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Do I Have Pure Water? Here Is How You Find Out.

 

Do you have pure water?

This is a question that many people want to know because even in this day and age with all the technology that man has, we still have impurities in our water supply. Sometimes we have small outbreaks of contaminated water where whole cities need to be shut down because of it. So how can we tell if our water filters are working correctly? At the end of this article we will let you know of a tool that can help you to find out if your water is pure, the same tool that window cleaners who use pure water to clean with called a TDS meter.

But first I will tell you of several different types of water treatment systems for drinking water since this article is about this application.

Types of water purification systems and what they do

Our research exposes a very serious problem: every system on the market leaves you defenseless to one class of contamination or another. Only the correct combination of technologies can ensure absolute purity.

CARBON FILTERS, using granular activated carbon (GAC) or a carbon block are great (if designed correctly) at removing a long list of organic contaminants and chlorine; can slightly reduce a few toxic heavy metals (mercury), but have no capacity at all to remove dissolved mineral salts (arsenic) or nitrates.Carbon Filter System

GADGET FILTERS that attach to your faucet or fit in a pitcher typically use granular activated carbon or a small carbon block. These products are designed to improve taste, odor, and appearance. If you read the fine print you’ll find their ability to reduce contaminant levels is minimal.

TYPICAL REVERSE OSMOSIS (RO) systems (if designed correctly) will reduce, but not completely eliminate, most heavy metals and dissolved salts. RO systems perform poorly when faced with fluoride, nitrates, and radioactive particles. Contaminant removal rates are listed under optimal laboratory conditions, but in real world installations performance can vary greatly. Budget systems from home improvement stores often show drastically reduced performance in as little as six months.
Small Reverse Osmosis System

DISTILLERS can be an excellent choice, but a high quality distiller, designed to last decades, is very costly. Cheap countertop distillers don’t last, are a bother to keep clean, and leave you exposed to volatile organic chemicals that will distill right along with the water. Asbestos fibers, if present, can also end up in the distillate. Distillers produce water very slowly, require electricity, and generate a large amount of heat.

Water Distiller

ALKALINE WATER MACHINES, the latest fad in drinking water treatment, typically have carbon filters smaller than the gadget filters mentioned above, and don’t remove heavy metals like lead, arsenic, asbestos, cadmium, and mercury. Or fluoride. Or nitrates.

Alkaline Water Machine

ULTRA-VIOLET LIGHTS are added to many of the systems above to kill bacteria, cyst, and virus. But UV is a disinfectant only, not a filter. After those bugs are killed by the UV light, their carcasses and endotoxins remain. Do you really want to drink the dead remains of bacteria, cyst, and virus?

In the early 1900’s, Prof. L.C. Vincent conducted an extraordinary study mapping disease and morbidity tendencies of populations in Europe to the quality of their drinking water. Prof. Vincent’s research revealed the drinking water parameters most bio-compatible for the human body.

Better Health and Wellness Begins with Pure Drinking Water

Proper hydration is vital to good health, and water is the major medium through which our bodies eliminate toxins. The purity and biocompatibility of our drinking water is as important as the nutritional content of the food we eat.

Reduce Exposure to Toxic Chemicals

The National Institute of Health estimates our environment accounts for 50% of cancer risk. Contaminants in drinking water often act as allergens, and many confuse cellular mechanisms by mimicking hormones.

100% removal of contaminants is essential; partial reduction is not enough..

Enhance Detoxification

Pure water is the most important element in any detoxification program.

Many doctors are encouraging heavy metal detox programs to rid your body of accumulated toxins that poison cellular energy mechanisms, are associated with increased risk of cancer and heart disease, and which have strong suppressive effects on the immune system. (Remember Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring?) These detox programs are greatly enhanced when you consume large amounts of pure, drinking water; improving hydration and creating optimal conditions for health and wellness.

It is proven that proper hydration greatly improves elimination; but what good is it to consume water that contains the very toxins you want to remove? Doesn’t it make sense to drink water of the highest possible purity?

What about mineral water?

There is a common belief that mineral water is important for our health, and that because pure reverse osmosis water contains little or no minerals, it is not an ideal source of supply for our health. This has been shown scientifically to be untrue, as all of the minerals in mineral water are a lifeless inorganic form. While they may be absorbed into circulation within our bodies, they cannot be used in physiological processes to for instance build cells. According to the American Medical Journal, the bodies requirement for minerals is largely met through foods, and not through water. Only after they have passed through the roots of plants do these inorganic minerals become organic (through photosynthesis) and capable of being assimilated into our tissues as organic minerals.Mineral Water

Pure water produced by reverse osmosis has an advantage, in that it removes inorganic deposits throughout the tissues in our bodies, leading to improved health. Organic minerals are not removed by pure water, and they remain in our bodies allowing smooth physiological functioning within our bodies. What is better? Pure reverse osmosis water with a TDS 0-10ppm, or bottled mineral water with a TDS as in the above example of 225?

To give you some idea, a single glass of fruit juice provides more beneficial minerals than 30 gallons of untreated tap water.

The TDS Meter

TDS Meter to measure water purity

What is “TDS”

Lets first of all discuss what TDS is. TDS is an abbreviation for Total Dissolved Solids in a liquid, including organic and inorganic substances in a molecular, ionic, or micro-granular suspended form. TDS is generally expressed in parts per million (ppm) or as milligrams per litre (mg/L). TDS is directly related to quality of water i.e., the lower a TDS figure, the more pure the water. As an example, reverse osmosis purified water will have a TDS between 0 and 10, whereas tap water will vary between 20 and 300, depending on where you live in the world.

The materials that constitute dissolved solids in water include materials such as minerals, salts, anionic and cationic substances. They can also include pollutants such as heavy metals, and other substances such as organic materials that may have leaked into your water supply system.

So where do such materials come from?

Sources can include the following;

  • Leaves, silt, industrial waste and sewerage.
  • Metals or plastics from corroding pipes (including lead and copper) delivering water from its source to its supply.
  • Runoff from areas including fertilizers and pesticides used on farms and in the home garden, which contaminate the ground carrying water or pipes.
  • Inorganic materials including rocks and air which may contain nitrogen, iron, phosphorus, sulphur, bicarbonates and other materials, which react with metals to form salts. The salts usually dissolve to form negatively charged (anionic) and positively charged (cationic) soluble particles.

Why should I measure the TDS of water?

In the United States, EPA regulations recommend a maximum water contamination level of 500mg/L (or TDS level of 500 ppm). If this figure exceeds 1000 ppm, the water is generally considered unfit for human consumption.

The TDS meter is an excellent means by which you can regularly test your water supply, as well as your water purification system and its performance in cleaning your water. If you notice the TDS level beginning to show an increase in your reverse osmosis or other water purification system, then it is time to change the filters or cartridges. A high TDS from tap water could indicate the possibility of hard water, resulting from a build-up of scale in pipe delivery systems.

A high TDS figure represents water which could be undesirable in taste, with a salty, metallic or bitter tasting water. Remember, the EPA’s recommended maximum TDS level is 500mg/L (or 500ppm).

How does a window cleaner use a TDS meter?

In our industry a window cleaning company will use this tool to find out if the water is good enough to clean your windows with, especially on those 3rd and 4rth story windows, even on single story french windows (cut-ups). If the meter starts to read in the high teens, it means the filters need to be changed.

This article was created for our customers who ask about the pure water system we use, so that they can also be aware of the other applications and types of systems that are available to them. We hope you enjoyed this article and wish you good health.

Salvatore (Tory) Marino

Elite Window Washing.