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Introduction To Tap Water Traps
Over a lifetime you will put more water into your body than any other kind of food or drink. So, paying attention to the water you drink is at least as important, if not more so, than inspecting the food that you eat.
The various Safe Drinking Water regulations in the all have one thing in common, they all provide for the removal of some 100 contaminants (for example, pesticides, radioactive materials, chemicals and bacteria) from drinking water. So you would think that our various governments have taken tap water in hand and the water drinker can imbibe without worry, unfortunately this is not the case. While in Europe the EU has taken steps to bring water treatment in line throughout it’s member states, providing funds to those countries that could not previously afford to upgrade water treatment facilities, some contaminates still come trough. The contaminates can be put into some categories:
- Those that are simply not tested for because there threat is not recognized.
- There may be contaminants that enter the water supply that are not on the hit list, and thus they escape detection, contaminants such as estrogen (estrogen) and ostrogins (estrogins) are the worst offenders in this category.
- Current testing and purification technology may miss some contaminants, which get past filtering systems and enter the water supply.
- Some germs may be resistant to current disinfecting methods, such as cryptosporidium, the chlorine-resistant parasite that was implicated in the 1993 Milwaukee water contamination episode, in which 40,000 people suffered gastrointestinal illnesses and over 100 immuno- compromised people died. There others such as such as E.coli and Giardia, are tiny enough to slip through some filtration systems.
- The long-term effects of drinking a gallon of chlorinated water every day for seventy years have not been determined.
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Known Contaminants
Chlorine; is a disinfectant that kills germs, it may also pose health hazards. Chlorine reacts with the leftover organic waste products in water to form a possible carcinogen, trihalomethane, which may increase the risk of bladder and rectal cancers. Chlorine vapors can be inhaled through shower steam (so ventilate your shower well) and even absorbed through the skin during showering with chlorinated water. You can eliminate this risk by placing an inexpensive, replaceable, activated-charcoal carbon filter in the shower head and by using a chlorine-free ozone filtration system in your pool or spa. There is also the possibility that chlorine used to kill germs in water, might upset the balance between harmful and useful bacteria in the human intestines, perhaps even killing the weaker bacteria and allowing the stronger, and sometimes more harmful ones, to multiply unchecked. While chlorination of the water supply has eliminated public health problems, such as water-borne outbreaks of cholera and hepatitis, the question about the overall safety of chlorination is still unanswered.
Hormones & Xeno-Hormones: Every drug we take is, to a greater or lessor extent, excreted from our bodies in our waste products. Sooner or later these drugs end up up back in our drinking water because no commercial filtration removes them and there is no statutory requirement to remove them. When you drink a glass of tap water these days you are in effect self medicating yourself because there are detectable levels of anti-depressents, antibiotics, and xeno- hormones - chemicals that mimic the action of hormones in our bodies. Many male fish in rivers these days are found to be feminized, and the same thing is now happening to men. In women xeno-estrogens have devastating effects, including increased risks of all cancers, pyschosis, heart attacks and strokes.
Arsenic: In the EU the standard for arsenic in drinking water is a maximum of 10 parts per billion. In the USA the standard for arsenic in drinking water is 50 parts per billion. arsenic in drinking water. President Bush recently squashed a bill that would bring the USA in line with EU standards. to put this into context; cutting allowable arsenic from 50 to 10 ppb would prevent 1000 bladder cancers and 2000 to 5000 lung cancers during a human lifetimeArsenic causes cancer of the skin, lungs, bladder and prostate in humans. It would appear that Bush & his corporate sponsors do attach a $ to some 6,00 live a year. The US EPA spent ten years studying the dangers of arsenic in a public process before proposing the 10 ppb standard. The Bush administration now says the science behind the 10 ppb standard is "unclear", it is unclear to just how much longer the study would have to be in order to be ' clear '. Arsenic in drinking water is also linked to diabetes, cardiovascular disease, anemia, and disorders of the immune, nervous and reproductive systems. Worringly at levels equivalent to 10 ppb in water it interferes with hormones, making it a potent endocrine disrupter.
Lead: In the UK a recent report issued by the Drinking Water Inspectorate (part of the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions) revealed that almost 20 per cent of drinking water tests discovered lead levels above recommended World Health Organisation safety levels. This is despite the Drinking Water Inspectorate implying, in a report issued today, that over 99 per cent of water is safe. The EU guideline was reduced from 50 µg/l to 10 µg/l and member states now have time to implement this.
Long Term Effects Of Flawed Water Supplies
You drink a glass of water that looks safe and tastes okay, and you don't feel any the worse afterwards, so there is no problem right ? Many of the health problems caused by these contaminants do not happen quickly because the contaminants damage cells little by little, so it may take years, or even decades, for the whole organ to fail or for tests to find cancer. Many of these contaminants are hormone disruptors and the health problems caused by disrupted hormones take years to manifest and then do so in a very wide range of chronic and ultimately devastating health problems, poorly recognized, diagnosed and treated by the medical community. This is why safe water is of such importance. You drink water every day, yet you may not know for 50 years whether the water you drank was good or bad for you. Actually, you'll never know if it was the water, the food, the air, or back luck – it is a case of lots of little contributing factors adding up slowly to a catastrophe.
Check Your Water Is Safe
Check out the source that you local water company uses. Call your local water utility officials and inquire about the source and safety of your water. Don't know who to call? Look for a phone number on your water bill or, call your local government offices for more information or contact the EU in Brussels. These are the questions to ask:
What is the source of the water - groundwater or surface water? Groundwater is water found deep beneath the ground, such as huge reservoirs, naturally formed deep in the earth's surface. Theoretically, this water is cleaner since the ground acts as a natural filter. Because of the natural soil filtration, groundwater is more likely to be free of cryptosporidium than surface water. Surface water, that which flows from rivers, lakes, streams, and reservoirs, is more likely to pick up pollutants from the earth's surface.
When was the last time your water was tested by the by a government body?
- Request, in writing, for a copy of the most recent laboratory testing results. In most EU countries the utility companies are required by law to provide consumers with information on contaminants in water.
- Is chlorine the main disinfectant used?
- What other disinfectant procedures are employed besides chlorination?
- Is fluoride added to the water?
- If you are a woman who is Oestrogen Dominant you should be aware that fluoridated water has an oestrogenic effect in the human body.
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Industrial Water Treatment
There is no doubt that water treatment on an industrial scale has saved countless thousands of lives over the years, but we must keep one thing in mind. The systems used are used for their cost effectiveness, decisions have been taken to allow a degree of risk in using certain chemicals for water treatment. There ARE safer methods but they will incur additional cost and many utility companies have lobbied politicians very successfully to prevent legislation that would force higher standards on water companies. No where is this more true than in the USA, where Bush squashed a bill just after doing this he actually joked about water deaths at a dinner for industry leaders !
Flocculation - The water is treated with small volumes of appropriate chemicals which will form a chemical floc which entraps particles. The most common flocculent chemicals are metal salts such as aluminum sulfate, ferric sulfate, or ferric chloride. Flocculation can be enhanced by adjusting the pH and alkalinity with acid, lime, and/or carbon dioxide. Polymers are also used in addition to, or in place of, metal salts at some plants.
Disinfection - The finished water is then disinfected with chlorine gas, chloramine, sodium hypochlorite, chlorine dioxide, ozone, or ultraviolet light, before it is pumped into the distribution system of water mains and storage tanks on its way to consumers. Some plants also pre-chlorinate their raw water influent after the screening phase to reduce the incidence of biological films in the treatment cycle. They may also pre-chlorinate to oxidize and precipitate out dissolved iron and manganese from the water, in order to prevent unsightly iron (orange) and manganese (black) stains in the consumer's sink. Water utilities may choose to further boost chlorine levels (termed re-chlorinating) in the distribution system to counteract any pathogens that may occur.
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Home Water Safety
If you wish to take charge of your drinking water there are many steps you can take to improve the water quality. You can choose to buy bottled water for drinking and cooking; or purchase some kind of filtration system.
With filters you get what you pay for, the more chemicals and contaminants you want removed from your water, the more expensive the filter is likely to be. You do not need to purify all the water entering your house so most systems are attached to the kitchen tap. If you, as we do, consider food and water as medicine, pure water, even at the price of a filtration system, is still one of the least expensive pills you can swallow. Remember to change filters frequently and according to the manufacturer's instructions. If you are investing in an expensive water-purification system, before you purchase arrange for before-and-after tests of the water. Tell the filter company that you expect to have your money refunded if your filtered, tested water contains more contaminants than the manufacturer claims. You may have to pay for the testing, but it may save you from paying for a high-priced but less effective system.
Carafe Filters/
Filter Jugs Water is filtered as it drips trough, they do not remove bacteria, pesticides, and other agricultural chemicals
They do removes lead, chlorine, and some sediments. Care should be taken to replace the filter every month in hard water areas or two in soft water areas. Cost: under 30 euros initially. Replacement filters cost 7-8 euros each.
Tap Filter Units
Also called point-of-use carbon filters. The water passes through a carbon bed that absorbs the contaminants. These filters are designed to fit directly onto your faucet or on a hose attached to the faucet, or they are connected directly to the cold-water line under the sink. This type can also fit on shower heads, they removes chlorine, lead, some pesticides and industrial chemicals, radon, and some bacteria, such as cryptosporidium. Consult the manufacturers of different models to see what contaminants are not removed.
Care: Replace filter every six months to a year otherwise they become so clogged with contaminants that the water coming out the filter may be less pure than the water going in. Cost: 200 – 300 euros to install, plus the cost of replacement cartridges at 80 euros. Over the long run, these actually may be cheaper than the carafe filters on a per-litre-of- water basis.
Read about alkalising water with water Ionizer
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