It runs from the tap to wash our clothes, to cook our vegetables, to fill the coffee maker and slake our thirst. Water comprises over 70 percent of our body mass and is vital to our lives. But is our water safe to drink? 

The answer is a wimpy "maybe." A lot of things can happen to your water before it touches your lips. The safety of your home supply depends on the quality of the source -- and that source depends on the whims of Mother Nature and the carelessness of human beings.  Here’s the lowdown on your water and how you can make sure it is always clean. 

Consider your sources: public water systems, private wells, bottled water and home filters. How do they stack up?

Public water is safe to drink according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It is tested, analyzed and treated. But there are some notable and well-publicized exceptions. What about the news reports that some of California's public wells are contaminated with a gasoline additive and some of New Jersey’s public wells test high in radium? What about the 403,000 people in Milwaukee who were sickened in 1993 when a parasite known as cryptosporidium crept into their water supply? What about E. coli bacteria, lead, pesticides and pharmaceuticals?  

The radium problem is just a fact of nature.  When uranium in surface rocks decays, it naturally turns into radium, which moves into the ground water, which is what happened in New Jersey. Microorganisms, including cryptosporidium, are a contamination from human and animal wastes. When there are overflows of sewage and farm runoffs into the rivers and streams, these microorganisms are carried. This is human carelessness beyond comprehension. We know better than this. And many contaminants are not so easily eradicated once they are in the system. Crypto, for example, is not killed by chlorine and requires a superfine filter to remove it. Pharmaceuticals and hormones are difficult to remove as well. 

The ways in which we have to treat our water to make it consumable is also of concern.  The use of chlorine to disinfect is fraught with problems concerning its effects on humans and its linkage to hardening of the arteries. Chlorine becomes a carcinogen when it comes in contact with organic material (such as found in the water and our bodies). When Atlanta experienced the severe drought and water shortage, levels of chlorine required to kill the microbes in the water were at all time highs. 

There is also the problem of additives. Fluoride, a known toxin, has been added to our municipal water supply for years, in the hopes of reducing dental caries. It is now widely accepted that this was a tragic mistake: the number of our youth who exhibit signs of fluorosis (toxic fluoride) is at epidemic levels. Recently the decision was made by the EPA to discontinue the addition of this harmful element in municipal water supplies everywhere.

Although the EPA requires municipal water supply testing, compliance is a different issue.  As reported in USA Today, as many as 40,000 US water systems violated testing requirements and purity standards in 1997, putting 58 million people at risk. And more than a quarter were repeat offenders: Some being out of compliance with safe drinking water regulations for three years.

If there are problems with well water, it is a private problem.  Most states and the federal government don't regulate wells, which serve about 15 percent of Americans.   Runoff from septic systems, farm animals, herbicides and pesticides can be problematic and not easily corrected once the contamination occurs. Well water should be tested by the householder at least once a year and immediately for any change in odor or taste. It is too expensive to test for everything, so tailor the test to your location. For example, if you live in an agricultural region you may wish to test for pesticides, herbicides and nitrates. Test for petroleum byproducts if you live near gas pumping or refineries.

What about bottled water? The news stories reveal the deceptive practices allowed in this industry. First, it is not well regulated, in most cases not at all. It's allowed to be labeled as "spring" water, even when its source is tap water, which has simply been filtered. But perhaps the worst aspect of bottled water is the contamination of plastics into our bodies and our environment. The PBA’s and other chemicals leached from the plastic into the water are well documented as endocrine disruptive chemicals (EDC).  The epidemic of feminization of male newborns is but one aspect of this. And the toll on our environment from the mountains of plastic trash is enormous. "Plastic water" should be avoided as much as is practical.

What, then, is a safe water to drink or cook with and bathe in?  

The best water (apart from your private unadulterated mountain spring) is to filter your water at the faucet. Remember that whole house filters may be nice, but your water can only be as pure as your household pipes. Filters at your kitchen and bathroom faucets are best. You should also filter out the chlorine in the water of your shower or tub. It is known that you absorb more chlorine through your skin and by inhalation in your shower than by drinking a large glass of tap water. 

Distillation and reverse osmosis can produce pure water, but even this is not your ideal. Water that is best for us is from the natural spring.  It is this water we wish to strive for.

Natural clean water such as this has several characteristics. First, the pH is important.  Our body pH is 7.3-7.4.  The pH of filtered water is acidic at 6.8-7.0. Distilled water is even more acidic. In addition to a safe pH, natural water carries in it trace minerals dissolved in the underground aquifers that help nourish our body. The best filters will add back the necessary trace minerals, silica and salts to correct the pH to its more natural state.

Secondly, natural water carries the energy vibration of the sun. The life-giving energy of sunlight is in the far-infrared range. Far-infrared energy is taken and carried by water to replenish us. There is a Japanese water system that recognizes this importance of energy vibration and supplies it through ceramic technology to water. 

Thirdly, natural water is healthiest for us when it is flowing. The difference in flowing versus standing water is in the size of the molecular clusters. Water, due to its chemical bonds of hydrogen to oxygen, tends to cluster in molecules of 15-16. When water flows on the magnetic field of the earth, it becomes de-clustered. The H2O molecules are now in sizes of 3 to 5 that are more readily absorbed by the cells in the body. 

Have you ever gulped a large glass of water and felt too full, as if the water is still sloshing in your stomach? When de-clustered water is gulped, it is absorbed spontaneously into the cells of the mouth, throat and stomach. You do not feel over full. 

The best water systems I have found for my home and my office are the Nikken water filters. The price range is very economical and there are different models for countertop, under sink, shower and even sport bottles to create your own naturally clean water on the go. 

Consider carefully the water you consume. Since it makes up so much of what you are, you deserve to drink, cook with and bathe in the best water you can have. Think also of the environmental impact of the bottled water we use. By using affordable complete water filter systems we can improve our health and that of our planet.  For more information about the Nikken water systems visit my office or website.

Email me: fsmith@forrestsmithmd.com

For more information