Your Tap Water Quality Is Not As Good As You Think - There Are Thousands of Contaminants

Many individuals have chosen to switch to bottled or filtered water due to poor tap water quality. However, many of these people are completely unaware of the real dangers of ingesting tap through drinking or absorption. They find that since water has already undergone several stages of treatment by municipal water treatment systems that it must be safe.

This could not be further from the truth. Tap water quality may be vastly improved by municipal treatment centers. However, these treatment centers often use the same technology put into practice decades before the current pesticides and herbicides were ever developed. Still, the governmental regulations on tap water processing help, right? Not necessarily.

In actuality, the governing regulations guiding treatment of tap water contamination are failing. There are thousands of reported violations of these regulations each year. Additionally, the regulations set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) set maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) that are well above zero.

This nearsightedness of governing agencies and municipalities has led to pressing health threats that grow each year. Tap water contamination is being linked to various types of cancer, dermatological problems, and learning disabilities. In fact, the chlorine used by treatment centers to cleanse the water is actually considered one of the leading causes for the increase in pediatric asthma.

There are also contaminants that affect tap water quality that enter the water after leaving the treatment plants. The worst of these are lead. Lead can enter the tap water through the pipes leading to or within the home. Lead causes severe developmental issues and learning disorders in children, and is especially dangerous for children and pregnant women.

There are many ways to eliminate or reduce tap water contamination in your home. Many people turn to bottled water. However, the truth is that bottled water is often no different. Even water claiming to be from springs may contain herbicides and pesticides due to runoff from agriculture and industry.

Different people turn to water filters for their countertops, or pitcher type filters. While these filters will reduce the level of contaminants and increase tap water quality, they still do not eliminate many of the most dangerous synthetic chemicals found in most tap water. Additionally, while the systems are inexpensive to purchase, the cost of filters make them an exorbitant monthly expense.

The best way to eliminate tap water contamination in your home is through a home water filtration system. There are many of them out there. The most low-cost systems use reverse osmosis methods for cleaning the water of minerals, chlorine, and other contaminants. However, these systems will also neglect to eliminate the more harmful synthetic chemicals.

The best way to improve your tap water quality is through the use of a home water filtration system that uses dual carbon based filters. Carbon based filters are the only type of filter that is recommended by the EPA for elimination of harmful tap water contaminants. Dual carbon based filters are more likely to eliminate more of these contaminants than a single stage filter alone. In fact, multi stage filters eliminate up to ninety eight percent of the contaminants found in most tap water.

Rob Barrie is a water filter researcher who has been studying water filtration for over 5 years. You can learn more about alkaline drinking water filters at http://www.watersos.net/Ionized-Alkaline-Water-Filters-p/100.htm.