THE POWER OF LIVING WATER
Q & A - Commonly Asked Water Questions
Q: What is TDS / PPM?
A: Total Dissolved Solids, the total measurement by weight of all solids that are dissolved in water. It is not a measurement of specific contamination. Tests which measure the conductivity of water only give a rough estimate of dissolved solids and should not be viewed as total an indicator of water quality.
Q: Is Chlorine harmful?
A: Yes in my opinion. Most cities in North America use chlorine, and we have to say the levels used in water are safe. NOTE: Most city water supplies in North America reduce/remove only 2 contaminants: e-coli and bacteria. My opinion is chemical chlorine is not a food and therefore not safe!
Chlorine was first added to a community water system in 1908 in Chicago. In the 1970 it was discovered that chlorine, when added to water, forms Trihalomethanes (chlorinated by-products). In 1992 the American Journal of Public Health published a report that showed a 15% to 35% increase in certain types of cancer for people who consume chlorinated water and shower in chlorinated water.
The National Cancer Institute reports cancer risks for people who consume chlorinated water to be 93% higher than for people who do not shower in chlorine! The effects of drinking chlorinated water have been debated for decades. However, most experts now agree that there are some significant risks related to consuming chlorine and chlorinated by-products.
Most swimming pools also use chlorine. A safer alternative is Bromine and or ozone!
Some cities are now using ozone instead of chlorine in the drinking water supply, which removes bacteria viruses by injecting a safer natural gas. Hopefully all cities and countries will use this method.
Q: Why do some areas test negative for chlorine?
A: Virtually all city water systems contain some level of chlorine or chloramine. Some cities use both chlorine and chloramine. Chloramine is a combination of chlorine and ammonia.
Most shower filters only remove chlorine. The FOREVER HEALTHY CUSTOM SHOWER FILTER removes both chlorine and chloramine.
Q: What do you do if you have water contaminated by radioactive matter?
A: Move! Radioactive water is not very common in this country and is a more serious problem than should be dealt with by a home water treatment system. Many people confuse the contaminant Radon with radioactivity when in fact they are quite different. Radon is produced from decaying Uranium ore and can be effectively removed by carbon filtration.
Q: What are VOCs?
A: Volatile Organic Chemicals are synthetic compounds that turn into vapor at warm to hot temperatures.. Most synthetic chemicals found in water, such as pesticides and herbicides, are VOCs. This is why chlorine in a hot shower or bath makes it so harmful! Taking a warm/hot shower releases the gases/vapors of the chlorine chemicals which is estimated to be greater exposure than drinking chlorinated water.
*We recommend to use either a shower filter or whole house filter system for chlorine and/or chloramine removal in the bath and shower.
Q: Are filtration products considered purifiers?
A: Technically, a purifier would be a system that uses one or more of the three ways to purify water.
- Distillation
- De-ionization
- Reverse Osmosis.
The FOREVER HEALTHY LIVING WATER SYSTEM uses 2 of the 3 methods, so our system is double purified, preceded by many stages of pre-filtering and post restructuring. I like to describe filtering water as putting a band-aide on a broken bone. * Filtering reduces, PURIFYING ELIMINATES!
Q: Are whole house systems (P.O.E. = Point-Of-Entry) better than counter-top filters P.O.U. (point-of-use)?
A: P.O.U. systems are by far the best way to ensure the highest quality drinking water.
Our P.O.E. FOREVER HEALTHY WHOLE HOUSE WATER Systems are very beneficial in that they provide filtered water to all baths and showers as well as other water appliances. By filtering all the water going into your home you improve not only the healthfulness of the water, but you greatly reduce chlorine, chloramine and other chemicals that vaporize and get into the indoor air.
Whole House Systems will also extend the quality and life of your drinking water filters, plumbing, laundry, dishwasher…
Q: How do you know if there are contaminants in your water?
A: All public water systems contain some level of one or more unhealthful chemicals and unnecessary inorganic minerals. Regulations only require periodic testing of about approximately 100 chemicals.
There are now more than 100,000!! chemicals used in our society with over 1,000 new ones being developed each year. Contaminant levels fluctuate throughout the year making it impossible to know the actual level of contamination in a central water system. So far over 20,000 toxic chemicals have been detected in North American water systems.
Standards for safe levels are only in place for a small percentage and not these chemicals.
The risk is high and the cost for a sure solution is low.
One has to ask themself if spending $2,000 for something you drink everyday is reasonable to not only to prevent poisons entering your body, but improving your health.
Q: Do filter systems remove Radon?
A: Radon is a gas produced by decaying Uranium and is more often a problem when airborne, however some areas may have Radon in the water which can be effectively removed by most carbon filters. Medical grade purifiers remove radon.
I would also recommend getting a radon gas test kit to test your home for radon gas. This is inexpensive kit can be found in most hardware stores.
Q: Is it good to use silver to prevent bacteria from growing inside the filter?
A: No, silver is used in some systems to reduce bacteria growth, however, silver is a toxic metal that can leach into the filtered water. The type of bacteria (heterotrophic) that can colonize on carbon media is a very slow growing bacteria and is typically only a problem with filters that are used for 18 months or longer without cartridge replacement.
Q: If my municipal water company Annual Water Quality Report shows that it meets all EPA guidelines, does that mean it is safe?
A: The Bottom line is… the only way to make sure you are consuming pure, fresh water is to make your own from your own quality filter system!
The only 2 things municipal waters remove are e-coli and bacteria!
There is a report from the National Cancer Institute to the Surgeon General that stated that NO level of exposure to a chemical carcinogen should be considered toxicologically insignificant to humans.
I hope everyone makes the CHOICE to take control of their personal consumption by purifying their own water!
Q: What are some good web sites to find documentation on water problems?
A: NRDC.org (Natural Resources Defense Council), EWG.org (Environmental Working Group), EDF.org (Environmental Defense Fund), and CDC.gov (Center for Disease Control) are all good informational sites with numerous documented studies on water problems.
Wayne Gendel, Forever Healthy Water