Heptachlor Epoxide In Water

Eliminate It With Residential Water Filters

The heptachlor epoxide in water may be a danger to people's health if it is present in public or private water supplies above drinking water standards set by the US EPA.

What Is Heptachlor Epoxide: This substance is an organic compound that is formed when heptachlor breaks down in the environment.

Up until 1978, this substance was used as an insecticide both in homes and in the agricultural industry.

It is now only allowed to be used to control or eliminate fire ants in electrical transformers, cable tv and phone cable boxes.

Source of Contamination: Heptachlor Epoxide binds to the upper layers of soil and can exist there for many years. Therefore it can contaminate surface water that eventually ends up in the municipal water supply.

Drinking Water Standard: Under the Safe Drinking Water Act, the EPA is mandated to set drinking water standards. One such standard is the maximum contaminant level (mcl).

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The EPA believes that when a drinking water contaminant exists above the mcl, it is harmful to public health. Below the mcl, that water is deemed to pose no health risks.

Water authorities must routinely screen for contaminants that are assigned mcl values. Upon discovery of contamination above the mcl, water authorities must reduce the contamination to sub-mcl levels.

They must also notify customers within 30 days of discovering the contamination.

The mcl for heptachlor epoxide in water is 0.0002 mg/L.

Be aware that not all tap water contaminants are assigned mcl values. Some are assigned secondary maximum contaminant levels (smcl).

The EPA sees these contaminants as not being harmful to public health. This is because such contaminants only affect the aesthetics of water - that is - its appearance, small and taste.

Water authorities are not required to screen for contaminants assigned smcls. However, they still do so in an effort to provide tap water that is pleasing to their customers.

Health Effects: If over an extended period, people consume water that contains heptachlor epoxide at levels above the mcl, they could get liver damage or have an increased risk of getting cancer.

Home Water Treatment: Although municipal water authorities are responsible for providing safe drinking water, there are still concerns about tap water.

For example, recent studies have shown that a variety of pharmaceutical drugs in the tap water of millions upon millions of American households.

Now those drugs are present only in trace amounts so there is an argument that the short term health effects may be negligible. However many scientists have expressed their concern about the long term health effects of drinking water that contains pharmaceutical drugs.

Here is another example. In Milwaukee in 1993, a cryptosporidium outbreak in the water supply killed 54 and got 400,00 people sick. The water treatment plant had to be shut down.

Bear in mind that there some contaminants do not always enter your water supply at the source. They enter between the time the water leaves the city treatment facility and reaches your home.

The best way to protect yourself and family from the risks mentioned above is to acquire a residential household water filter system. Such a device can:

a) Give you greater protection against contamination that results from a breakdown in the municipal water purification system.

b) Remove chlorine-resistant pathogens that survive municipal chlorination.

c) Filter out lead and copper that leach into your tap water as that water moves through your household plumbing.

But before you buy a residential water filtration system, bear in mind that not all of them are capable of removing the heptachlor epoxide in water.

What you need is an activated carbon filter that is not only capable of removing heptachlor epoxide in water but other chemicals and micro-organisms as well. Better yet, get an activated carbon water filter that is certified to NSF 53 standard.

Water filter certification ensures that there is no discrepancy between the contaminants a water filter will remove and what the manufacturer says the filter can actually remove.

This under counter water filter and countertop water filter system are both certified to NSF 53.

By using a home water filtration device what you end up with is healthier water to bathe, cook and drink with.

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