Where Does Phoenix Get Its Water?
Phoenix tap water primarily comes from the Salt River Project and Central Arizona Project. These two endeavors rely primarily on sources such as the Salt, Verde, and Colorado Rivers.
For the past 50 years, the Deer Valley Water Treatment Plant has been one of the facilities responsible for ensuring optimal Phoenix water quality, filtering out potentially dangerous bacteria and viruses.
This ensures a base level of water safety — but there are additional considerations you may want to take to ensure optimal drinking water quality for your family.
Can You Drink Tap Water in Arizona?
Phoenix water quality standards mean drinking tap water won’t immediately make you sick like exposure to water in third-world countries. When it comes to your family’s safety, however, “better than a third world country” isn’t good enough; you want the best of the best. As such, we also recommend “4 things you can do in Peoria” to show you the best of what Arizona can offer.
The city of Phoenix uses chlorine to disinfect the water supply. While this is standard practice throughout the United States, some experts express concerns regarding the long-term safety of drinking chlorine. After all, chlorine is highly poisonous in large amounts — so skepticism about drinking it frequently isn’t completely unfounded.
Additionally, chlorine impacts the taste of Phoenix tap water in a way that not everyone appreciates.
Beyond chlorine, there have been concerning reports of other chemicals found in Phoenix tap water.
One report details high concentrations of firefighting foam toxins, while another highlights the presence of a carcinogen called chromium-6. Further reports indicate that many water lines in Phoenix are contaminated with lead.
These are all toxins that pose significant long-term health effects to humans.
So is Phoenix Water Safe to Drink?
While the chemicals mentioned above won’t necessarily make you sick immediately after you drink Phoenix tap water, the potential for longer-term harm is reason enough for many residents to forgo drinking water straight from the tap.
To be clear, many public health officials will respond to the question ‘can you drink tap water in Phoenix?’ in the affirmative due to the relative safety of North American water systems. However, here at American Home Water and Air we understand that “good enough” is no substitute for “excellent” when it comes to your family’s safety.
How to Purify Phoenix Tap Water
When it comes to purifying Phoenix tap water, you have several options, which we’ll explore in greater detail now.
Whole House Filtration Systems
Whole house filtration systems offer great convenience when it comes to purifying water in your home. You don’t have to think about the purity of specific water outlets; whole house filtration systems mean that the water from your bathroom faucet is as pure as the water from your kitchen.
This also makes whole house filtration systems cost-effective and thorough purification devices.
How Whole House Filtration Systems Work
Whole house filtration systems rely on multiple filters to remove contaminants from your water. These contaminants include not just chemicals like chlorine, lead, and carcinogens but also debris that has snuck past municipal filtration systems.
Reverse Osmosis Systems
Reverse osmosis systems are another great option for purifying the drinking water in your home. Quality units will remove up to 97% of contaminants, producing drinking water that looks better, tastes better, and is healthier for your family.
How Reverse Osmosis Systems Work
As with whole house filtration systems, reverse osmosis systems rely on filters (called “membranes”). The water in your home gets forced through these progressively-finer membranes that filter out larger contaminants and smaller ones alike.
Unlike with whole house systems, however, the reverse osmosis variety is designed specifically for filtering your family’s drinking water. As such, they will typically treat water for specific faucets in your home.
Do Water Softeners Filter Contaminants?
While we’re on the topic of home filtration devices, it’s worth mentioning water softeners. Many people make the mistake of assuming that a water softener will get rid of all the contaminants in their home’s water.
To be clear, water softeners are crucial for preparing Phoenix tap water for use — but not when it comes to contaminants. Rather, their primary purpose is reducing the levels of calcium, manganese, and other minerals that are prevalent in Phoenix’s unusually hard water supply.
In other words, removing contaminants like heavy metals and chlorine is not what water softeners are designed to do.
Instead, you’ll want to rely on one of the other two solutions (whole house filtration or reverse osmosis system) for purifying your house’s drinking water.
Trust American Home Water and Air to Ensure Safe Drinking Water for Your Family
At American Home Water and Air, we’ve been providing all kinds of water filtration systems in the Phoenix, Arizona area since 1985. Thousands of Phoenix residents have relied on our expertise at identifying water contamination issues and then recommending, water heater sizing, installing, and maintaining the appropriate systems to keep your family safe.
We’ll take your specific needs into account and help you decide whether a reverse osmosis or whole house filtration system will meet them.
The many hundreds of reviews our happy customers have left us online are a testament to our professionalism and quality.
Is Phoenix Water Safe to Drink? — Conclusion
Can you drink tap water in Phoenix? Technically, yes; water filtration standards in the United States means you are unlikely to experience the acute, life-threatening illnesses associated with the water supply in third-world countries.
However, there are still some worrisome contaminants in Phoenix tap water. These include chlorine, heavy metals like arsenic, lead, chromium-6, and firefighting foam toxins.
In the face of such toxins, “better than a third world country” is not good enough when it comes to your family’s health and safety.
Because of this, we recommend using either a whole house filtration system or reverse osmosis system to purify your home’s drinking water.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is Phoenix tap water cloudy?
Common reasons for cloudy Phoenix tap water range from harmless (i.e. microscopic air bubbles) to dangerous (i.e. aging pipes in your home). It can be hard to determine which is the case if you’re not a professional. To avoid taking chances with your family’s health, give us a call and we’ll be happy to give you some guidance.
How safe is Phoenix tap water?
Phoenix tap water is safe as far as acute diseases and viruses. However, there are still contaminants in it that may pose significant long-term health risks. As such, it’s recommended that you utilize a filtration system in your home.
How does Phoenix tap water rank?
There are definitely American cities with worse tap water than Phoenix. These include Flint, Pittsburgh, Detroit, and Newark. However, contaminants in Phoenix tap water are still cause for concern.
Why is tap water so warm in Phoenix?
It’s common for tap water in Phoenix to be unusually warm during the summer months. If you’re experiencing unusually warm water in the colder months, give American Home Water and Air a call and we’ll be happy to take a look at your water equipment.
