Drinking Water Safety

Chlorinated water is founded in almost all municipal water.  City water is treated with chlorine (just in case you don’t know what it is, it’s the disinfectant like Clorex that you use to clean your bathroom or to bleach your white laundry with) to kill the bacteria. This is good for killing the bacteria, but there are drawback side effects not so good or even dangerous to our health.

Most people don’t like the taste or the smell of tap water because of the chlorine, but don’t think much about the bad side about chlorinated water. If you are drinking or cooking your meals straight from the tap, there are a few things you should know.

According to numerous studies , chlorinated water:

• Is skin irritant, could be associated with skin condition like eczema
• Can destroy vitamin E and polyunsaturated fatty acids in the body and generating toxins capable of free radical damage (oxidation)
• Destroys the friendly bacteria (intestinal flora) that help in the digestion of food and also protect the body from harmful pathogens.
• Contains chemical compounds called trihalomethanes, which are carcinogens resulting from the combination of chlorine with organic compounds in water. These chemical do not degrade well and are stored in the fatty tissues of the body (breast, mother’s milk, blood and semen). It suppresses the immune system function and interferes with the natural controls of cell growth.
• Aggravates asthma, especially in children frequently swim in chlorinated swimming pools.
• Chlorinated by-products can result in bladder, breast and bowel cancer as well as malignant melanoma.

Chlorination is necessary to kill bacteria in our tap water, but should be removed before feeding it to our bodies. Anything you can do to eliminate or minimizes chlorine would certainly be helpful or at least lower the chances of having the above mentioned health issues. Installing a water filter or purifier to filter chlorinated water is most practical and economical for your family’s well-being.

There is a video at the end of this post showing how water purifier can effectively remove chlorine and other contaminants from tap water.