Clean, healthy and balanced water is a foundation for vibrant health. However, we know that most of the water sources are polluted and that tap water is very unsafe to drink. With all the information out there about the latest and greatest water purifier that will turn your water into an instant healing tonic, how do you know which filters actually remove most of the deadly toxins?
Clean water is SO important for our health since your body is at least 60% fluid and most of these fluids are responsible for the major bodily functions such as digestion, absorption of nutrients, transportation of toxins, circulation, creation of saliva, and maintenance of body temperature. Water helps to energize your muscles and keeps your skin looking supple and smooth. According to Web MD, too little water can lead to kidney stones and constipation as well.
Let’s take a look at what may possibly be coming out of your faucet.
1.) Microorganisms
According to the World Health Organization, the majority of health-related problems have to do with microbial contamination such as bacteria, viruses, protozoa and other biologicals contamination.
2.) Disinfectants
The very disinfectants that are used to kill the microorganisms may not render the water safe to drink. The chemicals that are used results in the formation of by-products that are very carcinogenic.
3.) Disinfection By-Products
Examples of these chemicals are bromates, chlorites, Haloacetic acids and Trihalomethanes that all increase the risk of cancer and have nerve system effects.sewer water
4.) Inorganic Chemicals
Many of these chemicals come as a result of our industrialized world. Arsenic, asbestos, barium, cadmium, cyanide, fluoride, mercury, and thallium, just to name a few. Many of these have the potential to cause liver, kidney and thyroid problems.
5.) Organic Chemicals
These are not organic in the clean sense but mean that they are carbon-based chemicals. They will degrade over time but have a huge impact on the environment and on our body. Examples of these are dry cleaning fluids (TCE), flame retardants that are in our furniture, mattresses and clothing, runoff from herbicides on crops, fumigants and discharge form industrial chemicals.
6.) Radionuclides
According to the WHO, there are “accidental” releases of radioactive substances into the environment. (Think Chernobyl)
7.) pH Balance
The water that comes out of our faucet is quite acidic because of all the chemicals added to it. I recognize that there are staunch advocates for drinking gallons of alkaline water to offset this acidity, but I am little leery of pushing too much alkalinity into the digestive system. Your stomach has a pH of 1-2, which is very acidic. If you push too much alkaline water, it can offset the pH of the stomach which can lead to digestive upsets and imbalance in the flora. If you look to nature, the pH of water hovers between 6.5 and 8.5 with the average being 7.0 to 7.7, which is neutral or slightly on the alkaline side.
The toxicity in our water system has spurred the bottle water industry, thinking that it would be a safer alternative to what comes out of the tap.
However, the plastic compounds are very estrogenic (stimulates and mimics aggressive estrogen in the body) which can lead to cancer.
The bottle water industry has also created massive pollution issues with the disposal of the billions of plastic bottles. According to the Ocean Conservatory, there are over 46,000 pieces of floating plastic in every square mile of ocean!
We have established that our drinking water is contaminated and that plastic bottles are not the answer. The next logical step is to filter your water. Now again, there are so many to choose from. How do I know which ones are effective and actually clean my water?
Most people know Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, from The Natural News. He is an activist-turned-scientist whose mission is to empower consumers with factual information about chemicals in foods, medicines, personal care products and children’s’ toys. He has invested millions of dollars into a laboratory that uncovers toxic ingredients in supposedly “safe” products.
In Mike Adam’s words: “Through the Spring and Summer of 2014, I purchased five of the most popular off-the-shelf gravity water filters which are commonly promoted and sold as emergency water filtration devices. For this test, I limited my purchase only to those filters which are non-electric and operate from the principle of gravity. In other words, no water filters with manual pumps were included.
The purpose of this testing was to subject each water filter to a known concentration of heavy metals contaminants (lead, cadmium, arsenic, mercury) as well as elements which have radioisotopes such as strontium, cesium and uranium.”
The conclusion of the analysis:
There was a huge range in quality of the water from those filtration systems. The best-performing gravity water filter we tested achieved near-total removal of all toxic elements, when used with the attached arsenic / fluoride filters (which attach underneath the black ceramic filters).
Drinking water is important — make sure yours is clean.
