My drinking water is reddish or brown. What causes that?
This reddish-brown color is nontoxic, but it is not harmless. It can stain clothing in the wash, and it looks bad. The two common causes are:

• Iron may be dissolved in your drinking water (which is common in southwest Ohio). When iron is dissolved in groundwater, it is colorless, but when it combines with air (oxidizes) as you take water from your faucet or elsewhere in the system, the iron turns reddish-brown. If you notice the water changing from colorless to brown, you may want to consider buying an iron-removal unit for your home.
• If you are receiving your water from a public system, the cause may be rusty drinking water pipes either in the street leading to your home or in your home. Also, your hot water tank may be rusting. Water causing this type of problem is called corrosive. If you are having trouble and your neighbors are not, then your own pipes or water heater probably are rusting. Letting the water run a while will often clear the water. When your plumbing is rusting, lead and copper may be getting into your drinking water as well. This is important, so call your local water supplier to discuss the issue. To avoid problems with lead and copper, all water suppliers by law have to make sure that drinking water is not corrosive.

Is it OK to use hot water from the tap to make baby formula?
No. Hot water may contain impurities that come from the hot water heater and plumbing in your house. To avoid this, use cold water and let the water run for a couple of minutes before you use it if that tap has not been used for a while. You can then heat this water on the stove. Catching the water you flush out of the tap in a container and saving it for plant watering is a good conservation measure.

My drinking water is not acceptable. Who should I talk to?
Call your local drinking water supplier and discuss your problem. Your supplier will work with you to explain what’s causing the problem and what can be done about it. If you have your own drinking water well, it’s up to you to have your water tested regularly to ensure its safety. It’s also up to you to add treatment methods to your water system if needed.

I have seen work crews cleaning water mains and the water they flush out looks terrible. How can the water be safe if the pipes are so dirty?
Almost all water pipes have a thin film of rust and harmless microbes on the inside. Experience has shown that this thin film causes no problems. Build-up of this material may, however, cause problems such as clogging of fixtures, making the tap water look bad, or using up the disinfectant in the water as it passes through the pipes. Water suppliers have a regular program of flushing and cleaning their distribution pipes. When they remove all of this material from the walls of several miles of a pipe and it comes out a fire hydrant all at once, it looks worse than it really is. If you watch the workers do this, you will notice that the water clears up rather quickly.

Why can’t ocean water be treated to make drinking water?
Ocean water is being treated to make drinking water at 7,500 plants in coastal areas worldwide using a process known as desalinization. Ocean water is salty so that at least 99.2 percent of the salt would have to be removed to avoid a salty taste in drinking water. The cost of treating salt water to drinking water standards is estimated at $5 to $7 for each 1,000 gallons (instead of the $0.30 to $0.50 for each 1,000 gallons for typical treatment).

Can wastewater be treated to make it into drinking water?
Yes, it can be, although no one is using treated wastewater for drinking water at this time. A large test completed in Denver showed that good quality drinking water could be made from wastewater, but so far water shortages haven’t been so severe to warrant its use. To save water in some areas of the United States, partially-treated wastewater is used to irrigate golf courses and landscaped public areas. It’s even used to provide cooling water for industry, although this practice is sometimes questioned due to limited research on its long-term effects. In the Miami Valley area, water supplies are generally abundant, reducing the likelihood that this method of obtaining drinking water will be necessary in the near future.