Study: Bottled Water as Polluted as Tap Water

The study’s lab tests on 10 brands of bottled water detected 38 chemicals including bacteria, caffeine, the pain reliever acetaminophen, fertilizer, solvents, plastic-making chemicals and the radioactive element strontium. Though some probably came from tap water that some companies use for their bottled water, other contaminants probably leached from plastic bottles, the researchers said. In the Wal-Mart and Giant Food bottled water, the highest concentration of chlorine byproducts, known as trihalomethanes, was over 35 parts per billion. California’s limit is 10 parts per billion or less, and the industry’s International Bottled Water Association makes 10 its voluntary guideline. The federal limit is 80. The researchers recommend that people worried about water contaminants drink tap water with a carbon filter. http://www.foxnews.com/story/2008/10/15/study-bottled-water-as-polluted-as-tap-water/

Bottled Water vs Filtered Tap Water – Making a Clear Choice

The cost of just one case of bottled water could supply a person in Africa with clean, safe drinking water for a year! Your choice matters… It will make a difference… How will you change the world today? We all have choices to make in how we spend our hard earned money. We can choose tap water, a quality point of use water filter system, or much more expensive bottled water. But for nearly 1 billion people…there is no choice. All they have is dirty, diseased water that is miles away from home. With a simple choice, you can change that. So…we’re asking you to consider skipping bottled water, even if just for a few weeks, and consider donating the money you save to help build wells in Africa.

Pepsi admits Aquafina comes from tap water

In reality, Aquafina comes from tap water. Yes, the same water you get when you turn on your kitchen faucet. Of course, Aquafina is filtered, purified and perhaps even enhanced with trace amounts of added minerals, but it’s certainly not mountain spring water. It’s just processed tap water — the same stuff that fills your toilet bowl when you flush. Both the International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) and the FDA believe there’s really no need to require bottled water manufacturers to admit their products come from tap water. No surprise there — both these organizations routinely act to protect the interests of powerful corporations, and when it comes to bottled water, the biggest companies are often those sourcing the lowest quality water (such as tap water). Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/021962_bottled_water_aquafina.html#ixzz3H3P98QYj

What’s wrong with tap water?

Did you know that the average adult human body is 55-60% water? (Babies’ bodies are closer to 75%.) The brain is made up of about 70% water, and the lungs, closer to 90%! This means that the quality of the water you drink has an enormous impact on the quality of your health. Unfortunately, high quality drinking water is increasingly difficult to come by in this day and age. Most health conscious Americans know that, while we are lucky in this country to have access to water that is largely free of disease-causing microorganisms, drinking plain old, unfiltered tap water is generally not a great idea. In fact, these water treatment facilities often actually contribute to the problem by adding dangerous chemicals like chlorine to water as part of the treatment process. The water regulations and treatment methods used in the U.S. are old and outdated and do little to address the assortment of toxic chemicals that are currently present in our environment. The Safe Drinking Water Act only regulates 91 potential water contaminants. Yet there are more than 60,000 chemicals used within the U.S., many of which have been identified as probable carcinogens. According to some estimates, there are now more than 2,100 known chemical toxins present in U.S. tap water. Additionally, many municipalities transport their water in antiquated, corroded pipes, which may leach toxic heavy metals into the water after it has been treated. http://www.liveinthenow.com/article/the-dirty-truth-about-tap-water

Does the Chlorine in Tap Water Raise Your Health Risks?

“Chlorine, added as an inexpensive and effective drinking water disinfectant, is also a known poison to the body,” says Vanessa Lausch of filter manufacturer Aquasana. “It is certainly no coincidence that chlorine gas was used with deadly effectiveness as a weapon in the First World War.” The gas would severely burn the lungs and other body tissues when inhaled, and is no less powerful when ingested by mouth. Lausch adds that researchers have now linked chlorine in drinking water to higher incidences of bladder, rectal and breast cancers. Reportedly chlorine, once in water, interacts with organic compounds to create trihalomethanes (THMs) — which when ingested encourage the growth of free radicals that can destroy or damage vital cells in the body. Here are some ways to get rid of the chlorine from your tap water on your own: Install a carbon-based drinking water filter, which absorbs chlorine and other contaminants before they get into your glass or body. Tap-based filters remove most if not all of the chlorine in tap water, and are relatively inexpensive to boot. Some swear by the method of letting their water sit for 24 hours so that the chlorine in the glass or pitcher will off-gas. But letting the tap run for a while is not likely to remove any sizable portion of chlorine, unless one were to then let the water sit overnight before consuming it. Another option is a product called WaterYouWant, which looks like sugar but actually is composed of tasteless antioxidants and plant extracts. The manufacturer claims that a quick shake of the stuff removes 100 percent of the chlorine (and its odor) from a glass a tap water.

How Much Less Does Filtered Water Cost Than Bottled Water?

Let’s say that a 20 ounce bottle of water costs about $1.50. One gallon contains 128 ounces, or 6.4 bottles of water. 6.4 multiplied by $1.50 equals $9.60. For comparison, cost for a gallon of gasoline is about half that amount. As you do the math in your head to make sure that I’m right, here’s one more fact that is sure to bug you if you’re unaware: most bottled water is just from the tap. Does this mean that the water you are drinking from a plastic bottle is of subpar quality? Not necessarily. Most tap water in this country is very drinkable, though there are some contaminants – from chlorine to lead – that we would recommend filtering out to avoid long-term health issues. Does this mean you are getting ripped off? Well, remember, that plastic bottle is yours for keeps after you buy it. As long as you use that bottle to its full potential, using and reusing it dozens of times, you’re getting a great deal. If you are still reading, you must be one of the millions that just throw away a plastic water bottle when you’re done with it. This means that yes, depending on how much bottled water you buy, you are probably getting ripped off.

KDF vs Impregnated Silver in Water Filters

At one time, impregnated silver was the main element in water filtration systems. However, in recent years it has been replaced by KDF (for more information on KDF view our blog entry What is KDF?).

Silver in Water Filtration:

(1) Silver inhibits the growth of bacteria within the water filter unit 

(2) Designed to remove objectionable taste, odors, and color from municipally treated tap water.

KDF in Water Filtration:

(1) KDF Process Media enhance the performance, extend the life, reduce the maintenance and lower the total cost of many available carbon-based systems. 

(2) KDF Process Media help control microorganisms by creating an environment that's deadly to some microorganisms and that interferes with the ability of many other microorganisms to function.

With both elements having similar effects within water filtration systems, why the sudden shift from using silver to KDF?

Beginning in 1991, silver had to be registered with the EPA as TOXIC because:

(1) In humans, silver can be absorbed from the lungs and gastrointestinal tract. When an excessive amount of silver is absorbed, tissues become impregnated with silver sulfite, which forms a complex in elastic fibers. Large amounts of this complex under the skin will give it bluish, grey-blue, or in extreme cases a black color. This condition is called argyria. Although it is not a toxic effect, argyria is undesirable and usually permanent. Excessive exposure to silver can also cause lung and kidney lesions and skin contact can cause mild allergic reactions such as rashes, swelling, and inflammation.

(2) Silver is highly toxic to fish, aquatic invertebrates, and estuarine organisms. 

KDF Process Media vs. Silver-Impregnated Carbon

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