Removing Zinc In Water

This is a fact sheet about the zinc in water.

Source Of Contamination: Industrial production and waste and the erosion of minerals from rocks account for some of the zinc in drinking water.

Drinking Water Standards: Under the Safe Drinking Water Act, the EPA is mandated to determine safety standards for certain drinking water contaminants.

One of those standards is the maximum contaminant level (mcl). The mcl is the highest amount of a particular amount that is legally allowed in the water supply.

If a particular contaminant exist in the water supply above the mcl, it is deemed to be a hazard to public health. In such an event, water authorities must take steps to reduce the contamination to sub-mcl levels.

Water authorities must also notify water customers of the problem within 30 days of the discovery of the contamination.

Water authorities are duty bound to routinely screen for water supply contaminants that are assigned mcl values.

If a particular contaminant exists in the water supply at a level below the mcl, that contaminant is deemed not to pose a health risk.

However, there are a group of water supply contaminants, such as the zinc, that are assigned secondary maximum contamination levels (smcl). Such contaminants are not considered a threat to public health and public water systems only need test for them on a voluntary basis.

These contaminants only affect the color, taste and smell of water. If a contaminant such as zinc exist in the water supply above the smcl, the water is likely to have a metallic taste.

The smcl for zinc in drinking water is 5 mg/L.

Health Effects: At low levels, zinc is an essential nutrient.

Consuming water that contains excessive levels of zinc can lead to stomach cramps or affect the digestive system.

Home Water Treatment: Acquiring a home water filter certified to NSF 42 is capable of removing zinc from your water supply.

Water filter certification gives some assurance to consumers that the filters they are about to purchase is capable of removing the contaminant in question.

This whole house water filtration device is certified to NSF 42 and is therefore able to remove the zinc from tap water.

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