Water Filters to Stop Drinking Lead and Other Contaminants

May 17, 2016 Dr Daryl Gioffre

Lemon Water So, you’re drinking plenty of water but you're still dehydrated?

I talk all the time about the QUANTITY of water, but did you know that not all water is created equal. Some water, depending on its quality, can actually absorb more than others.

In fact, alkaline water is called structured water – what does this means in English? I can drink half the amount of alkaline water than someone drinking tap water and get the same hydration!

So I thought it would be great to dive into the quality of water so that you can maximize your efforts, and your health and energy!

A couple of months ago, I wrote a blog post about how dehydration may be causing your health problems that might seem totally unrelated and how drinking enough water is the key to long-term health and vitality.

Since then, lots of you have asked what the best ways to filter water are, or if there are bottled waters that are ok to drink.

In general, bottled water is acidic and filled with BPA from the plastic bottle.

And as we’ve all seen from the crisis in Flint, Michigan, the safety of public drinking water cannot be ignored. Many people in this rust belt city have been consuming tap water contaminated with lead, which is a powerful neurotoxin.

Lead poisoning can produce lifelong health effects, and developing children who are exposed to lead even at low levels are at risk of brain damage, behavioral problems, and learning disabilities.

After seeing this disaster play out in the news lately, why anyone in this day and age would trust our public water supplies exactly as they come through the tap is beyond me.

Here are a few facts about our public water supply that might surprise you:

95% of all public water treatment plants are more than 25 years old with few if any upgrades.

All treatment plants use chlorine to “purify” water. The unintended side effect of chlorinating water to meet federal drinking water regulations creates a family of chemicals known as trihalomethanes. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) lumps them under the euphemism “disinfection byproducts” but we call them what they are: toxic trash in our water.

Scientists suspect that trihalomethanes in drinking water may cause thousands of cases of bladder cancer every year. These chemicals have also been linked to colon and rectal cancer, birth defects, low birth weight, and miscarriage (NHDES 2006).
An Environmental Working Group analysis of water quality tests in 201 large American municipal water systems in 43 states conducted in 2011 and made public last year has determined that each of these systems detected thihalomethane contamination. In short, more than 100 million Americans served by these large waterworks were exposed to toxic trash.

Only one of the systems studied by EWG – Davenport, Iowa (also the birthplace of chiropractic!) – exceeded the EPA rule barring more than 80 parts per billion of trihalomethanes in drinking water.
A 2010 study by the National Cancer Institute found that about a quarter of the human population may have a genetic susceptibility that raises the risk of bladder cancer from trihalomethanes (Cantor 2010).
The EPA has also classified “contaminants of emerging concern” in our water supply nationwide that include pharmaceutical drugs and personal care products. These endocrine disruptors are increasingly detected and there have yet to be sufficient studies on their effects on our health.
And perhaps my favorite one (well, not really!) - Recent studies actually found traces of PROZAC from urination discharge from people taking the drug that ended up in our water supply – CRAZY!

Before we get to the best ways to filter your water, I want to make sure you know the differences between the types of water you see advertised and written about.

Distilled Water is a type of purified water. It’s water that has gone through a rigorous filtration process to strip it not only of contaminants, but any NATURAL MINERALS as well (minerals = alkaline).

Though it may seem counter-intuitive, this water is not the best for human consumption, since all of the water’s natural, and often beneficial, minerals have been stripped away. Taking away the minerals actually makes your water acidic.

Spring Water is what you often find in bottled water. It’s from an underground source and may or may not have been treated and purified. Though spring water sounds more appealing (like many others, I imagine spring water coming from a rushing, fresh spring at the base of a tall, snow-capped mountain), it’s not necessarily the best water for drinking if you have other options. I’ve tested these too, and most were acidic.

Artesian Water is water produced from an artesian well like in Fiji Water. To be an artesian well, the water in the aquifer (a subsurface rock unit that holds and transmits water) must be under enough pressure to force it up the well naturally to a level that is higher than the top of the aquifer.

So what goes into the bottle, depending on the source, usually has a good supply of minerals. However, these can deplete as the bottle sits over time, exposed to light, heat, and oxygen. The pH can change for the worse as well. For example, Fiji Water on the bottle has a pH of 7.2 (alkaline) – but I’ve tested these as well and they were acidic due to the degradation process over time. Again, this is not the best option.

Purified Water is water that comes from any source, but has been purified to remove any chemicals or contaminants. Like the other types, it has its advantages and disadvantages. On the advantage side, potentially harmful chemicals in tap water are taken out. The BIG disadvantage is that beneficial minerals are taken out as well.

Types of purification include:

Distillation, which we discussed above.
Reverse Osmosis – Many people spend a lot of money on Reverse Osmosis units. Again, this is a great filtration method, but the water going IN is more alkaline than the water coming out. With that said, if you currently own one of these units, that's totally okay. You have good clean water, which you want. Add a lemon slice, or a dash of Daily Minerals, or some pH drops to bump up its pH. Now you will have good, clean, ALKALINE water!
Carbon filtration systems are the most popular types of water filters. They range from Brita water pitchers to whole-home advanced water filtration units. The type most people buy, Brita or similar pitchers, only removes certain types of contaminants and often, don’t remove them completely.

If you’re going to go this route, invest in a high quality filter that removes contaminants in multiple ways – granular carbon, a carbon block filter, and a sub-micron physical barrier.

Remember, you pay for what you get, and while these filters are quite affordable which is great, where YOU pay is in the QUALITY of the water which is 1,000X more acidic than tap water – NOT SO GREAT!
Ion Exchange Filters (aka Ionizer) exchanges natural-forming mineral ions in the water with its own ions, and in doing so, these filters neutralize the harmful contaminants. This is the best type of water filter because it gives you clean, filtered water with a pH that you can select. Many home ion exchange units combine ion filters with carbon filters for greater effectiveness. This is type of filter I have at home – more expensive, but totally worth the investment and will pay for itself over the years.
Alkaline Filters are your next best bet. They run around $300, and not only do you get good purified filtered water, but it doesn’t strip the minerals. In fact, this water has a steady pH of 9.0, excellent for drinking. I even use these filters in our shower at home. They remove chlorine, fluorine, and many different kinds of bacteria from your water, and alkalize it at the same time. Hands down, best bang for your buck. This is the type of filter I have in my Wellness Clinic.

So the bottom line is this… High-quality filters are great because they remove the bad stuff you don’t want to be drinking. However, they usually remove the good minerals along with the nasty contaminants.

That’s why it’s essential you take AlkaMind Daily Minerals every night to ensure you’re getting enough calcium, magnesium, potassium, and sodium bicarbonate. That will ensure you’re getting the most out of the water you drink.