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 | Our choices for household water treatment |
| Why not drink tap water? |
| What are health effects from water contamination? |
| Benefits of adequate water treatment |
| The subject of water treatment is vast, and there are conflicting opinions. Medical professionals disagree on preferred technologies, as do water distributors. |
| This Web site supports reverse osmosis, with UV light, as the preferred method of drinking water purification at the kitchen sink. |
| In addition, houses with municipal water should also have an activated carbon whole house dechlorination system, with capability of removing
MTBE, the gasoline additive. |
| Shower filters are not needed with the above set-up. faqs |
| Public water is routinely tested for about 100 chemicals - out of many thousands of possibilities. Agricultural areas particularly may have chemicals not found in the standard list. |
| U.S. tap water is treated with chlorine, which is associated with bladder cancer,
aging, atherosclerosis, and reduction of healthy intestinal flora. In
addition, chlorine damages the ozone layer. |
| In the presence of organic materials, chlorine gives off by-products, such as chloroform, and
trihalomethane. Trihalomethanes have been associated with miscarriages and cancer. |
| An increasing number of municipalities are adding chloramines (ammonia + chlorine) to their water treatment in order to meet government standards on
trihalomethanes. |
| Often unwanted metals, such as aluminum, are used in municipal water treatment. The monitoring test by your local water authority may not list the aluminum content
or nuclear radiation levels. In addition, many areas fluoridate their water. |
| To give you an idea of the limitations of local water testing, I called the DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation) a year or two ago to ask if they had tested the Long Island local underground water supply for the presence of chlordane, a termiticide (kills termites) and a known carcinogen associated with liver cancer. Chlordane was outlawed years ago but is a long-lasting chemical. No one knows what the half-life of chlordane is, but estimates range from 60-100 years. This means that after 60-100 years, chlordane is half as strong as when it was first put down. After the second 60-100 year period, it is one quarter as strong, and so on. Long Island has a humid climate and sandy soil, so conditions are good for wood-eating termites. As a result, many older homes were treated with chlordane until the chemical was outlawed years ago as a carcinogen. Surely the authorities tested the drinking water for the presence of chlordane? In 1999, the DEC representative told me he thought a committee was looking into it. In fairness, one of the advantages of chlordane was that it tended to remain in the soil - but even so.... Does this give you a feeling of confidence about water testing? |
| On the other side of the coin, even if you had an unlimited bankroll for any and all available water tests, there likely aren't even tests available to detect all the possible chemicals that could be in the water. There are thousands of possible pesticides alone that have been used over the years. |
| Plus, even if your water tested "perfect" with all known
pollutants tests, it could still contain parasites. |
| It makes sense to take precautions with the water you drink. faqs |
| You will have peace of mind that you are doing the best you can to drink healthy water. |
| In many cases, having your water treated eliminates the need for water testing. |
| A good water filtration method removes most dissolved contaminants. |
| Reverse osmosis treatment is an insurance policy against nuclear radiation such as radioactive plutonium or strontium in the drinking water. faqs |
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© 2001 May E. Dooley -
Enviro Health Environmental Home Inspections |
