Drinking water standards Municipal water supplies in the United States are regulated by state and
federal agencies to provide drinking water that meets specific standards for chemical, microbiological, and radiological content
aswell as taste, odor, and turbidity. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) formulates these standards and regularly
reviews and amends them to ensure good quality drinking water in public supplies.Information about federal and state drinking
water regulations can be obtained from local Cooperative Extension offices or departments of Health or Environmental Conservation.Individuals
who use private water supplies, such as wells, springs, ponds, or cisterns, are solely responsible for the quality of
their water. Federal standards can be used as guidelines to assess the quality of a private water supply, but the protection,
testing, maintenance, and treatment of that supply are determined by the individual homeowner. Sales
scams and misleading promotions Many treatment companies offer free in-home testing of drinking water. Unfortunately, some unscrupulous dealers
use this as an opportunity to frighten consumers into purchasing equipment
that may not be needed. The salesperson might add chemicals to the
water that cause particles to form or color changes to occur. These demonstrations prove nothing about the safety of the water for drinking. Another sales tactic
offers water treatment equipment as part of a larger prize promotion. The individual is forced to purchase the water treatment device in order to obtain the larger prize,
and both often prove to be of little value.Do not purchase equipment
from salespeople who use misleading newspaper articles or governmental
reports, or who misrepresent themselves as employees of a water utility. Many states do not allow false or exaggerated claims in advertising water treatment equipment,
or the use of such graphic representations as a skull and crossbones
over a glass of water. A more subtle advertising technique than those
discussed above is to understate the maintenance requirements of the equipment. Most water treatment devices do require some maintenance such as filter changes,
the addition of chemicals, or backwashing. And watch out for those little post cards that say your the water in your area
has been testing positive for bacteria or they hang a little water sample jar from your mail box its all a scam!!! Maintenance
and monitoring requirements Most water treatment devices require some routine maintenance
to function properly. Systems on the market today have maintenance
procedures that range from manual to fully automatic. The consumer
should realistically determine how active he or she wishes to be in maintaining the unit. This is extremely important if the device will be used to remove a health hazard from
the water. Aside from possible damage to the system itself, improper
maintenance can result in the contaminant entering the treated water.
Aquaflow offers a service contract for maintaining the treatment device and the cost of this, as well as any other upkeep cost, should be added to the purchase price
when comparing different options. Product lifetime and warranty Although a salesperson may estimate
the effectiveness of the water treatment device over a certain time
period, the actual lifetime depends on such factors as maintenance, water flow rate, and amount of contaminant to be removed.Watch out for those companys that offer to warranty your complete system for a monthly fee.Check
with your state to see if they need to have a insurance license to sell you there warranty.In the state
of florida they must have this license if you are paying them for the warranty.Also ask the for a amendment sheet there
is always a catch!! Companys that offer a lifetime warranty on the systems again ask them for the amendment sheet or
issues that will void your warranty,you will be surprized to see how much of the system is not warranted for life!!
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