Water Filter and Bacteria Removal Information
- The importance of clean, bacteria-free drinking water cannot be emphasized enough. Under the Safe Water Drinking Act, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sets national standards for drinking water. It currently regulates over 80 different contaminants found in drinking water in public systems. According to the EPA, 90 percent of public water systems meet these standards. However, the Physicians for Social Responsibility estimate that up to 900,000 people get sick and 900 die in the U.S. every year from contaminated public and private drinking water.
- Even if you used only bottled water for drinking, there is no indication that bottled water is "safer" than tap water. A study by the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) noted that "bottled water regulations are inadequate to assure consumers of either purity or safety." Bottled water is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and tests are conducted less often and for fewer contaminants than the EPA's testing standards. The study independently tested 1,000 bottled water samples from 103 brands and, according to the NRDC, "found that one-third contained contaminants that exceeded FDA-mandated levels." They also found that one-fourth of the bottled water was tap water.
- The federal government does not regulate all of America's drinking water. If you happen to get your drinking water from a private well, it is not subject to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards. Another misconception concerns filtering water with chlorine-based disinfectants. Chlorine destroys a variety of different types of bacteria. But Cryptosporidium is a microscopic parasite that is resistant to the power of chlorine-based disinfectants. It can only be killed by boiling the water.
- Water filtering and purification removes bacteria that can create health hazards in drinking water. The effects of harmful contaminants can cause nausea, stomach pain and diarrhea in an otherwise healthy individual. These same contaminants can actually be deadly to someone who is ill or has a weak immune system. According to EPA information on how to prevent waterborne cryptosporidiosis, boiling the water will purify it and effectively kill the Cryptosporidium bacteria.
- The water filtration system created on "The Colony" television show consisted of pouring contaminated water through a homemade filter. This resulted in a crude version of a charcoal-and-sand filtration system. In reality, this form of carbon filtering is possible, as long as the right kind of carbon is used. Activated carbon (or charcoal) provides the type of surface required for adequate filtration. Some household systems are built on the carbon-filtering concept. Consumers typically purchase point-of-use water filtering systems. This allows for filtering at the point of consumption, rather relying on the filtering of water from public supplies.
