The Not So Pure Facts About Our Water.

The topic of water quality is sufficiently involved to merit its own web site, but we will try to do it justice in this article. In order to cover the subject on a more comprehensive and ongoing basis, we have created a weblog specially devoted to environmental issues that affect our wellness. We will cover issues related to water and air quality, as well as other sources of toxins that negatively affect wellness. Please be sure to visit there frequently for updated information on these topics.

Wellness conscious people understand the important role that proper hydration plays in our health. But with so much focused placed on the importance of drinking plenty of water, we sometimes overlook what might otherwise be an obvious question. Is the source of our water helping or hurting us? In most cases, the water you drink is relatively safe for human consumption, but not necessarily optimal for that purpose. What we mean by that is that tap water, bottled water, and even some filtered water sources often contain unhealthy levels of chemicals that get into the water system intentionally and accidentally. These chemicals often include additives like chlorine¹, lead, and even flouride, that are intended to disinfect the water, and/or provide us with some additional health benefit. The problem is that more recent research is beginning to demonstrate a substantial link between these substances and a number of very serious diseases and ailments like, cancer, heart disease, and even Alzheimers Disease.

Obviously, health minded people are always looking to reduce the opportunities for chemicals to be introduced into the their bodies, because in addition to creating a breading ground for sickness, foreign substances simply create more work for our bodies to remove through the natural cleansing process. It stands to reason that the more chemicals you can avoid, the less your body has to work to remove them.

WHAT'S IN YOUR WATER AND HOW IT GETS THERE.

Water quality varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, so the only way to determine what is in your water is to obtain a copy of the water quality report from your local water authority. The Evironmental Protection Agency also has a web site that provides an excellent head start on where to get the information you need to determine what is in your water. Personally, I have always been concerned about
relying completely on government to tell the whole story, but because having your water tested privately can cost hundreds of dollars some of us simply don't make the extra effort. However, the good news is that for what it would cost you just to test your water, you can invest in a water filtration system that will eliminate the vast majority of toxins that could be in your water. More on that later.

Our drinking water contains a combination of contaminants both intentionally and unintentionally introduced. Virtually all jurisdictions in the United States use a combination of mechanical filtration and chemical disinfection techniques to sanitize our drinking water. That usually includes treatment of the water with Chlorine, and possibly Iodine. Flouride is added to water in some cases, as a public service to fight tooth decay.

Even after treatment occurs, the water you drink may travel through hundreds of miles of pipes before it reaches you, and when it does, it picks up chemicals like copper, tar, asphalt iron, zinc, coal, polyethylene, concrete, polyvinyl chloride, vinyl, asbestos and lead, before ending up in your drinking glass.

IS BOTTLED WATER SAFER?

Those of us who have been led to believe that bottled water is safer or better than tap water are going to be sorely disappointed to find out that much of the water you find on grocery store shelves is simply isn't any better than the tap water you get at home. Indeed, not only is it not safer, but it may actually be less healthy, because if it has been filtered to remove Chlorine and other contaminents, it's now sitting on a grocery store shelf, soaking up chemicals from the plastic container it's in, and without the chlorine content, bacteria can begin to grow in it as well. Bottled water is both expensive and unpredictable when it comes to quality because of the unusual way in which it is regulated. Believe it or not, if the water is bottled
and distributed in the your state without crossing state lines, there are no federal regulations that require any assurance of quality, and local regulations, if they exist, have a tendency to be much more lenient on this issue.

HOW CAN I GET SAFE WATER?

There are a number of ways you can get safe water. One is to buy bottled water that has been certified by the NSF International, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to public health and consumer safety. NSF maintains a list of companies that produce bottled water that meet safety standards developed by NSF, and these standards almost always exceed what is required by state and federal government. Bottled water from a certified source can be very expensive usually costing about $1.00 per gallon or more, so this may not be the most effect avenue for you.

Another alternative is a home water filtration system. There are a large variety of such devices ranging from whole house filtration systems to hand held filtration systems that contain a filtering device in a water pitcher. Needless to say the quality and effectiveness of these systems vary by type and manufacturer, and the most expensive systems are not always the most effective. Quality home water filtration systems can range from just over $100.00 for a good counter-top system, to over $5,000.00 for a whole house water filtration system, but the average cost for a quality water filtration system, counter-top, or under sink system is less than $500.00. Average cost for replacement filters is typically less than $100.00 a year, after the first year of use.

Because of the importance of this topic, we have decided to conduct a review of several quality systems, and to report back to you on them. We will also interview the manufacturers of these systems on "Fitness Radio" so you can get access to more detailed information about these systems. Finally, regular coverage of drinking water related news items will be posted in Toxin Free Blog your convenience.

NOTE: Citation to articles from a particular web site do not imply endorsement of the products featured, unless otherwise expressly indicated.


OTHER RESOURCES:

WaterWarning.com

Water Quality Assurance

Natural Resource Defense League

Bottled Water: Pure Drink or Pure Hype?

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