What Are You Drinking? Regarding Water

Water. Roughly two thirds of this planet is covered with it. It makes up most of our bodily tissues. In Colorado history, while fights and murders did occur over gold, more people died over contests over water rights than ever happened over gold.

We can die in a very few days without it, and good quality water is key to our health.

The marketing of bottled water gets pretty intense, as Bruce Wiseman's "Water Wars" article shows. However, the expense and hassle of dealing with innumerable plastic bottles (and the prospect of the waste of resources involved) make other options of ensuring high-quality water more attractive.

In doing a little bit of research regarding our municipal water supply, a laundry list of contaminants became a rising source of alarm.

The link to the report I read is here.

I'm not going to get into a Chicken Little The-Sky-Is-Falling panic, but I'm not happy with drinking heavy metals with my ice tea.

While boiling and cooling can kill microbial contaminants, boiling water does not remove inorganic contaminants. In fact, because evaporation reduces the water volume, boiling water will actually concentrate inorganic contaminants.

I've been told by some of my acquaintances in alternative medical professions that I exhibit symptoms of reduced thyroid effectiveness. One of them characterized it as Functional Hypothyroidism. A quick online search returns many articles and resources covering this idea in depth.

One of the ones I read, "Fluoride And The Thyroid: The Controversy" does cover the fact that the level of fluoride added to municipal water supply in an attempt to reduce cavities is the same level that was used to cut down thyroid action in over-active thyroid patients.

With the fact that I have been exhibiting symptoms of lower functional thyroid activity, depressing it further is not something I want to do.

Given that reducing intake of these contaminants is a good idea, the question becomes how to go about it effectively?

Two methods that will result in pure water are distillation and reverse osmosis filtration. While a DIY solar distillation setup is on my project list, it isn't practical for my current living situation. Reverse osmosis systems are not practical from a cost standpoint at present, and reverse osmosis systems for home use generally waste several times the amount of water that is actually produced.

Most filter cartridge systems do eliminate or reduce chlorine, lead and some other compounds, but not the fluoride. I have found one combination filter system that while it is not certified at removing fluoride, it does state in their FAQ page that it can be presumed to do so. I have ordered one, and plan to use it until I can do the DIY solar still mentioned above.

Next post will cover some of my current sources of non-GMO seed, my small patio garden setup and plans, and my plans for clean, healthy food.