Water Contamination and Water Treatment Systems 

 Michael Sutton

   The Human Body

To highlight the importance of water and fluids circulating in the body, some of the body’s elements are listed below:

  70% of the human body is water

            Kidneys           82.7%

            Blood               83.0%

            Brain                74.5%

            Muscles           75.6%

            Bones              22.0%

The average American adult consumes 300 gallons per year of water for cooking and drinking.  Water is important for your health. Without it, you will die in 72 hours.

  Water Treatment

These chemicals mix with other contaminants with unknown consequences. The EPA has proven that over 700 contaminants exist in our water today, yet Health Departments by law throughout the U.S., need only test for 86 chemicals. The 86 must pass testing criteria that are very, very low, based on a political decision in the early 1970’s (due to disparities from city to city throughout the U.S. regarding the cost to repair the water pipes (in the pilot study) for those cities way below the line). However, 614 chemicals are not tested to determine safety requirements.

 Even with the lax guidelines of the EPA’s ‘The Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974, various cities and town water departments throughout the U.S. have had to declare their drinking water unfit for consumption.  One example, the Water Dept in Utica, NY (near Ithaca, NY -- home of Cornell University) had at one time, and may even yet today, stamped each monthly bill with the following: “Not fit for human consumption.”  This admonition would probably apply to almost every city and town in the U.S., if comprehensive testing with proper limit restrictions applied on the other known contaminates.

Aluminum and Alzheimer's Disease

If you have ever wondered why there is such an astounding increase in Alzheimer's disease, the answer may have finally been found. In the April 1995 issue of the international science journal, Neurotoxicology, a private Australian research group reported that the widespread use of aluminum salts to purify water may lead to brain damage and may account for the large-scale loss of memory experienced by people suffering from Alzheimer's disease!

The Australia Institute of Biomedical Research, based in Sydney, reported that experiments with rats showed that tiny amounts of aluminum consumed in water found its way to their brains and accumulated there. It has been known for twenty years that if aluminum accumulated in the brain over a period of time, it could kill off neurons and cause memory loss. Institute researcher Judie Walton noted the worldwide massive increase in Alzheimer's disease over the past 70 years. She pointed out: "We are drinking it and eating it throughout our lifetimes, so by the time we are quite old we have had a lot of exposure to aluminum." Aluminum is also found in food emulsifiers, anti-perspirant deodorants, baking powder, some toothpastes, many of the commonly used pots and pans and it also leeches out of soda pop cans.

The research on rats found measurable amounts of aluminum in their brains after just one glass of aluminum treated water. Walton observed: "We really should look seriously at revisiting this possibility that aluminum addition to foods and drinking water is a health hazard." Due to the concerns about a link between aluminum and Alzheimer's disease, Sydney, Australia's largest city, is already gradually withdrawing aluminum treatment of water.

Using aluminum to purify water may be even more dangerous than the use of fluoride and chlorine in our water. It is believed that the problem is worsened by the action of fluoride in facilitating the absorption of aluminum.

  Click here for more absolutely amazing facts and statistics on the use of fluoride... you won't want to miss it!     

 Water Types

 Bottled and Spring Water versus Tap Water – the EPA there is no difference from a bacterial or chemical perspective; major difference is taste as the filtering process at the bottling plants removes the chlorine. The best bottled water is Poland Springs and amazingly, Perrier.  Bottled water is expensive no matter how you look at it.

 Ex.: EVIAN – it is thought that when the Marketing Dept of this company was deciding a price and a name, they came up with the word ‘EVIAN’ because they agreed that the people who would pay this much for bottled water must be NAIVE…which is EVIAN spelled backwards.

 Distilled Water – is created by heating the water in a closed container to the boiling point. The water becomes gaseous as a result.  Upon cooling, the water returns to a liquid state.  As a result of this process, distilled water contains no minerals yet, according to NY State health department studies, does contain more chemicals than spring or any other category of bottled water.  Yes, some of the heavy metals are eliminated, but chemicals like benzene, chloroform, toluene, and trichlorethanes are now found in distilled water. Other specific NY State Dept of Health studies have shown that the bacteria levels of bottled water are too high to count.

 Certifications

 NSF (National Sanitation Foundation) and WQA are the certification companies of significance. Britta, for instance, is NSF certified, but not fully certified by NSF. Also, they are not WQA certified.

A fully certified system will remove almost all known toxins to the levels of 95% or more.  Obviously, unknown toxins are not necessarily removed.

 Filters

 Carbon System– filters out (some of them to ½ micron) bacteria, metals (such as lead), parasites, chlorine, asbestos, cysts, even anthrax spores.  This does allow minerals to pass through such as fluoride.

 Reverse Osmosis System–filters out (some of them to 1/1000 micron) bacteria, metals (such as lead, barium, cadmium, chromium, copper, fluoride, mercury, nitrates, radium), parasites, chlorine, asbestos, cysts, even anthrax spores.  – this system is better, healthier, and ultimately less expensive.  Reverse Osmosis allows Oxygen to pass through to the finished water which is very beneficial.

 Note: some water filters you buy in the store indicate that they filter out 99.3% of the lead. However, there are two types of lead: particulate and soluble. The vast majority of store-bought filters only filter out the particulate lead (the solid pieces of metal) not the soluble…, which are more dangerous to your body.

 Properly Distilled water and Reverse Osmosis water permeates the cells in the body easier because of their low mineral content thus creating greater Osmotic pressure that flushes toxins and wastes out of the cell more readily and efficiently. However, if distilled water is not filtered through a carbon system, then it will contain chemicals, but no oxygen or minerals.

 Charcoal pitchers (Brita) – are used to filter bad taste but not much else.

 More About Chlorine

 A simple home test will show you the amount of chlorine that is in your tap water. You can purchase OTO for less than a dollar, at a swimming pool supply store. Take a few drops and add it to a little tap water. You will find by the color change chart that there is more chlorine in the tap water then is recommended for a swimming pool. Now swirl your finger in the water and test again. There will be no color change because most of the chlorine was absorbed into your skin.

This happens with all organic material, including pasta, rice and other foods we cook in tap water.

½ of the chlorine that is absorbed into the body is via the bath or shower.  When you take a shower, you are chemically gassed with chlorine because the air becomes irradiated with chlorine.  Remember chlorine burns; it was developed as a gas to kill people in WWI.

 Every time you wash your hands, you are inundating yourself with chlorine.  Every time you bathe or shower, you are inundating yourself in two ways, via the water and via the air (gaseous state of the chlorine). Did you ever notice the warning on the back of your bottle of dish soap? It states not to mix with chlorine!

 For those interested, obtain a good Reverse Osmosis System throughout your house so that at least one faucet (particularly your kitchen sink) filters out all that is mentioned above. Make certain that both companies (NSF & WQA) noted above fully certify the system.  Be sure the system is properly sized for consumption needs as well as for water quality restraints that may impede finished water output. Also, be sure to maintain your system and replace the filters as recommended by the manufacturer.

Otherwise, you are not getting the optimal system for your money and more importantly, your health.

 Remember… knowledge is power; use it to make better choices for you and your loved ones.