You’ve heard about tap water having different impurities, imparting different colors to the water, and even water having unpleasant smells like that of rotten eggs, dead fish, or something else. Well, have you ever seen an oily film on your water? If that’s something that is bothering you and you want to know what causes it so you can choose a water filtration system, then here is everything you need to know about it.

What Causes Oiliness In Water?

When you open your tap and pour out water in a glass, it’s usually pretty clear. However, if you’re concerned with oiliness, there will be an oily layer on top of your water. It will be colorless, but the water might look glazed and very shiny, especially at the top. This is what oily water means.

Sometimes, it can also have green or other colored sediments in it and it’s just overall unpleasant to look at. This can happen a lot if you have well water or even city water.

The main thing that you want to go over is why it happens. Well, oily film on top of the water can either be caused by the addition of something external in the water or it can be due to human activities. But, the main cause of oiliness in water is because of the presence of bacteria, iron, and sulfide. These things can be found mostly in well water and they can lead to discolored, and glazed water, which is almost impossible to drink.

How To Determine Oiliness In Tap Water?

So, now that you see an oily film on top of the water, the next thing to go over is how is it determined. Well, here are a couple of things that you can try:

Check The Water Source

You can check the water source. If the water is coming from a well, then it means that it has a high susceptibility to being oily. Usually, well water has a lot of sulfide, bacteria, and iron in it, so naturally water sourced from these things will be oily and you have to do something about it because drinking this water is downright impossible.

Plant Matter

The water can also have dying plant matter in it or even petrochemical traces in it which can cause a film to develop on top of the water. This is common too with either well water or city water.

This is why you can conduct a test on the current water and see if there are any hazardous substances in the water that could make the water oily. A lot of the time, the main reason is just that and it can be troublesome finding oily water.

Industrial Waste

If you live near an industrial waste there is a lot of agriculture there, or even if there was an oil spill, then chances are that water will turn oily at one point or another. Mostly oil gets mixed with water and it can lead to the formation of a glazed layer.

As for industrial discharge, there are a lot of harmful and non-biodegradable chemicals in it that can get mixed with water and it can also lead to an oily film forming on the surface, which is not only unpleasant but very smelly and dangerous to drink.

Sniff Test

If you want, you can also do a sniff test. It might help you sense if the water has something specific in it or not that’s causing the oily film to form. This is a really easy test to see what is in the water.

If the smell is pungent, then it has sulfide in it, otherwise, it is metallic, then there is iron in the water. If it smells fishy, then there’s bacteria in the water.

Hazards Of Iron & Sulfide In Water

Now that you know what causes an oily film to develop on water and how it can be determined, the next thing to go over is the health hazards it can pose.

Usually, when the source of the oil is natural, like from agricultural waste or something like that, then it’s hardly harmful to your body. Yes, it will be unpleasant to drink water that has oil on top of it, but it won’t be harmful to you.
On the flip side, if there is chemical discharge and pollutants that cause oiliness in water, then it can pose severe health risks.

First of all, consuming chemicals in water isn’t good for the gut. It can lead to stomach aches, ulcers, bad digestion, and even constipation and diarrhea. So, it’s not always good for you.

Similarly, drinking toxic oily water that is poisoned with petrochemicals and other unwanted discharge materials can also lead to a lot of issues with the skin, vital organs of the body, and much, much more. This is why it’s highly recommended to test your water and see what kinds of things are present in it. In this way, the contaminants can be removed and you will be good to go. You will be able to freely and safely drink water without any worry in the back of your mind. In the meantime, you can get bottled water home delivery Meadville for your daily needs.

How To Remove Oil From Water?

Speaking of removing unwanted things from water, now comes the part when you have to figure out how to remove iron, sulfide, and bacteria from water. Even if you have a water softening system, it can’t remove these contaminants from water. Here are some ways to remove them.

Water Well Inspection

Another thing you can do to get rid of oiliness in the water is to get your well checked. If you have a well in your house and that is the main source of water for you, then you need to conduct an inspection.
The well can be cleaned, any dead plants and matter can be removed and it will lead to better water quality in the long run.

Hydrogen Peroxide

The first thing you can use to get rid of bacteria and sulfide in water is to treat the water with hydrogen peroxide. This is a more potent version of chlorine and it will remove all kinds of bacteria in the water and it will ultimately reduce the oily layer altogether.

Reverse Osmosis

Reverse osmosis is known to remove every single thing from water – even oiliness. Reverse osmosis will purify water up to 99%, so you can be sure that the water will have nothing in it that will cause oiliness to begin with.
This is why getting an RO plant for your house is extremely important, especially if the water coming into your house isn’t clean and pure.

Chlorine Tablets

If you don’t want to go down the hydrogen peroxide route, then you can use chlorine tablets to clean the water too. It is just as effective and it will get rid of bacteria, especially if that’s been causing your water to turn oily. Chlorine is a natural disinfectant and it will remove all of the living organisms in the water so that the oiliness can go away.

Conclusion

Water that looks and feels oily is a huge problem and it’s not something that you can get used to. So, the only thing that’s left to do is to remove it by installing a whole house water filtration Warren system . Well, now you know how to do it.