The Truth About Drinking Water Filters

The Truth About Drinking Water Filters

Home drinking water filters allow us to say “no” to the expensive and wasteful plastic bottles that are adding to the pollution problems on our planet.  Many environmental groups are protesting our growing dependence on bottled H2O and suggesting a drinking water filter for the home as a safe and economical alternative.

You might have a lack or respect for environmentalists.  Some people do.  But, how do you feel about doctors?

Health care professionals are recommending that their patients use drinking water filters, because of all the chemical and biological contaminants that cannot be removed by the public utilities.  Research has shown that chlorination protects us from outbreaks of cholera and typhoid, but increases our risk of developing cancer in later life. So, chlorine is one thing that you want to block, but there are other problems.

When chlorine is used as a disinfectant, it combines with biological matter (bacteria, parasites, algae, etc.) and forms other compounds, referred to as THMs.  The EPA limits the amount that can be present in public supplies, but the level grows and grows as it sits in the tanks and travels through the pipes.  So, by the time it reaches your home, the level will be much higher than what the treatment facility’s tests say.

A drinking water filter that blocks THMs might cost a little more, initially, but it’s worth the investment.  The compound causes numerous health problems and has been linked to cancer in several large scale studies.  Breast cancer, in particular, is believed to be related to THM, because levels are much higher in women who have the disease, than in women who don’t.

In some areas, MTBE contamination is a problem.  Of the top 10 rated drinking water filters, only two remove MTBE.  The chemical is primarily used as a no-knock gas additive.  It got into the ground when older underground tanks began to leak and through spills at stations.  What is in the ground eventually ends up in the reservoir.  Treatment centers can do nothing to remove this compound.

Another problem; the cryptosporidium parasite is resistant to chlorination, particularly during its cyst phase of life.  A good drinking water filter will remove the cysts before they can be ingested and become a parasitic infection.  The symptoms of the infection are similar to stomach flu, although diarrhea is sometimes violent and extreme.  An infection of this type can kill a small child or an adult with health problems.  Most of us can fight it off, but why take the risk?

What else? Pesticides and herbicides commonly used in this country also end up in the reservoirs.  Do you really want to drink something that was created to kill plants and bugs?  Not even your pets should be exposed to that health risk.  If you want to be safe, look for a drinking water filter that removes atrazine and benzene.  Those are the two most commonly used products in this country.

You have to drink something.  You have to replenish your bodily fluids.  The least expensive and safest choice is to invest in the best drinking water filters that you can find.  The contaminants mentioned here are only a few drops in the bucket.