Whilst
there are contaminants in every water supply,
the methods of water purification and filtration
you'll use will depend on 3 things: (1) the state
of your local water supply; (2) the cost and performance
of the filtration unit and (3) their health-benefits.
Also note that there is a difference between purification
and filtration.
Water purification involves the removal of microbiological
contaminants from your water supply, usually (but
not always) by adding a disinfectant, like chlorine
treatment.
Read more about the types of contaminants found
in your water supply. Some home water filtration
systems can remove chemical contaminants for example,
but fail to effectively remove microbiological
ones (bacteria) from your water supply. Therefore,
these are not "purifiers" in the true
sense of the word. Some salespersons will interchange
the word "purifier" and "filter"
with no regard for their true meanings.
Truth: Boiling tap water makes no discernable
difference in the quality of your tap water. In
fact, you are likely to be worse off than before.
In days long gone by, the only threat drinking
water posed was the presence of micro-organisms.
In those times, it would indeed have been appropriate
to boil water, and this would certainly have destroyed
these dangerous germs, making the water much safer
to drink.
Today however, the situation is completely different.
Our water is constantly treated with chemicals
such as chlorine and fluoride. The end result
of this process is that the vast majority of all
micro-organisms have already perished. Our problem,
therefore, are the added carcinogenic chemicals,
as well as heavy metals picked up from corroding
pipes. Boiling tap water further exacerbates the
situation, as it causes pure water to be evaporated,
while leaving behind dissolved solids such as
heavy metals. As pure water has been lost, the
heavy metals are now even more concentrated than
before.
What's more, pure water washes out the nutrients
in your body, resulting in mineral deficiency.
Truth: Daily consumption of reasonable amounts
of pure water helps to keep your body healthy;
it most certainly does not cause mineral deficiencies.
First of all, the mineral content of tap water
is trivial to the point where there is almost
no nutrition value at all. Nothing of benefit
to your health is lost in the filtration process.
At any rate, drinking water is not even the
source of your nutrition: 99.9% of essential
minerals are obtained from your food.
Pure water cannot simply flush out the nutrients
already in use by your body systems. Our kidney
and liver are the vital organs which selectively
decide what our body needs, as well as what
it does not. You can be assured that essential
nutrients will continue to be utilized by our
body, and will not be removed by pure water.
Our body's metabolism is highly sophisticated
and complex; it should not be underestimated!
Truth: Although the quality of tap water varies
greatly between countries and even cities, tap
water is always tap water; they all contain
similar, potentially dangerous contaminants,
albeit in varying degrees.
It is true that Melbourne's water catchment
areas are actually quite pristine. We also have
soft water here. However, it becomes exposed
to the unfortunates of our natural environment:
various animals and their dead bodies and droppings,
insects, toxic blue-green algae, bacteria, viruses
and so on. Consequently, chemicals such as chlorine
are necessarily added to sanitize our water.
Our catchment water journeys through hundreds
of kilometres of aged aqueducts, tunnels and
pipes constructed from various materials such
as concrete, iron, steel, copper and galvanized,
picking them up on the way. Thus, water quality
steadily deteriorates in transit to your tap;
what you drink from your tap is not the same
clear water that resides in our catchments.
Instead, parasites such as Giardia and Cryptosporidium;
chemicals like chlorine, THM's and fluoride;
metals like copper and lead (picked up from
corroding pipes and plumbing) - all posing considerable
health threats - may very well be present in
your drinking water. However, an appropriate
filter system can effectively remove all these
contaminants, protecting your wellbeing.
Truth: Drinking untested spring water can pose
a risk to your health, as its safety has not
been verified.
Some people give their undying trust to all
varieties of spring water, not knowing that
there is no representative spring water, and
that they are all very different. Depending
on its geological status and environment from
which it was obtained, spring water may contain
higher levels of micro-organisms, nitrates,
numerous pollutants of human, animal, environmental
and industrial origin, metals, radioactive material
and so on. Drinking untested, unidentified spring
water is like driving with your eyes closed.
You have only one body, one life, and it is
just not worth the risk when a solution is at
hand.
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