The water quality here in the UK is among the best in the world. Water companies deliver millions of litres of water each day to our homes and business. Each drop delivered is a continual supply of recycled water that has been previously used. The water might be clean when leaving the treatment facility, but despite the strict regulations, the water still needs to pass through a network of pipes where it can pick up contaminants before it reaches your home or business
Fluoride
Fluoridation is when fluoride is added to the public water supply in small doses to reduce tooth decay. There is no scientific proof that it acutely prevents tooth decay, but there is scientific proof that fluoride is a highly toxic substance. Consider, for example, the poison warning that the FDA now requires on all fluoride toothpastes sold in the U.S.
This is why fluoride has long been used in rodenticides and pesticides to kill pests like rats and insects. It’s also why accidents involving over-ingestion of fluoridated dental products including fluoride gels, fluoride supplements, and fluoridated water can cause serious poisoning incidents, including death.
Long-term exposure to this toxic chemical if regularly consumed over an extended period of time can cause adverse effects on the body.
Chlorine
Chlorine is used to keep our water clean by disinfecting it and killing germs and it does a good job at eliminating most pathogens and bacteria from the water we drink. But the use of this powerful chemical has a downside. According to a report from the U.S. Council of Environmental Quality, the cancer risk for people who drink chlorinated water is up to 93% higher than for those whose water does not contain chlorine.
Chlorinated water exposure is made by drinking or direct exposure with the skin and eyes. Chlorine can be breathed in as a gas when it’s heated up, for example, from a hot shower or bath, the chlorine gas is inhaled in through your nasal passages.
When chlorine enters the body as a result of breathing, swallowing, or skin contact, it reacts with water to produce acids. The acids are corrosive and damage cells in the body on contact. Chlorinated water promotes the ageing process, similar to the effects of extended exposure to the sun. Short term exposure, can lead to dry, itchy skin, irritated eyes, sore throats, and airway irritation.
What are heavy metals and what are there negative effects on the body?
Most heavy metals in our water supply cannot be detected by sight, smell or taste.
They are metallic elements that exist naturally also they can enter our water supply by industrial and consumer waste, or even from acidic rain breaking down soils and releasing heavy metals into streams, lakes, rivers, and groundwater.
It’s also possible that heavy metals can enter our water supply through corrosion in the miles of ageing pipes or the taps we use which the water has to travel through to reach our homes and businesses every day, but an excess of these elements in our body can prove toxic.
Heavy metal effects on the body
There have been many scientific reports showing the effects of heavy metal toxicity on the body with long-term exposure, results showing muscular, and neurological degenerative processes that mimic Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, muscular dystrophy, and multiple sclerosis, motor neurone disease and damage to blood composition, lungs, kidneys, liver, and other vital organs. Also, exposure to these metal compounds may result in impaired cognitive, motor, and language skills, learning difficulties, nervousness and emotional instability, and insomnia, nausea, and feeling ill.
- Lead and mercury can effect the developing brain
- Children exposed to lead at a young age are more likely to suffer from shorter attention spans and are less able to read and learn than their peers
- Children with above-average mercury exposures have learning difficulties
- More recent studies also suggest that arsenic can harm the developing brain
- Many other health effects of these metals are well known
- Types of heavy metals that can be found in your water supply include aluminium, arsenic, cadmium, chromium, lead, mercury and iron
Bacteria, Viruses and Parasites in Drinking Water
Bacteria is everywhere in our environment, some of these bacteria can be harmful to human health. Drinking water which has not been purified through an adequate filtration process can leave pathogens in the water which can make you sick.
Taste and odour
Water can have tastes and odours. This is not because of the water itself but because of the things that are in it like contaminants and chemicals which can corrode, give off gas or decay.
Bottled Water
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Many people opt for bottled water as a step closer to chemical free drinking.
Unfortunately, plastic bottles are loaded with chemicals like phthalates, BPA, PET and these chemicals can leach from the plastic bottles directly in to the water depending on where the bottles are stored and in what temperature the leaching process can be dramatically increased, with no sign to the buyer. The sell by date on water bottles is actually for the degrading of the plastic not the water inside.
Reduce your carbon footprint
Drinking bottled water means you also throw away a lot of bottles. Even if you have the bottles recycled, there is still a massive strain on the environment with the work that has to be done with the plastic and the labelling.
Save on water expenses
You get to save money too, since you don’t have to buy expensive bottled water anymore on a daily or weekly basis.