Why Purify Water?
Chlorine‚ Cancer And Heart Disease
"We are quite convinced‚ based on this study‚ that there is an association between cancer and chlorinated water." Medical College Of Wisconsin‚ Senior Research Team
The addition of chlorine to our drinking water began in the late 1800s and by 1904 was the standard in water treatment‚ and for the most part remains so today.
We don‘t use chlorine because it‘s the safest or even the most effective means of disinfection‚ we use it because it is the cheapest. In spite of all our technological advances‚ we essentially still pour bleach into our water before we drink it. The long-term effects of using chlorinated water have just recently been documented.
It is not uncommon to find more chlorine in tap water than is recommended safe for your swimming pool. A simple chlorine test kit from your local discount department store‚ around $6.00‚ will typically yield surprising results‚ try it!
According to the U.S. Council of Environmental Quality
‚ "Cancer risk among people drinking chlorinated water is as much as 93% higher than among those whose water does not contain chlorine."There is a lot of well-founded concern about chlorine. When chlorine is added to our water‚ it combines with other natural compounds to form Trihalomethanes (chlorination by-products)‚ or THMs. These chlorine by-products trigger the production of free radicals in the body‚ causing cell damage‚ and are highly carcinogenic. Chlorine is also suspected to contribute to hardening of the arteries‚ the primary cause of heart disease.
"We are learning the hard way that all the time we thought we were preventing epidemics of one disease‚ we were creating another. Two decades after the start of chlorinating our drinking water the present epidemic of heart trouble and cancer began."
- Dr. Joseph M. Price‚ PhD
"Up to 2/3 of the harmful effects of chlorine are due to inhalation and skin absorption while showering."
- The American Journal Of Public Health
No one will argue that chlorine serves an important purpose‚ and that it is likely here to stay. The result of not using chlorine in our water would be outbreaks of water borne disease like typhoid and cholera‚ like existed in the 1800s.
It is also clear and experts agree... that chlorine represents a very real and serious threat to our health and should be removed both from the water we drink and the water we shower with.
A high quality water filter system together with a de-chlorinating shower filter can easily and affordably take the risks of chlorine out of your water‚ at the point of use... just prior to consumption.
Of all the water that comes through our water system less than 1% is for direct human consumption, therefore, it makes sense to make it pure.
Giardia and cryptosporidium are parasites that live in water systems and are resistant to water disinfection.
Trihalomethanes (THM), products of the chlorine/ammonia disinfection process, are linked to cancers of the digestive and excretion systems and premature pregnancy. The disinfection chemicals react with organic compounds in the water producing the THM.
In the summer, as the water temperature increases, more chlorine and ammonia is used to kill bacteria. Also, more organic matter (algae) is present in our water, producing more trihalomethanes. All at the time when we drink the most water.
We are raising the level of our reservoir in Victoria and submerging plants and animals that will rot over the next few years. This will be adding organic matter, animal waste, and any oil, grease, or chemicals left over by the industry that has taken place over the years such as logging, construction, road building, pest control, and human activity, into the water.
Algae blooms in reservoirs produce neurotoxins in the summer months.
Toxoplasmosis is contracted by humans from animals - mostly our cats. In recent years Victoria was host to the largest outbreak in the world and although no direct proof exists, Health Canada links the infection to our water system.
The chlorine and ammonia disinfection chemicals that are used to kill the germs and bacteria in our water system contain unwanted chemicals and other contaminants that get added to our drinking water.
In Victoria our water is not filtered in any part of the municipal water delivery system making it a good idea to filter your water before you drink it.
The water delivery systems are in a constant state of repair, opening the system to germs, bacteria, microbes, moulds, viruses, glue, sealants, dirt, rust, rodents, and anything else that could crawl into a pipe while it lays on the ground waiting to be added to our drinking water system.
The Victoria water system is very old; although much of it has been replaced, some of it is part of the original system incorporating components we would not use for water delivery today.
To protect yourself from inconsistencies and accidents in the city water and the water system.
Would you drink bleach, or ammonia willingly? Our water department mixes chlorine and ammonia into Victoria’s drinking water to make the chemical chloramine, a disinfecting agent that lasts much longer then chlorine. They do this so that more of the disinfection agent gets to your tap, killing harmful organisms but also getting into your body.
Although the water in our reservoir is some of the best in the world it has chemicals dumped into it for disinfection and it runs through many kilometres of piping, pumps and lines before it gets to you. Along the way it picks up some of everything it comes in contact with.
Although this seems like a long list of reasons for purifying your water at home it is just the tip of the iceberg. Every day more research is being done, and more reasons for purifying your water are being found.
Please look through our water links, they are from the Canadian Government Water websites and all of the reasons I have quoted come from these pages.
It makes sense to purify the water that goes into your body.
Heavy water bottles are a thing of the past !