So, you're beginning to think water purification might be a good thing? Well, I'm thinking you're on the right track!
You're going to want to learn at least a little bit about it, right? Especially if you're considering buying an in-home water purifier. There are a number of good water purifiers on the market, but some, alas, are not as good as they would like you to think. Here you'll get an idea of what to look for and what to avoid.
If you live in a community with a municipal water system, then your tap water has been through a number of different "cleaning" processes. Naturally, some facilities are better than others, and some are more honest in their reporting than others. The bottom line is, after your water has been run through the municipal water treatment plant, there are still a lot of contaminants left in your tap water, regardless of the methods used by the facility to "clean" your water.
One biggest problems with your water is caused by the municipal water treatment facility. Most treatment plants use chlorine to sanitize your water. Chlorine does successfully kill much of the bacteria residing in your water. But, and this is a big "but," numerous studies have found that chlorine itself, is not safe for human consumption. That it is known to cause cancer!
It takes a water purifier with an activated carbon filter to remove chlorine from water. The effectiveness of activated carbon water purifiers varies. The percentage of chlorine removed ranges from 75-99 in the better systems. In order to find out how much chlorine your water purifier removes, you need to see a certified performance data sheet.
The manufacturer should provide a performance data sheet along with other product information, but depending on where the physical location of the manufacturing plant is located, they may not be required to provide this data. Buying a water purification system that does not provide a certified performance data sheet, is leaving yourself wide open for disappointment.
Another big problem that is not addressed by the water treatment plant is bacterial contamination. During various phases of their lives bacteria, parasites and other microorganisms are so small, they are called cysts.
The FDA maintains there is no feasible way to detect cysts in public drinking water. Even the best water treatment plants cannot always remove them. Hence, the use of chlorine. Chlorine does succeed in killing most of them, but there is one in particular which resistant to chlorine and that one can make you very ill or even kill you. And, as we mentioned before, chlorine itself is hazardous to your health.
The only solution is a water purifier with a micron filter stage that is designed to remove cysts from water. This brings up the importance of being able to review certified product performance data sheets, before you buy. Some water purifiers remove 99.99% of all cysts from the water, while others remove zip, zero, zilch. Wouldn't you want to a water purifier that removed these nasty little cysts? Yeah, me too!
Other contaminants that you'll want to be sure are being removed are lead, THMs, VOCs, lindane, alachlor, atrazine, benzene, TCE and MTBE. Some water purifiers remove them all. But, then again, some do not. Go figure?
In a nut shell, the things you want to look for when comparing water purifiers are: activated carbon filters, micron filtration and certified performance data sheet.
And there are a few things you'll want to avoid. The first is the popular process of reverse osmosis water purification. It's expensive and it wastes water. On top of that, it removes beneficial, healthy minerals, while leaving detrimental lead and chlorine. The other process to avoid are distillers. These remove the beneficial mineral as well, while leaving the contaminating chemicals. It also removes beneficial minerals, but not chemicals. With either of these systems, taste of the water is less than desirable.
If you live in an area where water has a high mineral content, often referred to as hard water, you may think that removing the minerals preferable. However, research has shown that drinking de-mineralized water is unhealthy. What you want to look for are multi-stage water purifiers that include an ion exchange system. These systems are able to balance the mineral content, making it more palatable, without simply stripping it of all healthy mineral content.
With all the other contaminants, chemicals and pollution we're subjected to on a daily basis, you can at least provide your family with healthy, clean water! You have the power!
