Most people have grown up trusting the municipal water system where they live. Unfortunately, events in recent years have shown that tap water isn’t always free of dangerous contaminants. Lead poisoning from tap water is a particularly concerning possibility.
Chlorine has been a hot topic as of late when discussing water quality. People are becoming more informed on water treatment processes and how they work. Much has been written and reported on concerning chlorine and its byproducts, as used to treat city water supplies. There also have been complaints that include a foul taste and odor. According to the Water Quality Association, "Numerous labels have been given to odors in water. Among the 20 or so recorded are cucumber, earthy, fishy, grassy, and sulfur." Lastly, there are also health concerns regarding elevated levels of chlorine in drinking water.
Fluoride is an inorganic, monatomic anion with the chemical formula F-. Fluoride ions come from the element fluorine and can be found naturally in soil, rocks and water. Although, fluoride is present in most rainwater, fresh and saltwater sources, the concentration is low, at around 0.3 mg/L. In addition to this naturally occurring calcium fluoride, a synthetic, industrial version of fluoride is often added to tap water in the form of sodium fluoride, fluorosilicic acid and sodium fluorosilicate.
Unless you are from either Leadville, Colorado or Northern Chile, you may not know what molybdenum is. It's probably a word you are not only unfamiliar with, but also don't care about! However, if you are part of the mining industry, you definitely know what molybdenum is, and if you are in the municipal water treatment world, you also have some knowledge on this particular chemical element. Mining and water treatment are quite different occupations, but they do interconnect quite often for obvious reasons. This is a water-related blog, so you might be asking yourself, Why in the world should I care about an element in the world of mining?
