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I don't mean is it safe to drink, but is it hard water, and does that interesting looking red soil get into the water and leave stains on everything? I thought the water here was normal, but it leaves stains in the toilet bowl and tank constantly. It also leaves white deposits on glasses, ice cube trays, etc. So just curious about the Raleigh water. Also, does it taste good?
I predict that the Raleigh area is uniquely positioned to have the worst drinking water in the country in the next two years, even worse than during the Great Depression. This prediction brings me no pleasure.
I don't mean is it safe to drink, but is it hard water, and does that interesting looking red soil get into the water and leave stains on everything? I thought the water here was normal, but it leaves stains in the toilet bowl and tank constantly. It also leaves white deposits on glasses, ice cube trays, etc. So just curious about the Raleigh water. Also, does it taste good?
Sounds like you have hard water and rust there. Common for well water - is that what you have?
Many areas here are served by municipal water systems. But each city has its own (and Raleigh serves several smaller Wake towns), so it's difficult to give a single answer. But like most municipal water systems, the water tends to be good, but not great. So filtering and softening are always options for those who find the water in their area not to their taste.
Some outlying areas are served by shared well service or individual wells. Of course, the quality of those will vary quite a bit.
Each water system should have a water quality report available on its website. For example, I live in Orange County and receive water and sewer from OWASA. They have a water quality section on their site:
Orange Water And Sewer Authority (http://www.owasa.org/right/WaterQuality.aspx - broken link)
We have Raleigh city water which is fine to drink but not so good for cars or cooking! I use an electric kettle to boil water and it leaves a white residue around the inside. Car afficinados will tell you the water has a lot of calcium which leaves a white residue on cars that can accumulate and harden over time, particularly in the rubber around the windows (very noticible on black or darker color cars) so don't use hose to wash - go to a car wash that has some sort of filtered water. I notice white residue on terracotta planters as well but a gardening friend told me that's salt???
I run our drinking water through a filter. Also, don't use hot water for cooking or drinking. I've been told it runs through your water heater and can collect junk there. Makes sense to me.
Raleigh sent a notice a few weeks back that they were going to refrain from cholorinating the water for a month and then start back up again. I think the water tastes and smells a little off, but I thought LA water was the same. The only really good water I've had from the tap was in MN-land of 10,000 lakes
I predict that the Raleigh area is uniquely positioned to have the worst drinking water in the country in the next two years, even worse than during the Great Depression. This prediction brings me no pleasure.
Just kidding. I know nothing about Raleigh water.
Maybe nobody else got it, but I did
We're on a subdivision well, and our water is a little hard and has the red clay sediment. We have a whole house filter and a whole house softener. I change the filter about every 6-8 months and it is totally rust red color from the sediment.
We have Raleigh city water which is fine to drink but not so good for cars or cooking! I use an electric kettle to boil water and it leaves a white residue around the inside. Car afficinados will tell you the water has a lot of calcium which leaves a white residue on cars that can accumulate and harden over time, particularly in the rubber around the windows (very noticible on black or darker color cars) so don't use hose to wash - go to a car wash that has some sort of filtered water. I notice white residue on terracotta planters as well but a gardening friend told me that's salt???
I run our drinking water through a filter. Also, don't use hot water for cooking or drinking. I've been told it runs through your water heater and can collect junk there. Makes sense to me.
Raleigh sent a notice a few weeks back that they were going to refrain from cholorinating the water for a month and then start back up again. I think the water tastes and smells a little off, but I thought LA water was the same. The only really good water I've had from the tap was in MN-land of 10,000 lakes
I am on Raleigh city water.
I did not know that about the car washing part. I've been hand washing/claying/waxing my car since I bought it new here 2.5 years ago, it is black, and has some black plastic and rubber trim. So far I haven't had any problems with any kind of white buildup. I did use the touchless and wand car washes a few times during the drought phase, and noticed that my car actually didn't seem to come clean from them. The "filtering" at the car wash, as I understand it, is really just from recycling the water. But I could be wrong. I also wonder if the quality of the car washing soap itself has anything to do with the possibility of buildup.
Also about the chlorination, this definitely affects the taste of the water. Under normal circumstances, I would say that the water here is pretty good out of the tap. I filter the stuff I drink just out of habit and because I live in a 100+ year old building and don't know about the pipes. However, when they do this chlorination thing (they do it periodically, not sure what the frequency is), you'll notice that the water will have this earthy smell and flavor for a few days (I liken it to what it might taste like to eat dirt ). Then when they start the chlorination up again, you'll have a noticeable chlorine smell and flavor. Neither is overbearing enough to make me not want to drink the water, but it is definitely noticeable.
Definitely haven't noticed any of the rust stain stuff.
a lot of interesting replies, thanks guys!
(i am on municipal water here in a middle class/upper middle class town)
it sounds to me like I might just invest in one of those brita filters for the tap. i usually drink seltzer or bottled water, but for the cooking/cleaning this seems best
can you get a tap filter for the hose, for the dishwasher input, etc?
Edit: And a big LOL to BurntHombre! Thanks for the help =)
Raleigh sent a notice a few weeks back that they were going to refrain from cholorinating the water for a month and then start back up again.
Actually, Raleigh normally uses something called Chloramine not Chlorine. However for about 1 month a year they do switch to Chlorine. (something about Chloramine producing nitrogen and allowing some organisms to grow)
We have Raleigh water and have a whole house filter and also a drinking water filter installed under the kitchen sink. From what I understand Chloramine is harder to filter out than Chlorine(at least they charge more for filters rated for Chloramine). We have had visitors from out of town accidentally drink the unfiltered water and comment about how bad it tastes.
PS If you move to an area where there is a lot of new development you might notice some of the red clay in the water as they tap into the pipes. We used to get a lot of that but most of the area around us is built now and we don't see much any more.
I came from an area of California that had very hard water. It was as high as 504ppm vs Raleigh's 34.9ppm (which is considered very soft). I don't have any of the mineral deposit buildup that I had in California. And even though I am used to drinking bottled water (the water in CA tasted absolutely disgusting) I can actually drink the tap water here.
I have never noticed any stains from the water but if your child plays baseball/softball, those red clay stains are next to impossible to get out. If you are lucky enough to get them out, you can be assured the process of red stain removal will begin anew after the next practice or game.
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). Then when they start the chlorination up again, you'll have a noticeable chlorine smell and flavor. Neither is overbearing enough to make me not want to drink the water, but it is definitely noticeable.
