Since everyone on the face of the planet needs to drink water to survive, it is good to know the properties of the water you drink. Most water sources inside America fall under the EPA and their guidelines for proper and safe drinking water. Inside these guidelines, you will find a suggested pH level of between 6.5 and 8.5. So what does this mean to you?
pH Levels Of Regular Municipal Drinking Water
Generally, everybody’s water source in America is safe to drink. It all falls into the general range of safe pH levels. pH level just refers to the acidity level present in the water itself. It is a measurement that lets you know where your water source sits on the scale of 0 to 14. 0 is the most acidic and 14 the most basic or alkaline.
What this means for you is that if you have a water supply to your home that has a pH of say 6.5, then you are at the very limits of what is considered safe to drink regularly. Very few, if any, sources of water are this low in pH level and you would notice a few things right away should your water reach this level of acidity. First would be a discoloration in the water itself. This comes from the water breaking down the pipes it is traveling through to reach your faucet.
Second, you might notice an odd unfamiliar smell or taste to the water. If you ever experience these signs in your water at home, and the issue persists for more than a day or so, then it might be time to contact a plumber to test your water. If an issue is present, then they will notify your city, county, or whatever government is in charge of the water and sanitation in your area.
pH Testing
If you question the quality of your water and wonder what the pH is, then you can easily test this yourself with an at-home test kit. These come in a variety of different forms and can be anything. Starting with a cylinder with measurements for volume that you get a certain amount of water into them, then add in drops of different chemicals to look for a colored reaction. The distinct colors that these types of kits end up displaying relate to different levels of pH. They are the kits you may have seen a pool cleaner use to test the quality of a pool’s or hot tub’s water.
Other types of kits differ by price point, and the most expensive of these are test pens. These pens need one end dipped into some water and a button pushed for them to return a digital pH level reading. These are usually only used by professionals because of the financial investment required to get one of these high-tech testers.
These at-home test kits should rarely if ever, be needed for the average household. This is because more sophisticated tests are run by the water department supplying the water to an area. Unless your home runs on well water, then you should always have a well-balanced pH level running from your tap.
Alkaline Water
Lately, there has been a trend of people suggesting drinking water with a high alkaline level, or water that is very basic poses some health benefits. While this has not been thoroughly studied enough to say one way or the other, many people seek alkaline water to drink after they dehydrate playing sports or exercising. This is because it may have some health benefits like better and quicker absorption into the human body, but this has yet to be proven as fact and can only be speculated on so far.
So, whether drinking from alkaline water sources has any health benefit is yet to be proven. Although, some preliminary small sample studies have proven that it may have positive effects for people with certain health conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure, and acid reflux. This means that there may be something to people drinking water of a pH level that is 8-8.5.
This is just a general overview of your drinking water and the pH level it maintains. If you are interested in this topic, then you can get a quarterly water report from your municipality which will give you all kinds of interesting information on the water you drink, bathe, and cook with daily.