Let me tell you a quick story.
In 1992, Tucson, Arizona began pumping treated water from the Colorado River through a 330 mile canal to 84,000 homes in the city. The Central Arizona Project, or the CAP water project as it is called, caused damage in excess of $2 million dollars to private residences.The damage, from rust and corrosion inside the galvanized pipes common in the plumbing under the city streets and in homes to break loose.
CAP water has a different mineral composition than the well water that Tucson had grown accustomed to using. Not only did the “new” water from the city’s big project damage infrastructure in addition to homes, “it looked brown and smelled brackish,” said long time residents who recalled the event at a 2001 town meeting. It made me wonder, “What is in tap water?” Obviously, where it comes from makes a difference. This was apparent, hearing the stories going around the packed room of the meeting.
Being fairly health conscious, I felt impelled to find the answer to my query. I consulted a variety of sources, starting at the University of Arizona library. I was interested, if not sickened, to find some shocking answers. Tap water contains microorganisms, home and industrial chemicals, and even radionuclides. It’s no wonder that we refer to unfiltered water as “hard.”
In response to my findings, I began filtering my water at home. I always had on backpacking trips with the kids. Why not at home? Why wouldn’t I ensure the purity of the tap water in my home for my family? The idea of commercially bottled water seemed to be a waste with a leftover plastic bottle in my hand and then in the waste basket and then in the landfill. Then I thought, why filter only our drinking water? We bathe and wash clothes in this, as well as drink it. So, my quest to find the best whole house water system started.
Recent technology has made multi stage carbon filters perfect for whole house systems. I checked out reverse osmosis systems, but they only remove unhealthy inorganic compounds and healthy trace minerals that give water its good flavor. The distillation filters take out things like lead and calcium, and they kill bacteria. That’s great, but some harmful chemicals get left behind.
I find that multi stage carbon filtration works best to get out the unhealthy elements of what is in tap water. Recent technology has made multi stage carbon filters perfect for whole house systems. Multi stage carbon filtration systems ensure the purity of tap water by using carbon filtration, ion exchange, and sub micron filtration right at the tap. They filter out lead, chlorine, VOCs, MTBE, and cysts.
These systems retain essential trace minerals in the water you drink. That means healthy drinking water, softer hair and skin, and cleaner laundry. No more “hard” water. My quest ends here, but the quality of life that my family and I experience continues because of this type of water system.
So, what is in your tap water? More importantly, which water system will you purchase to ensure the purity of tap water in your home for your family? The answers are clear to me. I am confident they are clear to you too.
