The source of your drinking water is a huge denominator in how safe and clean that your water is. The reason is that a great number of lakes, streams, rivers, and oceans, not to mention water aquifers, are filled with pollutants and impurities.Generally, water treatment plants can remove most of these substances, but it depends upon the water treatment process that they use and how efficient their approach is.

For those on city or water district water systems, it's a certainty you have a water treatment plant treating your water. But what about people on wells or springs? How is that water treated? How much do you know about the process of cleaning your water? If you are like most people, you don't put much thought into it -- but you should. There are typically three stages of water treatment: primary, secondary, and tertiary treatments. Each stage serves a different purpose.

* Primary Water Treatment-- Here water is pumped from its source and screened with a filter. Pre-chlorination or pre-conditioning may be started in this stage. The water may also be stored for a significant period of time to allow for natural biological purification. After this period of time, the water moves on to the next treatment process.

* Secondary Water Treatment -- This is where most of the solids and contaminants are removed. Several different methods are used, including filters, coagulation, and other techniques.

* Tertiary Water Treatment -- Typically this is the last step in purifying water. Steps completed in this stage include disinfection to remove any pathogens, pH adjustment (if needed), and carbon treatment to remove any unusual smells or tastes. When these steps are complete, the water is stored to allow time for the various treatments to work completely.

Water treatment is not a simple process to keep your water quality high. Each of these steps has its own very important process in making your water as pure as possible. Water quality is a huge issue, because water sources are different, which means the cleaning process may need to be changed a little, depending upon the pollutants or contaminants that need to be removed. It is difficult, if not impossible, to establish one process that works across the country because water sources and contaminants are so different.

The difference in water quality across the country are explained not only in the quality of the source, but in the style of cleaning and purifying. That's why you need to learn more about the water quality in your own area, so you can determine if you need to use water treatment processes inside your own home. Home water treatment may be important or your drinking water, and maybe for every use of water.

One great source of information about water quality is at the National Assessment Database. This website is an EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) sponsored website offering you the ability to find the results concerning water quality in your state. The bad thing is that the reports run several years behind, so you will have to take this information knowing that it may be out of date. Research and knowledge are essential to learning more about water quality.