Water – it’s one of those essential life giving resources that you just can’t live without. Much of the world doesn’t have access to clean, safe water. In North America, we have what most people believe to be great quality tap water. What we don’t realize is that our tap water, while not unsafe, has a lot more in it than we bargained for. Things like pesticides, choline, hormones, and even trace amounts of plastic and prescription drugs. Not exactly what you want to be ingesting.
Tap water isn’t as clean as we believe
In most cities, the water treatment plant cleans the water for the city and sends it out to all buildings on the water pipe network. What leaves the plant isn’t what arrives in your tap. Why is that? Well, along the way, your water picks up all sort of goodies in the pipes. Contaminates like chemicals caught up in the run off water, pesticides and other carcinogens. Not good. Not good at all. Even the water that leaves the plant isn’t pure as it’s treated with things like chlorine and fluoride.
But really, your water is gross
Spring time is the worst time for water quality because of all of the run off water. Water treatment plants dump chlorine into the tap water in order to clean it and what ends up in your tap smells like a swimming pool. Gross! Not to mention all of the trace contaminates like lead and micro-plastics that find their way into your water on a daily basis. They slip through the cracks because the treatment plants aren’t looking for them, or they aren’t regulated, or they are picked up in the pipes. Don’t believe me? See here:
Tap and Bottled Water in Canada
Is bottled water any better?
In a word, no. It’s actually much, much worse. Plastic bottles end up back in landfills, in our oceans and littered throughout the country. The bottled water itself is highly unregulated and contains many of the contaminates that you are hoping to avoid consuming by buying your water. It is very wasteful and you never know what you are really drinking. See a study done here – mmmm microplastics:
What’s the solution to healthy water?
Some different options for purifying your water
https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/bottled-water-microplastics-1.4575045
So what can you do? The best solution is to install a whole home water filtration system that purifies the water coming out of your tap. These systems are installed by professional distributors and hook up to your hot water tank and main water supply. They usually also include an under water filtration system that uses reverse osmosis to purify your drinking water. Your drinking water then is run through a separate tap beside your main one on the kitchen sink.
If you are looking to clean up your drinking water, there are three main ways that you can do it. There is the reverse osmosis option that is installed under your sink, a water filter jug or pitcher, or a counter top filter.
- Under counter reverse osmosis : This is a great option and the most effective one at that. Your drinking water will be as pure as it gets. Unfortunately, these are also the most expensive and need someone to come out and install it, so they are cost prohibitive for many people. It’s a worthwhile investment though.
- Water Jugs If you are short on space and budget, you can always just purchase a water filter installed in a pitcher. It will work alright in a pinch, but some contaminates will still remain. Still though, it’s better than nothing and is the cheapest option.
- Countertop filters These are systems that sit on top of your counter and take up minimal space. They are really good at cleaning your water and don’t have any permanent fixtures which is good if you are renting or not sure how long you will be staying in your current home· They are the mid range price point and can be a good option for many families.
My favorite water filtration system.
My absolute favorite Water Softener Edmonton and whole home water filtration system is the Canature system provided by Canadian Quality Home Services. They offer a few different water filtration systems, which meet a variety of different budgets and needs. They can also customize your drinking water if you have a well or live in an area where the water isn’t ideal. They are a wonderful company and I highly recommend getting in touch with them.
Edmonton Water Experts, Edmonton AB, 780-900-3030