People often call me and ask for the very best home purification system, thinking that there is one whole house water filter system they can buy that will remove all contaminants. There isn’t. This discussion focuses on those of you who have a public water source with some form of chlorination, but the same idea holds true for those with private well water. Continue reading
Many of those who evaluate water filters, like Consumer Reports and Natural Resources Defense Council, recommend that you purchase an NSF certified water filter. I wonder if these organizations actually know what the certification process involves. If they did, I think they’d be disappointed. The certification does not necessarily mean what you, the consumer, are lead to believe… Continue reading
I have long been concerned about the level of nitrates in Fresno and the Salinas Valley drinking water supplies. Nitrates are dangerous at levels far below those allowed by EPA or the State of California. You can read my previous post on this topic below.
A University of California, Davis study suggests that half of the 2.6 million people who live in California’s agricultural heartland drink water with nitrates in excess of federal and state standards. The study also predicts that the situation will get worse. Continue reading
Yahoo News reports another case of potential private well water contamination by fracking for natural gas….
PITTSBURGH (AP) — At least 10 households in western Pennsylvania fear their drinking water has been ruined by natural gas drilling, but state officials said tests don’t show that.
“Everything was fine. Now, I don’t use my water at all,” said Kim McEvoy, who lives in Connoquenessing Township, about 35 miles north of Pittsburgh. Continue reading
The Thyroid Pandemic
Are you one of the 27 million Americans suffering from a thyroid condition? Have you been told that you will have to be on medication for the rest of your life or get treated with a radioactive therapy to destroy your thyroid gland?
There is an increasing amount of disturbing evidence that one of the factors that could be causing the thyroid pandemic is the presence of fluoride in our drinking water. Continue reading
The Urban Defender whole house water filter
The backwash function on a whole house water filter cleans and redistributes the media bed on a consistent basis at a specified flow rate for the proper duration. The backwash also removes media fines to the drain. Proper back wash helps to provide consistent flow, increased contaminant removal and longer media life. Continue reading
Nitrates often come from septic tanks or farming
Nitrates in drinking water may cause of cancer at levels below the EPA maximum contaminant level. Continue reading
Does reverse osmosis waste water? People ask me this question every day. At issue is the fact that for every gallon of purified water produced by a reverse osmosis system some amount of water goes down the drain, carrying along with it the unwanted contaminants from the water source.
Depending on a variety of factors (including water temperature, dissolved solids, contaminants) the amount of water going down the drain will vary. It is not a fixed amount. The amount of water going down the drain is significant, but in my view it is not waste. Continue reading
One of the major problems with some public water supplies is the serious issue of unregulated contaminants. These consist of an array of compounds like pain killers, hormones, heart meds, cancer meds, endocrine disrupters, caffeine, cocaine, etc. These compounds are not regulated and therefore they are not listed on your local water quality report.
If your water source is a river and there are cities upstream of your city, then these compounds are in your water. The only technology known to remove them is reverse osmosis.
I have long suspected that activated carbon filters would also remove complex compounds such as the unregulated contaminants in drinking water. Continue reading
Every day people ask me about the importance of minerals in their drinking water. I’ve studied this issue and used myself as a test case and come to the conclusion that while minerals in water are important there are several factors that are much more important when choosing a water purification system.
I’ve written on the topic of minerals in water before but it comes up so often that I wanted to rephrase a couple of things. These are my opinions but they are based on science, observation, experimentation, and testing.
First, let me say that drinking water with minerals is beneficial only if they are present at very low levels. Continue reading
