Unsafe Drinking Water in Your Home? Install A Water Purification System
There’s a lot of talk today about the quality of the drinking water that’s piped into our homes. Everyone knows about the crisis in Flint, Michigan, where the water coming out of the Flint River was brown and impossible to drink. The situation there has continued for four years, and the problem has still not been solved. And it’s apparently happening in other areas of the country as well: a recent study showed that there are currently 2,000 water systems ranging across all fifty US states that have indicated the presence of unsatisfactory levels of lead or other contaminants, many thought to be carcinogenic. The water in your home may taste bad, or it may not taste bad but may still contain unsatisfactory levels of things you don’t want to drink. So is your drinking water safe or must you install a water purification system in your home?
Residents of Flint, Michigan Drink Only Bottled Water. Should You?
The residents of Flint, Michigan have been drinking trucked-in bottled water for several years. Drinking bottled water may be a short-term solution when you have a problem with your water at home. But you should still know that there is a difference between different types of bottled water. Some bottled water is nothing but tap water. people recently found transparent worms in Dasani Water, owned by Coca-Cola Inc. Some bottled water is purified by reverse osmosis, but minerals and nutrients must then be added for the water to be worth drinking. Many doctors say to stay away from purified water. They advise you to stick to the water that comes from underground or mountain streams. This water, which is higher in alkaline content and therefore more healthy for you, naturally contains all the minerals and nutrients we need to stay healthy. alkaline water has been shown to provide many health benefits, including a reduction in acid-reflux syndrome (heartburn) and can also prevent Alzheimer’s. But don’t believe the claims that alkaline water can cure cancer. It’s good water, and that’s that.
But on an ongoing basis, using bottled water is both expensive and very inconvenient — how are you going to shower with liter-size bottles of water?
But before you start looking for a water purification system, you need to first test the drinking water in your home to make sure you need it.
So the first thing you must do is decide how you will test your water. You have three options here:
- You can send a sample of the water coming out of your faucet to an independent testing laboratory. This will be the most reliable test you can get, but will probably also be the most expensive. A professional laboratory test will detect lead, mercury or any other contaminants in your water.
- You can buy test kits online and test your water yourself. Google “Water Testing Kits” and you will get hundreds of links to places which sell kits to rest for anything from lead to radon.
- You can trust your local municipal water department that the water they are piping into your home is clean, and doesn’t contain too much lead or too many dioxins or anything else.
So Do You Need a Water Purification System?
Here’s the bottom line: if your test detects the presence of anything nasty, you should very seriously consider installing a water purification system in your home. Your health and the health of your family are paramount, and if you know the water you are all drinking is not clean, you owe it to yourself to do something about it.
If your tests do not detect the presence of anything dangerous in your drinking water, you are not obligated to install a water purification system, but may still choose to do so for other considerations, like “soft” water – which lathers with soap better – and for taste issues.
It is beyond the scope of this piece to get into the types of water purification systems that are available to you today. You can choose to purify the water that comes out of your kitchen faucet, or you purify all the water in your home with a whole-house water filter system. Price can vary from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars. In a future piece, we will show you some of the main types of water filtration systems out there, how to choose between them, and even some tips on installation and configuration.
Finally, there’s the issue of fluoride in our drinking water. Fluoride has been deliberately added to our municipal drinking water for half a century. Health benefits were touted as the reason for putting fluoride in everyone’s drinking water. But the controversial decision to put fluoride in our water went through with relatively little political opposition. Recently, it has been announced that plans are being made to stop putting fluoride in America’s drinking water. The presence of fluoride alone is reason enough to look into water purification systems.
The bottom line here is that you must always maintain a cautious balance. If you believe your local water authorities, your water is safe to drink unless you are told otherwise. If you have doubts about what’s in your drinking water, have it tested or buy a test kit and test it yourself. If you find that there’s lots of bad stuff in the water that could harm your family, consider installing a water purification system in your home.
Water is life. Your health and the health of your family depends on clean drinking water. In many parts of the world, women and children walk miles every day to fetch clean water for their families. We in the US are much more fortunate: most of us get our water piped into our homes. But if your drinking water isn’t clean, you must do something about it. Test the drinking water in your home and make sure you and your family are drinking clean, safe water.