We often take the purity of our tap water for granted ' and we shouldn't. A carefully researched, documented and peer-reviewed study of the drinking water systems of 19 U.S. cities, found that pollution and deteriorating, out-of-date plumbing are sometimes delivering drinking water that might pose health risks to some residents.
Many cities around the country rely on pre-World War I-era water delivery systems and treatment technology. Aging pipes can break, leach contaminants into the water they carry and breed bacteria ' all potential prescriptions for illness. And old-fashioned water treatment ' built to filter out particles in the water and kill some parasites and bacteria ' generally fails to remove 21st-century contaminants like pesticides, industrial chemicals and arsenic.
Because coffee and tobacco are so widely used, researchers say their byproducts are good indicators of the presence of pharmaceuticals. Thus, they routinely test for, and often find, both caffeine and nicotine's metabolite cotinine more frequently than other drugs.
Tap water can contain a vast array of contaminants, but a handful showed up repeatedly in the water of the cities we studied:
Lead, which enters drinking water supplies from the corrosion of pipes and plumbing fixtures and can cause brain damage in infants and children
Pathogens (germs) that can make people sick, especially those with weakened immune systems, the frail elderly and the very young
By-products of chlorine treatment such as trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids, which may cause cancer and reproductive problems
Arsenic, which may cause cancer, serious skin problems, birth defects and reproductive problems
Radon, the rocket fuel perchlorate and other carcinogens or otherwise toxic chemicals.
The best type of drinking water is from a natural source (mineral water). But these types of water are more expensive. City water (chlorinated) is consumable by man but in the long run, chlorine is bad in our body. You can instead install a small
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Isopure Water carries a wide variety of point of entry filter units ranging from Water softeners, carbon filtration, and iron removal filters as well as point of use drinking water systems for residential, commercial and industrial applications. For more information visit: http://www.isopurewater.com