Water is often described as the basis of life, but sometimes it can be exactly the opposite. That's why Manassas plumbers will be very keen to try and help you ensure that your supply is clean and safe.

Water - life and death

Just about everybody knows that life depends upon water. Many of us will have learned at high school how life may only have been made possible because of the oceans and eventually fresh water supplies. Even today, medical health specialists are constantly revising upwards their estimation of the importance of regular hydration in maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

Unfortunately though, water isn't always a bringer of health and vitality because it can in some cases be a serious carrier of major diseases.

Clean water awareness

People sometimes think about clean water in terms of chemical and other forms of non-organic pollution. For example, the dangers that may arise to health in situations where water has a higher lead or other heavy metals content are now well known. Yet water can also be a carrier of extremely dangerous bacteria and parasites. Some of these can be very harmful and in certain cases, actually fatal.

There are a number of such water-borne infections, including things such as typhoid and cholera that may be relatively easily passed into water supplies, often through cross-infection from the human feces and other waste products. Even in the long-distant past and long before civilization had an understanding of bacteria, some past societies recognized the importance of clean drinking water and how dangerous water could be if its purity could not be guaranteed. That is why, for example, in medieval Europe people tended to drink weak beer rather than water, as the alcohol killed off many of the germs present in the base water used. People at the time didn't know that of course - they just knew that beer was safe and water wasn't.

Over the centuries, all over the world (including Manassas) plumbers have played a critical role both in raising public awareness of the importance of clean water and in taking the practical steps to ensure its delivery. Today's Manassas plumbers will be just as keen to keep this going, as were their predecessors.

How does water get polluted?

Broadly speaking, modern mains supply water is considered to be safe to drink, given that it is treated to remove bacteria and parasites. Although there may be some cases to the exception, generally when pollution of mains water arises it is due to errors in treatment processing, or when unhygienic practices have occurred once it has left the faucet (e.g. Mary Mallon aka €Typhoid Mary€).

Contrary to what you may believe, some natural and €pure' water supplies, such as streams and wells, are potentially prone to bacteriological, fungal and parasitic infections. That may arise through natural processes, such as insects laying larvae in the water or by pollution due to human activity, such as human waste systems unintentionally leaking into local natural water sources.

If you are taking your water supply from anything other than a mains supply, it is important that it is regularly tested and, if necessary, appropriately treated, to prevent potential serious illnesses arising. That also applies in situations where you storing water from the mains supply in any form of intermediate storage tank, prior to subsequent consumption.

Although Manassas plumbers don't pretend to be microbiologists, they are experts in understanding the risks and issues that are associated with various forms of water supply for human consumption. If you have any questions or doubt as to the safety of the water you are using, it might be advisable to consult a plumber and other experts.