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How To Get Clean Drinking Water

You might be asking yourself "How to get clean drinking water?"…I know how, I just go to the tap and pour myself some. But it might surprise you to find out that your water might not be as clean as you think it is.

Before water reaches your home it is treated by water companies to rid it of impurities. In some areas fluoride is added to water, but what other chemicals are added to your water to get rid of these impurities?

Some members of the scientific community are appalled at what our water contains, and are looking at ways to change the processes involved in cleaning our drinking water. Large amounts of mainly poisonous compounds are commonly added to the water during the treatment process. Water companies claim the quantity of chemicals added is so small that it is negligible, but scientists believe that long term consumption of even small quantities of these chemicals could be harmful.

So what chemicals are there in water? Well- chemicals like liquefied Chlorine, Aluminium Sulphate and Calcium Hydroxide among others, are regularly found in the water supply. As well as having chemicals in it, your water also has other contaminants that are picked up on the way to your home, like lead from pipes for instance.

Drinking water also contains: Nitrates, Pesticides, Chlorine as well as salts of Mercury, Lead and Arsenic. Now while these traces are miniscule and will not cause you any problems on a daily basis, the long term effect of ingesting these chemicals and contaminants cause concern among some scientists.

So what are the alternatives to drinking tap water?

Water Filters- Many different types of water filters are available and can vary considerably in price and range from the elaborate to simplistic. The quality of water produced also varies.

Carbon Filters- These help remove pesticides and chlorine from the water, while improving the taste. Unfortunately they do not remove all the contaminants.

Distilled Water Systems- These are usually used by businesses, although there are a few systems available for the consumer. Distilling involves converting the water to steam by boiling and then condensing it back to water. The impurities are left behind in the boiling chamber when the water is first heated. All the waste is virtually removed , but it does leave the water with an inordinately dull taste.

Reverse Osmosis- A system like this is very expensive, but will remove over 90% of all impurities from the water. It is this system that the medical profession uses to produce "pure water". They provide remarkably high quality water, suitable for drinking and cooking.

Bottled Water-By far the most popular and easily obtainable option for most of us. It is readily available and is relatively cheap. There are some quality issues with some of these products however, as it has been discovered that some do in fact only contain tap water.

If you have concerns about what exactly is in your water supply then you may think about changing to one of the alternatives above.

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