Water is the basis for human life, but any health or access problems with it can also cause a great deal of human distress. While clean water is both refreshing and necessary, contaminated water poses a huge risk to the lives of you and your loved ones. If you suspect water problems in your home, here are some concrete steps to get cleaner drinking water.

Know Your Area's Water

Do you live in a hard water town? Is there a history of some kind of waterborne illness in your area? The first step to improving your water quality is to find out what could be wrong with it, and gathering regional intel is the first step in that direction. While your realtor may have disclosed some of the information you need when you first moved into the home, you can't be sure they disclosed everything if not legally required. In addition, water issues may have sprung up later after you moved in. Poking around on the internet and in your local paper's archives can provide information on water problems in the area.

Get a Water Test

Although knowing the general state of the local water system can help you make good decisions about how much energy to put into checking and repairing your home's water connections, you'll also want to check out your specific water consistency before making any big decisions. There are simple kits to test for common dangers at many supermarkets and department stores. But if you suspect a deeper issue, you will want to call in some professionals to do a thorough check of your water quality, as different kinds of contamination could call for different solution protocols.

Check Your Pipes

While your plumber is checking your water, you might have them also take a look at your pipes. Degraded pipes can become a major source of dangerous contaminants in your drinking water. Older pipes are far more likely to pose a threat, of course, but even relatively new ones might turn out to be an issue in the right circumstances. No one wants to pay for a massive re-piping project, but if the option comes down to swapping out bad pipes or drinking unsafe water, there's really no contest.

Use a Filter

If you have a low level of water contamination but would like to enjoy cleaner and healthier water anyway, you can get a commercial water filtration system. Over-the-counter brands, like Brita, may not be able to completely clean up swampy or heavily poisoned water, but they are certainly capable of filtering out low levels of contaminants in areas where the water system could use a little work. There are also more extensive water filtration systems, many of them designed to work over the whole house, but those tend to be at the pricier end of the spectrum.

Fixing water problems is often quite a lot easier than people suspect. Instead of avoiding the problem, make an appointment with someone who can help today. The sooner you begin solving the issue, the sooner you can return to drinking water without fear of health-related repercussions.

Written by Guest Author for The Healthy Moms Magazine and legally licensed through the Matcha publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@getmatcha.com.