What Kinds of Chemicals Are in Your Tap Water?

As this article suggests, municipal water and bottled water are not necessarily ‘safe’ to drink. Why not consider rainwater harvesting and installing rain water tanks?  This means that you have direct control of your domestic water supply and if used for drinking, rainwater from the water tanks can be appropriately filtered using a home water filtration system.

Your water may not be as pure as you think!

There has been lots of discussion about the chemicals that are in everyday tap water. Information at HealthGuidance.org says analysis completed by experts determined that there are over 2,000 toxic chemicals in the water. With that said, it’s not surprising that sales of water purifiers are soaring.

Where Do the Chemicals Come From?

One of the main sources of the chemicals is through pollution. Other chemicals are intentionally added to the water. This includes chlorine, which is used to kill bacteria in the water. It is intended to remove any threats of illnesses from drinking water that may be unsanitary.

What Are the Health Risks?

Although chlorine is added as a way to benefit us, it is actually poisonous. With that in mind, over time, even though we are getting very small doses, the chlorine in our drinking water can increase our risks for such things as heart disease, cancer, and some other extreme health conditions.

Chlorine has been linked to bladder, breast, and rectal cancers. It has also been associated with asthma.

Chlorine is just one of many of the hazardous chemicals in the typical water found in our homes. Others include fertilizers and pesticides, which have been linked to birth defects.

Lead often enters drinking water via corroded pipes. Drinking water that contains lead is especially harmful for children and pregnant mothers, as it can lead to lead poisoning.

Gastro-intestinal diseases are often spread by the protozoa Giardia and Cryptosporidium. These protozoa are known to enter water systems when there are sanitation breakdowns.

Chemicals are added to water to kill the bacteria and parasites that live in it. A new problem that has been discovered is that many of these parasites are continuing to live even after purification treatments. In other words, the parasites are becoming immune to the chemical treatment processes. This means that in addition to drinking the chemically-treated water, we may also be ingesting parasites.

Just How Dangerous Is Tap Water?

Clearly, there are regulations in place to guide the processing of water safety standards. Only certain amounts of contaminants and chemicals are allowed in the water.

Bottled Water

Drinking bottled water seems to be the ideal solution. After all, the water seems to be pure and clean, but this can be a costly solution. In addition, there is also another problem with bottled water: Plastic bottles are made with chemicals. This means the water can absorb those chemicals, and therefore, that water is also dangerous to drink.  Regulations for bottled water quality are often more relaxed than municipal water with the result that dangerous pathogens and chemicals continue to be detected in bottled water around the world.  Discarded water bottles are also a massive environmental problem with landfills and oceans becoming full of these non-biodegradable plastic bottles.

What About Rainwater?

Ever considered this idea? Drink rainwater!

Many people are going as green as possible. They are harvesting rainwater and then using a filtering and treatment system. Of course, rainwater can be collected and used in its purest form for watering plants and other such purposes. But when it comes to drinking you need to use a filtration system. To learn more about rain harvesting systems in the USA you can visit this site, RainHarvest.com.

Final Thoughts

The dangers of drinking tap water should not be ignored. Fortunately, if you should find that you become ill, there are quality healthcare facilities available, and you can easily check the clinic, hospital, or doctor reputation before you consent to any treatments.

Using a water purification system is one simple way to remove many of the chemicals that may be in the tap water in your home. It is probably the easiest way to provide good health for your family and peace of mind for you.

The bottom line is, chemicals are added to tap water to ‘clean it up.’ However, water purifiers can help clean out those chemicals and make your water cleaner and fresher. It may be the ideal solution.

Source: Debbie Allen (Debbie Allen is a professional content writer, online marketer, and blogger. She likes to write articles on topics that enlighten and inform others about issues related to home and garden matters as well as small business management topics.)