For many of us, pets are a precious treasure. They bring a whole new level of fun and joy to our everyday lives and our families. Not to mention the sheer comfort and emotional support they provide and how much they help ease our stress levels and sense of loneliness.
In return, pet owners must ensure that their “loyal companions” are safe and healthy. Of course, we want the best for them, right? But in achieving that, we tend to fall short along the way. We focus so much on providing the most nutritious food, the safest toys, and the most comfortable environment for our furry (or scaly) friends that we constantly overlook one crucial thing: clean drinking water.
In the wild, animals can use their extraordinary sense of smell to discern which water is best for them to drink. As such, they naturally avoid water that contains chemicals and other detectable pollutants. But since not all tap water is safe, you could be feeding contaminated water to your pets, which could be poisonous for them. To make matters worse, our domesticated pets pretty much have to drink the water we provide, else they’ll risk getting dehydrated.
For this reason, we’ve decided to highlight the importance of clean drinking water for pets and what you can do to ensure that your water is contaminant-free before it reaches your pet’s water dish or water fountain.
Is Your Tap Water Safe for Your Pets?
Whether your water comes from a municipality, a well, a river, or any other source, there’s always the chance that it is riddled with contaminants. Well…to a certain extent. When ingested, toxins lurking in contaminated tap water supplies can lead to a host of adverse health effects in your pets – and even death.
It’s not easy to tell if your tap water is completely safe for your pets by just smelling it, tasting it or looking at it, but there are several things that we have to consider to make a precise guestimate. First of all, we have to take into account the possible presence of toxic pollutants like industrial chemicals, pesticides, metals, pharmaceuticals, bacteria, viruses, protozoans, parasites, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), radiological contaminants such as plutonium and uranium and even sewer overflows and wastewater. Secondly, water hardness can also be a potential threat to the health of some pets. And last but not least, we must not forget the cancer-causing water fluoridation.
Considering all the dangerous impurities that might be present in untreated tap water (in some areas), it is not safe for humans to drink and certainly not safe for your pets. If you wouldn’t drink water from your tap, there’s no way on earth you should give it to your pets.
Common Water Contamination Problems and How They Affect Pets
Some people believe that 5,000 ppm (parts per million) of Total Dissolved Solids in drinking water is acceptable for pets. However, when we consider the difference in drinking water that contains 5,000 ppm of sodium versus 5,000 ppm of toxic arsenic, we don’t fully agree with that recommended contamination level. Instead, it’s more logical to observe the concentration levels of the individual water contaminants as well as their known health effects:
- Lead: When consumed in high doses, lead can cause acute stomach pain, vomiting, and diarrhea in some pets. If they’re exposed for a long period, they might experience fatigue, seizures, poor appetite, blindness, extreme anxiety, and behavioral changes.
- Fluoride: In high enough levels, fluoride is dangerous. It can put a strain on the kidneys to eliminate it from the body and can cause drooling, restlessness, severe sickness, weak muscles, stiffness, racing heart rate, coma or even death. Fluoride in water can also cause cancer in pets – just like in humans.
- Arsenic: High amounts of arsenic are rarely found in tap water, but if it is and your pet swallows too much of it, it can lead to abdominal pains, sluggishness, or even unconsciousness.
- Giardia: This is a parasite that is transmitted by discharges of fecal waste into water, food, soil, and other surfaces. Giardia can cause diarrhea in animals as well as humans.
- E. coli: Some strains of E. coli bacteria are harmless, but occasionally, there are those dangerous strains that are found in our public water systems. A pet infected with E. coli may show symptoms like low body temperature, depression, increased heart rate, diarrhea, vomiting, lack of appetite, lethargy, and weakness.
- Water Hardness: “Hard water” is described as water that contains high amounts (17.1 ppm) of dissolved magnesium and calcium. Extremely hard tap water (more than 240 ppm) is more likely to cause pets to run experience urinary health issues, such as incontinence, tract infections, cystitis, and crystalluria.
Why Do Pets Need Clean Water?
Water is essential to the health of all mammals, making up 55 to 75 percent of the body mass of warm-blooded creatures. It acts as a gentle cooling engine in your pet’s body when they release water vapor through panting and sweating. When ingested, untreated water flowing through the body can cause several infections and damage to the pet’s immune system. In contrast, clean drinking water helps cleanse and detoxify your pet’s entire body.
Since water is a universal solvent, it can transport many different substances. The ability of water to remove toxins from the body makes it capable of transporting toxic material into the body. In this case, the contaminants found in untreated tap water can easily enter the body of your pet. With that in mind, you must figure out what water is the healthiest for your pets so they can live a longer and healthier life. But don’t worry, we’ve done the research and found the perfect solution for your dog, cat, hamster, etc. This method will not only keep your pets safe and well hydrated, but also your entire family.
How to Keep Your Drinking Water Safe for Pets
By now, you already know that the water we and our pets drink must be purified. But not all methods of purification are equal. If your tap water is not healthy for drinking, both humans and pets alike can suffer from a wide range of dangerous water-borne disease, or even death. To prevent that, you can take the following precautionary steps:
Ensure a clean water bowl
Sometimes the problem is not the water itself, but the water bowl from which your pet is drinking. If it is not cleaned regularly, bacteria may start to grow in the bowl and eventually infect your pet. Therefore, you must keep the bowl clean by washing it regularly, and if possible, change the water twice a day to keep it nice and fresh. Also, steel water containers are a better alternative to plastic bowls as there are concerns about toxins leaching from the plastic material into the water.
Invest in a certified water filter
A whole house purification system is a great way to remove impurities from your drinking water and provide healthy drinking water for your pets. However, before you go ahead and make the purchase, you first need to check whether or not you actually need it. To achieve this, you can purchase a DIY home water test kit to check for possible contaminants in your water supply, or you can send a water sample from your tap to a local lab to get it tested. Alternatively, you can check your water quality report to see if any instances of water contamination have been reported by your local water providers.
If the test or report indicates that your water is contaminated, buying a quality water filter is crucial. Springwell Water offers some of the best water purification systems at the most competitive prices. These systems can remove up to 99 percent of contaminants in water, such as chlorine, chloramine, Haloacetic acids, fluoride, uranium, lead, bacteria, pesticides, and other hard-to-remove toxins and pathogens. Yes, you heard right. Our systems are easy to install and require little to no maintenance. Best of all, they are fully certified by the NSF.
If you need help choosing a specific system or you just want to learn more about the different systems and technologies we offer, please check out our website at www.springwellwater.com or contact us directly.
Verdict
Our pets are not only our friends but also our responsibility. So, we have to do everything we can to ensure their safety and comfort. That includes providing the highest-quality water for them to drink and stay happy and hydrated.
