Water is an incredibly important aspect of our daily lives. Every day we drink water, cook with water, bath in water, and participate in many other activities involving water. However, even with all of the importance water holds in our lives, many of us know very little about the water we use each day.
We drink tap water, enjoying the convenience and cost-effectiveness of this practice, yet, we fail to recognize the serious threat this water may pose to our health.
Those who are willing to forgo the convenience of tap water and indulge in bottled water often knowvery little about the contents of that water and simply trust that bottled water must be better than tap water. Even conscientious consumers, who wisely attempt to treat their own water in an effort to ensure the healthfulness of that water, often know little about the many home water treatment options now available.
How Important Water to Human?
Water is your single most important nutrient. You can survive a month without food, but only a few days without the life-giving properties of water. It is essential to your survival. But, are you sure that your drinking water is safe? Stream, ponds, rivers, lakes and groundwater house biological and chemical waste product and provide a means to transport these chemicals to municipal water treatment plants where most of the contaminants are removed (“most” being the important word here).
The city adds chlorine, which kills some of the bacteria. However, most treated water still contain pollutants, chlorine and germs. Treated water has been known to have bacteria, protozoa and cryptosporidium. Chlorine also combines with compounds in water to create chloroform, chloramines other chemicals that can cause disease.
Dozens of scientific studies have proven this dangers. The Council on Environmental Quality reported that chlorine in water increased the risk of urinary tract and gastrointestinal cancer! The CDC and EPA are also constantly releasing studies on the health risks related to municipal and tap water supplies. Water flows to your home or office through underground pipes that are offen broken, damaged, have loose joints, or are decades old. These things break the waterways down thereby allowing additional containmination from groungwater laden with industrial chemicals. Dozens of these chemocals and live organism have been found in processed tap water in major cities.
For example, in 1993,in the city of Milwaukee, 400,000 people became ill from drinking water that, despite processing, still contained the deadly parasite cryptosporidium and 104 people died1Scientists, Doctors, and government agencies (MUD Report) have issued warnings on the unhealthy containmination of our public water supplies. The EPA has identified 253 organic chemicals in U.S. drinking water! However, recently the danger has become even worse!
If you drink tap water, I hope you have heard about the many recent problems associated with municipal water. As a general rule, the water that comes from the tap might or might not be safe for us. The water always has chlorine,and in some cases, is quite large amounts and in many cases is not safe water to drink. It is widely known that chlorine is very bad for us, especially in large quantities and over a long period of time. Tap water also can contain large amount of heavy metals, like Mercury. These metals are especially dangerous for children, elderly and people with weakened immune systems.
For starters, quit drinking tap water on a regular basis. You will realize after notdrinking the water for an extended period, when you go back and drink it again it will smell like chlorine and will have a bad taste. You need to immediately begin using water filters. Get some water filters for the house and for the refrigerator. These personal water filters can be filled up with ordinary tap water and the filter inside will filter your water as you drink.