In our home lives, one of the amenities we almost take for granted is an uninterrupted, efficient water supply. Indeed, it is considered one of the bare minimums of comfortable living to have the water you need at hand, whenever and wherever you need it. Whether it is at residential homes or in industrial settings, a regular, dependable supply of water is essential. In addition to having enough volume of water available on demand whenever required, there is one other important factor here — the quality of the water available.
Whether it is at home or at factories and manufacturing facilities, it is of the utmost importance to have access to pure water. Water quality is something that most people find themselves worrying about at some point of time or the other, and with good reason. About two million tons of sewage and industrial waste makes its way to the world’s water on a daily basis, which makes it all the more important for us to ensure that the water we get supplied on a daily basis remains clean and pure. Water pollution is a palpable problem at present, and considering the fact that over two billion people worldwide live without proper sanitation, water quality is something that merits immediate attention in any setting.
Water Quality Analysis Methods — Knowing For Sure
Different scenarios call for different requirements when it comes to the purity of water and analysis of water quality parameters. For domestic consumption, standard purification tends to focus on the removal of harmful chemicals and microorganisms from the water before making it available to homes. For industrial use, it is often a matter of water resistivity, for which the purification process tends to be more elaborate, involving the removal of ions and softening or distilling the water about to be used. Finally, there is the question of ambient water quality, which has certain parameters regarding the purity of water in natural surroundings.
If you are interested in water quality analysis methods, the first thing to have in mind is the water quality indicators specific to your requirements. The whole process starts off with taking a sample of the water you want to test, and then going ahead with chemical testing looking for specific materials and markers relevant to the use you have in mind for that water. The testing can be significantly different for household water supply and industrial water requirements. Let us take a look at both.
Water for Domestic Use – If you are interested about water quality analysis methods for domestic water use, there are a few things to watch out for in the testing process. You can use commercially available water quality testing kits for the job or send a sample to a nearby testing laboratory. For household use, the basic things to look for are acidity or alkalinity, taste and odor. From there, you can also test for the presence of metals, metalloids, dissolved metallic salts and dissolved organic matter. For drinking water, it is also important to carry out bacteriological water analysis to confirm the absence of harmful microorganisms.
Water for Industries – In addition to the tests mentioned above, water for industrial use might need to be tested more thoroughly for more quality parameters. This can involve testing for the amount of dissolved oxygen, the presence of suspended solid particles, water temperature and the overall conductivity of the water. Dissolved inorganic material increases conductivity of water, and in industrial scenarios where high resistivity applications are required, this is an important parameter included in water quality analysis methods.
Overall, it suffices to say that safe, clean and pure water is a basic requirement in any setting. If you are concerned about the quality of water at home or at your place of work, it makes sense to take advantage of the myriad water quality analysis methods available today and have a sample tested for peace of mind. If there are issues and you know what they are, you can try and find ways to tackle them easily without suffering the consequences of low quality water in the future.