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The
water supplied to you by the Company undergoes a thorough treatment process
to ensure that, when you turn on the tap, the water is of a high quality
and meets the quality parameters laid down by law. We continually test
our water to ensure that the high standard is maintained consistently
throughout the year.
There may be occasions, however, when you are concerned
about the taste, odour or appearance of your water. In order to assist
you in identifying the probable cause of common problems we have looked
at some of the most frequently asked questions concerning water quality.
The pages below provide details of how the problems occur, what impact
they have on the water and what can be done to remedy the problem.
If you have a particular query that is not covered below,
please complete the online Water
Quality Enquiry Form (* Your
email will be forwarded to our laboratory team and you will be contacted
as soon as possible) or alternatively click
here (18k)
to download a printable version that you may mail or fax back to us. Where
necessary we will visit your property free of charge and take samples
of your mains water away for testing.
The water smells or tastes funny
There are several possible causes of unusual tastes or odours in water:
Chlorine
Chlorine is used in the treatment process to disinfect the water and
kill bacteria. The levels of chlorine are harmless in the quantities
which are used.
A
small quantity of chlorine remains in the water after treatment to ensure
that the treated water system remains disinfected from the treatment
works to your tap. You may occasionally experience a slight smell or
taste of chlorine coming from the water in your taps. This does not
mean that there is anything wrong with the water.
An easy and safe way to overcome the taste and smell of
chlorine in water is to cool the water. Fill a plastic water bottle
and cool it in the fridge before drinking.
Chlorine is also commonly noticed in swimming pools, where
it is used in much higher concentration as a disinfectant. The levels
are entirely different from the amounts used in the water treatment
process.
I have moved house – the water tastes and
smells different
The makeup of water (including the levels of chlorine) varies from area
to area and this will mean that the water may taste or smell slightly
different from the water that you were used to (especially so when you
compare it to water from outside of the island).
Another reason may be due to our having to alter the treatment
process slightly depending on the weather, demand and time of year.
These factors all affect the levels of chlorine that we must add to
the water which in turn will slightly affect the taste and smell.
My water tastes salty
Incorrectly installed water softeners, fitted to washing machines for
example, can cause salty tastes and contaminate the drinking water supply.
Do not drink water from water softeners because it contains high levels
of salt – you should always use a tap with unsoftened water for
cooking and drinking.
Is it my plumbing that is causing the problem?
One of the main factors affecting the taste and/ or odour of water is
the customer’s own internal plumbing. Water is highly susceptible
to materials and chemicals - all of which can affect its taste.
The most common problems are detailed below:
-
New copper pipe work – can cause a matallic
or bitter taste
-
Plastic pipe work and plastic kettles – can
cause a plastic/ chemical smell or taste.
-
Tap washers - can cause a rubbery or metallic taste
-
Tap washers, plastic pipework, and particularly
the hoses used to connect washing machines or dishwashers - can
cause a disinfectant or 'TCP' type taste.
Note
that plastic pipe work is vulnerable to contamination from chemicals
and solvents. If your water tastes of petrol, a chemical or solvent
the cause may be due to a plastic water pipe on your property being
contaminated and allowing the chemical or solvent to bleed through into
the water. You should investigate sources of potential contamination
(eg your oil tank) and obtain further advice from the Company.
Do not drink or cook with water from bathroom taps or
the hot water system. This water usually comes from a storage tank in
the loft and is not as fresh or safe as water that comes directly from
the mains. You should use cold water from the kitchen tap for all drinking
and cooking requirements.
If the taps have not been used for a while, if you have
been on holiday for example, you may find a metallic taste from the
pipe work and possible discolouration in the water. Run the tap clear
to get rid of water that has been standing in the pipes, before drinking.
How will I know if my plumbing is causing the
problem?
You can get advice from a professional plumber to find out if any taste,
odour or discolouration problem is due to your own household plumbing.
If in doubt, the Company is always willing to assist with
any water quality query. Contact us online (click
here) or contact or
main switchboard (click
here).
The water coming out of the taps is discoloured
Depending on the colour of the water this may well be a problem with
your internal plumbing.
If
the problem is coming from all cold taps except the kitchen cold tap
it is likely that the water is being affected after it has entered your
property. If you have a cold water storage tank you should check to
ensure that nothing has fallen into it (there should be a fitted lid
with air vents to prevent this from happening).
If the problem is also affecting the cold water kitchen
tap (which should be fed directly from the mains) then it is likely
that water is being affected before it reaches your internal plumbing.
The water is cloudy
White and / or cloudy water can mean one of two things.
If the water clears from the bottom to the top, that simply
means there is some dissolved air in the water – this is not a
quality issue.
If the water clears from the top to the bottom, this could
mean some type of dissolved solid or sediment is in the water. This
needs further investigation. Contact us online (click
here) or contact or
main switchboard (click
here).
The water is a reddish/brown colour
Reddish or brown coloured water is most commonly associated with iron
contamination, generally from corroded steel and iron pipe work.
If the corrosion is on your pipe work then this will need
to be addressed by your plumber. The corrosion may however be coming
from Jersey Water pipes. Before engaging a plumber to investigate your
pipe work contact the Company (online (click
here) or via the main
switchboard (click
here) and we will establish the source of the problem.
The water is green in colour
This is most commonly associated with the corrosion of copper
pipe work. In this case the cause of the problem is almost certainly
due to the corrosion of internal pipe work which is a job for your plumber.
Aluminium
Aluminium occurs naturally, both in the environment and at low levels
in most waters and also forms an ordinary part of the water treatment
process. Treated water actually contains less aluminium than untreated
water. The use of aluminium in the treatment process is quite safe.
You will absorb more aluminium from food and cooking utensils
than from water, which provides only a fraction of your daily intake.
Lead
Water supplied by the Company must comply with the quality parameters
set down for lead. Occasionally, the concentrations of lead in water
may exceed these levels and this is normally due to Customers’
internal pipe work being made of lead.
If you have lead pipework and are seeking to replace it,
the Company will also replace (free of charge) any lead communication
pipes (click
here) that may supply your property. The service
is free of charge on the basis that the lead service pipe is replaced
with one of an equivalent diameter and that the Customer replaces all
lead pipe work connected to their treated water plumbing.
Nitrates
Nitrates
occur naturally at low levels in most water. Additional levels of nitrate
can also arise in areas where nitrogenous fertilisers are used (ie agricultural
areas). In Jersey the extensive use of nitrogenous fertilisers in the
Potato industry can result in higher than normal levels of nitrates
in untreated water collected in the reservoirs for treatment. This pollution
of the Island’s waterways can result in higher than normal levels
of nitrates in the treated water supplied by the Company.
There are currently three methods of extracting nitrates
from water; reverse osmosis, ion exchange and chemical treatment. The
only practical method of treatment in Jersey would be Reverse Osmosis
which would require all of the water supplied by the Company to pass
through a plant similar to that at the desalination plant at La Rosiere
for treatment. In practice this has a number of significant disadvantages:
-
The process is extremely expensive. Reverse osmosis
water is about 7 times more expensive to produce than normal treated
water.
-
The process not only removes the nitrates but all
of the other minerals (including all of the healthy ones). The water
would need to be remineralised which would involve the importation
of significant quantities of limestone.
-
The process is extremely wasteful. Around 40% of
the water that goes into the process comes out as waste but with
significantly higher levels of nitrates and other minerals. Disposal
of this waste water would be a significant problem.
-
The removal of the nitrates from the water is attempting
to correct a symptom rather than curing the problem at source.
The levels of nitrates in the water in Jersey do not justify
the significant capital and ongoing costs of removing all of the nitrates.
Most of the time the levels of nitrates are well within the legal limits
set out within the law and only on a few occasions have they exceeded
the 70mg/l MAC limit. The levels of nitrates rise and fall depending
on the time of year and the rainfall - the highest levels of Nitrates
are usually experienced in Spring when rainfall washes down the nitrates
that have just been put on the land by farmers.
To minimise the concentrations of nitrates in the water
the Company uses water from the desalination plant at La Rosiere, to
dilute untreated water thereby reducing nitrates. The Company also has
a small denitrification plant at Le Mourier with which it reduces the
levels of nitrates directly from the extracted stream water. By careful
blending of different sources of water the Company can keep levels of
nitrates as low as possible.
The
only really effective way to remove nitrates from the water is to tackle
the problem at source and control the volume of nitrogenous fertilizers
being put onto the land. This has been achieved with limited success
over the past 10 years by the introduction of new land management techniques
that seek to control the use of chemicals in agriculture. The Company
advocates the implementation of ‘Water Catchment Management Areas’
(WCMA’s) in Jersey that would strictly control the use of the
land in water catchment areas. Until WCMA’s are in place and operating
effectivly the Island will continue to have levels of nitrates that
exceed legal limits from time to time.
Pesticides
The level of pesticides found in our treated water comply with regulatory
and legal standards and the water supply is regularly analysed for herbicides
and pesticides.
Fluoride in water
Jersey Water does not add any fluoride to the water as part of the treatment
process.
Fluoride is added in some countries to improve the development
of adult teeth in adolescence. There are, however, issues concerning
individual choice and the potential medical side effects of overdosing/
fluoridosis.
‘Hard’ or ‘soft’ water relates
to the percentage of dissolved minerals in the water. Rain water is
naturally soft and contains very little dissolved matter, but as it
seeps through the ground it picks up various minerals from the soil
and rocks that it passes through.
Hard
waters are most often found associated with chalk and limestone areas,
which contain calcium and magnesium compounds. Soft waters are associated
with impermeable rocks such as granite. In general surface waters such
as streams are softer than ground water such as boreholes, as there
has been less contact with the minerals present in the earth.
The problems associated with hard water include pipes
furring up and scale which collects in kettles, causing them to work
less efficiently. This is normal and does not mean there is something
wrong with the water. Although kettles in Jersey do not tend to get
scale forming inside them it is quite common for a brown deposit to
form on the sides. This is manganese which occurs naturally in local
waters, which although not pleasant to the eye, is totally harmless.
More soap is needed to create lather in hard water areas.
To overcome this, dishwasher manufacturers often recommend the addition
of salt to soften the water, and so enable less soap to be used, which
is better for the environment.
Waters are classified using the following description.
| Hardness
as mg CaCO3/l |
| .........0-50 |
.........Soft |
| .........50-100 |
.........Moderately
soft |
| .........100-150 |
.........Slightly
hard |
| .........150-250 |
.........Moderately
hard |
| .........250-350 |
.........Hard |
| .........>350 |
.........Very
hard |
The hardness of the mains tap water in Jersey is classified
as slightly to moderately hard and tends to fall in the following range
(hardness is often quoted in different units by dishwasher manufacturers
so the most commonly used are also listed).
| .........108-179 |
........mg/l as CaCO3 |
| .........7.7–
12.8 |
........as
Clarks degrees |
| .........6.4–
9.5 |
........as German
degrees |
| .........10.8
– 17.9 |
........as French
degrees |
Where customers decide to install or use any kind of filtration
system, including water filters and jugs, care and attention to the
instructions are very important. All such appliances should be used
in strict accordance with the manufacturer’s recommendations to
avoid bacteriological growth and therefore contamination of the water
which passes through these filters.
If the filter is not used and replaced in strict accordance
with the manufacturer’s instructions bacteria can form on the
filter and contaminate all water passing through it. This can result
in food poisoning.
Jersey Water is perfectly safe to drink without using
a filter.
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