can find a treatment solution that is certified to address your particular water quality concerns. Not all filters can reduce all contaminants. Based on the water report or your water testing results, you can decide what contaminants you want to reduce in your drinking water. The Minnesota Department of Health’s Contamination Guidelines will help you to locate products that are certified to reduce specific contaminants.
Step 3: Compare Options for Water Treatment
A number of water treatment solutions are available, ranging from whole-house systems that treat all the water in your home, to filters for specific areas such as the kitchen faucet, to more portable solutions such as a water pitcher or even countertop filters. Some reduce only one contaminant while others reduce many.
Point-of-use (POU) systems treat the water where you drink or use your water, and include water pitchers, faucet filters and reverse osmosis (RO) systems. Reverse osmosis systems are the only NSF certified systems that reduce fluoride and nitrate; and Reverse Osmosis systems are the only ones that are NSF certified to reduce both lead and copper.
Whole-house/point-of-entry (POE) systems treat the water as it enters a residence. They are usually installed near the water meter (municipal) or pressurized storage tank (well water). Whole-house treatment systems include UV microbiological systems, water softeners or whole-house filters for chlorine, taste, odor and particulates.
The NSF has several resources about water treatment on their website.
Voluntary Certification of Treatment Systems
The National Water Quality Association has a voluntary certification program that also assists consumers with choosing a water treatment system.
Finding quality products in a marketplace flooded with options can be challenging. How can you tell if a product is safe, reliable, durable and capable of meeting the claims made on its packaging and literature?
WQA’s Certified Products Listing is available to help connect consumers with water treatment products that have been tested and certified to industry standards. WQA’s Gold Seal Product Certification Program ensures that the product is constructed or formulated from safe materials, the claims listed on the packaging are backed by test data, and the product will hold up under normal usage conditions.
WQA maintains a complete listing of all products and components that have earned the Gold Seal and Sustainability Marks. Only products that pass the rigorous testing requirements of industry standards, pass annual manufacturing facility audits, and comply with WQA’s Certification Schemes can be found in this listing.
Update on PFAs in Minnesota
What to Do if You are Affected by PFAs in Your Well Water
As the response to the PFAs situation in Minnesota is constantly being updated, the best resource is the Minnesota Department of Health. Settlements have been reached with some of the affected communities, and remediationhas begun. The Minnesota Department of Health can help you with well testing if you are in the East Metro sampling area. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency’s Interactive Map to the best way to see if you are in the sampling area. You will be contacted based on your location compared to the current sampling area as MDH works through the sampling list.
In addition, the Minnesota Department of Health has an Interactive Dashboard for PFAS Testing in drinking water. Visit their page here to learn more about PFAS.