Maintaining High-Quality Drinking Water in Your Home

Are you seeing black slime or pink stuff coming out of your faucet? Are there stains on the fixtures? Does the tap water have an unusual smell or color? The solutions to these issues may be in your hands. The next time you fill a glass with tap water, take a close look at the faucet and sink. Is the sink area clean?

The City of Florence wants every resident to enjoy a high-quality tap water. Below are some faucet tips as well as a downloadable brochure to help make your tap water the highest-quality possible.

• Install facets that are certified to be "lead-free or contain no lead.
• Clean faucet aerators and strainers regularly.
• Clean and disinfect sinks and faucets regularly.
• Keep sink drains unclogged and clear of materials so that the drains work properly.
• Use cold tap water for drinking and preparing food.
• A good time to collect fresh drinking water to chill in the refrigerator is after a lot of household water use, such as laundry and dishwashing.
• Remove aerators and flush cold water taps (open the faucets) after household plumbing work or when water has not been used for several days.
• Only connect water filters and other devices intended for drinking water to household faucets. Do not connect hoses or other devices to faucets for non-drinking water purposes.
• Keep hazardous chemicals or unsanitary materials away from faucets and sinks used for drinking water or food preparation.
• Maintain water treatment systems as recommended by the manufacturer.

For more information about water quality, call City of Florence Public Works at 541-997-4106.

Brochure and tips courtesy of the American Water Works Association (AWWA) www.awwa.org