Water systems thoughout the US are adding toxic chemicals to your water source. You should have a good water filter at the faucet where you pull your drinking water, one that is specifically addressing the contaminants in your water.
Yesterday, Amy reported on the importance of pure water. Today, I thought I would pick up on the water theme, and talk a little about the problems with obtaining pure water, and give you some solutions for people with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity.
The Maneater reports the city of Columbia, Missouri, will undergo a new disinfection process to reduce carcinogenic by-products. The goal is to lower trihalomethane levels in the city’s water; THMs are by-products of the city’s disinfection process, formed after chlorine breaks down organic material. Some THMs are considered carcinogenic.
To reduce the THM levels, says Maneater, the city will add ammonia to the already chlorinated water, a method used by many water systems in the United States. But dig this: “Adding ammonia to chlorinated water will form the chemical chloramine, which will help slow the formation of THMs.”
The report goes on to explain:
Using chloramine as a disinfectant has its own set of risks. According to the EPA’s Web site, ingestion of water containing chloramine might cause irritation of the eyes and nose, stomach discomfort and Anemia, which is a deficiency in red blood cells or hemoglobin. But these risks only pertain to people with chemical sensitivities or other health issues. (Emphasis added.)
Once again, the most vulnerable people in the population, including those of us with chemical sensitivity, are expendable. I love how the sentence reads: “But these risks only pertain to people with chemical sensitivities or other health issues,” as if the health of people with chemical sensitivity or other medical issues is a non-issue. Given that some studies show up to 30% of the general population is experiencing some form of chemical sensitivity, the idea that government is willing to continue adding more chemicals to fix problems about chemicals is mind boggling.
I understand the importance of ensuring safety of our public water systems, and I understand the arguments in favor of chlorinating water systems. I myself administrated my community’s water system before it was dedicated to the county some years ago; part of my responsibility was to oversee the chlorine testing to be sure there was enough in the system. Even as someone who advocates strongly for less chemicals in our lives, I understand the risks of not chlorinating a water system far outweigh the risks of the general public ingesting traces of chlorine.
But that said, chloramines are wicked bad, and I just don’t see how creating chloramines is the answer to lowering trihalomethane levels. This is not sound potable water policy.
We are all subject to exposure to a myriad of chemicals that end up in our public water systems; some chemicals are added intentionally by government, and some are finding their way into our water from pollution sources. For these reasons, I cannot emphasize enough to you the importance of having a good water filter at the faucet where you pull your drinking water.
Your water department is required by law, in the US at least, to provide you with the most recent data on the contaminants found in your public water system, and with that information, you can shop around and find the water filter that removes those chemicals and/or biological toxins. If you are on a private well, you can have the water tested yourself by a water testing company. My water’s worst contaminent is atrazine, an agricultural chemical used for decades by the former sugar industry. The sugar industry is now gone, but the atrazine, a known carcinogen, lingers. In fact, atrazine is in the water in most agricultural areas throughout the country.
So do your homework, find out what’s in your water, then buy and install a water filter that suits your needs.You’ll be pleasantly surprised at how easy a water filter is to install: under-the-counter units simply snap into your existing line, diverting some of the cold water through the filter unit and up into a dedicated spout on top of the counter.
By the way, I also have a whole house two-filter system on the main trunk line, at the point of entry to my house, that takes out sediment and chorine right off the bat for all household water. We just installed that same type of filtration system for the new veggie garden. The more specific filter that takes out the atrazine is an under-the-counter model at my kitchen sink that removes 100s of contaminants including pesticides, herbicides, and chloramines.
If you enjoyed this post, you might like these related stories:
