FAQ

Water filtration / water purification

How does drinking filtered water save me money compared with buying bottled water?

There are many of us out there that drink bottled water over simply filling a bottle with our kitchens tap water. The reasons centres on our belief that bottled water has greater health benefits as opposed to drinking tap water that has been treated with many chemicals. Occasionally the reason lies solely with how bad tap water can sometimes taste. A lone person that drinks well-known branded bottled water daily as a remedy to these tap water deficiencies can find themselves spending around £300 a year. This then for a family that chooses to drink bottled water instead of tap water can lead to a significant sum. To compare against filtered water there is no contest in terms of savings. Filtered water provides all the benefits of bottled water including quality and taste with the addition of having it through an unlimited supply.

I thought our water is treated and there shouldn’t be any dangers to drinking it?

Yes our water is treated at large water plants and it is directly through this treatment that unwanted compounds find their way into our water supply. The primary form of water treatment is through disinfection, mostly this is done through the addition of chlorine. The chlorine works by killing bacteria and pathogens from the water supply. Negatively it also produces disinfectant by-products. These by-products produced include trihalomethanes (TAHs), haloacetic acids (HAAs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) to name but a few the many different compounds. These by products are produced as a result of the chlorine that’s been added reacting with organics and inorganics in the water.
Source – http://water.epa.gov/drink/contaminants/basicinformation/disinfectionbyproducts.cfm

If it is known that these chemicals are found in our water supply why aren’t the government doing something about it?

We sometimes place too much trust in how the government runs the country and we would discard any rumours that the water being pumped to our homes could harm us in any way. Unfortunately this is far from the truth. Some of the compounds present in our tap water have been related to numerous medical conditions according the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that includes cancers, central nervous system defects, liver, kidney and even fertility problems. According to new epidemiological (human) studies THMs have been linked to adverse pregnancy outcomes including miscarriage, birth defects and low birth weight As to why nothing is being done about these compounds is purely because there is no alternative solution. The chlorine added to the water plays a vital role in eliminating water borne diseases and we cannot treat the water on such a large scale without it. In this case we must accept the lesser of two evils and continue drinking contaminated water or we can filter it at our homes to reduce contamination.

I drink tap water and I feel fine.

Many people drink tap water and believe that it has no negative health effects. The levels of these contaminants found in the water supply won’t cause any immediate damage to our bodies to the point that we will wake up one morning and blame a medical condition on the glass of water we drank yesterday. We have to look at the big picture here effectively we are consuming small doses of these compounds every time we drink or bathe in our tap water. We all know about chlorine and the effects it can have on the body being a poisonous gas. There is also chloroform witch is a TAH, chloroform as some of us may know was used a general anaesthetic until the increasing fatality rate during procedures eventually led to its decline. So every time we drink chlorinated water we are drinking small doses of these compounds and over time they will have an impact on our bodies.

“Cancer risk among people using chlorinated water is as much as 93% higher than among those whose water does not contain chlorine.”

– According to the U.S. Council of Environmental Quality

“Long-term drinking of chlorinated water appears to increase a person’s risk of developing bladder cancer as much as 80 percent, “ as documented in a study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

“The drinking of chlorinated water has finally been officially linked to an increased incidence of colon cancer. An epidemiologist at Oak Ridge Associated Universities completed a study of colon cancer victims and non-cancer patients and concluded that the drinking of chlorinated water for 15 years or more was conducive to a high rate of colon cancer,” according to Health Freedom News

How can bathing and showering in tap water be dangerous?

When we bathe and shower in chlorinated tap water the hot temperature of the water causes certain chemicals to evaporate out and consequently we inhale a much more concentrated level of these gases. When compared to drinking the tap water supplied to our homes Dr. Lance Wallace of the Environmental Protection Agency reported

“A Professor of Water Chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh claims that exposure to vaporized chemicals in the water supplies through showering, bathing, and inhalation is 100 greater than through drinking the water.”

The inhalation of these compounds only adds to the amount of chemicals that we absorb through our skin while in direct contact with the water. This is an area that most of us wouldn’t of believed to be concerning we would consider daily bathing to be a beneficial process.

Below shows a simple experiment using equipment to test chlorine levels in swimming pools, through this we can see how fast chlorine is absorbed into the skin.

What benefits do I get from drinking filtered water?

There a number of key benefits we receive from regular drinking from a filtered water source that include:

  • • Better blood circulation
    • Easier to maintain a healthy body weight
    • Helps your body detox naturally
    • Healthier skin
    • Decreases muscle and joint inflammation

How much water am I recommended to be drinking a day?

This answers will vary from person to person due to your gender, weight, age and activity though there is a general rule of thumb that allows easy recognition if your drinking enough water.
The rule states that you should be drinking enough water that your urine is light yellow in colour.

 

Will boiling my water remove these compounds instead of needing a filter?

Many people believe the key to safe drinking water is through the most basic of sterilisation techniques adding heat. When you boil water it kills pathogens and bacteria that are present secondly it will remove any volatile (easily evaporated) compounds from the water but these compounds are only a few of the numerous compounds that will remain present in the water supply. The only way to remove the vast percentage of compounds is through filtration or other processes like reverse osmosis.