Do I need a Water Filter for my Home?

Do I need a Water Filter for my Home?

By Muhammad N. Bey
http://www.capitalistinternational.org/


The spread of industrialization and pollution world wide have given rise to a question among many residents in United States and else where. Do I need a water filter or purifiers for my water?

Most would say no, but consider this. Water that is purified or otherwise processed by your local water company has to flow through pipes to get to your home. Many of these pipes are made from iron even today, some are years, even decades old and contain deposits which may contaminate your “clean” water before it reaches you..

Contact you local water department and ask them, “What is done to water to make it safe”? See what they say.
Do they treat for chemicals? If so which ones?
Do they treat for bacteria? If so, which ones?
What do they not treat for?

Chances are they do not treat for everything that could be in your water, the point is they probable do not treat for everything. So what could be in your water anyway?
Well , it depends on where you live in the US for example.


According to findings sited in an article in The Magazine of American Association for the Advancement of Science:
As recently as the 1980’s, 50 percent of water usage in the US was from wells. The causes of contamination stem from both point sources and non-point sources. Since ground water moves slowly, the contaminant may affect only a small portion of an aquifer for a considerable period of time. Deleterious effects on human health have resulted from pathogenic organisms in ground water and from its toxic chemical composition. It is difficult to estimate the extent of contamination on a national basis as the frequency of instances of contamination is very variable. Remedial actions to clean up aquifers are difficult, expensive, and sometimes not feasible.

Many of the laws and regulations that control ground water contamination are designed with other main objectives, which is a nice way of saying the politicians put their interests ahead of Yours!

If you live in much of the Midwest, Parts of the South, California or the Pa, NJ & Delaware you may be drinking water contaminated with Nitrites.

As recently as 1990 ground water accounted for 39 percent of water withdrawn for public supply for cities and towns and 96 percent of water withdrawn by self-supplied systems for domestic use. Nitrate comes from nitrogen, a plant nutrient supplied by inorganic fertilizer and animal manure. Although nitrate generally is not an adult public-health threat, ingestion in drinking water by infants can cause low oxygen levels in the blood, a potentially fatal condition. As recently as 1993 24 percent of all US grounds water within 100 feet of the surface exceeded drinking water standards for nitrites.

So, what else can affect the quality of water you and you family consume?
Here is a quick list.

Coliform bacteria
are common in the environment and are generally not harmful. However, the presence of these bacteria in drinking water is usually a result of a problem with the treatment system or the pipes which distribute water, and indicates that the water may be contaminated with germs that can cause disease.
Fecal Coliform and E coli are bacteria whose presence indicates that the water may be contaminated with human or animal wastes. Microbes in these wastes can cause short-term effects, such as diarrhea, cramps, nausea, headaches, or other symptoms.
Turbidity has no health effects. However, turbidity can interfere with the disinfection process and provide a medium for microbial growth. Turbidity may indicate the presence of disease causing organisms. These organisms include bacteria, viruses, and parasites that can cause symptoms such as nausea, cramps, diarrhea, and associated headaches.
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. EPA and CDC have prepared advice for those with severely compromised immune systems who are concerned about Cryptosporidium.
Giardia lamblia is a parasite that enters lakes and rivers through sewage and animal waste. It causes gastrointestinal illness (e.g. diarrhea, vomiting, cramps).

Metals in Drinking water

Here are just samples of some of the metals that find their way in to our water.
Thallium
Thallium is a metal found in natural deposits as ores containing other elements. The greatest use of thallium is in specialized electronic research equipment.
EPA has found thallium to potentially cause the following health effects when people are exposed to it at levels above the MCL for relatively short periods of time: gastrointestinal irritation; nerve damage.
Thallium has the potential to cause the following effects from a lifetime exposure at levels above the MCL: changes in blood chemistry; damage to liver, kidney, intestinal and testicular tissues; hair loss.
Antimony

Antimony is a metal found in natural deposits as ores containing other elements. The most widely used antimony compound is antimony trioxide, used as a flame retardant. It is also found in batteries, pigments, and ceramics/glass.
EPA has found antimony to potentially cause the following health effects when people are exposed to it at levels above the MCL for relatively short periods of time: nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

Cyanide
Cyanide is a carbon-nitrogen chemical unit which combines with many organic and inorganic compounds. The most commonly used form, hydrogen cyanide, is mainly used to make the compounds needed to make nylon and other synthetic fibers and resins. Other cyanides are used as herbicides.
Cyanide has the potential to cause the following effects from a lifetime exposure at levels above the MCL: weight loss, thyroid effects, and nerve damage
The list of contaminants goes on and on.
The list includes: Radionuclides, Inorganic Contaminants, Microbes, Synthetic Organic Contaminants, including pesticides & herbicides AND MORE.
By now you must be thinking something like, Ok I will just go out a buy-bottled water.
Sorry Charlie, bottled water in most cases in the United States come from ground water, the same ground water we are talking about now.
You might be saying, Ok I do not live if the United States, so it’s not my problem.
Not so fast.. many other countries especially less developed countries do not have water standard as high as the US and people in the US are having these problems. In fact if you live in an industrialized nation, a country with any number of factories producing things like cars, electronics, clothes, furniture, paints, chemical, dyes, or even food you are likely to have problem with your water at some level. Nearly all manufacturing processes create chemical waste or involve the use and disposal of water, untreated this bad water can find it’s way into your coffee or tea or even your milk. There is only one body of water on this planet, this body of water does not respect national boundaries.
The waters of the world ebb and flow around the globe, freeze and thaw in ice bergs and churn in our oceans from one shore to the next, from ice paced mountain top to the creek behind your house, from the aquifers under your feet to the soda on your table, same as it ever was. And in this industrial age, much of it needs to be treated before you can drink it.
So…what can you do? Run for the hills? Drink only Milkshakes? No!
You can ask questions and look for answers, there are many fine sources for information on water contamination, if you live in the USA, you can check with the EPA website at http://www.epa.gov/ogwdw/hfacts.html.
Products you can Use to Minimize Contamination
You can also check out this website for more details on green solutions to water contamination, products and devices you can use at home or work to lessen the effects of water contamination even in areas where water treatment is used. Visit: http://www.capitalistinternational.org/ or the companion site: http://www.multipureusa.com/mbey/index2.html
If you live in Canada, check out this government site:
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/sr-sr/finance/tsri-irst/index-eng.php
If you Live in the UK or other EU Countries, check out these websites: http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/ or http://www.eea.europa.eu/
China is making huge stride to promote a better Environment and partnering with other countries to achieve its goals: http://www.wku.edu/cehp/
Check out this website for more information on clean water efforts world wide: http://www.cleanwaterworld.com/ and here http://www.nrdc.org/water/default.asp