Copper In Your Water
Copper is found in trace amounts in our bodies, helping us to absorb Iron and help prevent a number of anemia like symptoms and bone abnormalities. However ingesting too much copper can have terrible consequences for your physical and mental health.
Effects Of Too Much Copper In Your Body
- Vomiting blood, Gastrointestinal Disease – even in the short term, high level of copper can wreak havoc with your digestive systen.
- Moodiness, Depression, Irritability – in the longer term, an imbalance in your natural nutrients can negatively.
- Kidney and Liver Damage – eventually your body will struggle to process all the copper affecting the health and function of your liver and kidneys.
How Does Copper Get Into Our Drinking Water?
Copper exists as a mineral in rocks and soil and is often found in low levels in natural water bodies. However, the main cause of elevated copper levels is usually water being left to stagnate in household pipes. Running water erodes the pipes and release the copper into the pipes, into your water and then into your body.
Government Regulations
Different countries have different regulations on the toxic level of copper in the water supply however most follow the same general format:
- State the aceptable water copper levels
- Steps that should be taken in order to prevent copper build-up
- Inform the community of the effects and dangers of water contaminants
In Australia the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) state in their guidelines that anything above 1.3mg/l of copper should be considered toxic and immediate steps should be taken to reduce copper to a safe level.
Solutions
Testing
If you are unsure about the levels of copper in your water, or are suffering from any of the symptoms described above, get your water tested. Copper testing kits are available at many health or pool shops and can even be used to find the source of your copper problem.
Water Filtration
Copper can be easily removed by reverse osmosis or an Activated Carbon water filter. These can be attached to your tap or installed as a whole of house water filter.
Which To Chose
If the copper problem comes from your water source and you have more than one outlet, the whole of house water filter will be the obvious solution. However, if the copper is coming from your eroding pipes, you will need a point of use filter attached under each sink.
