Which is your way to Healthy Water ? Leave it to the Water Works? Even if farming, industry and the water companies reformed and became completely clean tomorrow, it could take decades for the contaminants to work their way out of the ground and out of the water table. The problem of the underground distribution pipes disintegrating or becoming corroded or fouled can never be fully overcome, nor can accidents at the waterworks as a result of human error. Jug Filters? Many jug filters are only designed to improve the taste, colour and temporary hardness of tap water, and they achieve this principally by removing the chlorine added by the water companies. They do not, and were never intended to, remove all contaminants present in the water supplies. Moreover, they have low capacity and filter slowly, making filtered water inconvenient when you are cooking or entertaining guests. How often do you have to keep on filling up the jug ? Sealed Plastic Capsules ? These do not have changeable filter elements... you have to replace the ENTIRE unit when the filter becomes blocked. Some of the units have a claimed life of several years, but as there is no way of discarding the rust, sediment and bacteria which build up within the unit, many are prone to premature blocking and thus a short life. If they dont trap the dirt, how is it removed ? Tests have shown that some units brek down and pass bacteria into the water after as little as three months. Unfortunately, because they are sealed units, there is no way os assessing performance Although Granular Activated Carbon ( GAC) is effective when used in conjunction with other media ( as it is with Watersimple systems), by itself activated carbon will not significantly reduce metals, nitrates or bacteria. There is a very real danger of bacteria build-up in a filter using only activated carbon. Reverse Osmosis? Originally developed and used to convert sea water to drinking water, Reverse Osmosis takes everything out of the water ---including the beneficial minerals. It is also slow and wasteful, with some systems requiring 10 litres of incoming water to produce 1 litre of filtered water. In some systems several other cartridges and housings are needed to protect the expensive and sensitive RO " membrane" from harmful damage by substances in the water. In some systems you do not know if the membrane is still working. The system is costly , need regular maintenance and the water produced is " aggressive" and can corrode copper and lead pipes. Some systems also "store" the water, which can lead to other problems . Distillation? This removes all minerals ( including desirable ones) leaving a flat, unpalatable taste. It is slow, expensive and bulky and may require a storage tank. It also uses electricity and needs constant monitoring.The water produced is from steam and must be either used warm or left to cool. Bottled Water? By far the most expensive of all options, and up to 600 times the price of other treated water. Glass bottles are fragile and heavy, plastic bottles are environmentally unfriendly , may be semi-permeable to air and also large containers are very heavy. (Remember the water alone weighs 10 pound per gallon). The contents may not be as fresh as you would like and some have been found to have high levels of bacteria, nitrates or sodium. |