Water Supply Worries Drive Purchase of Filter Systems

I read that the purchase of water filters is up by a lot in the past year. Reports like the one last week about drugs in the water supply will probably push even more people to consider a purchase. Whole house filters are the thing right now.

There is an expressed concern about our intake of contaminants and chlorine from our water supplies. Water filters at the tap can remove the chemicals before we drink or cook with the water. However, only a small part of our exposure to anything that might be in tap water comes from drinking the water. For example, two thirds of our exposure to chlorine is due to inhalation of steam and absorption through the skin while showering. There are shower head water filters available, but you would need one on each shower and on the bath tap for any bubble baths you plan to take.

There are also the whole house filters. You need to install them on the main waterline of your house, but they are not too expensive. Amazon has them from $35 to $300. I don’t know how effective they are or if they are really even necessary. I have read reports that the effectiveness of filters is rated when they are new and that almost immediately upon use, the effectiveness begins to decline. The makers and sellers of filters will tell all kinds of stories to support their sales. On the other hand, some of the reports I have read claim filters are unnecessary and, in real life installations, not as effective as claimed. Some of those articles, however seem to be written by people with a history of bias against claims of water dangers. Who knows what the truth is? Probably like in most things, the truth is somewhere in the middle. I do know that there are lots of very healthy elderly people who have been drinking and showering in unfiltered water for a long time. Many of them have also spent a good amount of time in highly chlorinated swimming pools.

Getting back to drinking water, you might think it safer to drink bottled water. Even if you discount the warnings about absorbing chemicals from plastic bottles, you might want to think twice. It is surprising how much less regulated bottled water is than tap water. Some studies have shown bottled water to be less reliably clean than tap water. It can be difficult to know exactly what you are getting in that bottle.

I think this subject is another one that leads back to the recommendation to eat well and live a healthy lifestyle. We should be realistic with our priorities and not stress out worrying about our tap water while consuming the U.S. average of 54 gallons of soda per person, per year. We should not worry about taking long hot showers while we continue to get our recommended daily amount of vegetables from eating french fries. Statistically, the effects of poor diet and lifestyle will probably get you long before your tap water does!