Browse Tag by drink
Life

Why is it important to protect drinking water?

Protect water

Contamination, the introduction of a pollutant or undesirable material into the air, soil, or water, has many negative and far-reaching effects. Thus it is important to protect drinking water from contamination for public health, economic, and environmental reasons.

Water is necessary to all living things. It makes up approximately 70% of the human body’s weight and plays a role in its functions, such as digestion and cooling.  Without clean drinking water, we could not survive.  If the drinking water is contaminated, many health risks can result: bacteria can result in illnesses such as hepatitis or cholera; a component of gasoline, benzene, is known to be a carcinogen; lead causes kidney, liver, and nerve damage as well as pregnancy risks.

Protecting drinking water also makes good environmental sense. In the past, people thought that if we buried chemicals in the ground they would disappear.  This is now a proven fallacy that has resulted in dire consequences for our environment.  Everything we put into the environment accumulates. Contamination can take years to clean up and not all ground water contamination can be treated successfully with current technology. This is why pollution prevention is crucial.

 

What is contamination?

Contamination is the introduction of a pollutant or undesirable material into air, soil, or water.  There are three types of contaminants: microorganisms, inorganic chemicals, and organic chemicals.  Microorganisms are living organisms such as bacteria, viruses, and Giardia.  Inorganic chemicals such as nitrate, arsenic and metals are another type of contaminant. Microorganisms and some inorganic chemicals are naturally occurring substances that taken out of drinking water through treatment at our local water systems.  Organic chemicals can be solvents, fuels, and pesticides.

Life

Is A Day-Old Water Safe To Drink?

57

Have your tried water that’s been left overnight, or even for another day? How do you think about the taste?

Treated water’s added chlorine that takes care of microorganisms, but at room temperature they begin to multiply rapidly and can really get the things crazy. But that’s not what makes old water taste stale. For that we can thank carbon dioxide. After about 12 hours tap water starts to go flat as arbon dioxide in the air starts to mix with the water in the glass, lowering its pH and giving it an off taste. But it’s most likely safe to drink.

However, back to those microorganisms. Be careful if you use a dirty glass day after day, since there bacteria is likely to grow by themselves. But if you use a fresh glass every few days, you likely won’t have a problem. Unless the rim of the glass has been touched by dirty fingers.

As for plastic water bottles that has been exposed to the sun or left in the car, step away from the bottle. This’s warned by Dr. Kellogg Schwab, director of the Johns Hopkins University Water Institute, “A chemical called BPA, along with other things used to manufacture plastic can leak into your water if the bottle heats up or sits in the sun,” he explains. BPA is a hormone disruptor that is tentatively linked to everything from heart disease to cancer.

He also adds that plastic used for commercial bottled water isn’t meant to be washed or refilled, so use only one time and recycle. Or way better, don’t buy them at all; use a refillable water bottle instead.

Human interrelationship

When Should I Change My Refrigerator’s Water Filter?

RPWF-General-Electric-Refrigerator-Water-Filter-use

Did you know that if you have a refrigerator with an ice maker or water dispenser, you probably have a water filter? Newer refrigerator models usually provide water filtration and dispense ice and water through the door. This filtered water provides you and your family with great tasting ice and water. But the key to continue having the best tasting and cleanest filtered water is to follow a regular maintenance schedule for your fridge filter.

Water travels through miles of piping before reaching your home. Along the way it may pick up impurities. Water filters and filtration systems can reduce these contaminants. Failure to change your refrigerator water filter allows contaminants (e.g. lead and chlorine) and newly formed bacteria to saturate the filter, forcing the filter to leak contaminants back into the water. Most refrigerator water filter systems do a good job at filtering out certain contaminates that cause bad odour and taste, but refrigerator water filters are not necessarily designed to eliminate some of the more harmful water contaminants. For these contaminants, other water filtration systems should be used in addition to your refrigerator’s filter.

How Do I Change My Refrigerator’s filter?

Many manufacturers have taken extra steps to ensure that the refrigerator filters are easy to access and replace. In most cases, changing your refrigerator water filter is quite simple. Each manufacturer’s refrigerator water filter system is different, and you should consult the owner’s manual to locate the filter and follow the directions for removing and replacing it. Changing your refrigerator’s water filter only takes a few minutes and will keep you and your family drinking clean, great tasting, filtered water.

Matter and energy

The Best Water Filter Options

Carbon filters3

Then, Distilled Water?
Recognized by the EPA as the best option for removing chemicals, quality carbon filters remove VOCs, pesticides, bacteria, fluoride, heavy metals, and parasites. Most can safely transform any type of water into safe drinking water.

A big plus for carbon filters is that they seem to be the least expensive in the long run and require the fewest filter replacements. They also hold naturally occurring minerals from the water, making it the best tasting filtered water option, in my opinion.

Conclusion: This is what I personally use now.Amazingly, carbon filters are very inexpensive per gallon cost and need infrequent filter replacement. Portable options can even be used while traveling.From my research, this is the best option for removing contaminants without removing necessary minerals, while keeping a good taste.

Then, Distilled Water?
The distillation process heats the water to become steam. The steam is then cooled toturn back into liquid, leaving behind many contaminants. Distillation reduces large particles like heavy metals but does not remove some other contaminants like VOCs or chemicals that disrupt hormones.
<>bConclusion: It removes a large amount of contaminants, and heavy metals. But it does not reduce VOCs and other hormone disruptors. Home distillation systems are also expensive and consume too much electricity. Overall, it’s better than bottled water but definitely not the best option out there.

I got a lot of emails and questions about the healthiest options for drinking water and best water filters. To be honest, this is something I’ve also been researching for quite a while, and am only now sharing with you since I’ve finally been able to understand all of the options.

Finding the healthiest food is very important, but finding the best water options can be even more important! Some sources of water can contain hundreds of chemicals and many of these chemicals can be more easily absorbed from water than from food.

How About Bottled Water?
Bottled water has gained some popularity these days, thanks for its successful marketing. But it is not a good option for several seasons:
• Chemicals from the plastic bottle itself can leak into the water
• In most cases, the water itself is no different than tap water
• Bottled water costs more than drinking tap water
• Water bottles are not environmentally-friendly!
Conclusion: Not the best option on price, taste, or health so I skip it. Don’t be baffled by its convenience. carbon filters

So, Reverse Osmosis?
Reverse osmosis filtration uses a membrane to remove many contaminants from water. The membrane is semipermeable separates many large size particles from the water. Unluckily, the filtration process wastes a large amount of water. Not to forget many naturally occurring minerals (e.g. calcium and magnesium) are also removed.
Conclusion: Reverse osmosis does remove a large amount of contaminants but it wastes more water than it produces. Just like its distillation counterpart, reverse osmosis cannot remove VOCs and other hormone disruptors. So it’s still not the best water solution.