Considerations for Group A Drinking Water

If your water comes from a municipal or other Group A public water supply, the water leaving the plant is generally free of dissolved minerals and heavy metals. By the time it reaches your faucet, it may have a surplus of chemicals and other items. For example, many older concrete water lines were asbestos-lined. Old copper pipes were soldered with lead. Some water lines have sections where the water sits long enough for algae to grow.

Problems to look for include:

• chemicals (such as chlorine, asbestos, lead, mercury, cadmium, chloroform, trihalomethanes, and arsenic),
• bacteria (such as Escherichia coli (E. coli), Giardia, and Cryptosporidium),
• odor
• taste
• staining
• other aesthetic qualities