Many of us grew up in a time or place where no one thought twice about drinking water straight from the tap. Nowadays, however, the problems with drinking water are well documented. Our bodies are over 70% water, so there is no question that harmful substances in our water adversely affect our health. These contaminants not only affect taste and odor, but can interrupt the balance of our body's natural functions.
Some of the offending substances include:
In the 1890's, chlorine began to be used experimentally to combat water-borne diseases such as cholera and typhoid. It quickly gained wide acceptance due to its low cost and high efficiency in killing disease pathogens in the water. Chlorine allowed population centers to spring up and thrive without epidemic outbreaks.
Chlorine is a known poison, however, and the safety of drinking this poison over the long term (i.e. your lifetime) is highly uncertain. The greatest danger chlorine poses to health is through its reaction with water-borne decaying organic matter like leaves, bark, and sediment, which creates a family of highly toxic chemicals called trihalomethanes (THM’s). THM’s are extremely carcinogenic, even in minute amounts.
These byproducts of chlorine disinfection have also been linked to potential...
- Damaging effects to your cardiovascular system.
- Harmful impacts to your respiratory system.
- Unhealthy functioning of your renal system.
- Disruptions to your central nervous system.
- Weakening of your immune system.
There are many studies linking elevated levels of chlorine with early miscarriage and birth defects, as well as an increase in bowel and colon cancer. Chlorine can also cause chronic fatigue, dermatitis, and autoimmune disease.
Chloramine, a combination of ammonia and chlorine, is a disinfecting agent used in some municipal water treatment plants, because it tends to remain longer in the water distribution system than chlorine.
Chloramines have been linked to respiratory tract damage and eye irritation in swimming pools. There are many studies that associate chlorinated drinking water with bladder and colon cancer, but the number of cases was much higher in communities using chloramine. There are also limited studies showing an increase in deaths from pneumonia and influenza in communities using chloramine.
Chloramine does not dissipate in the open air, because of the ammonia. This makes chloramine much more difficult to remove from drinking water than chlorine. Regular filtration methods, including reverse osmosis systems, are ineffective on ammonia; it requires a more specialized filter and longer contact time.
Chloramine is also extremely toxic to fish. A spill of chloramine treated water from a broken water main in Vancouver led to the decimation of baby salmon. The resulting outrage of concerned citizens led to the removal of chloramine as a secondary disinfection agent.
Many people are unaware that chloramine is being used in treating their drinking water, and that their filtration system may not be equipped to remove it.
In 1972, British Columbia was considering mandatory fluoridation. They gave the job of researching and reporting the topic to Richard Foulkes, M.D. Dr. Foulkes wrote a 1900 page report recommending legislation to make fluoride mandatory in Canada. Based on that work, Canada began to fluoridate.
Then something happened. Little by little, Foulkes found the statistics that his researchers had based their findings on were largely falsified. It took Foulkes several years to uncover the truth, but in 1992, he shocked the country by backing down from his original recommendation:
"I now hold a different view. ...the fluoridation of community water supplies can no longer be held to be either safe or effective in the reduction of dental caries....Therefore, the practice should be abandoned." - Foulkes, 1992.
Many cities in Canada listened and stopped fluoridating. To read a firsthand story about lies, greed and disregard for human health and crooked deals between government and industry, see Dr. Foulkes' research.
Another pro-fluoridation Canadian scientist, Dr. Hardy Limeback, changed his tune when he learned that 30-60% of Canadian children now have visible signs of overexposure to fluoride, something called "dental fluorosis." In a Toronto Star interview with Michael Downey, Dr. Limeback said:
"Children under three should never use fluoridated toothpaste. Or drink fluoridated water."
Research has found ill effects from fluoride at concentrations even less than the standard 1 PPM that exists in most city water. Those effects include:
- Accumulation in your bones, causing them to be brittle and easily fractured.
- Inactivation of some of your enzyme systems.
- Disruption of your immune system, causing it to attack normal working tissues in your body.
- Acceleration of the aging process.
- Causing cellular and genetic damage.
- Damage to your tooth enamel by hardening the outer surface.
Only about 2% of the population of Europe is subjected to fluoridated water. If fluoridation is as safe and effective as the American Dental Association says it is, why do most European countries, who have studied the issue, refuse to treat their water with fluoride?
If you are on a municipal system with chlorine or chloramine, theoretically you are protected against bacteria. However, if the chlorine level is not high enough from the municipal source all the way to your tap, bacteria can re-infect the water at any point. The piping system (whether the main lines or your in-house plumbing) is always subject to bacterial growth.
If you are on a spring or a well without chlorine, you are vulnerable to bacterial contamination. Even the purest sources cannot prevent occasional contamination from animals either dying or defecating in the water, or from neighboring pollution (i.e. septic tanks) traveling from an adjoining aquifer. Again, the pipes themselves are a source of bacteria.
Many periodically test their well or spring source for assurance of good water quality. There are problems, however, with testing:
First, the test is only applicable at the time of sampling. Bacteria can bloom (when conditions are right) hours, days, or weeks after the testing, and therefore remain undetected.
Second, testing can be very expensive. The basic ones test levels of bacteria, sediment and decaying organic matter, and total dissolved solids (mineral levels such as calcium, magnesium, iron, and sulfur). With additional testing, the price goes up per item. Lead, asbestos, and specific chemical contaminants are more difficult and therefore much more expensive to test.
Lead is a toxin that accumulates and remains in tissue permanently. Its effect is in relation to body weight; therefore, an exposed adult can fend off the toxic effects for some time, whereas young children may experience brain and developmental damage quickly and permanently.
Lead piping and solder in the distribution system are the main sources of lead pollution. The Boston Globe estimates that 98% of all households have lead in their plumbing. Houses older than 20 years and less than five years are most at risk. Also, houses in areas of soft water tend to corrode the lead from the pipes more readily.
Asbestos is another potential carcinogen that can come either from naturally occurring asbestos (such as in areas that have a lot of serpentine rock) or from asbestos-lined water pipes. Thousands of miles of these pipes were laid throughout the U.S. in the 1950's and have yet to be replaced.
Asbestos is so small that it is unfeasible to remove it at the water treatment plant.
Chemicals are, for the most part, odorless, colorless, tasteless, and undetectable. Some of the most dangerous chemicals are present only in trace amounts (parts per billion) but are highly toxic even at these minute levels. Sources are usually industrial, like leaking underground fuel tanks, or commercial solvents such as trichloroethane. These leaking toxins end up in the groundwater or in the municipal supply through breaks or cracks in water mains. The majority of these toxins are volatile organic contaminants (VOC's), such as plastics, paints, thinners, and petroleum products.
A recent study of groundwater contamination in Alberta showed pesticide residues at 98% of the sites tested. The most prevalent was the herbicide dioxin (2,4-D). Another common herbicide is lindane, used as a defoliant in modern logging operation and found in many wild and rural areas. Chemicals used in insect eradication and control such as malathion and DDT are also present in drinking water.
Other contaminants include artificial sweeteners that are not being filtered out of the waste water and consequently ending up in municipal drinking water. ("The Bitter Side of Artificial Sweeteners" - Mercola.com)
Last, (but not the least of our worries) are microscopic worms, parasites, and protozoa. The biggest offenders are giardia and cryptosporidia, which cause serious diarrhea, dehydration, and intestinal disorders - even death in people with compromised immune systems. Water experts estimate that over 63% of water problems in the Unites States today are directly caused by giardia and cryptosporidia. When the environment becomes inhospitable (in the presence of chlorine, for example), either of these parasites can go into the cystic form (hard and impermeable). The cyst is chlorine resistant and very hard to kill.
Municipal utilities cannot completely remove these cysts. They have been found in most major municipal water systems in the U.S. Milwaukee had a huge outbreak of cryptosporidia in 1993 that killed over 100 people. San Francisco has repeatedly tested positive for giardia in its chlorinated water that travels hundreds of miles from the Sierra Mountains.
If you think bottled water is the way to go, perhaps you are not aware of the many drawbacks and expenses compared to having an easily installed and maintained home filter. Here are some of the hidden dangers and costs of bottled water:
- Up to 40% of bottled water is actually tap water that may or may not have received additional treatment and filtering.
- Bottled water can contain chlorine and fluoride.
- A 4-year study released by the Natural Resources Defense Council found 1/3 of the water bottles tested contained chemicals and bacteria.
- The typical plastic used for bottled water is polyethylene terephthalate (PET). This material potentially leaches antimony and other toxic chemicals into the water (especially in the case of reverse osmosis, which makes the water more reactive).
- Bottled water is expensive - if you apply the costs of bottled water toward the purchase of a filtration system, it will pay for itself in only 8-14 months.
The Environmental Protection Agency regulates public water supplies, but has no authority over bottled water. For example, there are no specific requirements regarding proximity of bottled water sources to industrial facilities or waste dumps.
In addition to all the personal considerations, there is a huge strain placed on the environment to produce and distribute bottled water around the world -- an estimated 50 billion plastic bottles each year!
Why support something so damaging, so expensive, and so potentially risky, when a simple, satisfying, superior alternative is at your fingertips with Harvest Haven water filtration systems? ("Is Bottled Water Really Pure?" - Mercola.com)
Federal, provincial, and local authorities may strive to insure we get the best water possible, but they cannot undo the damage to our water sources that has taken place over decades of ignorance and abuse. In many cases they have been sold a bill of goods and do not recognize the dangers of the chemicals they add to the water.
We must take personal responsibility for the safety of our water. It starts at your kitchen tap. Removing all contaminants at the tap is the most logical, efficient and economical solution to have pure water.