What’s Wrong With My Tap Water and Why Should I Bother With Home Water Purification?

Why would you need to bother with home water purification if you live in an area with treated water?

Water pollution is a massive problem all over the world, and lack of access to clean water is a direct cause of death and disease in many third world countries. It is estimated that over 1 billion people are currently facing a drinking water crisis.

This is not, however, only a problem in the developing world. Pathogens can still be present in chlorine-treated drinking water. In 1993, 400,000 people in Milwaukee caught an intestinal parasite from municipal tap water and suffered severe gastrointestinal illness as a result. Water treatment with chlorine was originally introduced as a method of preventing cholera outbreaks. While it has been effective in this respect (met anyone who’s contracted cholera lately?), it still happens to be a dangerous chemical to ingest or bathe in and such exposure has been linked to an increased risk of cancer. Chlorine is most harmful when absorbed as vapor (during showering and bathing), which is essentially chlorine gas.

Other threats include contamination from pesticides, fertilizers, lead and other metals, animal waste, sewage, and excessive acidity due to air pollution and acid rain.

Most public water systems contain some level of contaminants. These systems are tested by the utility companies and potentially harmful substances must be below the legal maximum level allowable for it to be considered fit for human consumption. You probably even get an annual report stating that your tap water meets the government’s standard as well as a breakdown of what is in your water and at what levels. Obviously these substances are found only in trace amounts and consuming this water will not, in most cases, cause noticibly ill effects. However, the result of cumulative, long term exposure is not taken into consideration when determining these levels. This maximum allowable limit is largely based on the known effects of a single chemical on an average sized adult. Combinations of chemicals and their potentially adverse effects are not factored in, nor are the effects on the young, the elderly, and otherwise less resilient individuals.

Ready to find out what’s in your morning cuppa joe besides milk and sugar? Here is an example of a device which you can use to test your water.

Liv Sure Water Tester

Another great source of information on the state of tap water is this site. It’s run by an ecologist who really knows his stuff. He’s not an affiliate link or anything, I just find his site to be very informative and high quality. He’s also quite cool about personally responding to any questions you may have about getting your self set up with the appropriate home water purification system for you.