Providence Water

Submitted by fizzbot15 t3_10rvpe7 in RhodeIsland

Hello! A last ditch effort prior to considering paying for water testing. North Providence resident, receiving Providence Water - lived here for 5+ years. Over the past 2-3 months I've noticed that our water tastes very, very different. To the point where I'm noticing that I'm avoiding drinking it, favoring packaged products, etc. Has anyone else noticed the same or any similar issues? I'll note that the drip area on our fridge collects white rings/residue and I've never observed that happening prior.

I've changed our refrigerator filter after only a month or so of use, it didn't seem to make much of a difference. I'll note that we usually seem to want to change it a little earlier than the recommended schedule but this is vastly different. Ex. if a 6 month filter, we notice around month 4 or 5 that it's not quite the same anymore and swap it out. I've had water from multiple sources in the home and all sources share the unpleasant taste. Seems like our hair needs more frequent/more aggressive washing too but that could be entirely unrelated, just figured to throw it out there.

Any thoughts/recommendations/insights are appreciated!

Yours in dehydration,

Fizzbot15

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ghogan1010 t1_j6yab3s wrote

I’m actually going to jump on this with you. My home water in Cranston, so also Providence water has been hard AF. Staining toilets and showers in ways it never ever did prior.

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jdmess401 t1_j71wn56 wrote

Just out of curiosity, where in Cranston are you? My wife and I just moved to the Eden Park area from Warwick. We’ve had the opposite experience; our water is much less hard here than it was in Hoxsie.

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fizzbot15 OP t1_j6yusid wrote

Whoa! Now that you mention it, our toilet does get a discolored ring around the water line in about a weeks' time, and that is a pretty new development. It's a fairly new toilet (2 years old, maybe) so it's not like it is old and scratched or anything. And we work from home so it's not like the water is stagnant in there for any extended amount of time. I hadn't associated the two events before.. thanks for sharing this (although I'm sorry that you are also experiencing this annoyance!)

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MrSneaki t1_j6y5ayq wrote

Not really a directly helpful suggestion, but r/hydrohomies might be able to offer ideas for purifying / testing city water as efficiently as possible

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fizzbot15 OP t1_j6ys7ag wrote

Thank you! I'm a fellow r/hydrohomies subscriber and will keep them in mind if we decide to explore more extensive filtration. Appreciate you mentioning that community! : )

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March_Latter t1_j6yd1pw wrote

Water tests are typically performed no charge at various places in the hopes of selling you a water purification system. Lowes I think does this also.

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fizzbot15 OP t1_j6ytjqe wrote

>n the hopes of selling you a water purification system. Lowes I think does this also.

Noted; thank you! I've def. walked by the spinning carousel of test kits at the Home Depot check out before but along the lines of what you mentioned, figured there was a bit of a catch, so to speak. I'll have to stop by Lowes or Home Depot and grab one to check out the details. Appreciate the comment!

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Unique-Public-8594 t1_j6y49cc wrote

Have you tested this home’s water before?

How long ago?

How much does the test cost?

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fizzbot15 OP t1_j6yrskr wrote

Hello! I have not tested the water here before. I'm not yet aware of how much a test may or may not cost - when I did some Google searching, found that health.ri.gov mostly references well water testing but I/we do not have a well. Also https://health.ri.gov/find/labs/drinkingwater/ speaks to RIDOH Certified Drinking Water Testing labs - but it also says they do not endorse or recommend any of the certified laboratories listed (???) so honestly I was just confused and figured to ask here for thoughts and recommendations.

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Unique-Public-8594 t1_j6ysgbo wrote

  1. I usually test the water when we buy a new home - whether it is well water or city water - to be safe.

  2. Last time I tested water (it happened to be well water but I’m not sure it would matter), I gathered samples from faucets and brought the samples to the health department.

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Unique-Public-8594 t1_j6yti9a wrote

Maybe call BAL and tell them you’d like a price quote on testing your drinking water?

4017850241

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fizzbot15 OP t1_j6ywqlb wrote

Thank you for sharing your experience and for mentioning BAL and providing their #, that's very nice of you! I'm going to check out their site and plan to give them a call in the near future - my curiosity is piqued as to what the test results will be, that is for sure!

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Unique-Public-8594 t1_j6yxn1v wrote

You’re welcome. :)

Have you looked at the PFAS map?

https://www.sierraclub.org/pfas-rhode-island-water

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fizzbot15 OP t1_j6yyosq wrote

:-0 !! I had not; PFAS is new to me by name and I'm ruffling through some of the content now - wouldn't ya know that North Providence falls into the "Red = Total PFAS detected at a total greater than 20 ppt" category. I'm learning a lot today; thank you very much, kind Redditor!

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liliumsuperstar t1_j70c14i wrote

Any of the certified labs will give you good results. They just can’t endorse one over another to avoid favoritism.

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crypticbagz t1_j6z2wrx wrote

Currently having issue with a new heating system we just installed..and it's just never worked right. Long story short we were being told we have hard water and that's why it isn't working right. Anyway I'm in warwick so its providence water and I used rhode island analytical and had them come test the water for me so know I have a chain of custody for the samples and lab results that will hold up should court be necessary. Just had a fairly basic testing done and included hardness. Total was $300.

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GotenRocko t1_j6zfm6t wrote

Providence water actually has very soft water. Kent county might add other things when they process it, and also does not exclusively use providence water, they use water from other sources as well, which could make your water hard.

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crypticbagz t1_j6zg69x wrote

I'm over by the airport and they say we get it straight from providence not kent..but water hardness was 3..not hard..but not soft either...it's by all accounts damn good water

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crypticbagz t1_j6zg7js wrote

I'm over by the airport and they say we get it straight from providence not kent..but water hardness was 3..not hard..but not soft either...it's by all accounts damn good water

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GotenRocko t1_j6zin4p wrote

Oh you are with Warwick water department then. Always forget about them. That's strange, might be picking stuff up in the pipes, because when I worked there we were told the water was very soft. Usually that question came up when people were installing dishwashers with integrated water softeners, with pw you dont have to use it. And in fact should use a lot less detergent so the machine works better, like half of a normal dishwasher tab.

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liliumsuperstar t1_j70cckq wrote

Providence water from the source is extremely high quality, but that doesn’t mean there’s not something going on with your pipes (including distribution pipes). You could try testing for copper, lead, etc. at a state certified lab if you’re concerned. Skip the free Lowe’s tests-they’re not reliable. Lead tests used to be offered at PW headquarters but I’m not sure if they still are.

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karnim t1_j71vgz4 wrote

I would honestly just say to contact your local public works. They regularly do water testing, and when I had a similar issue in Pawtucket they basically said "hey, we're in that area next week, we can just drop by and add you as a test point".

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jdmess401 t1_j71wbfu wrote

If I were you, I’d go straight to the water testing from Prov Water. It’s possible there’s something going on with local distribution in your area or in your home. They’d be able be able to compare numbers and possibly come up with a specific answer for you.

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