Where Do You Get Your Water?
As tap water is considered to contain contaminants that
are not conducive to long term health, two other methods of attaining
clean water come to mind; bottled water and filtered water. These
methods are explored below, together with there advantages and
disadvantages.
Bottled Water
Bottled water is now readily available on the shelves
of most supermarkets, and it's a clear indication of how seriously
people are now taking the issue of their tap water quality. Unfortunately
the quality and taste of bottled water is highly variable and
it is generally expensive, at between 12p and £1.69 per
litre. Just ask yourself these questions:
- Which brand of bottled water will you choose? Is it the
price? Is it the shape or colour of the bottle? Is it because
you’ve just seen the latest advertising campaign? Where
do you find the information that really matters about each
brand of bottled water, such as the mineral content, the
presence of contaminants or oestrogen-rich plasticisers from
the plastic bottles?
- Do you cook your vegetables in bottled water? Probably
not, as it is works out very expensive. But do you realise
that by cooking your vegetables in tap water, many of the
contaminants will be absorbed and concentrated in your vegetables.
Given the sheer expense of bottled water, and given
the uncertainty about the actual quality of the content, many
people prefer to make use of Water Filters.
What Are Water Filters?
Water filters are devices that take ordinary tap
water and, through various filtration processes, remove contaminants from
the water, making it more suitable for human consumption.
The price and complexity of water filters varies,
as does the quality of water they produce. Below are explored
the common methods of water filtration.
Carbon Filters
Widely available from supermarkets and chemists
in the UK, carbon filters improve the taste of tap water by removing
the chlorine. They may also remove some pesticides.
Unfortunately they do not remove fluoride, hormones,
toxic metal salts and other chemicals.
Distilled Water System
Distilled water systems usually boil water into
steam and condense it back into water, collecting the water in
a purer form. When water boils, it leaves impurities behind in
the boiling chamber.
Whilst distillers remove almost all of the impurities
from tap water, they are usually very slow. Distillers are most
frequently used in commercial industry, but some household distillers
are available to provide water for drinking and cookingsupplies.
Unfortunately distilled water has a bland taste, because the
dissolved minerals that give water a pleasing taste have been
removed. As water is heated the impurities in the boiling chamber
increase in concentration. The water left behind in the boiling
chamber is discarded and the process is started over. There is
also some concern about the effect of distilled water on the
body.
Reverse Osmosis
Reverse Osmosis is a complicated process (see What
is Reverse Osmosis) that typically removes at
least 90% of Total Dissolved Solids from water. A plumbed-in
reverse osmosis filtration system provides very high quality
water for drinking and cooking. It can also be given to pets.
Reverse osmosis (RO) filtration systems are widely
acknowledged as the most effective filtration systems available.
They are used by the medical profession to produce ‘pure
water’ for dialysis and other purposes and are readily available
for the domestic market.
Unfortunately RO systems usually remain expensive, costing upwards of £500
per system and may vary wildly in quality.
For more information on Our
Reverse Osmosis System, click here.
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