Water Filtration and WHY We Need It
Why we need water filtration
Water filtration, do we need it Absolutely, 100% yes!
Most water disinfectant systems are treated with harmful chemicals, like chlorine and chloramine. That junk is in your tap water! Small amounts of these chemicals are the most financially economical for disinfecting large amounts of water for killing bacterias, parasites, and different viruses.
Though it cleans most of these chemicals up it doesn’t get rid of water borne diseases - like Giardia, virus’, bacteria and other parasites. Some invaders are resistant to chlorine or chloramine and still pass through our water system. Not only are chemicals seeping into your water, but there might also be little invaders too…parasites, y’all! One of the first things we talk about if your stool test comes back with Giardia is first - could you have drank unclean water while hiking or similar and two - do you live in an old house, have old pipes or possibly had any pipe leaks or poor repairs. I’ve had several clients test their home water and realize their pipes were the source of their Giardia infection. Wild, right?
Now back to the chemicals most often used to clean our tap water before it pours out of your faucet.
What are the effects of Chlorine/Chloramine?
-Asthma
-Food Allergies
-Congenital Abnormalities birth defects- see study here
-Heart Problems
-Increased risk of colon cancer
OK, cool. So you don’t like those “cleaning” chemicals for what they can do to your and your family’s health. Let’s chit chat about environmental toxins that get into our water source and don’t simply filter out. Pharmaceuticals make their way into our water source when folks flush old meds. That’s right - Rx’s in your drinking water are a thing. Since the water cycle includes rainwater and run off, we’re also seeing higher levels of pesticides, herbicides - even glyphosate or Round Up - in our drinking water. We know that glyphosate is essentially a low level antibiotic to our gut microbes - constantly killing the good guys. Let’s take a closer look at another pesticide making waves in our water source and the lives of little frogs.
What is Atrazine and why does it matter?
Atrazine is a pesticide that has been banned in many other countries and yet we are still allowed to use it today on our US food crops. Research shows that 90% is used annually in American crops as a weed killer. This chemical disrupts our endocrine system, meaning it jacks up our hormones!
Atrazine is not something that can be contained on crops alone, it ends up getting into our water supply and is known for being one of the most harmful chemicals in our system. Atrazine was found in male frogs that were low on testosterone, which had an effect on the frog’s fertility. Essentially turning the frog from male to female. UC Berkeley’s Tyrone B. Hayes, professor of integrative biology says “field studies indicate that atrazine, a potent endocrine disruptor, similarly affects frogs in the wild, and could possibly be one of the causes of amphibian declines around the globe.” Read the articles here and here to learn more about this study.
Tap Water Database and Best Filtration System
So what do we do about this? I certainly don’t want my little sons (or my weak thyroid self!) drinking water full of thyroid-nourishing-look-alike-chemicals (chlorine!) and pesticides that can impact the developed gender of a frog!
The internet is full of places to check for your water quality, The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has a super simple way to test by adding your zip code. Head to their website to find yours.
I’ve also got a great handout for checking the quality if your drinking water, various water quality and testing resources, and alternative water sources.
