how concerned should I be? my water comp. says I must boil all my

[NMDemDist2]

water for 5 minutes.


I have Sears Water softener whole house and an RO system under the sink for drinking water. our water co-op measured Encherichia coli bacteria in the water. They think it because of all the rain we've had recently.

they recommend we boil all water for 5 minutes for cooking and dishwashing (and drinking of course)

we had the RO filters (3 cannisters) serviced within the last month.

Suggestions? and do I have to get all new filters once the bacteria is eliminated?

[cornermouse]

1. Do you want to take a chance on getting E Coli?

I believe I'd be boiling water.

[NMDemDist2]

3. i'm boiling, i'm boiling. but will my RO system need new filters?

i have visions of a bateria party in my RO system for months to come......

[3dman]

7. Any bacteria in the water coming in is

now in your filters. You can try the UV filter, but that won't kill the bacteria in your RO system filters. The question is whether the cost of new filters bugs you more than the chance of bacteria contamination of your water.

[3dman]

8. BTW, if your filters

are new, you might be able to submit a claim to the water company for them. After all, it was their failure that led to the contamination.

[NMDemDist2]

9. i was afraid of that

and i JUST paid $100 to get them all done

:banghead:

[NNadir]

2. The RO system may not remove bacterial contamination.

I would not rely on it.

Water may be decontaminated either by boiling or by the chlorination which may be done sometimes with a few drops of household bleach.

The ideal solution is to install a UV lamp. Since I live in an area of wells and septic systems, I have a UV lamp installed in my water line. Such systems are very effective at killing bacteria and in my opinion also may decontaminate some organic pollutants such as perchloroethylene. It is important to change the bulb annually.

A UV system will set you back a few hundred bucks.

I would not drink the water.

[NMDemDist2]

4. I use a lot of diluted bleach to clean in the kitchen so that's what I'm

doing for any hand washed dishes

I never heard about a UV lamp, what a cool idea. got a link??

thanks!

[acmejack]

5. The UV source it would seem

http://www.ultraviolet.com/

General Info sheet: http://www.ultraviolet.com/whatis.htm

[TexasProgresive]

6. They're lots of UV purifiers

They are used for fountains and fish ponds as well as potable water. Here's a link. I'm not recomending this particular one-it might be good and might not but you'll get the idea.
http://puraqua-uv.com/

[pansypoo53219]

10. bleach not the universal answer

when milwaukee had cryptosporidium in the drinking water, it could survive full strength bleack(ooh goodie!). i got it, but i had a dose of my homemade pea soup and quickly got it out of my system.

i believe obsessive cleaning only degrades your immune system. yes, i will eat most of what falls on the floor. but then my toast always(almost always) lands jelly up. my aunt is a cleany who does the anti-bacterial route and she has lots of health issues.
or she's just more sensitive.

[NMDemDist2]

12. it's an E Coli bacteria and I usually don't use bleach every day BUT

this house was so filthy! when I bought it, I just felt better sterilizing the surfaces in the kitchen daily for a while.

I had pretty much put the bleach water away until this.

it's true about the "anti-bacterial" soaps and such. when I ran the coffee shop, the health inspector told me never use anti bacterial soap cuz it kills even the "good" bacteria and then the bad germs grow back faster and stronger cuz the "good" germs are gone.

[Kali]

11. Did your RO system come with specs and instructions?

maybe contact the manufacturer with specific questions about what IS filtered - don't ask "do I need new filters?" because if they make $$$ from that, of course you will need them!

Seems to me you are probably pretty safe or they would be telling you NOT to drink it at all....this is just a precaustion....

Are you immune-compromised? What levels are they talking about?

[NMDemDist2]

13. good idea, I think we have that paper work somewhere and no, thankfully

we are Not immune-compromised

they didn't give the levels out in the statement

what a pain :banghead:

[Kali]

14. a bit of info

From http://parentcenter.babycenter.com/refcap/preschooler/pnutrition/64401.html

What does it remove?
A complete system, including a prefilter and a postfilter, strips out lead, copper, arsenic, cadmium, chlorine, giardia, pesticides, salt, trihalomethanes, sulfates, cysts, and nitrates.

The reverse-osmosis membrane can also screen out at least some bacteria and viruses. But because it may contain tiny imperfections that allow a few microbes to slip through, you shouldn't use the filter for protection against these critters.

What are its pros and cons?
A reverse-osmosis system offers these advantages: It creates a three-tiered barrier that few contaminants can penetrate, and it uses no electricity. Its main disadvantage is that it wastes two to four gallons of tap water for every gallon that gets filtered. The less reject water it generates, the shorter the life span of the membrane will be, because reject water helps keep the membrane clean.


From http://www.fda.gov/ora/Inspect_ref/itg/itg36.html

It has been reported that bacteria can "grow" through membranes. The mechanism by which bacteria pass through a RO membrane is not known and no correlation exists between a dye leak test of the membrane and its bacterial retention efficiency. Researchers at the Center for Disease Control (CDC) conducted extensive investigations on the bacterial contamination of RO systems used in producing purified water for dialysis (15). They reported: 1. certain naturally occurring Gram- negative bacteria can multiply in relatively pure RO water; 2. thorough periodic disinfection of the entire RO system is essential in producing water with acceptable bacterial counts; 3. stagnant water in pipes down stream of the membrane is the major source of bacteria and endotoxin in the product water; and 4. the efficiency of a membrane in rejecting bacteria is better in continuous operation than in intermittent use.

[NMDemDist2]

15. good grief! i had no idea it wasted so much water

the UV filters are looking better all the time

[Kali]

16. Just curious, don't answer if you don't want to, but why do you filter?

I am on a um, how should I describe it? (probably illegal!) somewhat ancient system and have entertained the idea of doing some sort of treatment/filtration but everything requires to much refitting/pressure or is too dang expensive, so just assume out immune systems are taking care of it...(read: ignore the problem)

[NMDemDist2]

17. our water is hard hard hard and alkaline as all get out

it will pit out a chrome pluming fixture in a year

and it came with the house LOL

[phantom power]

18. Really beats up valves, too.

In our previous house, we had no water softener, and I was always replacing valves and washers. In our new house, I installed a water softener (and therefore an RO system). I'm not wild about the use of salt, and RO reject water, but I haven't had to dismantle a single faucet or valve in three years.

One thing about RO reject water: drinking/cooking water is pretty much the smallest volume of water use. The ratio sounds bad, but the total volume of reject water is small compared to the rest of the water we use for bathing, flushing toiletts, watering plants, etc.

[NMDemDist2]

19. the folks around here say the softener gives the valves 5-7 years

life instead of 1-3

our water is HARD!