Best Water Purification Blog by Sweetwater LLC

Health Writer Nancy Deville Interviews James P McMahon About Water

Posted on October 30, 2011 by James McMahon

Health writer Nancy Deville interviewed me for an article on healthy drinking water. Here’s an excerpt from and a link to that article:

‘Our bodies need hydration every day because water is the principal constituent of all body fluids, is essential for proper metabolic functioning, and is necessary to flush toxins. Dehydration is a major cause of accelerated aging. You want to stay hydrated by drinking half of your body weight in ounces of purified water every day.

In times past humans drank water from wells, springs, brooks, and rivers that was rich in minerals and trace minerals.’

You may read Nancy’s entire article here:

http://www.alwaysnewyou.com/nancy-deville/think-of-your-body-as-an-ocean.html

In the course of interviewing me, Nancy asked which combination of water purification systems would provide the ultimate level of protection. I must confess that I am reluctant to suggest one system for everyone but in many, many situations I would have to offer the Urban Defender whole house water filter (with catalytic carbon) followed by the whole house water revitalizer and then my five stage custom reverse osmosis at the kitchen sink. Though, truth to tell, my preference would still be to drink water with low levels of minerals if the quality of your drinking water source is such that you can do so without risk due to contamination.

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Protect Yourself from Breast Cancer by Reducing Pesticide Exposure

Posted on October 27, 2011 by James McMahon

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) released an announcement today about male breast cancer discovered at Camp Lejeune, a Marine facility.

‘The water at Camp Lejeune was contaminated with a toxic brew of industrial chemicals including trichloroethylene, or TCE, a known human carcinogen according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Despite repeated warnings, the Marine Corps leadership took no action to protect their Marines and their families. Worse yet, many still remain unaware of their exposures. Today, Camp Lejeune has the shameful distinction of being the largest male breast cancer cluster ever identified – 73 men – and families who lived and worked on base are suffering from various rare cancers, chronic diseases and birth defects.’

What EWG didn’t mention was that the entire Midwest farming belt is often referred to as the ‘Lymphoma Belt’ due to the blood cancers that result from exposure to pesticides. Breast cancers can also be caused by pesticide exposure.

If you or a friend has been exposed to pesticides on a regular basis, by showering in water containing pesticides and drinking water with pesticides, then it is advisable to stop now and act. Check out my Urban Defender whole house water filter, the most effective system available to protect your family from pesticides as well as chlorine, chloramine, and their carcinogenic byproducts.

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Posted in Exposure to Toxins, Sweetwater LLC, Water Purification, Well Water Purification, Whole House Water Filtration and Purification | 1 Comment

Do remineralizing filters really work?

Posted on October 25, 2011 by James McMahon

Do remineralizing filters really work? The short answer is no.

Many water treatment companies suggest that because reverse osmosis systems remove the minerals from water that you should add a remineralizing filter afterwards for the purpose of restoring minerals to your water. I’ve tested these filters and while the pH rose dramatically due to carbonates in the filter there were no, or very few, minerals added.

A number of companies use coral calcium as the remineralizing filter and it is true that coral calcium contains some 70 trace minerals. The problem is that the water passing through a filter system is not in contact with the coral calcium long enough to dissolve it. The water picks up carbonate and as a result the pH increases but essentially no minerals are added. You might see trace amounts of calcium and magnesium.

So, what should you do about the lack of minerals in your reverse osmosis water? Do remineralizing filters really work?

Don’t worry about it.

I’ve now done substantial testing of water and minerals and concluded that while it would be nice to have minerals in your water, it’s far more important to remove the contaminants. You can read a referenced article on that topic here: Minerals in Water.

The other thing to keep in mind is that minerals in water vary widely and have nothing to do with the level of minerals your body would thrive with. Just like remineralizing filters or mineral supplements have more to do with what’s in coral or what’s in seawater than what your body needs.

Do remineralizing filters really work? No, however it is true that minerals are important. In particular many people are deficient in magnesium. I supplement magnesium daily. Calcium is important but obtainable through food. We often consume too much sodium. Once again I reiterate that the water filter you need depends on what’s in your water in the first place. If you call me, we’ll look at your water report and I’ll make a recommendation on what type of treatment system to use.

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Posted in Best Water Filter, Exposure to Toxins, Healthy Drinking Water, Reverse Osmosis, Sweetwater LLC, Water Purification | 75 Comments

Hydraulic Fracturing May Pollute Well Water: Protect Yourself

Posted on October 20, 2011 by James McMahon

The following is an article excerpt with a link to the full article and my comments at the end on how you can protect your family from nearby hydrofracking:

Hydraulic Fracturing: Easy energy, but what about our drinking water?

by Meg Hartley

‘Hydraulic fracturing, also called fracking, hydrofracking and fracing, is the
process of pumping liquids down a well under pressures high enough to create
openings or fractures in subsurface rock, thereby releasing oil or gas into the well
bore…’

‘Drinking water quality contamination has been directly linked with
fracking in Pennsylvania. Methane was found in the drinking water of residents near
the Marcellus Shale basin- one of the major shale gas drilling sites in the U.S. A
study published by the National Academy of Sciences found methane in 51 of the 60
drinking water wells tested. The methane found was found to be from fossils, rather
than newer sources, thus linking it directly with the Marcellus Shale basin. This is
the first study to directly link methane contamination of groundwater with
hydraulic fracturing. (Researchers also found butane, propane, and ethane in some
wells tested)…’

My comments:

I’ve been assisting my customers with protective efforts through well water testing. The idea is that when hydrofracking is proposed for the area near where you live that you test your well in order to establish a baseline condition. Then, if you notice that your well changes after hydrofracking is underway you will have evidence in hand which you can use as proof that the activity has negatively affected your well water. Evidence can aid you in working with the company performing the hydrofracking if it turns out that you need to purchase a well water treatment system.

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The Best Whole House Water Filter

Posted on August 27, 2011 by James McMahon

Every manufacturer out there claims to have the best whole house water filter. So, what features make the best system? This article summarizes the features you should look for when buying a whole house water purification system. I thought I’d write about this because I’ve given this topic a great deal of thought and incorporated these design concepts into Sweetwater’s Urban Defender Whole House Water Filter.

Let me explain:

First, you want a system that contains the appropriate type of carbon. It is the carbon that will remove the chlorine and its carcinogenic byproducts from your water. In the Urban Defender I offer you a choice between granular activated carbon (GAC) for city water with chlorine or catalytic carbon (CAT) for cities that use chloramine. Chloramine is a persistent combination of chlorine and ammonia that only catalytic carbon can remove. So right off the bat if you have chloramine and use the wrong carbon you’re making the wrong choice. Continue reading →

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Posted in Sweetwater LLC, Water Purification, Whole House Water Filtration and Purification | 1 Comment

Reverse Osmosis Does Not Produce Dead Water

Posted on August 25, 2011 by James McMahon

Some people refer to water purified by either a reverse osmosis or distillation process as ‘dead water’. There is no such thing as dead water. Reverse Osmosis Does Not Produce Dead Water.

Both reverse osmosis and distillation water treatment methods produce highly ‘purified’ water. The water produced by these methods contains little or no minerals or total dissolved solids and very little in the way of contaminants. It is this condition that is referred to with the term ‘purified’. There are legitimate criticisms of these treatment methods but the use of the word ‘dead’ is subjective and implies a negative condition which simply does not exist. Continue reading →

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Posted in Healthy Drinking Water, Reverse Osmosis, Water Purification | Tagged dead water, ro is dead water | 3 Comments

Chromium 6 in Chicago Drinking Water

Posted on August 7, 2011 by James McMahon

The August 6 edition of the Chicago Tribune posted this article about chromium 6 in the City of Chicago’s water:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/ct-met-drinking-water-chromium-20110806,0,5813267.story?page=2

This really shouldn’t come as a big surprise since four steel mills in Indiana are dumping chromium 6 into Lake Michigan 9 miles from Chicago’s water intake.

The surprising thing to me is that this is news. First of all, we’ve known about this for years. And second of all, we’ve heard about it before.

Environmental Working Group, the organization behind the initial study into Chromium 6, releases a major finding every year, right at the end of the year in conjunction with their annual fundraising efforts. Hey, they have to survive, right?

In this author’s view Environmental Working Group is very good at using scare tactics to raise money and not very good at listening to constructive feedback on how to make their recommendations more useful and more accurate. Rather than lead the public across the country toward some conclusion that their water is also tainted, they can be more specific about whose is.

A number of very low levels of contaminants are present in Chicago’s water supply.

Still…what I would recommend for treatment depends on your particular situation. To learn how to experience healthy water in your home, start at Sweetwater’s Water Purification Systems where you can see both my whole house water purification systems and custom reverse osmosis system.

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The Benefits of Drinking Water

Posted on August 4, 2011 by James McMahon

When I speak of drinking water I am refering to water that has been appropriately filtered, either with a product such as my Kitchen Defender or six stage custom reverse osmosis system. Water straight out of the tap is carcinogenic. That is a known fact and you can find the proof here: Sweetwater’s home water purification systems
The benefits of drinking appropriately filtered water include:

– making blood clots less likely

– decreased risk of heart disease

– prevents kidney stones

– wards off urinary infections

– less likely to develop bladder cancer

– being well hydrated improves your thinking

– drinking water before a meal aids in weight loss

The Institute of Medicine recommends women consume 2.7 liters and men 3.7 liters daily (about 11 and 15 glasses of water a day, respectively).

I’ll add to this list as I learn more….be sure to sign up to receive an email when I add a new post.

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Removing fluoride from drinking water

Posted on July 25, 2011 by James McMahon

Many water treatment dealers make false claims about removing fluoride from drinking water. It’s possible that these dealers are unaware of the complexity of issues involved in fluoride removal. Either that or they’re misleading you.

Fluoride is most often removed (in kitchen filters or whole house applications) using activated alumina (aka alumina oxide or Al203). The fluoride ion attaches to the surface of the alumina and is thereby removed from the drinking water. The other media that is sometimes used is bone char. Continue reading →

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Posted in Best Water Filter, Healthy Drinking Water, Reverse Osmosis, Water Purification, Whole House Water Filtration and Purification | 5 Comments

The Benefits of Drinking A Glass of Water Upon Waking

Posted on June 26, 2011 by James McMahon

The first thing I do when I wake in the morning is drink a glass of filtered water.

I can’t honestly say that I know the health benefits of drinking water first thing but it feels right. Some people would suggest that the benefits of drinking water after waking include flushing toxins, hydrating your skin, organs, and joints and improving your bowel movement.

Those are all great benefits. I drink water first thing in the morning because it makes sense to me that after a night of sleep providing my body with water will hydrate the cells. That has to result in multiple benefits.

If you’ve worked with me you’ll also know that I think it’s absolutely critical to make sure that you’re drinking water is appropriately filtered. I determine which water purification system or water filter that you need by looking at your local water report. Using this tool and knowing your water source we can determine how to provide you with the healthiest drinking water possible.

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Best Water Purification Blog by Sweetwater LLC

Health Writer Nancy Deville Interviews James P McMahon About Water

Protect Yourself from Breast Cancer by Reducing Pesticide Exposure

Do remineralizing filters really work?

So, what should you do about the lack of minerals in your reverse osmosis water? Do remineralizing filters really work?

Don’t worry about it.

Hydraulic Fracturing May Pollute Well Water: Protect Yourself

Hydraulic Fracturing: Easy energy, but what about our drinking water?

The Best Whole House Water Filter

Reverse Osmosis Does Not Produce Dead Water

Chromium 6 in Chicago Drinking Water

The Benefits of Drinking Water

Removing fluoride from drinking water

The Benefits of Drinking A Glass of Water Upon Waking

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