I’m shocked. Most people think a reverse osmosis water system is going to give them pure water.

On one hand I can understand this. After all, most municipal water authorities use reverse osmosis water systems to produce their so-called “clean” water. In fact if you live in a city or any large town, you and your children are probably drinking reverse osmosis water in your home right now. It meets the government standards, so many people assume it is safe. Even though they also know federal standards in other areas are not very high.

And so reverse osmosis water systems for the home are big sellers.

But, know what? Even after your municipal water has been cleaned with a reverse osmosis water system it has to be cleaned more. The tiny pores in a reverse osmosis water filter system are too big and can’t block out cancer causing chemicals that have leeched into our water supplies.

According to official EPA reports more than 2000 of these chemicals have been officially recorded in tap water. While the government only insists local authorities test for 75.

The army knows this. It uses reverse osmosis water systems, but then puts chemicals into the osmosis water to get rid of bacteria.

I think many people are using a reverse osmosis water system because it does a good job of cleaning out dirt and small particles. The look and see dirty water going in and clean water coming out. But to make that clean water pure and safe it has to be run it through a second, different kind of filter.

This is because there are hundreds — thousands — of chemicals and organic compounds that come to your home with every gallon of tap water. You can’t see them, although sometimes you can smell or taste them. Your drinking water might look clean and healthy, but unless it’s been thought a second line of filters it is likely to be unhealthy. Unless your water has been bleached with chlorine. (And who wants that!)

Early in 1993 the people of Milwaukee thought their clean-looking municipal water was pure and safe. They were wrong. Unknown to anyone it had been infected with a parasite. Over one disastrous weekend more than 100 people died.

The city’s reverse osmosis water system and its program of treating osmosis water with chlorine was completely unable to stop the parasite. Water officials had followed the letter of the law, but were unable to protect their people.

Environmental groups lobby for more protection for our municipal water. But such a small percentage of public water is actually used for drinking that officials are reluctant to make every drop safe to drink. Also, decades of dumping chemical waste has resulted in huge quantities of dangerous residues leeching into many of our water systems. And this cannot be corrected quickly.

We have got to look after our own water. And there are several excellent filter systems that will do that for us. We do not have to install a reverse osmosis water system in our homes. Instead, put them aside for a time and learn more about safer systems.

Len McGrane writes about home water purifiers and pure drinking water from his web site, http://www.pure-drinkingwater.com where he gives advice and helps visitors with home water purifier systems.

When was the last time you considered purchasing a drinking water filter system?
If you’re reading this, I’m guessing that you are searching for the best possible water filter system for your family. You’ve read the articles with all the gloom and doom about our water supplies being contaminated.

You’re tired of trying to drink water from your tap and having it taste like swimming pool water.
Or you’re concerned about feeding formula to your infant; formula that is made with water that could be contaminated.

It’s not even a matter of if it’s contaminated. It’s a matter of how much is it contaminated?

I remember having a well tested for a rural property that I owned that I wanted to rent out. The tests came back saying that the nitrates were high, making it risky for pregnant women and small children to drink. It had acceptable levels of bacteria and other things that were present in the water. The water tasted great. Good, fresh tasting country water. It didn’t have that pool taste, for it lacked the chlorine that was pumped into municipal supplies. But contaminants still existed at varying levels.

I learned that even here, a water filter system was a good choice. Common farming practices of today have lead to chemicals and herbicides eventually leaching into our water systems. The earths natural filtering process just can’t remove all the bad things that are entering our systems and threatening our water supplies.

On top of that, chemicals like chlorine are intentionally added to kill bacteria. But many health problems have been found to be caused by the existence of chlorine and chlorine gas. The use of a drinking water filter system is more important today than ever. Water filter systems are found in a large percentage of peoples homes and are here to stay!

Water filter systems have become big business. People have been educated on the hazards of drinking unfiltered water. People like you are trying to educate themselves about which water filter system is right for them. Let me break it down for you.

First of all, the introduction of carbon filters has done a great service to the water quality industry.
They use natural activated carbon material to filter out chemicals present in our water.

Activated by steam and other means, Activated Carbon, derived from natural materials such as bituminous coal, lignite, wood, coconut shell etc., each have different adsorption properties .Some manufacturers use various blends of carbon to achieve specific water quality and contaminants reduction (e.g. coconut shell carbon for “sweet taste”).

When flow conditions are suitable, dissolved chemicals in water flowing over the carbon surface “stick” to the carbon in a thin film while the water passes on. The water filter system plays an important part in removing these chemicals.

This process is called adsorption. As a result of the adsorption process, activated carbon is an effective method in removing chlorine and it’s by-products (TTHM’s) and volatile organic compounds (carbon based VOC’s).

A drinking water filter system has to have a carbon filter present to eliminate most of the chemicals and other contaminants as they pass through the filter. A good water filter system will have a second sub-micron filter to remove chemicals and other contaminants down to the sub-micron level. This is all done without removing trace minerals used by our bodies and essential to our health.

You don’t have to spend the most to get the best drinking water filter system. You may want to consider more than a pitcher type model, which although they do some good in removing impurities, they don’t do as good a job as the multistage units. They can actually cost you more per gallon of use than a more costly water filter system.

So there you have it. More good information to aid you in your search for the perfect drinking water filter system. This decision may be one of the most important decisions that you make for your family as you continue to strive for better health.

Jim Riley is a passionate spokesman about the health benefits of purified drinking and bathing water. Visit his site now at http://www.water-purification-site.com to discover the purification system he endorses and why.

You may have seen water filters for shower heads being heavily advertised recently. Shower filters for copper and chlorine are becoming easier to find. At one time, water filters for shower heads were rarely seen in homes, but today, things have changed.

The notion that a home would need shower filters for copper and chlorine would seem outlandish to some. But, those who have experienced a shower with water contaminated with either would say otherwise. Once you try water filters for shower heads, it’s really hard to go back to unfiltered water.

It is doubtful that anyone would choose to bathe in a swimming pool on a daily basis, or ever at all. Why not? Most people would point out the chlorine content of the pool water. It doesn’t exactly give one that clean feeling you would want from a bath or shower. In fact, it usually will leave you with a burning sensation in your eyes. You would not want to go to work with bloodshot eyes and smelling like you have been swimming all night.

But, if you do not have water filters for shower heads in you home, you may be doing just that. You see, the chlorine content deemed safe for tap water is unsafe to swim in, according to pool experts.

But shower filters for copper AND chlorine? You might wonder what the big deal with copper is. I have never heard of copper poisoning, you say, what is the big deal? It is a good question.

Copper is poisonous, but only in large doses. Much more than you could experience in your shower water. Copper in the water can discolor your pipes, and perhaps laundry you may be doing in your home. The thing with copper is, if the water filters for shower heads in your home can filter copper, than they would also be effective against other harmful substances, particularly lead.

Not many people would ask about the dangers of lead poisoning. Lead in your water will do much more than stain the pipes or your new shorts and, unlike copper, lead can be harmful in much smaller doses.

While lead contamination in water is rare, the occurrence can rise significantly in more urban environments where the infrastructure was built at a time where construction was much less regulated and subject to shady building practices. The dangers of lead poisoning are well documented and the presence of lead can be difficult to detect. You can’t see it or smell it. If you are letting your kids bathe without shower filters for copper and chlorine and you haven’t had your water tested, you could be putting their health and yours at risk.

Shower filters for copper and chlorine together can give valuable piece of mind to anyone concerned about the quality of the water in their house. Knowing that the best water filters for shower heads reduce not only copper and chlorine, but other substances such as lead can only help put any concerned home owner at ease.

While equipping your home with these shower filters for copper and chlorine is a good place to start, anyone concerned about potential dangers in their water should get their water tested. There are many high-quality take-home kits available. Most municipalities will also test you water at no charge, if you suspect a problem. If you do suspect a problem, then chances are you do need water filters for shower heads.

Jayne Bell is the editor of http://www.HowMuchWaterShouldYouDrink.com She is fascinated by the many ways in which water is critical to good health and has researched extensively the subject of pure, safe water and the healthiest filtering technology. Her investigation has revealed the advantages of a water filters for shower heads. Visit the web site to receive the mini-course, “Five Amazing Ways to Relieve Common Health Problems with Water”

How many scary movies have you watched where the actress drops something in the disposal and then sticks her hand into the drain to retrieve whatever it is.  The camera pans to the disposal switch and you hold your breath waiting for it to get flipped by the ghost haunting the house.  Oops…there go the fingers.  It’s a gory image but one that is not unheard of,  except for the ghost of course.

Accidents happen in the kitchen.  That’s just a fact of life.  But there is a right way and a wrong way to take care of most accidents.  When you break a glass in the disposal, the wrong thing to do is stick your hand down the drain.  It’s not because ghosts are lingering by the switch either.  It’s because the blades in the disposal are as sharp as blades can get.  If you stick your fingers into the disposal, you’re going to cut them on the blades.  It’s inevitable.

The best way to get the glass out of the disposal is to use tongs which can grasp the larger pieces. (1) Then you can run water and let the much smaller pieces finish being ground and then washed down the drain.  Sometimes the problem which occurs is the broken glass gets jammed between the blades and the disposal wall.  This can stop the disposal from working.

If you can’t get the larger and medium sized pieces with the tongs, you might have to remove the bottom part of the disposal.  Then you can clear the blades of any obstructions. Once you have the disposal blades cleared again, you can put the disposal back together and then hit the reset button.  When disposals jam, the unit shuts off so the motor doesn’t get burned up.  You have to reset the unit.

Your house may not have ghosts, but it does have sharp blades if you have a garbage disposal.  The important thing to remember is you should never stick your hand or fingers into the garbage disposal drain no matter how tempting it might be.  Even if you manage to avoid cutting your fingers on the blades, you’ll probably cut them on the broken glass.

It only takes a few minutes to grab the tongs and play it safe!
Sources:

(1) http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071029114707AAOr1gC