HAA’s in Your Newburgh Water
Recently, Mount Pleasant, NY, and surrounding areas have been under a water advisory for HAA’s (Haloacetic Acids) in the water supply. If you live anywhere in the Mount Pleasant or surrounding areas of the Hudson Valley, including Troy, Saratoga Springs, Scotia, or Newburgh, it may be worth it to get your water tested.
What’s The Health Risks of Haloacetic Acids?
Side effects of HAA’s in water can include birth defects, skin inflammation and irritation, and have caused cancer in lab animals.
Recently, the town of Mount Pleasant has been talking with water experts, searching for solutions to reduce the level of HAA’s in the water. While granulated carbon filters have been known to reduce the presence of haloacetic acids in a home’s water supply, a water test may reveal the amount of HAA’s or other contaminants that you may not know existed.
The Mount Pleasant, NY area is not the first to deal with haloacetic acid contamination in water. New Jersey recently dealt with water that had been contaminated by elevated levels of HAAs, putting large populations of the state, specifically Newark residents, at increased risk for certain cancers. Massachusetts and West Virginia have also each dealt with recent haloacetic acid issues affecting their respective reservoirs.
HAA’s in New York and Surrounding Areas
The reasons for these contaminations are not uncommon — issues like agricultural runoff, flooding, and sewage contamination are all contributing factors that many regions face when it comes to proper management of watersheds. The best way to prevent HAA contamination, as a result, is by protecting our water sources initially so that treatment like chlorination is needed as little as possible.
HAAs can also result in water that is treated with chloramines. These acids are created when organic and inorganic materials already present in water react with the disinfectants (chlorine, chloramine) used to make water drinkable. The specific HAA created as a result of this exposure depends on the organic or inorganic material itself, as well as the treatment – usually chlorine or chloramine. Since HAAs appear in water after treatment, they’re commonly referred to as ‘treatment byproducts.’
Both chlorine and chloramine are common methods used by cities and municipalities to treat water for homes and businesses. It’s a concern for some populations because certain kinds of HAAs have been found to cause cancers in some lab animals. Other side effects include skin irritation, skin inflammation, and even birth defects in some cases.
How Can Culligan Help with Haloacetic Acids?
Culligan can help: our pre-filter “Big Blue” with carbon filters or automatic whole house carbon filter with long-life high-grade activated carbon coupled with a RO drinking water system removes 99% of all contamination that may be present in your water.
How Can I Tell if I have HAA-Contaminated Water?
The first step to identifying potential contaminants or toxins in your drinking water is to contact your local utility or public health department.
They should be able to tell you not only what kinds of contaminants are in the water supply, but also what treatment method is being used to eliminate the health risks associated with those contaminants. You can also test water yourself with a home test kit, or arrange for a more advanced chemical test from a water expert like Culligan.
Additional Prevention of HAA’s in Your Water
In order to ensure you have clean, un-contaminated drinking water in your home, it’s recommended that you have your water tested at least once a year. If you rely on well water for your home, you should be testing your water every six months for optimal safety and drink-ability.
Additionally, if you live near an agricultural area, or if your region has recently experienced flooding, if your well has undergone work or repairs, you’ll want to test your water as soon as possible to ensure no contaminants have been introduced into the supply.
Looking for a solution? Call Culligan New England today and get a FREE water test or click FIX MY WATER TODAY to speak with a customer service representative!