Home Water Filters:
Pure, Clean Water

There are many good home water filters available today, and I highly recommend you have one in your natural kitchen.

Pure water is so important to health. Our bodies are about 70% water, which we use to flow nutrients to cells and cleanse waste from cells. Water also conducts bioelectricity and helps us with brain function and energy levels. Water makes us flexible and adaptable.

But our city water is often polluted. Even though it goes through water treatment, the city water systems are old and can't keep up with the amount of toxins and chemicals we place in our environment. Our water now has pharmaceuticals, flouride, pesticides, bacteria, viruses, rust, dirt and sediment, asbestos, heavy metals, and more. Chlorine does kill bacteria, but it also kills our intestinal flora!

Bottled water is expensive, heavy to carry, and the quality may not be good. Many brands of bottled water are tap water or filtered tap water! And the soft plastic gallon jugs they come in add plastic toxins into the water. It's far better to consider home water filters.

Home Water Filters: Pitcher Filters

You may wish to start with a Brita pitcher filter. This filter is an activated carbon filter, portable and inexpensive. It will reduce lead, copper, mercury, cadmium and chlorine, bad taste and odor. It's widely available. Simply pour tap water into the pitcher and wait for it to filter through. You get pure water, although not a large amount. The Brita website recommends you make no more than 2 gallons daily, and change the filter about every 2 months. This system could be good for traveling or at the office.

What's in your Water?

If you want a more complete home filter, you might want to get a Consumer Confidence Report from your local water utility. Then you can go to the website of NSF International at nsf.org to learn how to interpret the report. They have a section that explains the units of measure, abbreviations, maximum contaminant levels and more. NSF is the leading independent home tester of health related products involving water and food.

You may also wish to test the tap water at your sink to see if your plumbing is adding lead or copper to your water. You can buy the "watersafe all in one drinking test" for about $20.00, or see if your local health authority has a low or no cost water test. Or you can hire a state certified testing lab to test your water.

Once you know what is in your water, you can choose from the available home water filters. There are generally 3 types to choose from: activated carbon, also called activated charcoal, reverse osmosis, and a distiller system. Each has its pros and cons.

Home Water Filters: Carbon Filters or Charcoal Filters

These home water filters remove many impurities like heavy metals, chlorine, benzene, pharmacueticals, carcinogens, but leave in minerals. But the carbon filter does not remove water soluble wastes including nitrates, nitrites and sodium flouride. If these are not present in your water, then this filter may serve you well.

This is the type of filter I have. I want the minerals to stay in my water. There is research that shows that hard water supports the bones and the heart.

I use a multi pure solid carbon block system. It's stainless steel unit that sits on the kitchen counter. It's kind of chunky, but it works well. The Multi Pure has NSF approval which means it has been tested for effectiveness and structural integrity. Multi pure uses a densely compacted solid carbon block and is able to filter very tiny particles, down to 0.5 microns.

All carbon filters need an occasional filter change. My multi pure system gets a new filter about once a year.

Other home water filters that are NSF certified are listed on the website nsf.org. NSR International has been around since l944 (it stands for National Sanitation Foundation) and is an independent, non-profit organization that test food and water products related to health.

The Environmental Working Group, a consumer watchdog organization, recommends home water filters with the NSF seal.

Multipure and other carbon filters do not remove fluoride, so if your water has added fluoride, you may want another system, depending on how you feel about fluoride in the water.

The Fluoride Issue

Fluoride is added to about 70% of our drinking water in the US. Many natural healers think fluoride is harmful. Dr. Eldon Hass says that fluoride in small amounts may help our teeth, but its very easy for fluoride to reach toxic amounts with side effects including discolored teeth, pitting of teeth and bone problems.

And indeed this has happened! An article in Delicious Magazine, Oct 2006, states that a report from the National Academy of Science found that much of our drinking water has too much fluoride added, causing bone fractures and tooth enamel deterioration. The CDC sets an optimal fluoride level at 0.7 to 1.2 mg per liter. Apparently many municipalities exceed these amounts.

More bad fluoride news: naturopath Dr. Linda Page says that some studies have shown that fluoride helps aluminum attack the brain! And Dr. Stephen Langer, an expert on thyroid health, says that fluoride is a potent inhibitor of thyroid function.

Some European countries have outlawed fluoridation of water based on their own research. Sweden, Denmark, Holland, Germany and Belgium do not use fluoride any longer, and France and Norway never did.

I think it's safer to eat a whole food diet with plenty of greens, nuts and seeds, to obtain calcium and magnesium for our teeth and bones.

Home Water Filters: Reverse Osmosis

This technology removes almost everything from the water, including the minerals. Reverse Osmosis uses a semi permeable membrane at high pressure to filter water. The problem is that it creates a lot of waste water in the process. You lose to the sink about 5 gallons of waste water for every gallon you produce. Mike Adams, a health researcher, points out that this water is not lost totally, since it cycles back into the water system.

Here in Tx with the current drought, I don't want to waste any water because there is always the chance that the well could run dry. It does happen around here. Water is very precious in a drought. Also, our well water is hard water and would clog up the filter.

The advantage to Reverse Osmosis is that it removes fluoride, nitrates and nitrites that the carbon filter does not. If I was in a city with fluoridation, I would consider a Reverse Osmosis. It does remove the minerals from the water, but many people add them back with kelp powder, a pinch of sea salt, or liquid trace minerals.

Home Water Filters: Distilled Water

Healers disagree on the healing potential of this water. It is totally pure, containing only hydrogen and oxygen, like rain water. Distillation works by boiling and evaporating water, which leaves behind residues, and then condensing the water vapor. But there are hydrocarbons which have lower boiling point than water and they must be removed in a separate process, either a fractional valve system or a final stage charcoal filter.

Some healers think this is the best water for cleansing the body. Others think it pulls minerals out of the body and is harmful. Dr. Mercola in his healing newsletter says, " distilled water has the wrong ionization, ph and polarization and oxidation potentials". I don't pretend to understand that, but my own intuition says that distilled water is not good for the body. I want minerals.

Also the distiller uses a lot of energy to heat the water. I like the other two choices better.

Home Water Filters: Shower Filters

When you heat up the water for a shower, your pores are open and drinking in the toxins in the water, and you breathe them in with the water vapor. If you have chlorine in your water, consider a shower filter. Chlorine dries out the skin and hair.

So there's lots of choices with home water filters, and it really depends on your water and personal needs which one you choose. It will be worth it once you have your home filter. Then just remember to change the filter at the recommended time.

"The fountain of youth is a water fountain" ---Victoria Moran