Copper can be found naturally in rocks, soil, sediment, and water. While copper is a natural substance and is safely used to make things like copper pipes and electrical wiring, the effects copper in your drinking water can be very hazardous. Short-term exposure to high levels and long-term exposure to elevated levels can both do damage.
How Does Copper in Your Drinking Water Impact Your Health?
The Food and Drug Administration recommends that adults consume 2 milligrams of copper a day, and most of us get this allowance naturally through eating foods like grains, nuts, leafy greens, shellfish, chocolate, mushrooms, liver, and fruit. When we take in too much copper, whether it is through drinking water or food, it can lead to health problems.
Short-term exposure to elevated levels of copper can lead to gastrointestinal issues. Long-term exposure to copper in your drinking water can lead to more serious challenges, including kidney problems, liver problems and anemia. Your body will generally protect you from copper poisoning by preventing excess copper from entering the bloodstream. If you have preexisting health conditions like Wilson’s or Menke’s disease, you are at an elevated risk of experiencing side effects from copper in your drinking water.
How Does Copper Enter Drinking Water?
One of the primary ways that copper can get into drinking water is through pipes, household plumbing fixtures and faucets. As water flows through plumbing materials made of copper, it absorbs small amounts of it. Depending on water temperature, the age of your pipes, and how long the water sits in the pipes, your copper levels could be within range or elevated. For well owners, the acidity of the water is another concern. Copper from your pipes and fixtures can accumulate in only a few hours if your water is stagnant overnight!
How Can You Protect Your Family from Copper in Your Drinking Water?
Even though public water treatment facilities monitor copper levels in the water that they treat, the best way to control copper in your your drinking water is at your home even if your home uses a municipal water source. Boiling your drinking water will not remove copper, and chlorine is also ineffective. The best way to protect your family from high levels of copper in your drinking water is with a high-quality filtration system. The Hague WaterMax® BEQ System is a powerful water filtration solution that can remove contaminants like copper, sediment and dirt from your home’s municipal water supply. If your home’s water is from a private well, the Hague WaterMax® provides similar filtration benefits. This ensures you never need to worry about consuming high levels of copper that could be detrimental to your health.
Both WaterMax® systems offers additional benefits to homeowners struggling to deal with the negative effects of hard water, a common problem with well water. Plumbing fixtures will last longer, you won’t use as much soap to do your laundry and bathe, your plumbing maintenance costs will decrease, and you don’t need to worry about additional water filtration devices for fresh, healthy water. We can help you to test your home’s water supply and determine if additional filtration is needed to remove copper in your drinking water and other contaminants.
Avoid Copper in Your Drinking Water with Hague Quality Water of Maryland
If your family might have high levels of copper in your drinking water supply and you are concerned about contaminants in your water, we are here to help with your water improvement projects. As a new service and in addition to our free on-site water test for new customers, we are offering a contact-free water test kit for only $200. This kit is delivered straight to your home so that you can take water samples and mail them to a lab. You’ll receive the results directly and our team can work with you to determine the perfect solution for your situation. Whether you need a WaterMax® system or additional filtration, our team cares deeply about the health and safety of your family. To purchase your kit today, click here. For additional assistance, call Hague Quality Water of Maryland at (410) 757-2992.
