Chemicals in Tap Water - Find Out the Risks of Drinking Plain Tap Water

Have you not realized that chemicals contained in tap water are odorless, colorless and tasteless? This is very worrisome, since these properties make chemicals in tap water hardly detectable.

Our body is made up of around 70% water. Actual water content inside the body depends on body weight. At any rate, water is so essential that it is difficult to maintain healthy body and prevent various diseases if someone has insufficient water intake.

Do you have access to truly clean running water in your homes?

A study conducted by the Environmental Working Group, using data collected from 1998 to 2003, has showed that running waters in 42 states in the US are contaminated by at least 141 unregulated chemicals, with an additional 119 regulated chemicals. The study has identified that the most common chemicals are disinfection byproducts, nitrates, chloroform, barium, arsenic and copper.

Chemicals to watch out

Chemicals mostly found in tap water can be categorized in various groups. Most common are the volatile organic contaminants or VOC's. This group includes many plastics, gasoline and petroleum products.

The herbicidal group is mainly composed of dioxin and lindane. Most of them are used in modern logging operations as defoliants. The pesticidal group includes DDT and malathione, among others. Most of them are utilized in many agricultural techniques, such as the elimination and control of farm pests.

Other chemicals found in tap water include chlorine, lead, asbestos and many others. Chlorine is used as an effective disinfectant. It is widely used in many local water filtration systems.

Chlorine was first used in the 1890's as an experiment to combat many water-borne diseases, such as typhoid and cholera. More recent studies have shown, however, that chlorine is a toxic chemical. In fact, it is also considered as carcinogenic, with close links to rectal cancer.

When chlorine reacts with decaying matters in water, such as leaves, bark, roots, sediments, etc., chlorine reacts and produces trihalomethanes (THM's). Examples of THM's are chloroform, bromoform and dichlorobomethanes. Many medical studies have pointed out that these chemicals are cancer causing even in very small amounts.

Lead is another equally hazardous chemical found in tap water. It stays permanently in many body tissues, especially the brain tissues. It poisons the body and causes brain damage and developmental problems among young children.

Our piping and plumbing systems play a large role in lead poisoning in most tap water. Lead is found mostly in lead pipes and lead solders. In the United States alone, 98% of households have lead plumbing, according to Boston Globe report.

Some pipes are lined with asbestos. These pipes are main sources of asbestos contamination in most household running water.

Avoiding chemical contamination urgently requires a home water filter system that is able to eliminate all chemical contaminants. In fact, bottled waters are no longer safe!

Being a relatively unregulated industry, one-third of bottled waters are worse than plain tap water in terms of quality and safety. Do you know that reverse osmosis water filtration does not also guarantee balanced water fit for human consumption? It may be able to eliminate completely all contaminants, but it also removes the healthy trace minerals are body needs.

Instead, my recommendation is for you to use multi-media water filters that use high-end carbon filters. These remove all chemical and biological contaminants but retain trace nutrients, such as calcium, magnesium and potassium. Knowing these should prevent you now from using tap water for fear of contaminating your body with very harmful chemicals.

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