WHERE DO CONTAMINANTS COME FROM?
Contamination can be caused by a variety of factors. And there are a variety of ways to get it into your water supply. Let’s take a closer look at it.
​MUNICIPAL WATER. Contaminants can get into municipal water in between treatment and flowing out of your tap. Chemicals and pipe coating can leech into drinking water. Chlorines and chloramines that treat your water can interact with organic compounds to create disinfection byproducts (DBPs). Naturally occurring contaminants and pollution can enter water sources directly. common municipal water contaminants may include:
- Disinfection chemicals (chlorine and chloramines)
- Heavy metals from pipes (lead and copper)
- Disinfection byproducts like trihalomethanes (THMs)
- Total coliform bacteria (often from septic tanks)
- Naturally occurring minerals and chemicals (manganese, arsenic, radium)
- Pesticides & Nitrates and nitrites from fertilizers