Drinking water

Your Drinking Water Guide

Drinking water is water that is suitable for human use and must be free from pathogens. It is intended for consumption, the preparation of food and beverages, personal hygiene and other household purposes. Its quality is strictly regulated in Germany, for example, by the Drinking Water Ordinance (TrinkwV), which sets limit values for chemical and microbiological composition to rule out health risks.

The Chemical Substances in Our Drinking Water

This sounds very reassuring and creates a certain sense of security. Unfortunately, however, this does not reflect reality. Traces of more than 50,000 chemical substances can now be found in our drinking water. Clear legal limit values or requirements exist for only 36 to 40 substances. What about all the other health-hazardous substances? For many of them, no clear measurement methods exist, or there are no legal limit values that could trigger an alarm.

How Is Drinking Water Produced?

Many waterworks simply dilute the purified but heavily contaminated water from sewage treatment plants with fresh spring water to lower the pollution levels somewhat. From this, one can derive the normal daily contamination load of drinking water. Added to this are outdated pipes containing lead and rust, or contamination with coliform bacteria, which repeatedly lead to warnings in the media. A completely overlooked source of contamination is found right at home at your own tap: the aerator! This should be cleaned regularly and replaced once a year. Otherwise, it can additionally contaminate your water with germs.

Conclusion

Do not leave the quality of your drinking water – and therefore your family’s health – to chance. Take effective measures now to thoroughly filter your drinking water.