Did you know that some water contaminants are more dangerous to our health when we breathe them in than they are when we drink them? This makes water quality an important issue not just for our drinking water, but also for the water that we use for showering. Today we’re going to talk about why shower water contaminants are so dangerous to our health, the health effects that those contaminants can cause and how you can remove shower water contaminants from the tap water in your Carolina home!
Why are shower water contaminants dangerous to our health?
Many water contaminants are dangerous when we consume them in our drinking water, but some contaminants are even more harmful when we are exposed to them in the shower. According to a recent study, 50 to 80 percent of dissolved chemicals in water are released into the air when water is heated. When we shower in hot water, those chemicals are released into the air and we breathe them in throughout the duration of our showers. As it turns out, breathing in chemicals from heated water has a more direct and impactful effect on our health than drinking them does.
What health issues do shower water contaminants cause?
The most dangerous water contaminants when it comes to shower water are trihalomethanes (THM’s), volatile organic chemicals (VOC’s), chlorine and chloramine. The presence of these contaminants in tap water can lead to the following health effects when we are exposed to them in the shower:
- Allergic reactions like itchy eyes, coughing and a runny nose (caused by: chlorine and chloramine).
- Respiratory problems like breathing issues and asthma attacks (caused by: THM’s, chlorine and chloramine).
- Elevated risk of various cancers, including cancers of the bladder, colon, breast and kidney (caused by: THM’s and VOC’s).
- Damage to organs like the heart, lungs, kidney and liver (caused by: THM’s and VOC’s).
- Hard water can cause damage to your shower
In addition to the contaminants above that can affect our health, hardness minerals like calcium and magnesium are common shower water contaminants that can damage your bathroom itself. Hard water causes limescale to grow on anything that it comes into frequent contact with. As a result, hardness minerals can clog up your showerhead, clog up your shower drain and allow ugly limescale deposits to build up on your shower’s walls and floor.
How can you eliminate shower water contaminants from your home’s water?
The best way to eliminate shower water contaminants from your home’s water is to install a water treatment system in your home. Many of the most dangerous shower water contaminants can be removed with a carbon filter, a reverse osmosis system or a combination of both. In addition, hardness minerals can easily be removed by installing a water softener. Schedule a free water quality analysis with North Carolina Water Consultants so that we can find out what kind of shower water contaminants exist in your water and suggest the right system(s) for treating them.
If you have any questions about shower water contaminants, or if you’d like a water system serviced or installed in your home, contact North Carolina Water Consultants, your water softener and water filtration system dealer in North and South Carolina. We provide service all over the Carolinas, including towns like Cornelius, Huntersville and Charlotte, NC.