The Truth of Water – Answers

• 28Sep

  Reverse Osmosis: A waste of water.

  Conservation, Drinking Water, Filtration No Comments

  Reverse Osmosis filtration is a favorite selling piece of public water treatment stores. Just as bottled water companies work hard to sell the perception that water from a bottle is better and safer than tap, filter companies advocate the same misconception that you need a reverse osmosis filter.

  Because reverse osmosis filters can remove almost all of the dissolved minerals in water, these companies tout the water as “purified”, “better for your health” and “a necessity for drinking and cooking”. In fact, plain H2O is extremely corrosive and will suck much needed minerals from your body just as a dry sponge sucks up water. Over time, this can lead to ill health.

  Indeed, looking at the minerals dissolved in ordinary tap or spring water, you will find some of the same things that are on the label of your multivitamin. We evolved drinking nature’s water, and nature provides us with many of our needed minerals in natural water sources.

  If you are at all concerned about our water supplies, no doubt you are doing everything you can to conserve water. Low flow toilets, taps and shower heads are among the many things that you are doing to protect this most natural resource. But did you know that reverse osmosis wastes water too? As much as fifty percent of the water going into an R.O. filter is rejected and poured right down the drain, wasted.

  A reverse osmosis filter is a membrane, similar to a rubber sheet. Unlike other membrane technologies, this membrane does not have tiny holes in it to allow the water through and provide filtration. Instead, it relies on the molecular structure of the rubber itself to filter the water.

  This technology requires the water to already be exceedingly clean before entering the filter; otherwise it will clog very quickly. That is why most manufacturers sell R.O. filter systems with as many as four pre filters, to filter tap water that is already potable!

  Water does not go in one side of the filter and out the other. Rather, it smacks up against the side of the filter, flowing side stream to it. Water molecules that can pass through via osmosis do, and those that cannot are simply rejected, they go down the drain. Perfectly good water is being wasted.

  Remember, when you are conserving water, every little bit helps. Not only is reverse osmosis unhealthy at best, it wastes half of the water that it filters.

  If you have municipal tap water, an R.O. filter is absolutely not needed. Many water stores will sell you an R.O. filter after selling you a water softener, simply because of the sodium the softener adds to the water. If you have very hard water, the softener can impart a salty taste, not to mention its bad for people with hypertension or other heart problems. Instead of simply advising you to plumb a water line that’s not softened to your kitchen sink for cooking and drinking, a reverse osmosis unit is insisted on, because this makes them more money.

  If you have a well or other source of water, reverse osmosis is an absolute last resort. Your first action should be to ensure the security of your water source. This will go a long way to providing safe and healthy water for you and your family for years.

  Remember, water is our most precious natural resource. Every little bit helps when trying to conserve this for us and for future generations to come. When purchasing home water treatment, ensure that your choice will waste no water. If you’re not sure, ask someone who knows. Remember, if the salesmen insist that you have to have a reverse osmosis filter no matter what, if you get the hard sell, always get a second opinion.

  

  Tags: filteration, r.o., reverse osmosis, softener, water misconceptions

• 24Sep

  Featured Site – Nuprana.com

  Conservation No Comments

  For some of us, it seems hard to believe that fresh clean drinking water is precious and in short supply.  This morning, I awoke to a thick layer of dew wetting the ground and fogging up my car’s windows.  The mist was so heavy that I couldn’t see one hundred meters ahead of me.  I drove over our local river, so gorged it filled it’s banks with white froth, and just last week I went fishing far out on Lake Ontario, rolling waves five feet high and nothing but water to be seen in the distance.

  Yet, water is our most precious resource.  We cannot survive without fresh clean water daily and for the majority of the world, this is a very hard thing to come by.

  Looking at our planet from space, it is so full of water it is blue.  But let us put things in perspective.  If all the worlds water could fit into a two liter soda bottle, only a teaspoon of that is actual fresh water. And of that, only a drop of that water is readily available to the human population.

  If you are reading this now, you have an internet connection and it is very likely that you live in first world conditions, so I’d like to put things further into perspective.  Many of you who are already concious of water conservation have installed low flow toilets in your house.  Indeed, many local, state and federal laws prohibit the manufacture of anything but.  One flush of a low flow toilet takes six litres of water, which is four and a half more liters than the daily average that most African people use.

  And water is drying up all over the world.  We are using it faster than nature can replenish the resources, at an alarming rate.  Even in places like where I live, with a seemingly inexhaustible supply.

  The people at Nuprana.com are all to aware of how precious water is and how serious conservation action needs to be taken, and taken now.

  Their site features news and articles on the worlds plight on it’s water resources.  They offer real information on a real problem, and what we can all do to help with this most important of causes.

  And if you really are serious about implimenting effective change to your water consumption, they offer a line of affordable water conservation products designed to keep your house functional and water conciensious.

  The impending lack of water is everyones problem.  Visit www.nuprana.com to learn more about what you can do.

  

  Tags: Nuprana, water conservation

• 23Sep

  Bisphenol A and Plastics

  Drinking Water No Comments

  Ale from Toronto writes:

  How dangerous is it to drink water from a bottle laden with bisphenol A?

  Hi Ale, thank you for the question.

  Bisphenol A is an organic compound that is essential in the synthesis of certain polymers.  In other words, it is used to make plastics.

  One of the largest sources of bisphenol A is in a plastic called polycarbonate, which is used to make electronics, sports equipment, medical equipment, but you would be most familiar with it’s use in baby bottles and water bottles.  It is also used in the manufacturing of plastic wrap and some epoxy coatings used in food containers.

  The chemical has very low acute symptoms.  This means that you won’t get sick from drinking it immediately.  It has a cumulative and long term affect.

  The word “laden” that you used is somewhat misleading.  Very small amounts leach out of plastics due to contact with food and water. However, if you drink reverse osmosis bottled water, it is very corrosive and can and probably will leach more of the chemical than regular and more natural spring or tap water.

  The actual health effect of this chemical is what’s known as an “endocrine disruptor”.  That is, the chemical can mimic the bodies hormones and cause unwanted effects, such as a decrease in testosterone, changes in the genital tract, hyperactivity, and predisposition to breast and prostate cancer.

  In my opinion, infrequent and low doses of bisphenol A carries a very low risk of adverse health problems because it is a chronic problem, not an acute one.  Because it is a long term and chronic problem, your best bet would be to eliminate as much plastic as possible coming into contact with your food and drink.

  For more information on the health effects of bisphenol A, contact your local health unit or medical practitioner.  You may also reference the Environmental Defence web page about bisphenol A here for more information.

  If you require any clarifications or have any other questions, please do not hesitate to send them in to us.

  

  Tags: bisphenol A, chronic health effects, leaching water, plastics

• 21Sep

  Why water softeners need salt

  Drinking Water No Comments

  Many people have water softeners in their homes.  Many of you that do don’t understand how a softener work.  Sure, it allows you to use less detergent in the laundry and your soap lathers much better in the shower, but how does it work?

  Hardness in water is actually calcium.  Hardness is also a few trace minerals like magnesium and iron, but the majority of this hardness is calcium.  Calcium, when dissolved in water forms what’s called a cation. That is, it takes on a positive charge.

  All this calcium is what makes soap harder to lather, which makes it undesirable in your water for cleaning purposes.  Many people who live in areas with very hard water will install a water softener to take out all the hardness.

  A water softener is simply a vessel filled with thousands and thousands of little beads called an ion exchange resin.  The resin will remove the calcium from the water in a process called ion exchange.  This process can remove the calcium in your water only by substituting another element in its place.  In this case, the element is sodium.

  The salt you add to your softener is actually sodium chloride.  When introduced into water, it dissolves into two compounds: A positively charged sodium atom and a negatively charged chloride atom.  As the water passes through this resin, the resin takes a calcium ion and gives up a sodium ion.

  The end result is a concentration of sodium ions in your water in place of the calcium ions, and sodium ions do not contribute to hardness in your water.

  Eventually the resin becomes depleted of all of it’s sodium ions so it must be replenished.  This is what happens when your softener system goes into backwash.  If flushes out all the calcium to drain and replenishes all of the sodium lost to the ion exchange process.

  This is why your softener needs salt and why you must keep replacing it.

  It’s a good method for making nice soft water for cleaning, but remember: The calcium is replaced with sodium on a 1:1 basis.  This may mean that you end up with a large amount of sodium in your water which is not good for people with hypertension and heart disease.  If you do install a softener, it is in your best interest to have the plumber bypass the lines to your kitchen sink so you can use this water for drinking and cooking without high concentrations of sodium.

  

  Tags: calcium ion, ion exchange, sodium ion, softener

• 19Sep

  Getting Your Well Water Tested for E.Coli

  Drinking Water 1 Comment

  If you rely on a personal well for your water, it is important to get it tested on a regular basis, especially if you don’t have disinfection technology.

  Many wells are older, dug wells without proper seals and are very succeptable to surface water run off contamination.  Wells can even be suceptable to contamination from your septic tank.

  Most health units, at least here on Ontario, provide free testing services for private wells.  They test for two things – total coliform and E.coli or Fecal Coliform.

  Total coliform is an indicator organism, and lets you know if there might be a problem with the well. Coliforms are a very common organism and reside in shallow water aquifers and the surrounding soil.  Total Coliforms may not be a problem, but too many of them can mask a much more serious problem – E.Coli or Fecal Coliforms.

  Ecoli and Fecal Coliform presence in your water means direct contamination from human or animal waste.  This is a problem because the E.Coli’s that cause serious gastrointestinal problems are ones that come from animal waste.

  So what can you do if an E.Coli is detected?  The first thing is to find another source of drinking and cooking water, and retest.  Sometimes an E.Coli result is a fluke and another test will either confirm that or will tell you that there is an E.Coli issue.

  Your other options are having a new and more secure well drilled, and/or installing treatment technology such as filtration and Ultraviolet Disinfection or a chlorinator.

  Remember, if you do install a new well and/or some treatment technology, it’s important to disinfect the plumbing in your house.  Bacteria can form colonies in your plumbing if it’s been contaminated with dirty well water.

  Run some bleach through the lines and make sure you run it to each and every tap in the house by turning on the fixture until you smell the bleach.  Let it sit undisturbed for a few hours before flushing the bleach through – that will disinfect your plumbing.

  It’s important to disinfect your plumbing whenever you open it up to do a repair, install a new fixture or add a new line.  Bacteria can come from your hands and tools as well and can procreate themselves in your plumbing.

  Remember, test the water you drink on a regular basis, even if you have a treatment system.  Treatment systems mitigate risk but the only way to prevent a problem for sure is to know about it.

  

  Tags: e.coli, fecal coliforms, water testing, well water

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