Removing radioisotopes from drinking water

There is currently a great deal of concern about the radioactive fallout from the failed nuclear reactors in Japan.  Iodine 131 has shown up in trace amounts in some public water systems in the U.S.  While public health officials are assuring us that these levels are safe I’m sure there are individuals who would like to remove these from their drinking water.

There are an incredible number of posts on this topic on the web right now and they suggest a variety of solutions.  The use of a reverse osmosis drinking water system is the way to be certain you’ve removed these from your water.

Other water systems may reduce or even remove radioactive isotopes from water.  A number of sites mention water softeners and carbon filters as doing this.  It is likely that these do remove or reduce small amount of radioactive contaminants.  The thing to note is that they are not designed to accomplish this so the removal is incidental rather than intentional.  But this may not matter.  The point is that if you already have a carbon filter or a water softener you have some level of protection in place.

best whole house waterThe reverse osmosis systems I sell are a 5 stage system.  I then add a KDF filter to increase metals removal and provide an anti-bacterial environment.  I also add a post filter to raise the pH of your drinking water.

The fallout from Japan can be expected to continue for some time.  When this event is over I urge you to change the filters on your system.

You can learn more about protecting yourself from a wide variety of contaminants by visiting my website:  Sweetwater’s Home Water Purification Systems

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About James McMahon

Studied ecology at the University of Illinois, mountain survival at Eastern Washing University, Deep Ecology at Naropa, River Ecology with The Nature Conservancy and Luna Leopold
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