At Yuma Water Treatment, we believe everyone deserves access to clean, refreshing water. For over 30 years, our team has helped Yuma families understand their home’s water and find the right solutions for their health and comfort. Whether you’re dealing with a strange smell or hard water spots on your dishes, knowing what is happening in your pipes is the first step toward a better home.
Quick Summary of Water Quality Issues
- Common Causes: Soil runoff, old pipes, city treatment chemicals like chlorine and natural minerals.
- The Effects: Dry skin, damaged appliances, bad tastes and odors and potential health concerns.
- The Solution: Professional testing and filtration systems, like water softeners or reverse osmosis.
Understanding Your Home’s Water
When we talk about our health, we often focus on food and exercise. However, the water we drink and bathe in is just as important. We commonly get asked what the main causes of poor water quality are. The answer is often a mix of natural conditions and the way water moves through treatment systems and plumbing. In Yuma, our water comes largely from the Colorado River, which picks up minerals and other impurities on its way to your tap.
What Is Quality Water?
Before we look at the problems, we should define the goal. What is quality water? High-quality water is safe to drink, free of harmful germs and free of elevated levels of minerals or chemicals that can cause damage in your home. It should taste clean, smell neutral and feel gentle on your skin.
The Main Causes of Poor Water Quality
There isn’t just one reason why water might turn problematic. Here are the most common factors that affect water quality in our community:
1. Natural Minerals (Hard Water)
As water travels through the ground, it dissolves rocks like limestone. This adds calcium and magnesium to the water. This is known as hard water. While hard water is not usually a health risk, it’s a major cause of poor water quality because it clogs pipes and can shorten the life of water heaters.
2. City Treatment Chemicals
Cities use chemicals like chlorine to kill bacteria and keep water safe as it travels through long pipes. While chlorine is important for disinfection, it can leave your water tasting like a swimming pool and may feel harsh on your hair and skin.
3. Old Plumbing and Infrastructure
Even if the city sends out clean water, it has to travel through miles of pipes to get to you. If those pipes are old, or if your home has aging copper or galvanized plumbing, bits of metal or sediment can flake off into your drinking water.
4. Environmental Runoff
Rainwater can wash fertilizers, pesticides and dirt from farms and roads into our water sources. This runoff can increase the levels of total dissolved solids (TDS) in the water.
Effects of Poor Water Quality
Ignoring the signs of bad water can lead to several problems. The effects of poor water quality range from annoying to expensive:
- Household damage: Hard water creates scale, or white, crusty buildup, that can damage dishwashers, washing machines and coffee makers.
- Physical discomfort: High mineral levels and chlorine can lead to itchy, dry skin and brittle hair.
- Bad taste and odors: If your water smells like rotten eggs or tastes metallic, you’re less likely to stay hydrated and drink enough water.
- Health considerations: Certain contaminants, such as elevated levels of lead or arsenic, can be harmful if consumed over a long period.
How to Test Water Quality
If you’re not sure what is in your water, you don’t have to guess. Learning how to test water quality is simple. You can buy a basic DIY kit at a hardware store, but these often include only a few items.
The best way to get a full picture is to have your water professionally tested. At Yuma Water Treatment, we offer free water testing. We check for hardness, chlorine levels and total dissolved solids. Once you know exactly what is in your water, you can choose the right system—like a Kinetico water softener or a reverse osmosis system—to help fix the problem.
