Courtesy Park City Water Division

This National Water Quality Month, companies and organizations are working to inform the public about possible issues, and give general knowledge, about water at every level from the home to the reservoir.

While governments work tirelessly to meet high water quality standards, the water in your home may still not be up to par.

This is because corroded pipes, faulty water softeners and treatment systems can cause massive issues within your home.

“The water coming in from the cities is great, meets all the regulations and everything else. It might be really hard, but it is really good water,” said Les Merrill, president of RETEGO Labs. “Then inside of the home through some treatment system, you might buy at a big box store or even installed by a professional installer, where it doesn’t match the chemistries of the water, and can actually attack the piping and fixtures within your home and cause problems.”

Bountiful-based RETEGO Labs offers residential water testing services, as well as water softening and conditioning.

Courtesy RETEGO Labs

“Water quality, in general, is one of the most important aspects of a healthy life,” Merrill said. “The comprehensive water test that we offer in the home gives you a profile of what we call the scaling and corrosivity tendencies of your water, we also look for things like the lead and the copper that can be an issue…our testing is done with the freshwater, right as it’s drawn from your home.”

RETEGO’s residential water testing also checks for per-and poly-fluoroalkyl substances, also known as PFAS. These tasteless and odorless chemicals are often called “forever chemicals” due to the way that they linger in the human body after consumption.

“They’re rare in homes, but certain types of plastics affect your home,” Merrill said. “You’ve got to look for the NSF symbols and make sure things are right.”

According to Merrill, those who have rust stains in their sinks, blue or green staining around their faucets, homes built before 1986, or copper piping, are ideal candidates for residential water testing.

“Copper is one of the best piping methods for water in your home,” he said. “But if it’s treated wrong, or something happens, it can turn very dangerous to you.”

Courtesy RETEGO Labs

While it only takes a few people to keep an eye on the water in your home, a city’s water supply is far more complicated to manage. Park City is one of the most complex water systems in the United States because its water comes from several different sources, including those in Utah County.

“We also treat the Weber River Water from Rockport Reservoir and Jordanelle Special Service District,” said Michelle De Haan, water quality and treatment manager.

Both of Park City’s current plants treat water in different ways due to the different source of water that flows through them. Along with treating the water, each water facility contains sensitive water-testing equipment that continually monitors the water quality to ensure it meets the utmost standards.

“The treatment plans are designed so that they have alarms in place and even plant shutdowns if for any reason those facilities do not meet our internal stringent water quality requirements,” De Haan said.

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