Your eyes may be deceiving you. Even if the water you drink is clear, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s clear of pollutants. The greatest dangers of drinking water cannot be seen, smelled, or tasted. Even naturally-occurring particles can be harmful to your system. They, along with pathogens and byproducts, will inflict damage on your system, which you might not notice until it’s too late.
life – incorporating organic choices into your life and avoiding toxins whenever possible. You strive to live a clean life – incorporating organic choices into your life and avoiding toxins whenever possible. You’re Clean. Is Your Water? Here is The Dirty Truth.
The potential hazards of water can vary depending on the water source you get. Below are five popular choices for drinking water.
1.) Tap Water: A Bigger Threat than Bacteria
Everyone knows that tap water is one of the most preferred water sources because it is easy, quick, and convenient. However, there are many pollutants lurking in tap water.
Most local water companies add chlorine or chloramines to your water supply. While chlorine is successful in ridding your water of pathogens, the chemical can interact with organic matter and form dangerous disinfection byproducts. Studies show that these byproducts are more hazardous to health than the bacteria chlorine was set out to eliminate.
Some of the newly formed chemicals include trihalomethanes or THMs (found to cause cancer in lab animals), volatile organic compounds or VOCs (found to cause damage to your central nervous system), and haloacetic acid or HAAs (is a class B2 probably human carcinogen and may cause liver disease in animals at high levels).
2.) Bottled Water: The Environment’s Worst Nightmare
Not many people realize it, but 40 percent of bottled water actually contains tap water – with or without extra treatment. In addition to this, the Environmental Working Group analyzed this water source and found arsenic, byproducts, and 36 other harmful pollutants in it.
To add to the list of bottled water disadvantages, the plastic used to create 5-gallon jugs often contains bisphenol A (BPA; a hard, clear plastic with a recycling #7) and phthalates, which mimic hormones in your body. They may also cause brain damage, increased fat formation, stimulation of cancer cell growth, and so forth.
Aside from this, bottled water is actually a threat to the environment. Every day, more than 67 million plastic water bottles are thrown away. The amount can fill 5,500 garbage trucks each day and even wrap around the planet 149 times each year. When plastic water bottles are processed, it releases toxic compounds like nickel, ethylbenzene, ethylene oxide, and benzene into the environment.
3.) Distilled Water: A Water that’s Too Clean Is Bad?
Did you know that long-term use of distillation can invite health problems? Distillation is a process where water is boiled and evaporated. Soon, the vapor condenses into clean water, which is collected.
In distilled water, minerals are evaporated out. When consumed, it compensates by taking minerals out of your body. With this, you are at greater risk for bone, joint, heart, and thyroid damage if you are not supplementing appropriately. To make matters worse, the contaminants in distilled water are actually more concentrated afterward.
Experts say that distilled water tends to be acidic and recommend drinking it only as a way to draw poisons out of the body. Nonetheless, long-term consumption of this kind of water can be hazardous to your health.
4.) Alkaline Water: Not a Source of Clean Water
Like distilled water, alkaline water is not recommended for long-term use. Experts say that this type of water should only be drunk for short-term detoxification; particularly one to two weeks at the most.
It is also important for people to know that the alkalinization process does not work as a filtration method. Hence, it is important to make sure that you use clean water before adding alkaline.
5.) Vitamin Water: Why They’re Not Really a Healthy Water Source
Although vitamin waters are promoted to energize you, they aren’t a good source of drinking water. The reason is that manufacturers use distilled waters for this. Vitamin waters also contain high-fructose corn syrup, artificial colors, additives, preservatives, and even caffeine, which are all linked to certain health risks.
The bottom line is: do not use vitamin waters as your water source, as they would bring more harm to your body than benefit.
What to Do About The Dangers of Your Water Sources
One cannot avoid using most of these water sources, which is why you need a filter. Investing in a drinking water filter is a good idea, but you need to make sure that what you purchase can wipe out bacteria, organic matter, AND byproducts. Some devices only do half the job. When you browse for a filtration system, keep in mind of three things: effectiveness, value, and ease of use. Once the product is proven to have all these three, then you’re sure to have the best water filter.
Here is a useful resource about The Different Water Filtration Systems for Your Home. Water filters come in many forms, but they all rely on a limited number of technologies to remove the numerous contaminants typically found in water. Learn how to choose the right water filtration system.
WATCH as Ron demonstrates how to install both a shower filter and a bath filter – quickly, easily and affordably!
About the Author
Adrienne writes for Mercola. Her latest articles include tips on how to get an efficient water filter system, and how to select a good natural bug repellent for carefree outdoor living. Adrienne is fond of books, theater, and travel.
Hi Lisa! Thank you so much for publishing our article. Hope your readers will find it useful! 🙂
Thank you for contributing! We love Mercola and this information is super valuable and practical. Health + happiness 🙂
This is an eye-opening article. Usually, I read about the benefits of water and not the hidden dangers of it. Reading this is a very useful knowledge. Thank you Adrienne!