Arsenic In Your Water

Frequently used for strengthening lead and copper, arsenic is often used as a component in car batteries and electronics. Arsenic can also be found in treated wood products, herbicides, and insecticides. While arsenic can accumulate in water through erosion, it is more commonly the result of industrial or agricultural runoff.

Arsenic is a regulated contaminant. The enforceable maximum contaminant level is 10 parts per billion, California sets a non-enforceable public health goal of 0.004 ppb, and the detection limit for reporting purposes is 2 ppb.

Arsenic in drinking water has no taste, color or smell, so exposure is not something a household notices directly. That is the practical reason it is tested for rather than observed: a laboratory result measured against the 10 ppb limit is the only way to know where a given supply sits.

Historically, the EPA has identified a large amount of unreported, undocumented cases of arsenic in water across the United States. As a result, federal law now requires that utilities report on all contaminants present in drinking water supplies.

The EPA’s enforceable limit for arsenic in drinking water is 10 parts per billion.

Arsenic is usually treated with a specialty media filter, often configured as part of a whole-home system so that contaminants which tend to accompany it, like fluoride or TDS, are addressed at the same time. Culligan offers several media filtration options rated for arsenic reduction.