VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WVEC) — Brushing your teeth. Making a cup of coffee. Every morning, you probably drink or use water around your home several times.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the average American family uses more than 300 gallons of water per day at home. Roughly 70 percent of that use happens indoors.
Water is such an important part of daily life. That’s why Andre Whalen if Culligan Water Conditioning says it is very important that the water is clean and free from contaminants.
“Everything in your house drinks,” says Whalen. “Pasta drinks, your skin drinks. And if you think about it, it does all drink.”
Typically, you cannot identify contaminants in water simply by looking at it. That’s where laboratories, like Jennings-Thompson in Virginia Beach, come in. Chemists can test your drinking water for total coliform bacteria.
Jack Thompson with Jennings-Thompson Labs says coliforms are “a group of bacteria that live in the intestines of… all warm-blooded mammals.”
Thompson says if coliforms are detected in your drinking water, they may indicate the presence of disease-causing organisms. The total coliform bacteria test also checks specifically for E. coli, a type of coliform that could indicate recent fecal contamination of the water.
“Total coliform will give you gastrointestinal distress,” says Thompson. “The E. coli is more pathogenic, and it can actually cause a serious illness.”
Thompson tested for the presence of total coliform bacteria in the drinking water of three Virginia Beach homes: one that uses household well water, one less than 10 years old on a public system, and one nearly 170 years old on a public system.
“Any presence of total coliform will make the water unsafe for human consumption,” says Thompson.
To perform the test at each home, Thompson removes the faucet’s aerator, cleans the faucet with bleach, and runs the water for at least 5 minutes to flush standing water in the pipes. Then, he collects and records a sample to take back to the lab in a cooler full of ice for analysis.
When the results came back for each home, they were all the same: negative for E. coli and total coliform. Thompson says that means the Commonwealth of Virginia deems the water bacteriologically safe to drink for each household.
“Even small amounts aren't good for anybody, especially children,” says Thompson.
Because water contamination can pose major risks to your health, it is important to test your water on a regular basis. According to the EPA, if your drinking water comes from a public system, your water company should provide you with an annual quality report. If you use a private water supply, like a household well, the EPA says you alone are responsible for assuring that it is safe and you should have your water tested for contaminants every year.
EPA's Water Testing Recommendations by 13News Now on Scribd