Water is the Fountain of Life

Article PreviewWater is the Fountain of Life

Water is the Fountain of Life!By Britt Mittemeijer

Water is truly life! It is absolutely essential to all bodily functions – we simply cannot live without it!

Humans need water in order to breathe, digest food, eliminate waste, assimilate and metabolize nutrients, and regulate body temperature. In addition, water keeps the pressure, acidity, and composition of all chemical reactions stabilized. Without protein, carbohydrates, and fats, a person can survive approximately five weeks. Without water in a moderate climate, a person can survive about five days! Water, folks, is our basic nutrient and most health practitioners advise us to drink at least eight 8-oz glasses of water every day to maintain optimal health.

Is it not optimal health what all of us are seeking? Nobody wants to be sick! And since water is our most basic nutrient, shouldn’t the first line of defense be that we consume the best water possible?

You may therefore ask: How, in this age of major pollutants permeating everything, can I get safe water? For most everyone, drinking water flows from either the kitchen tap or from bottled water, and we just assume that this water is safe to drink. In many places it may be, but when we consider that the municipal water treatment plants produce water that is used approximately 95% for utility purposes, such as for industrial use, agricultural irrigation, household uses such as baths, flushing toilets, etc., whereas only about 5% or less is used for drinkingcooking and personal consumption – does it make sense that it is cost-effective for cash-strapped municipalities to cleanse ALL water to drinking water standards?

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is responsible for the safety of municipal water supplies throughout the country. Did you know that out of approximately 2100 pollutants identified, the EPA has regulated and set maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) for about 90 contaminants that can adversely affect public health? That leaves many unregulated, potentially toxic contaminants in the drinking water supply.

What are these contaminants and why are they a threat to public (that means your) health?

To highlight just a few, let’s begin with chlorine. Chlorine is classified as a poison, but is added by law in low concentration to municipal water supplies to destroy disease-causing bacteria. While this process, begun around 1908, has successfully eliminated cholera, typhus, and other similar deadly diseases which have plagued American society throughout the 19th century, it is causing other challenges to public health: chlorine combines with decaying leaves and naturally occurring organic matter to form compounds called disinfection by-products (DPBs, also known as THMs), which are linked to colon and bladder cancer, even to miscarriage! Also, chlorine, while instrumental in destroying bacteria in the water supply, once we drink it, continues to destroy the bacteria in the intestinal tract, the good ones with the bad.

That’s why it’s effective to have chlorine mixed into the water as it is transported in underground pipes into our homes, but it is detrimental for human consumption and should be removed.

THMs (trihalomethanes) are more detrimental. As stated above, they are formed mostly in the delivery system by combining chlorine with organic matter that may have entered the delivery stream. Research has shown that THMs and TTHMs are cancer causing and you definitely don’t want them in your drinking water.

Thus, as you can understand, your tap water is likely to yield a cocktail of contaminants you want to avoid if your health is important to you.

Turbidity (cloudiness) in itself may not be a health concern; yet disease-causing microorganisms can cling to the particles that cause cloudiness and escape destruction by chlorination.

It has been widely publicized that lead buildup in the body can be responsible for damaging the brain, kidneys and blood cells. Parasites, such as cryptosporidia and giardia lamblia have caused major problems during outbreaks in several cities in the past, causing diarrhea, cramps, high fever and even deaths. Unfortunately, these microorganisms are not affected by chlorine, thus they swim unimpeded right up to your faucet and into your intestines!

In addition, there is concern with a variety of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), arsenic, radon, and MBTE, a gasoline additive suspected to be carcinogenic. This litany of detrimental floatsoms in your drinking water is not to scare you, but to inform you of what may be lurking in the water you and your family drinks.

Unfortunately, your senses will not give you feedback at all, because you cannot smell, taste or see these substances, but they can harm you just the same!

Now you ask: Where can I find healthy water my family and I can drink and cook with safely? To answer this question many are turning to bottled water as the path of least resistance. Although there is a perception that bottled water is “safer than tap water”, the fact is that standards set for bottled water are very similar to standards set for tap water. In fact, some bottled water is actually tap water that has been processed and repackaged. Also at the high price, bottled water is an expensive and often dubious solution! However, if you insist on bottled water, purchase water imported from another state, because water crossing state lines has a higher level of monitoring and legal quality requirements.

The alternative to bottled water is turning your tap water into a healthy drink. There are many different technologies and devices available to choose from. You have to ask yourself how pure you want to go: is it just a better taste you are looking for, or are you more interested in “purity” to help safeguard your health, -- or both? The misleading perception is that if your water tastes better, it IS better!

The fact is that many contaminants cannot be tasted, smelled or seen; your senses are not giving you guidance here. The only contaminant your senses are aware of is chlorine; you know that chlorine smells and has a definite taste to it that most people don’t like. Therefore as soon as chlorine is removed from drinking water, the water does taste better. But now you know that chlorine contamination is not the whole story; in fact it’s just the beginning of an unappetizing and potentially harmful cocktail.

Of the wide variety of devices and technologies such as faucet-mount filters, pour-through or carafe devices, (collectively known as “dechlorinators”) distillation, reverse osmosis, ultraviolet light, carbon or ceramic filtration, we have found that the most cost-effective and efficient filtration method for residential use are stainless-steel filters using the solid carbon block technology. While no water purification method is perfect, some solid carbon block filters remove a wide range of contaminants and offer maximum convenience to the consumer. These units are typically installed under the sink with a dedicated spout on the sink deck delivering clean water at the point of use, namely your kitchen sink, and they can often be connected to the refrigerator for clean ice as well. Maintenance is minimal. Some solid carbon block systems are even effective in removing cryptosporidia because of their below-micron straining and adsorbing ability.

How can you know what to choose without encountering a lot of hype and false information in the process? A drinking water kitchen appliance system is an important and permanent investment in your health; it’s not something you want to just pick off a department store shelf! Consult a reputable dealer and ask many questions (suggested below). In addition, look to 3rd party agencies that have tested and certified systems according to their structural integrity and effectiveness in reducing contaminants. The National Sanitation Foundation (NSF, International) and Underwriter’s Laboratories (UL) are globally recognized
by public health officials, governments and regulatory agencies for their scientific testing protocols. You can call NSF at 1 800 NSF-MARK (1 800 673-6275) and request a “WaterWise” consumer booklet, or you can go to www.nsf.org to look for details of their testing protocols.

Questions you should ask before you open your wallet.

• Ask the seller to show you a Product Performance Data Sheet which spells out in detail what the system removes and to what degree.
• Ask if the product is tested and certified by NSF, International. NSF is an independent, not-for-profit organization with a commitment to public safety. Note of caution: The product you are considering should be “NSF Certified,” and not merely “Tested to NSF Standards” nor “NSF Approved Under Standard x” – these indicate secondary testing procedures.
• Ask for the NSF listing for the specific product(s) you are evaluating. Is the product listed under NSF Standard No. 53 (Health Effects) or under NSF Standard No. 42 (Aesthetic Effects) or both?
• Ask about the range of contaminants which the unit can reduce under Standard No. 53. Most units certified under Standard No. 53 are listed for only turbidity and cyst reduction. The number of units that also reduce certain pesticides, trihalomethanes, lead, and/or VOCs is very small. Be sure that those contaminants which you are concerned about can be removed by the device you are considering.
• Ask about the service cycle – how many gallons does it treat effectively?
• How often and at what cost must the filter element be changed?
• Ask about the flow rate – how many gallons of water per minute are treated?
• What warranty and customer satisfaction guarantee is offered?

The bottom line is that you benefit from informing yourself about what device is best for your water quality requirements at your kitchen tap. You can get healthy water on demand for all your drinking, cooking, ice and beverage needs at a price that should be well below 10 cents per gallon and you get it right where you need it, namely at your kitchen tap and in your refrigerator. Now you can safely bottle your own to-go water for about 1 penny for an 8-oz bottle, and you never again have to be robbed at the high price for bottled water!

Now go and drink to your health with safe, delicious-tasting water!