If you’ve ever wondered about the quality of city water for drinking and bathing, keep in mind that municipal chlorine water treatment is done strictly for purification purposes; that is, to kill bacteria. The water must then travel miles from that point to your home.

Although chlorination has freed civilization from the danger of waterborne epidemics, scientists discovered in the mid-70s that chemicals could combine with other volatile organic chemicals (VOC) in the water supply to form carcinogenic trihalomethanes.

To fix this problem, cities and municipalities began using chloramines (chlorine mixed with ammonia) instead of chlorine for treatment. Who knows what new, undiscovered byproducts may form from that?

Because approximately 80 percent of the population uses chlorinated or chloramine treated water for consumption and bathing, point-of-use water treatment equipment is often used to alleviate the bad taste and the dangers of ingestion, inhalation, and skin absorption of chemicals in the water.

Most new refrigerators are equipped with a carbon filter to help address this problem, and the filter must be changed every 6 to 12 months. Water treatment companies can come to your home and perform free water testing to review these problems and offer solutions.

For more information, contact Ecowater Texas at 866-419-2782 or visit EcoWaterTexas.com.