Happy New Year from all of us here at Rusco! After all we endured in 2020, we hope that the start of 2021 has greeted you and your family with a fresh perspective, and, most importantly in these times, good health!
When we think of the start of a year, we think of new beginnings, and with that in the case of some, resolutions. A lot of New Year’s resolutions that people make center around becoming healthier and I’m sure that’s never been truer than this year! Some set goals that involve eating healthier while others vow to exercise more. Most people, however, probably don’t give a second thought to how the water they drink on a daily basis can affect their health, and I’d like to spend some time covering how something in your well water can in fact have negative effects on your health and more importantly what Rusco can do to help make your drinking water clean and in turn make sure you and your loved ones are healthy.
If you ever notice little particles in your water, that is what’s called sediment. Sediment is simply the product of weathering and erosion and can end up in your well water due to factors such as wind, gravity and even other water sources. Sometimes the sediment in your well water can consist of a naturally occurring mineral called manganese and that is what I’d like to focus on right now.
According to the Water Quality Association, manganese is one of the most abundant metals on the surface of the earth. It also ends up in well water, like all sediment, through natural sources or human interference.
Manganese, in small amounts, is necessary for the human body to function properly and ultimately for us to stay healthy. Manganese has many important functions in the body and is available from several of the foods we eat including beans, rice and nuts, just to name a few.
While manganese is required by the body to help manage these functions there is a limit to how much is beneficial versus it becoming toxic to the body and having adverse effects. When manganese appears in our water it will sometimes be present in small acceptable amounts (according to the Water Quality Association, back in 2004 the EPA set a lifetime health advisory level of 0.3 mg/L for chronic exposure and a one-day and 10-day health advisory of 1 mg/L for acute exposure to manganese), but it’s also possible that it will show up in much larger quantities that are toxic actually causing our bodies harm. How people are affected are based on several factors involving the individual including their age and, of course, health status. Infants and the elderly are more likely to have sensitivities to manganese which can result in neurological deficiencies. Those with liver disease are also more prone to have issues related to high manganese concentrations as well, according to the Water Quality Association.
Several studies have taken place to suggest that infants and children specifically could have neurological issues develop as a result of being exposed to large amounts of manganese in drinking water which include dystonia, progressive bradykinesia, and disturbance of gait, slurring, and stuttering of speech. Studies indicate that water levels above 0.241mg/L for a period of three years caused poorer performance in school measured by the level of mastery of language, mathematics, and in their overall grade average based on clinical research by Geir Bjorklund, Max Chartrand, Jan Aaseth. “Manganese exposure and neurotoxic effects in children” PubMed, 2017.
If you have children, infants or someone elderly in your home, it’s especially important to reduce the risk of having excess manganese in your drinking water seriously. Along with having physical health effects, the Water Quality Association points out some aesthetic issues that may appear if manganese is present in your drinking water. If you notice that your water has a slight metallic taste and/or if you see black stains in your tubs, toilets, laundry and any plumbing fixtures, it would be a good idea to investigate. Testing to confirm is easily done with an inexpensive water test kit that can be purchased online. If you find out that you have excessive levels of manganese in your water supply don’t worry a simple inexpensive Rusco filter put in-line of your main water supply will help eliminate excessive levels of manganese as well as other harmful contaminants from your drinking water.
Our filters are designed to be self-cleaning and do not require expensive replacement cartridges like other filters on the market which can cost hundreds of dollars to replace each year. At Rusco, we have several products designed to help with your water quality needs that directly affect your health and eliminate those hard to clean stains left in your kitchen sink and bathtub.
Unsure of what specific product you should choose based on your application? Feel free to take a look at our website www.rusco.com or give us a call at 1-800-345-1033 and one of our live support team members can help guide you to the correct solution. If one of your resolutions in the new year is to get healthier, don’t forget about the quality of your drinking water. If you suspect that manganese is present in your system, you need to consider a Rusco spin-down for your filtration needs!
Source Notes: All health related and general information in this article regarding manganese and manganese in water came from the Water Quality Association and Medical News Today.
