Do you realize just how important drinking water is to the efficient functioning of a healthy human body? It is estimated that your body consists of 60% to 75% water. So much of your health and how you feel is related to the quality and quantity of water you consume. Listen to Deanna DeLong, a self-proclaimed “water advocate,” present the “Drink Water For Life” story in a highly informative YouTube video that outlines the virtues of drinking enough water.
Even though you may already have a Multi-Pure® Drinking Water System water filter in your home, do you still occasionally purchase bottled water? Many people do, or they have friends and family members that have not made the switch to filtering their tap water. But how much do you really know about the brand of bottled water you buy? The Environmental Working Group (EWG) conducted an 18-month survey of bottled water labels and websites, including top domestic and imported brands, to learn which brands tell their customers basic information about the water – where their water comes from, how it is treated, and what contaminants it contains.
At the conclusion of the study they wrote, “We urge consumers to make their first choice filtered tap water. They should consider bottled water a distant second, and then they should pick brands that provide full water source, treatment and quality disclosure and that use advanced treatment methods to remove a broad range of pollutants.”
Which drinking water filter is less expensive to own? Multi-Pure vs. Brita
In 2009, a comparison/analysis was conducted for Engr308 Technology and the Environment at Humboldt State University by students Bryan Thomson, Dana Martin, Kristi Morton and Kristy Method. The class project's goal was to determine which drinking water system is the best for Arcata, Humboldt County, California residents, or anyone else, who wants to make the least impact on their wallet and the environment while receiving the healthiest water possible.
Their project compares water filtration systems by Multi-Pure and Brita. They compared the two types of water filtration systems on financial cost, CO2 released in transport and contaminants released into a person. Brita and Multi-Pure filtering systems both offer similar technology to filter the water, but what does it take for those filters to make it to a consumer's home?
Brita provided basic information, through a phone interview, on where and how their filtering system is produced and shipped. The project also considered what the filter is made of, how many gallons it filters before replacement is recommended; and any other relevant information. Multi-Pure provided similar data and information about its product as Brita, yet more personal and in depth and offered additional insight that Brita wouldn't comment on.
WQA Press Release – Half of Americans Want Stricter Water Quality Laws, Survey Finds
Fifty percent of Americans believe federal laws governing drinking water are not strict enough, according to a scientific opinion poll conducted for the Water Quality Association.
The release of these results follows a survey in March that showed more than two-thirds of Americans expressing concern over pharmaceuticals in their water. The U.S. Senate has begun public hearings to look into the issue, holding its latest session yesterday.
“This is National Drinking Water Week, so there is no better time to respond to the concerns of the American people,” said Peter J. Censky, Executive Director of WQA.
Only 34 percent of respondents stated that they believed federal drinking water quality laws are “fair.” Additionally, 38 percent said they do not believe their municipality is doing everything it should to make sure water reaching their home is safe to drink.
Taken together, the two polls show that concern about water quality has increased. The first poll, taken in January, was completed before news reports emerged about pharmaceuticals in water. The March survey was conducted in the immediate aftermath of those reports.
Overall, just over two-thirds of Americans – 67 percent – are generally concerned about the quality of their household water supply. In the January poll, 55 expressed such concern. Similarly, in January 48 percent of Americans believed that their drinking water is “as safe as it should be.” In the March poll only 39 percent believed this.
Americans seem to increasingly believe that responsibility for safe drinking water is a public/private partnership. Seventy percent said they believe that home filtration plays a role, along with their municipality, in ensuring safe drinking water.
Many communities have begun responding to concerns about pharmaceuticals in water. In March, a study by the Chicago Tribune found trace concentrations in water collected at City Hall, an elementary school on Chicago’s South Side and a suburban public library.
The random sample surveys were conducted by Applied Research-West, Inc.
About WQA: The Water Quality Association is a non-profit international trade association representing the residential, commercial, industrial and small community water treatment industry. Its membership consists of both manufacturers as well as dealers/distributors of equipment. WQA is a resource and information source, a voice for the industry, an educator of professionals, a laboratory for product testing, and a communicator with the public. WQA has more than 2,500 members nationwide.
Emergency Drinking Water - What You Can Do in an Emergency
Have you ever been in a situation where the water supply to your home has been interrupted? Many people have experienced such a problem when a major storm disrupted their local water utility. Generally, the news services provide a warning that a potentially disruptive weather event is coming your way, but sometimes there is no warning. What will you do if this happens to you?
Such an event occurred in Maryland on December 23, 2008 with no apparent warning. A massive 66-inch water pipe broke in the affluent Bethesda area, creating an overwhelming torrent of water that immediately endangered the lives of anyone who happened to be nearby. The outside temperature was in the 20’s and the local rescue teams had to work quickly to extract people from their cars using boats and helicopters. It appears that everyone involved made it out safely. But what about the water supply to all the affected homes and businesses?
In this instance, residents were fortunate that the local water authority was able to redirect the water supply and restore service the same day. However, in many instances, an emergency like this one results in a disruption to water delivery that lasts for days. If you have ever been in this situation, you know that even a day without water seems like a lifetime, being unable to flush a toilet or find safe water to drink.
Once water service is restored, life can return to normal – almost. Sometimes the disruption creates a breach in the water line that allows contaminants to enter the water supply. Even after the authorities declare the water “safe,” prudent people may want to take extra precautions, like boiling their tap water before consuming it. The Environmental Protection Agency has published guidelines on its public web site that you may find useful regarding how to handle “Emergency Disinfection of Drinking Water” (see http://www.epa.gov/ogwdw/faq/emerg.html).
Taking the EPA’s recommendations one big step further, you may want to ensure the quality of your disinfected water by pushing it through a compressed carbon block water filter before drinking it. Multi-Pure Corporation manufacturers excellent filters for this purpose that have a lifetime warranty (see http://www.water2drink.com/products/multipure_products.asp), and they also offer an emergency hand pump to make the job easier (Model D600 Emergency Hand Pump retails for $35.00). You can disconnect the input line on your water filter and attach it to the hand pump. Putting the water pump input line into the disinfected water and then applying a bit of elbow grease will produce gallons of drinking water that you will be quite pleased with.
Please be prepared – it’s an “emergency” because you never know when it may happen to you!
Is Chlorine Good for Your Health?
The answer is both yes and no. There is little doubt that adding chlorine to public drinking water supplies to serve as an affordable disinfectant has had the very positive health effect of eliminating a host of water-borne diseases such as cholera. Many people who have become accustomed to drinking tap water even associate the smell of chlorine in their water with it being “safe” to drink. The fact is that chlorine offers health benefits right up to the point where you ingest it. But what then?
The chlorine in treated water essentially is bleach, and it’s unlikely that most people would consider drinking bleach to be good for their health. Medical studies have linked chlorine consumption and associated chlorine byproducts to cancer, heart trouble, premature senility, hardening of the arteries, and a host of other ills. And while the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has established “safe” levels of chlorine in drinking water supplies, most rational people would prefer to consume none of it. So, what’s the answer?
Rather than expect any governmental agency to intervene and change your water treatment process in the near term, individuals can take matters into their own hands and simply begin filtering their drinking water at the point of use. Chlorine is fairly easy to filter out, while at the same time a variety of other potential contaminants that may be present (e.g., cryptosporidium, giardia, MTBE, lead, mercury, arsenic, asbestos, etc.) will be eliminated or significantly reduced as well. The simplest and most cost-effective solution is to filter water through a high quality compressed carbon block filter.
Would you like to see a demonstration of how such a filter effectively strips chlorine out of tap water?
Then click on the link below to see a short 1-minute video on YouTube.com. Most swimming pool owners are familiar with a chemical solution called OTO that is used to test the concentration of chlorine in pool water – the darker the water color after adding OTO, the more chlorine is present. The video shows a simple OTO test of tap water and a comparison to water drawn from the same source but pushed through a compressed carbon block drinking water filter.
You can try this test yourself at home or work. Even if you don’t own a drinking water filter yet, you can use OTO solution (obtainable from any pool supply store) to measure how much chlorine is in your tap water. Be warned, however, that once you begin filtering your tap water, you will be amazed at how quickly you and your family become “water snobs” and refuse to drink or cook with unfiltered water!
