The Importance of Clean Water

Water is one of the most vital and important substances you can take into your body. Shutterstock

Water is the most important thing you take into your body. Your body is 60-75% water, depending on your hydration and muscle mass. We are told to drink half our body weight in ounces of water per day, to fully hydrate and flush toxins out. Unfortunately, water quality is a major issue in our country and is a source of toxins and cancer-causing compounds. Flint, Michigan made headlines with the dangerously high lead levels in their water, but this is only the tip of the iceberg.

The Environmental Working Group found 50,000 US public water systems are contaminated with cancer-causing chemicals. If you want to see how contaminated yours is, go to their National Tap Water Database and enter your zip code for the report.

Bottled water is no exception. According to Roy Speiser, PhD, Vice President of Clean Water Revival and an expert in water quality, 40% of bottled water is contaminated, and water packaged in plastic bottles contains xenoestrogens leached from the plastic, which cause hormone disruptions and are linked to prostate and breast cancer.

Water Quality Issues—An Expert Weighs In

I’ve known Roy for about 25 years now, and he’s been helping people with health issues get good water quality for 40 years. I called him for his input on current water contamination issues and his extensive knowledge of water filtration. He had this to say: “Water quality issues are much more severe and toxic than they were 10 or 20 years ago. Four years ago, we started detecting pharmaceuticals, and there are new heavy metals and chemicals like chlorate from fertilizers in the water supply.

Municipal water systems have changed from using chlorine to chloramine, which is chlorine plus ammonia. This has new byproducts and requires new technology to be filtered out. Filters with 30 year-old technology, like the carbon filters you can buy in pitchers or as faucet mounts, only remove chlorine, a little bit of lead, bad taste and odor. Reverse Osmosis only takes care of chlorine and heavy metals, another 30 year-old technology.”

I’ve come to understand there are a lot of overpriced and underperforming water systems out there. It’s impressive to watch the video of someone pouring a bottle of cola into a water filter and see it come out as clear water on the other side, but the truth is that’s 30 year old technology in the form of a tabletop reverse osmosis filter. And reverse osmosis filters out the good minerals you want in your water along with the heavy metals, but leaves behind the pharmaceuticals.

Getting Clean Water At Home

The best water filtration system is the one customized to the water issues in your area. If you live in a farming area, you may need filters for nitrates and pesticides. In some areas of the country, uranium is an issue. In larger metropolitan areas there may be more pharmaceuticals in the water. The point is one water filter does not serve all.

The first step is to get a good water report to know your water issues. Look up the report on the EWG website, or order a test kit for your well if you have well water. Roy Speiser’s firm, Clean Water Revival can help you match your water issues with the filters that will work for you. If you’re on a budget or just renting, there are countertop and portable filters that are available and work just as well as permanent ones.

At my office, I have a filtration system that includes filters with a ceramic exterior and a specialized compressed carbon core called Metalgon. This filter takes care of bacteria and different types of sediment, plus iron, fluoride, heavy metals, lead, chlorine, chloramine and pharmaceuticals. At my home I also have a filter that filters out Uranium, because our water tested high for it.

You don’t want to absorb chlorine through water on your skin in the shower or bath, so if you don’t have a whole house water system, get a showerhead filter and a tub faucet filter. I even travel with a showerhead filter that I use in hotel rooms.

Alkaline Water

A word about alkaline water systems. They do contain a basic filter, usually carbon, but their main job is to raise the pH of the water, not filter it. I tried one a few years back and didn’t feel good drinking the water. I think people feel better on it initially because they are drinking more water and getting hydrated, but I’m concerned for people who have acid reflux and low stomach acid. It’s making things worse instead of better. I personally feel it’s a better investment to have clean water than it is to have alkaline water.

James Templeton founded Uni Key Health Systems in 1992 and now the Templeton Wellness Foundation as a way of giving back and helping others achieve the health and wellness they are seeking. This story was originally published on the Templeton Wellness Foundation Blog.