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More about water & filtration systems

My previous post about the toxins in our water and the accompanying article cited got me to do a little bit of research into water filtration systems. Luckily or perhaps it was the universe giving me what I wanted a la The Secret, a University of Toronto friend of mine doing her PhD brought up the fact that she had just attended a presentation about water. I spent some time looking at the material she had received and most of it is too technical and of no use except for scientists who are doing complex experiments.

However, here's a summary of the good stuff I took from the material. I hope it's of use to some of you and will help you make decisions to benefit the health of you and your family.

Distillation:
  • Apparently, this process DOES NOT remove volatile organics from the water. Organic compounds are things like pesticides, herbicides and solvents. So those compounds that vapourize at 100 degrees celsius will still be in the distilled water.
  • Steam distillation isn't a viable option for households b/c it's impractical and costly.

Reverse Osmosis:
  • This is probably one of the best all around filters, but it's quite inefficient & more costly.
  • 40-60% of the water is expelled as "bad" water. This is an unnecesssary waste of water and energy.
  • Filters out 95-99% of all inorganic ions. Inorganic ions are positively/negatively charged substances found in the periodic table or a combination. For instance, chlorine, fluorine, sodium, sodium chloride (ie. salt).
  • Filters out 99% of all organics greater than 100 daltons in size.
  • Filters out 99% of all particles and microorganisms
  • Removes endotoxins (don't know what percentage). Endotoxins are toxins released by microbes. Boiling water kills microbes, but has no effect on endotoxins already released.

Activated Carbon:
  • Removes chlorine and converts it to chloride. There was no mention of whether fluorine is removed.
  • Removes organics like pesticides, herbicides, solvents
  • DOES NOT remove bacteria or inorganic compounds

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