Do you know what are the two top-selling food-related
products being sold across the country? If you do not, you will learn in just a moment;
but here is a hint: they are both liquid.
Many people think that it does not matter what type of
fluid they drink each day, as long as they drink something, whether it is a soft drink,
coffee, espresso, or even milk shakes. However, the liver’s job is to filter all the
liquids so that it can manage to end up with some clean water for the body. Without plain
water being consumed, the liver must work extremely hard to supply the water our body
needs. It may come as a surprise that the answer to the question above is Coke and Pepsi,
with Coke being the top-selling food-related product in the nation! This may indicate that
many people are not drinking enough plain water.
Our body is composed of at least 75 trillion cells, and
they all depend on water to supply nutrition and flush away waste-products. We are made of
70% water, so the quality of water we drink is very important. We get our drinking water
from two sources: Surface Water (lakes, rivers, and streams), and Ground Water. This
amounts to only 2/3 of 1% of the world’s total water supply, and much of this small
fraction of water has been contaminated. Here is a brief sample of some of the
contamination going on:
- According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, one in
five Americans drink contaminated or poorly treated water. Among their list of pollutants
are: bacteria, cancer-causing agents, radioactive elements, and lead. However, the public
utilities claim that there is no imminent danger from these pollutants. (USA Today 1994)
- Residents in Lanagan, MO were recently told to boil all
drinking water, pending results of purity tests. Four men were charged with contaminating
the water supply by urinating and firing rockets into the 54,000-gallon tank on July 4th. (USA Today 1994)
- Flood victims in the West-Central Georgia area have
experienced a problem of water being contaminated by sewage treatment plants. (USA Today 1994)
The problem used to be limited to water-borne diseases, so
we began chlorinating the drinking-water supplies, which helped to eliminate contagious
diseases. However, chlorination does not solve the pollution problem. In fact, research
has shown that it contributes to the formation of dangerous chemicals in our
drinking-water.
Routine chlorination of water has been found to create a
number of carcinogenic substances. Studies have shown that chlorination of water may
increase the risk of cancer of the rectum, colon, bladder, kidney, liver, brain, pancreas,
lungs, breast, and prostate. But this does not seem to prevent the continuing use of
chlorine:
- Celebrity Cruises took their "Horizon" ship out of
service and "hyperchlorinated" its water system with 25 times the usual amount
of chlorine as a result of an out-break of Legionnaires’ disease being traced to its
water supply. The Royal Caribbean Cruise Line says no problems have been found, however
water systems on Bermuda-bound ships are being "hyperchlorinated" has a
precaution. (USA Today 1994)
In addition to chlorination, our water is often subjected
to fluoridation. Fluoride is a synthetic form of fluorine that some consider to be toxic.
Fluoridation has been a controversy from the beginning. Several countries are either
dropping fluoridation, or are banning its use. (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, West
Germany, The Netherlands, Italy, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Portugal, and
Finland)
Over 66,000 different chemicals are in use today, and they
can potentially affect our water supply. Many of these chemicals have never been tested
for safety. Fluorides have been called into question in a variety of health concerns
ranging from cancer to arthritis. A number of pollutants in drinking-water sources have
been linked with behavioral problems in children and adults. Many people are allergic to
chlorine and other contaminants. Pollutants are also linked to increased cancer risk.
Water is a natural solvent that eventually dissolves almost
anything. The molecular properties of water cause it to act like a magnet and strip
particles from other materials. This gives water the power to dissolve and clean things,
but it also gives it the power to pick up a lot of undesired materials between the water
source and your faucet.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is responsible
for setting standards to ensure what they consider to be safe drinking-water. These
standards specify the allowable parts per million for a given type of material. However,
since many municipalities have trouble meeting these standards, the EPA has raised the
limits to make them easier to meet! But, even with higher limits, some utilities are still
having trouble meeting the standards:
- The EPA said that it has issued Notices of Violations to 156
public water supply systems in North Carolina. The systems have failed to monitor for lead
and copper in accordance with the Safe Drinking Water Act. The EPA also said that North
Carolina has not adequately followed up on violations. (USA
Today 1994)
What can a person do to protect themselves from the
potential danger from our water? Many people purchase bottled water at stores, however
there is no sure way to know the quality of the water. In fact, one recent report
indicated that some water distributors were filling their bottles with simple tap water!
Another way to ensure safe water is to treat our water
supply at home in order to improve its purity. There are various methods available, but
not all of them are very effective.
--- Water Softeners ---
Some people think that water softeners purify their water. This
is not true. Water softeners only make water wash better. They do not decrease the
level of dissolved solids. Water softening only exchanges sodium for calcium and
magnesium. This exchange does not purify water for drinking.
--- Distillation ---
In distillation, water is heated to its boiling point and
allowed to vaporize as a gas. When it cools and recondenses into a liquid, the dissolved
solids and suspended sediment that did not evaporate are left behind. This process
supposedly purifies the water of these unwanted substances. However, distillation has a
few problems:
- Distillers are costly to purchase and operate.
- Large quantities of energy are needed to evaporate the
water.
- Distillers require frequent cleaning to remove the dissolved
solids and sediment left behind in the boiling chamber.
- Some pollutants, like halomethanes, can evaporate and
recondense along with water, sometimes becoming more concentrated in the finished water
than in the raw water.
- Because distilled water is devoid of dissolved oxygen, it
tastes flat.
--- Filtration ---
A filter is something that has holes in which to permit
particles of a certain size to pass through, while blocking passage of a larger size.
Examples of filters are paper, charcoal, and window screens. Activated carbon filters are
inexpensive, so they are fairly popular. Charcoal filters are able to block the passage of
sediment and suspended solids. They also absorb some gases, like chlorine and
halomethanes. However, like distillation, filtration also has a few problems:
- They clog after a while because the tiny holes get plugged
with sediment.
- They do not remove dissolved solids, especially toxic
materials.
- Although carbon filters do absorb some substances like
chlorine and halomethanes, they can also become saturated and begin releasing these
substances back into the water.
--- Reverse Osmosis ---
This is considered state-of-the-art
in water treatment. It does an excellent job in reducing harmful pollutants. Reverse
osmosis enhances the oxygen content of water, giving it a fresh and lively taste. Pure
water and oxygen are allowed to pass through the unit, while rejecting harmful pollutants.
Reverse osmosis water units employ a membrane that acts as
a "maze" rather than a filter. Passage through the maze depends not on physical
size, but on the specific bonding characteristics of each particle. Only water, oxygen
molecules, and several beneficial trace minerals have the ability to make and break the
required bonds as they move step by step through the reverse osmosis membrane maze.
The origins of reverse osmosis can be found in nature. For
example, a sea gull uses reverse osmosis to purify sea water to drink. By shaking its
head, the sea gull can force water against a semi-permeable membrane inside its head, and
thus obtain fresh water from sea water.
Advanced applications of reverse osmosis are being used in
medicine for kidney dialysis and for purifying fluids for injections. Space vehicles are
equipped to process their own waste water through reverse osmosis.
Three-stage reverse osmosis drinking water systems are even
more effective. These systems include a carbon/sediment pre-filter and a granulated
activated carbon post-filter. Water flows into the unit from the tap and enters the fabric
pre-filter, which collects any large particles, like sand, dirt, or hair. This first stage
also protects the reverse osmosis membrane from things which may scratch or damage it.
In the next stage, the water encounters a semi-permeable
reverse osmosis membrane. This membrane is wrapped around a cylinder, sort of like a jelly
roll. This is where pollutants and dissolved solids are rejected. The rejected water,
which contains the pollutants, comes out of a tube and goes down the drain. This also
makes the water purification system self-cleaning. The rejected water can also be
collected for watering plants.
In the third and final stage, water passes through a carbon
post-filter that helps remove any traces of chlorine that might have passed through the
reverse-osmosis membrane. The result is pure water which many people think tastes better
than anything else available.
Water is extremely important in our lives. It should,
therefore, be a concern of everyone to ensure that they are not only drinking plenty of
water, but also that it is pure.
For more information about reverse osmosis water treatment
systems, read about the Nature's Spring water
purifier.
