It’s summer time and it’s HOT! People are drinking more water and trying to stay cool. This sounds like a typical seasonal occurrence, but there are risks involved if you are drinking unfiltered tap water.

Chlorine is a poison designed to kill living organisms like bacteria and virus. This is how the municipalities keep us safe from water borne disease outbreaks. It’s a necessary evil and it’s effective, but only to a point.

Have you ever stopped to think about chlorine resistant organisms; Cysts, parasites… microscopic bugs?

Two of the most common water born parasites are Cryptosporidium and Giardia. These are small protozoan which create a hard shell around themselves, which makes them resistant to chlorine. They come from animal feces in surface water and are much more common than we realize.

These cysts are most dangerous to young children, the elderly and those with weakened immune systems. If infected by these parasites you typically suffer flu like or food poisoning symptoms. Symptoms usually last for 3 or 4 days, with some cases lasting weeks or months. The Center For Disease Control estimates that 50% of the time people are diagnosed with food poisoning or the flu, they have actually been infected with these chlorine resistant bugs found in drinking water.

Here is the real story; EPA officials estimate 850 billion gallons of storm water mixed with raw sewage pour into U.S. waters every year. An additional 3 billion to 10 billion gallons of raw sewage spills accidentally every year from systems designed to carry only sewage. These spills are caused by improper connections, clogs caused by debris, construction accidents and cracks in aging pipes.

Sewage commonly gets into drinking water supplies. Run off from fields and animal feed lots is where most water borne parasites originate. In 1993 more than 400,000 people got sick and more than 100 people died within a 4 week period after cryptosporidium contaminated drinking water in Milwaukee WI.

An easy way to remove these parasites is with a sub-micron home drinking water filter. The parasites are large enough to catch because of the shell created to keep them alive, 3-5 microns in size. A quality water filtration system with an absolute micron rating of 1 micron or less is an easy, affordable solution. Drink parasite, cyst & bug free water with Aquasana Drinking Water Filters!

With the increased costs of fuel and other necessities, we are all feeling the pinch of rising prices. Between the cost at the pumps, and the higher prices in the supermarket, we are all left wondering where we can save money or cut costs.

One simple and meaningful way to save is by cutting out bottled water. By buying bottled water at the store, you are paying 80 cents to $4 per gallon of water! Why do that if there is a better, more cost effective way? By filtering your own water, you can have not only a better quality of water, but at a much lower cost… and without the harmful impact of plastic bottle pollution.

When you purchase bottled water, you are doing so assuming that what you are buying is healthier than tap water. Fact is, bottled water is only required to be AS GOOD as tap water, no better! By taking matters into your own hands you can ensure the healthy quality of your water, at a fraction of the price. With Aquasana drinking water filters, you can have clean healthy water for only 9.6 cents per gallon, at the touch of a button, in your own home and without the negative environmental impact!

You will have the peace of mind that you and your family are drinking water free from chemical contaminants, and be paying 1/10th the cost of bottled water!

Stop throwing your money away with water in plastic bottles.

Bottle your own, it’s the smart choice!

What is the first thing that goes through your mind when you see a filtration system designed for the shower?

Personally my first reaction was, why? At first I had no comprehension of the importance of filtering the water I shower in and thought it simply to be a nice luxury item. Only later did I learn that showering in filtered water is even more important than drinking filtered water……WOW!!! Curious and starving for information I decided to research the effects of showering in unfiltered water.

I learned that showering in unfiltered tap water exposes you to far more contaminants than drinking tap water does, 7-10 times more! When you drink unfiltered tap water, your liver and kidneys filter out some of the contaminants. But when you shower in tap water, the contaminants are absorbed directly into the skin and inhaled into your lungs, a much more direct route to the blood stream. Virtually all synthetic chemicals are “volatile”, meaning they vaporize faster and at a lower temperature than water. These “VOCs” (Volatile Organic Chemicals) are released into the air, creating somewhat of an invisible gas chamber in your bathroom.

Most cities use chlorine or chloramines to disinfect the water supply, which when heated evaporate into the air becoming a VOC known as chloroform or THMs. Chloroform gas is a strong irritant to the lungs linked to asthma and respiratory problems. THMs are known carcinogens that have been linked to breast cancer, colon cancer and bladder cancer. Our primary exposure to both THMs and VOCs are from tap water.

Some of the effects of swimming in chlorine are mentioned in this recent article published by MSN:

Swimming in Chlorine, Beware of hidden environmental risks while swimming.

More information on the risks of chlorine in drinking and shower water:

Water Contamination

A lot of people probably wonder what the differences are between Reverse Osmosis Water Purifiers and Selective Filtration Water Filters.

Reverse Osmosis Purification Systems or distillers waste a lot of water during their filtration process; for every 1 gallon of “purified” water, the system wastes about 3-5 gallons. The water passes through a semi-permeable membrane that blocks anything larger than a water molecule. In doing so, the system will remove some contaminants but more importantly, it will remove all of the naturally occurring minerals in the water. Mineral Content in the water improves the pH of the water. When you remove the Minerals from the water you are creating very acidic water. There have been many recent studies on the importance of alkaline(mineral rich) water and your health.

Please Read what the World Health Organization has to say on the subject of alkaline vs. acidic water:
World Health Organization Water Report

Our drinking water filtration systems take out a wide range of impurities and contaminants from the water while retaining the natural occurring minerals that give your water a healthy, balanced pH.

View the performance data sheet for our Aq-4000 Drinking Water Filter:
Aquasana Water Filters Performance

“Nowhere on this planet is there a naturally occurring source of de-mineralized water. This is because we, as humans, are not intended to consume this type of water. Nature knows best!”