|
Here is a list of just a few of the chemicals routinely added to our water supply:
• Liquified chlorine
• Hexafluorosilicic acid
• Aluminium sulphate
• Calcium hydroxide
• Sodium silicofluoride
Even if the water leaves the source in a relatively clean state, don't forget that your water travels through pipes, which may have been underground since Victorian times! It is almost impossible for the water not to become contaminated by something undesirable.
Here is a list of contaminants which may be found in our water:
Salts of: arsenic, radium, aluminium, copper, lead, mercury, cadmium, barium
Trihalomethanes (THMs)
Hormones
Nitrates
Pesticides
Bacteria
Protozoa
Water Options
To avoid drinking water straight from the tap, there are a number of options available to us.
1) Carbon filters - widely available from supermarkets and chemists in the UK improve the taste of tap water by removing the chlorine. They may also remove some pesticides. However they do not remove fluoride, hormones, toxic metal salts and other chemicals. Plumbed-in carbon filters can be used to eliminate chlorine from bath and tap water, given there is some evidence that repeated exposure to chlorine and other chemicals in tap water, particularly in showers, can lead to health problems, including cancer.
2) Bottled water - is another option, but the quality and taste is highly variable and it is generally expensive, at between 12p and £1.69 per litre.
There are dozens of brands to choose from but it is hard to find the information that really matters about each brand of bottled water, such as the mineral content and the presence of contaminants. Glass bottles are safer than plastic because the chemicals from the plastic can leach into the water. These chemicals mimic oestrogen and can lead to hormone related health problems if consumed regularly.
If you cook your vegetables in bottled water, it works out very expensive. But if you cook them in tap water, many of the contaminants will be absorbed and concentrated in your vegetables.
3) Distilled water - a number of commercially available water distillers are available. However, there is some concern about the effect of this water on the body in the long-term.
4) Reverse Osmosis - is a complicated process that typically removes at least 90% of Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) from water. A plumbed-in reverse osmosis filtration system provides very high quality water for drinking and cooking. It can also be given to pets.
Reverse Osmosis (RO) filtration systems are widely acknowledged as the most effective filtration systems available. They are used by the medical profession to produce ‘pure water’ for dialysis and other purposes but have not yet been adopted on a wide scale by the domestic market.
The reason? They are generally expensive, usually costing between £500 and £1,200 per system, with on-going maintenance and servicing costs to be paid on top.
However, we have found a UK company who supplies a reverse osmosis filtration system for £1 a day or less which includes maintenance costs. This is cheaper than buying bottled mineral water and provides up to 200 litres a day of fresh, clean water, free from fluoride, chlorine, micro-organisms, nitrates, pesticides, hormones and all known contaminants.
|
