How Flooding Can Affect Your Drinking Water
Whether it’s a lake, river, or small stream when you live near the water, you get used to the occasional rising waters that storms or heavy rainfall can cause around your home. However, when Mother Nature decides to let the floodgates loose, your area can experience all the mess and damage that can come along with heavy flooding.
Besides causing a make-shift pool in your basement and streets to turn into canals, flooding can also negatively affect your drinking water. Here’s how:
When You Have Well Water
The water in well systems is sourced from groundwater that is naturally filtered through many layers of rock and sand. While this water is typically cleaner than rivers, lakes, and other public water supplies, when heavy flooding occurs, well water can become very contaminated and unsafe to drink.
This occurs because heavy rains and gravity can cause bacteria and nitrates to seep into groundwater from nearby septic systems. While not every well system gets contaminated during a flood, you should be especially concerned if you notice water pooling near your well casing.
When You Have Public Water
Public water is sourced from rivers, lakes, and other bodies of water and is treated through a municipal system. Homeowners whose drinking water comes from this type of water supply have a slight advantage during flooding since water treatment plants are designed to keep out bacteria and other contaminants that could otherwise affect your drinking water.
How Do I Know If Flooding has Contaminated my Water?
If you are concerned over whether or not your drinking water may be contaminated after a flood, you should have your water tested by your local utility company or a professional water filtration expert.
Installing a whole home water filtration system can give you peace of mind when it comes to the safety of your drinking water. At Aquarius Water Conditioning, we can perform a free water analysis and install a water filtration system best suited for your home’s needs. For the best drinking water in Minnesota and Wisconsin, give us a call at 888-741-9025.
