What’s in Your Water?

Do you know what’s in your water? Sometimes water can take on a noticeable taste and odour, while other times, signs of poor quality may be less obvious. Either way, it’s important to find out exactly what could be present in your water – especially if you’re already detecting that something isn’t quite right.

Common Water Problems in Canada

Here are just some of the most common water problems we hear about:

Hard, poor-quality water – Hard water is typical among river water sources. As water travels along, minerals and sediment get absorbed from the ground over which it flows and remain in the water, even after treatment. Hard water can leave hard-to-clean residue in tubs and on bathroom fixtures – it can even dry out your skin and hair.
Smells like rotten eggs – Elevated levels of dissolved sulphur can cause unpleasant odours in your water; most describe it as similar to rotten eggs. Sulphur content in water may peak during certain times of the year, and although unpleasant, is often completely harmless.
Chlorine – Chlorine is commonly used to disinfect water during the treatment process. Unfortunately, its smell can sometimes be detected in your tap water.
Cloudy, discoloured water – Cloudy tap water can be the result of pressure changes that loosen the sediment around water mains and pipes, while discoloured water is often due to high mineral content, and can leave stains on laundry.

Province-specific Testing

Each province must decide how many tests each of its municipalities should perform (this may be determined based on contaminants specific to a particular region), but tests may not be comprehensive enough to catch all contaminants.*

Health Canada has guidelines for 75 substances in drinking water that could affect your health. While there is one province that tests for all 75 substances, others only test for 20 to 60.

Your local Culligan Man can perform a comprehensive water test to determine what it is in your water that’s causing problems in your home – whether they’re making themselves known or not.

*Contaminants may not be in your water.