If you're like me, you're very concerned with the drinking and bathing quality of water. In fact, if you've found this site at all, then you must already know about how serious some of these concerns are.
As consumers and educated citizens, we've witnessed the huge trend of people turning towards natural health -- the rise of the organic food movement, the backlash against pesticides, the booming of local farmer's markets, and so forth -- and now, we're starting to wake up to the most important thing we can do for our health: drinking pure water.
The sad reality is, though, in an era of rising health consciousness, our drinking water purity is declining. Some comprehensive studies are now showing that there are over 2,100 toxins in our drinking water. These toxins include: chlorine, lead, chemicals that get into the water supply from large farming run offs, and corporate pollution.
All of this stuff may be found in your tap water.
People think they are protecting themselves by drinking bottled water. But bottled water may be the biggest scam of all. Bottled water may be no more pure than tap water. This is because there are simply no government standards that require bottled water be any better.
No less an authority than the FDA states: "Companies that market bottled water as being safer than tap water are defrauding the American public."
Don't you find it amazing that bottled water, ounce for ounce, can cost more than gasoline? And, if you're an environmentally conscious sort of person, you should also consider this statement: "It [the purchase of bottled water] causes millions of plastic bottles to be manufactured, transported and then disposed of in U.S. landfills, it's killing our planet, and for no good reason..." Eric Olsen, Natural Resources Defense Council.
So, what's the solution if you want to protect the health of you and your family, and that of the planet? The answer is the use of a home water filtration system.
But not just any filtration system. You see, there are significant differences between products. And more expensive does not necessarily mean better.
Let's consider a few points:
1) The best selling systems out there right now are so-called "reverse osmosis" or "distillation." These are actually not the optimal choice because although they can do a pretty good job of removing contaminants, they also remove the beneficial minerals that are vital for our health. Our bodies evolved to drink water with important minerals such as calcium, magnesium, potassium, and more. Nowhere on earth does de-mineralized water appear naturally.
2) Many systems do not employ multi-filtration. This effectively means that some of the worst toxic offenders are not filtered out, and you may still be drinking some of that bad stuff you are trying to avoid.
3) Many of us don't consider the purity of the water we cook food with or the water we shower or bathe in. Remember: when you shower, the warm water opens up the pores of your skin and all of that water penetrates into it. Pure water is very beneficial for the skin and hydrates it. If you suffer from dryness, or any skin condition or disorder, it's even more important that you are bathing in purified water.
Now, there are many well known brands and companies out there that produce good, decent products. But dollar for dollar, there is none better than Aquasana. They have been voted "Best Buy" by Consumer Digest magazine five years running now.
And, because we are all on a budget, they have products for all budget ranges.
| RECOMMEND Water Filtration Products -- The One We Use Ourselves.
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Types of Contaminants
It’s relatively easy to find a massive amount of data about home water purifiers and filters and what they claim to remove or adequately reduce to improve the quality of our drinking, cooking and bathing water.
What’s not so easy to is to pull together all of the acronyms and industry jargon so we can make sense of the ‘code’ used by most of the manufacturers and distributors so you can evaluate the specifications upon which we must ultimately base our decisions.
Below we have tried to gather and explain most of the primary contaminants that frequent the charts and graphs that make comparison easier, but meaningless unless you know something about the elements being discussed.
Chlorine
Many water suppliers add a disinfectant to drinking water to kill germs such as giardia and e coli. Especially after heavy rainstorms, your water system may add more disinfectant to guarantee that these germs are killed.
Some people who use drinking water containing chlorine well in excess of EPA’s standard could experience irritating effects to their eyes and nose. Likewise, excessive chlorine consumption can produce stomach discomfort. (Source – EPA)
Lead
Lead typically leaches into water from plumbing in older buildings. Lead pipes and plumbing fittings have been banned since August 1998. Children and pregnant women are most susceptible to lead health risks. For advice on avoiding lead, see EPA’s lead in your drinking water fact sheet. (Source – EPA)
Cysts
A cyst is a closed pocket or pouch of tissue. It can be filled with air, fluid, pus, or other material.
“The most commonly identified cysts are Giardia and Cryptosporidium. These are widespread intestinal parasites that cause diarrheal illnesses in people and some wild and domesticated animals.” (Source - Department of Environmental Protection Commonwealth of Pennsylvania)
Cryptosporidium is a parasite that enters lakes and rivers through sewage and animal waste. It causes cryptosporidiosis, a mild gastrointestinal disease. However, the disease can be severe or fatal for people with severely weakened immune systems. (Source - EPA)
THMs
Trihalomethanes (THMs) such as chloroform, bromoform, bromodichloromethane (BDCM), and chlorodibromomethane are the most prevalent class of disinfection by-products (DBPs) found in treated water.
Chlorination by-products in drinking water come from the reaction of chlorine with organic material in the water. This reaction occurs naturally or originates from municipal, agricultural, and industrial wastes. (Source - Environ Health Perspect)
VOCs
Volatile Organic Chemicals (VOCs) are carbon-containing compounds that evaporate easily from water into air at normal air temperatures. (This is why the distinctive odor of gasoline and many solvents can easily be detected.)
VOCs are contained in a wide variety of commercial, industrial and residential products including fuel oils, gasoline, solvents, cleaners and degreasers, paints, inks, dyes, refrigerants and pesticides.The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that Volatile Organic Chemicals are present in one-fifth of the nation’s water supplies.
Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) studies suggest that 3 - 6% of public water supplies and about 2 - 4% of all water supplies in Minnesota contain detectable amounts of VOCs. (Source - Minnesota Department of Health)
Lindane
Lindane is an organochlorine insecticide that has been used in agriculture and as a treatment for headlice and scabies. In humans, lindane primarily affects the nervous system, liver and kidneys, and may be a carcinogen and/or endocrine disruptor.
Alachlor
Alachlor (Lasso) is a herbicide used on row crops. Potential health impacts associated with Alachlor (Lasso) include cancer, cardiovascular or blood toxicity, developmental toxicity, endocrine toxicity, immunotoxicity, kidney toxicity, and skin sensitivity. (Source - Environmental Working Group)
Atrazine
One of the nation’s most widely used weed-killers. Atrazine is a herbicide used on row crops. Potential health impacts associated with Atrazine include cancer, endocrine toxicity, gastrointestinal or liver toxicity, immunotoxicity, neurotoxicity, reproductive toxicity, and skin sensitivity. (Source - NRDC)
Benzene
Benzene is a chemical from factory pollution, leaching landfills and gas storage tanks. Potential health impacts associated with Benzene include cancer, cardiovascular or blood toxicity, developmental toxicity, endocrine toxicity, gastrointestinal or liver toxicity, immunotoxicity, neurotoxicity, reproductive toxicity, respiratory toxicity, and skin sensitivity.
An Environmental Working Group analysis of Benzene tests reported by 31,920 public water suppliers in 42 states shows that between 1998 and 2003, 1.7 million people in 200 communities drank water contaminated with Benzene. In 116 of these communities, tap water was contaminated at levels above health-based thresholds. (Source - Environmental Working Group)
MTBE
EPA has not established a maximum legal limit in tapwater for this contaminant. MTBE is a fuel additive used as an octane enhancer in unleaded gasoline; its ban or phaseout is in progress in 16 states as of December 2005.
Potential health impacts associated with MTBE include cancer, developmental toxicity, gastrointestinal or liver toxicity, kidney toxicity, neurotoxicity, and skin sensitivity.
An Environmental Working Group analysis of MTBE tests reported by 16,866 public water suppliers in 30 states shows that between 1998 and 2003, 32.7 million people in 632 communities drank water contaminated with MTBE. In 18 of these communities, tap water was contaminated at levels above health-based thresholds. MTBE remains unregulated in tap water, without a maximum legal limit. (Source - Environmental Working Group)
TCE
Trichloroethylene (TCE) is a man-made chlorinated solvent, used primarily to remove grease from metal parts and textiles. In addition to TCE, related chlorinated solvents, or volatile organics compounds (VOCs), include Perchloroethylene (PCE), mainly used as a dry cleaning agent with some industrial applications including degreasing, and Dichloroethane (DCE), a breakdown product of both PCE and TCE. (Source - Encyclopedia of Earth)
Comparing Home Water Purifiers
With so many different home water purifiers and purifier systems on the market today, gathering the data to compare the various features and functions can a be very confusing and daunting task.
Here are a few of the most popular brands and some of the contaminants they manage.
The data in this chart has the percentages (%) removed.
| Brand | Chlorine | Lead | Cysts | THMs | VOCs | Lindane | Alachlor | Atrazine | Benzene | TCE | MTBE |
| Aquasana | >99 | >99 | >99 | >99 | >99 | >99 | >98 | >97 | >99 | >99 | >97 |
| Amway | 97.9 | 98 | 99.5 | >99 | >99 | >72 | 95 | >97 | >97 | >98 | NO |
| Kenmore | 99 | 92 | NO | >99 | 95 | >99 | >95 | >97 | >83 | >98 | NO |
| Culligan | 97 | 95 | 99 | 95 | 95 | >99 | >98 | >97 | >99 | >99 | >90 |
| Ever Pure | 96 | 97 | >99 | NO | NO | NO | NO | NO | NO | NO | NO |
| GE | 97 | 98 | >99 | 95 | >99 | >99 | >98 | >97 | >99 | >99 | NO |
| Aqua-Pure | 97 | 95 | >99 | 92 | 92 | >99 | >98 | >97 | >99 | >99 | NO |
| PUR | 98 | 96 | >99 | NO | NO | 97 | NO | >96 | NO | NO | NO |
| Brita | 99 | 99 | >99 | NO | NO | >99 | >99 | >92 | >96 | >99 | NO |
Types of Filtration Systems
1. Aquasana has products (as seen on the Dr. Oz show) just for filtering shower water. Just a couple of the comments about this product include:
"The benefits are immediate and very noticeable!"
Dr. Alan Pressman/Health Talk Radio
"It's like showering in natural spring water!" Jonathan Antin/Celebrity Hair Stylist, Host of Reality Show "Blow-Out"
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2. They sell water filters just for individual faucets, such as your kitchen faucet. |
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3. They sell individual glass bottle filters you can take anywhere that replace plastic bottled water.
4. And, of course, they sell a top rated whole house water purifier and filter (as seen on the Dr. Oz Show).
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Visit their site now: (click here) and find out why I, and tens of thousands of other educated consumers, consider Aquasana to be not only the best dollar for dollar buy, but the best products over all regardless of price.