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The Quest for Clean Water

Chlorine, Fluoride, Bisphenol A, and Other Tap and Plastic Hazards

© Victoria Anisman-Reiner

Apr 10, 2008
Pure, Clear Blue Water, D. Reiner, 2004
Safe water sources are difficult to find (and expensive!) as the hazards of tap water, plastic water bottles, chlorine, fluoride, and estrogen-like chemicals mount.

It's difficult for the educated modern consumer to find a trustworthy source of water. Tap water is loaded with chlorine, fluoride, and other chemicals to kill bacteria and "purify" city water. Plastic bottles are said to leach a host of toxic compounds into water. How can we find water that is safe?

The Importance of Pure Water

Water is vital to health: Depending on your age and body type, 45-80% of your body is composed of good, old-fashioned water, which is needed for nearly everything the human body does.

Despite the importance of water, worldwide pollution threatens the planet's most abundant resource: pure, clean, healthy water. The once-joking prediction that clean water will be to the 21st Century what oil was to the 20th seems more real every day.

Problem Water Source: Tap Water

With the vast majority of the world's population living in cities, turning on a tap is the accepted way to get water. But tap water may be loaded with lead (and rust) from old pipes, parasites and bacteria, and always (in North America, at least) the chemical duo of chlorine and fluoride.

These potential contaminants leave many people turning to the second most common city water source: bottled spring water.

Problem Water Source: Plastic Bottles

Plastic bottles have been shown to "leach" toxic chemicals into water, juice, or baby formula that is stored in them, particularly after long periods of time or at higher temperatures.

  • Antimony – Bottled water contains higher levels of antimony, a trace element with similar characteristics and toxicity to lead, the longer it is stored in plastic bottles. (1)
  • Bisphenol A (BPA) – Found in plastic bottles and metal can liners, where it can leach into foods and beverages, bisphenol A is supposedly safe but some say it mimics naturally occurring estrogen and animal studies indicate that BPA may cause infertility, cancers, and hyperactivity. (2)
  • Other Endocrine Disruptors – Chemicals that mimic estrogen and other hormones, altering the body's hormone signals, metabolism, and reproductive health.

More recently, it was found that some companies' bottled water isn't "spring" water at all, but tap water that has been sterilized again with chlorine and more, then purified for taste. Despite clever marketing, this is little better than glorified tap water.

Healthy Water Sources

The water resource situation is hardly an easy one to resolve, but there are a few sources of water that may be better than others:

  • Filtered water – Charcoal or reverse osmosis filters provide readily available, reliable sources of clean water. Check to ensure that your filter actually removes what you want it to: many of the most popular brand-name filters take out only the most pungent chemicals, leaving the rest of the harmful (but tasteless) tap water additives in your drinking water. It's worth investing in a whole-house filter or, at the least, a kitchen filter for drinking water and a shower filter for the water you bathe in.
  • Well water – One of the safest and purest sources of clean water, as long as the well is checked regularly for contaminants like bacteria, metals, and pesticides. Unfortunately not available in most cities.
  • Distilled water – Distilled water is evaporated and then condensed, leaving nothing there except pure water. There is some concern about the way distilled water interacts energetically with the body. It also, unfortunately, carries absolutely no minerals.
  • Bottled Water in Glass – One of the safer options is spring water that has been bottled in glass. But glass bottles are expensive and difficult to find – especially in large quantities.

Despite the importance of a clean water source, a large-scale solution to the water dilemma isn't yet available that combines mass availability, cost effectiveness, and practicality.

Reference:

(1) CBC News, December 21, 2006

(2) National Geographic Green Guide, May/June 2006


The copyright of the article The Quest for Clean Water in Natural Medicine is owned by Victoria Anisman-Reiner. Permission to republish The Quest for Clean Water in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.


Pure, Clear Blue Water, D. Reiner, 2004
        


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Comments
Feb 26, 2009 12:42 AM
Guest :
Carbon will remove chlorine but will not remove fluoride or chloramine(chlorine + ammonia) Many municipalities are using chloramine as it stays in the water longer unlike good old chlorine which will dissipate on it's own if you leave the water standing exposed to air. Chloramine is more damaging, both internally & externally, wreaking havoc on a cellular level & contributing to pre-mature aging as it attacks and destroys the collagen in your skin, connective tissues and hair. Fluoride is even more problematic stripping your body of minerals, indiscriminately killing vital enzymes & seriously destroying the collagen in your skin. Studies have shown it seeks out calcium and accumulates in the bones and pineal gland (the master gland) causing it to calcify and greatly decrease in function. Inch per inch you absorb more of these chemicals in tap water through your skin in a hot shower or bath than you do drinking it. In the shower your pores open and your blood vessels dilate readily assisting the chemicals directly into your blood stream.
Activated Catalytic Carbon will remove most of the chloramine and I have read that vitamin C filters will as well, however both do leave some free ammonia in the water which is still very damaging.
Reverse Osmosis will remove everything but it is not desirable to drink for long periods of time. The plastic membrane in R.O. systems that water is forced through causes the spin of the molecules to reverse from clockwise to counter clockwise. It also only allows the heavier molecules to be pushed through and the smaller, lighter density and thus more desirable molecules get caught behind the membrane. The finished water is void of all minerals or structure. All of these factors are important and determine whether or not the water will be recognized and accepted into the body's individual cells, and how much energy will have to be expended to render the water into the form which can be accepted across the cell wall.
The water can be of benefit to people detoxing as it can assist in cellular wastes and toxins being pulled and flushed from the body, but after more than 6 months this "void" or "aggressive" water will actually begin to cause mineral deficiencies. It is of the utmost importance that if you are using R.O. or De Ionized water that you re-mineralize the water. This is achieved by mimicking to the best of your ability the processes by which water is structured and mineralized in nature: movement and contact with elements
Apr 28, 2009 5:51 PM
Guest :
Wow, did you say something about "spin" of the molecules, or "smaller, lighter density molecule"! All my years of chemistry and physics and I've never heard of either of those! Could it be that you have no idea what you're talking about?

What's written in the article above is true. What you say is mostly BS.

To address a few of your patently false statements:
Water does NOT have a spin.
Water molecules do NOT come in large and small varieties.
Water does NOT regain its mineral content from "movement and contact with the elements." You need to physically add minerals, unless you store your water on the floor of a limestone cave.
DI water does NOT leach minerals from your body. Drinking DI water WILL decrease your mineral intake, and can eventually lead to a deficiency. But the water isn't leaching anything.

Please refrain from spouting nonsense. Someone will eventually call you on it.
2 Comments
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