What does your water contain?

13

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  • brue
    brue Forum Participant Posts: 21,176 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    edited March 2017 #62

     

    I'd happily drink Malvern Water! Straight from the rocks! BUT if i do drink bottled water I check for sodium content, I certainly wouldn't add it to water unless via a drip administered by a medic. wink

  • Merve
    Merve Forum Participant Posts: 2,333
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    edited March 2017 #63

    Well, it's better than tap water David. The general consensus of opinion is that 25% of 'bottled' water is just very well filtered TAPolena! I use filtered water on the caravan as I am non EHU and can't use my distiller. Since I posted my original photograph I have been very careful to make sure the plastic jug I use to fill it is scrupulously clean and that nothing but the tap water I fill it with is in there on transfer so that I can be absolutely sure that any foreign bodies in the distiller have come through the tap- So why are there hairs in there?  3 were found this morning and they do look like either pet hairs (which we haven't got) or pubic hairs ( and I am not in the habit of filling it in the nude!)  I kid you not, along with a white jelly substance and the usual general dirt and disgusting smell? I have the evidence of my own senses and I am not yet ga ga- Water is a substance that should be totally neutral, has no taste and no smell. I am told I am made of chemicals and that is generally true but the good Lord only chose certain chemicals. He did not choose Aluminium Sulphate, Flouride and any number of others. They are foreign to the body and therefore I don't want them inside me! Having said that, I have just returned from Scotland after visiting my daughter and their water is totally different to ours. There is no limescale in the kettle showing it to be much softer and it appears to be much cleaner. Perhaps it's just our area that has poor water quality?

  • ChemicalJasper
    ChemicalJasper Forum Participant Posts: 437
    edited March 2017 #64

    Lol Merve!

    1. The 'good Lord' did not put you there, you have evolved over millions of years from the first single cell organisms.

    2. Fluoride is natural and is found in and required by teeth and bones, whether it is added to your local water or not, as you would consume it in plant food or in say a drink of Tea (which I know you drink!)

    Tea plants readily absorb fluoride from soil an average cup contains 3 to 4 parts ppm fluoride from the tea leaf!

    ....so not foreign to the body at all!

    If you are going to science...then science!  laughing

     

  • Merve
    Merve Forum Participant Posts: 2,333
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    edited March 2017 #65

    Now I know where you're coming from CJ! I certainly believe you did develop from a one cell creature over millions of years- I didn't! Please CJ- you have a water filter!! Somewhat blows your protestations out of the water doesn't it? You do your science and I'll do mine OK? I notice you omit to mention the downsides of  consuming flouride? Like bone brittleness, bone spurs, calcified ligaments etc - I drink clean water - period! End of.

  • Merve
    Merve Forum Participant Posts: 2,333
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    edited March 2017 #66

    Oh, and please explain how hairs got through my taps if your water theories are so good? With all the BS in the world, you can't tell me that is natural or perhaps you can? Perhaps you will! If you can't, then what else is coming through?? You obviously love to misunderstand for the purpose of mischief so let me explain. My point regarding flouride wasn't about the stuff found in nature that we all know about, it was the extra flouride they put in water which is not natural although I'm sure you'll protest that it is - therefore you have the added flouride added to the natural flouride taking it to levels which are higher than they are naturally. Strong tea has been the cause of problems in the past as regards flouride so I really can't see how more flouride helps the situation. We do not need fluoridation of water and you have unwittingly helped me prove that- thank you.  Please, feel free to show your complete understanding of the science of the natural world. We are indeed lucky to have one such as you, but, I know what I see in my distiller and I know the stink it emits and all the insults and pseudo intellectual BS won't and can't change that. 

  • ChemicalJasper
    ChemicalJasper Forum Participant Posts: 437
    edited March 2017 #67

    Lol,  so you are saying that you are still a single celled organism? 😂😂😂

     There is not 'my' science and 'your' science,  there is just science.  Anecdotal heresay,  is not a version of science. 

    You clearly state that fluoride should not be in your body,  but without it you would have no bones or teeth! 

    What more can I say? 🙊

    Yes I use a filter,  it tastes better,  but not for any other reason. 👍☺

     

  • triky auto
    triky auto Forum Participant Posts: 8,690
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    edited March 2017 #68

    undecided Hmmm, I DETEST the taste of "flouride " too.Since living in Spain (then 30 years ago) when snails ,worms etc appeared in the toilet tank flush ,and in the tap aereater/filter ,i chose to purchase and drink/use bottled water .The tea/coffee tastes better ,my additives ,minerals etc come from diet ,fruit or supplements,.Also having seen the resoviors lakes ,rivers etc from which town water is supplied ,with Ducks,anglers,animals drinking "AND " contaminating,there is NO WAY  NO WAY ,would i consume what emerges from a tap yell  yell !!!!!!

  • ChemicalJasper
    ChemicalJasper Forum Participant Posts: 437
    edited March 2017 #69

     I agree open water sources are not the best! 

    Interesting you can taste the fluoride,  it is generally classified as tasteless. Typically it is the sulphur compounds that make things taste bad and smell bad,  we have evolved to detect them at very low levels because they are associated with rotting foods and death. 

    E.g. mercaptans / thiols,  which can be detected at 10 parts per billion by humans

  • brue
    brue Forum Participant Posts: 21,176 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    edited March 2017 #70

    Bath Spa water contains sulphur coming up from hot springs. What's not to like!? laughing

  • ChemicalJasper
    ChemicalJasper Forum Participant Posts: 437
    edited March 2017 #71

    Lol... Indeed Brue! 

     

    ...just don't distill that,  can't imagine what a stinky mess that would leave behind!  👍

  • mickysf
    mickysf Forum Participant Posts: 6,474 ✭✭✭
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    edited March 2017 #72

    Not sure if my memory serves me right but my 6th form chemistry seems to tell me that fluorine is both odourless and tasteless! Maybe the scientists amongst us can put me right!

  • ChemicalJasper
    ChemicalJasper Forum Participant Posts: 437
    edited March 2017 #73

    I guess it depends if you are referring to fluorine (the chemical element) or one of the many compounds?

    Elemental fluorine is an extremely reactive diatomic gas and the most electronegative halogen. At room conditions it is a pungent pale yellow gas.

    But it is highly toxic, I'm not sure many will have tasted it and lived to tell the tale!     

    It forms a myriad of compounds as it will react with almost all other elements to form both organic and inorganic compounds.

    Many naturally occurring rock crystals contain fluorine (I think it is possibly one of the top 10 elements on earth?).

    It is used in steel making, oil refining (HF, very nasty, eats all the calcium out of your bones if you get it on you), refrigeration, non stick pans (Teflon / PTFE), water fluoridation to help prevent cavities in kids teeth to name but a few.

    Fluoride is somewhat of a generic term, in terms of water fluoridation I believe it is typically fluorosilicic acid, which at the concentrations it is added to water in , is generally considered odourless and tasteless (got there in the end!)      

  • Qashqai66
    Qashqai66 Forum Participant Posts: 551
    edited March 2017 #74

    Tap water may be fine if you can tolerate it.  I for one, and I know I am not alone, cannot tolerate it and will continue to distill.

  • ChemicalJasper
    ChemicalJasper Forum Participant Posts: 437
    edited March 2017 #75

    Nothing wrong with that qashqai,  I filter myself for the same reason. 

    Wouldn't personally distill,  especially with my kids as they don't need minerals leaching from growing bones and teeth,  but tap water don't taste great,  that's for sure! 👍

  • Tammygirl
    Tammygirl Club Member Posts: 7,957 ✭✭✭
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    edited April 2017 #76

    Our tap water tastes fine to me, nice and cold and clear why shouldn't I drink it. I filter water when away from home because in certain places its very hard and doesn't taste good. Kettle doesn't like it either, would never have thought about drinking distilled.

  • ChemicalJasper
    ChemicalJasper Forum Participant Posts: 437
    edited April 2017 #77

    Exactly Tammygirl, well said!

  • JVB66
    JVB66 Forum Participant Posts: 22,892
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    edited April 2017 #78

    I think it depends on where in the UK you are,we will drink cold water strait from the tap here, but when making hot drinks we use bottled water , as the water from the taps  comes from chalk aquifiers and is very hard ,one boiled kettle full from the tap will leave  white scale in the kettle,and brown stains in the cup and makes at times tea have a strange taste,

  • JCB4X4
    JCB4X4 Forum Participant Posts: 466
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    edited April 2017 #79

    We are staying on our favourite CL about 8 miles south of Dumfries, and the water is from mains supply but even after filtering, it tastes and smells like someone has added Sheep-dip, always has. We certainly do not have this problem at home where the water is hard but tasteless, just like water really!!! 

    (I was going to put, just like, well water really! but that would have meant something entirely different!!) 

  • ChemicalJasper
    ChemicalJasper Forum Participant Posts: 437
    edited April 2017 #80

    I think there is an element of what you grew up with too.

    The water here is ok-ish,  but does not taste as good as at my mum and dads house,  but my wife,  from the opposite side of the country thinks they both taste bad compared to her parents house.... who's water I think is mingin! 😂

  • Tammygirl
    Tammygirl Club Member Posts: 7,957 ✭✭✭
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    edited April 2017 #81

    You are quite right there, I was brought up in a hard water area but moved to Scotland (soft water) when I was a teenager. I hated the water at first, it just didn't taste right. Now 51 years on I think the water that comes out of my tap to be the best tasting water there is. I can't believe folk in my own city (Perth) who buy  Perthshire water from the shops, WHY, its perfectly fine out the tap laughing

  • JCB4X4
    JCB4X4 Forum Participant Posts: 466
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    edited April 2017 #82

    I think it is probably is what you are used to as I've just been in conversation with the CL's owners wife, she tells me that she takes water from their tap to work in Dumfries, to make a decent cup of tea, as she puts it!!  Yet when we have tea/coffee when out in Dumfries we don't notice any odd/bad taste. 

       

  • Merve
    Merve Forum Participant Posts: 2,333
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    edited April 2017 #83

    An article by an independent health site. I'm not the only one who's suspicious about our water! 

    WARNING:
    Toxic Taps!


    Revealing the Dirty Secret the UK Water Industry Doesn’t Want you to Know About

     

    Dear Friend

    If you ever drink water from the tap, I’d urge you to read this message.

    It might shock you… even anger you….

    But it’s important to know what’s really going on.

    I’m going to reveal the dirty secret that the water companies try to keep from the British public.

    Read on and you’ll discover…

    Why your tap water could be contaminated by toxic substances, including slug poison, fertiliser, dishwasher chemicals and deadly parasites.
    Why what you drink every day could cause sickness, premature ageing and even weight gain.
    PLUS a way of drinking water that’s clean as a pristine mountain stream… and which actually helps your body stay younger-looking and healthier.
    Before I do, let me make one thing clear. I’m absolutely NOT going to suggest you drink bottled water, which is what most people wrongly believe is the healthiest option.

    Yes, even those expensive products in fancy packaging with pictures of Highland mountains.

    As you’ll see, drinking the bottled stuff can be just as bad for you in the long run.

    Why you’re not being told the full
    truth about water

    My name is Nate Rifkin and I’m a health researcher here at Agora Lifestyles.

    We’ve been publishing health reports, books and newsletters for over 10 years. Our mission is to look at the truth behind the mainstream health stories… to challenge what we’re told is true by the food industry, government and medical establishments.

    Water is one of the most shocking of all the health stories we cover.

    Because drinking water is something we all HAVE to do, there’s really no avoiding it. We have no choice over what’s put into the water, or how it gets to our tap.

    Worse still, we can’t see what’s going on underground – or in the boardrooms of water companies. So we have to TRUST the information we get from the people SELLING us tap water.

    And yet unhealthy drinking water can affect every single one of us. In particular it can cause problems for the elderly, young children and people with serious health conditions.

    But what’s really shocking is how little the public KNOW about what’s gushing from their taps.

    You see, for years we’ve convinced ourselves that we have the best drinking water in the world.

    Not surprising, really, as we’re told by almost everyone in authority that our water is utterly, indisputably safe.

    It might be true that our water is cleaner than many other countries.

    But clean?

    Far from it.

    Ask yourself, how does it get so ‘clean’?

    In order for our water to be fit for human consumption it goes through a harsh chemical process where additives kill lifeforms within the water.

    These include…

    Aluminium Sulphate: This is found naturally in lakes and rivers but extra amounts are added to water as a “finishing” agent to kill bacteria and improve the water’s appearance.

    Neuroscientists now have evidence which suggest that too much aluminium can speed up the deterioration of your brain cells, triggering problems like dementia.

    Chlorine: This destroys pathogens, and water-borne diseases like cholera. But debate has raged for years about its harmful effects. Some scientists say it can lead to plaque build-up in your arteries, linked to heart problems and higher stroke risk.

    Research by Birmingham University has shown that chemicals formed during chlorination can raise the risk of birth defects.

    And I’ve not even got started on the other chemicals that creep into the water supply.

    This is where I come to the dirty secret the water companies don’t want you to know about…

    Over 300 man-made chemicals have been found in the UK water supply, and yet water companies only actively monitor for around 2of them.

    So what’s in your water that you’re not being told about?

    Well, let’s not speculate. Let’s look at the facts.

    In the first quarter of 2016 alone, the Drinking Water Inspectorate found 100 failures for 13 chemical parameters in the UK's water supply.

    4% had illegal levels of E.coli – as well as stomach upsets some strains of this bacteria may cause severe anaemia and kidney failure
    8% had illegal levels of pesticides. Yes, as in those substances used to poison weeds, insects, moulds and rodents!
    And 15% had illegal levels of LEAD
    This last statistic is seriously worrying, but hardly surprising.

    Think about it...

    Any kind of water you drink from a regular tap has been through miles of old, corroding, metal pipes. This includes lead pipes.

    It's been widely established that lead piping is harmful and the use of lead piping has been banned in new-build homes for four decades. But to get to those new-build homes water travels through sections of pipe which may have been underground since Victorian times!

    And if your home was built before 1970 – well, there is a good chance that your water pipes are made from lead.

    Exposure to lead over long periods of time can cause blood poisoning, kidney damage, stomach pain, anaemia and damage to your central nervous system.

    It has even been linked to behavioural problems in children.

    This is why we no longer use lead in pencils!

    But in our water?

    Well, I guess we just have to put up with that don’t we?

    NO.

    No we don’t.

    As I will reveal at the end of this report, you can completely avoid this health threat – and not by drinking problematic bottled water (more of which in a moment).

    There’s a clever way you can not only cleanse water of ALL contaminants but also restore the levels of anti-oxidants to those of fresh mountain water.

    But first, let me show you some more horrors that might be lurking in your glass of water…

    How environmental toxins end up in
    your tap water

    As you’d expect, there are many leaks in the nation’s water network.

    Technically, these shouldn’t be a problem. The pressure in the mains is designed to be so high that water is always pushed out through leaks… rather than water sucked in from the surrounding ground.

    However, this isn’t always the case.

    A study by engineers at the University of Sheffield has shown that contaminants get into pipes through leaks when the water pressure drops and the pipes start to suck the water back in.

    This sort of pressure-drop can easily happen to a damaged section of piping.

    That’s when the system becomes contaminated with fertilisers, medicines, toiletry products and pesticides.

    For instance in 2011, a slug poison called metaldehyde was discovered in an EIGHTH of all English drinking water that was sampled.

    In that same year, researchers at Brunel University found benzotriazole and tolytriazole in 80 samples of tap water that they analysed. These are chemicals put into dishwater detergent to give your metal cutlery more sparkle.

    In other words, we could be drinking silver polish!

    Drinking water also contains traces of the hormone oestrogen which gets into the system from women who are taking the pill or undergoing hormone replacement therapy.

    This is NOT being actively filtered out by water companies.

    High oestrogen levels can lead to more fat storage in women… and in men it could damage fertility.

    All of these nasty additions to the water supply are what the Founder of Water for Health Roddy MacDonald calls ‘micro pollutants’. In 2016 he revealed:

    “It is still unknown what impact they could have on human health, even at these levels.”

    So are the water companies worried?

    You bet.

    British water companies now train their staff to locate and limit pressure drops.

    Why?

    Because they KNOW it’s a serious problem.

    They KNOW that contaminated water is getting into the system through leaks.

    And just look what happened in August 2015…

    Water panic in Lancashire!

    In Lancashire, panic spread as people discovered there was a PARASITE in the drinking water. This nasty bug, known as ‘cryptosporidium’, causes stomach cramps and diarrhoea.

    It’s particularly threatening for children and people whose bodies cannot easily eject the parasite, for instance HIV sufferers. In these cases infection can lead to death.

    The water company, United Utilities, urged residents to boil their drinking water to kill off the parasite.

    Locals rushed into the supermarkets to buy bottled water… until the shelves were almost totally cleared.

    Leona Worth from Preston told reporters: “I have two young children. I have only just heard about it on the news. I am panicking because I have been drinking water all day.”

    You might think this is a one-off… a blip…

    A single incident.

    But recall what happened to Bournemouth’s water in 2013…

    Infection in Bournemouth!

    There was a mass outbreak of gastroenteritis caused by the very same parasite – cryptosporidium!

    An investigation by the Drinking Water Inspectorate revealed that poor quality water from sewerage spill was entering the treatment plant…. but the filters were failing to stop the bacteria entering the drinking water supply.

    A few years later, Sembcorp Bournemouth Water were fined over £130,000.

    Or what about in Cornwall in 1988…?

    Mass poisoning in Cornwall!

    In 1988, the water supply of Camelford in Cornwall was contaminated with a super-dose of aluminium sulphate.

    Remember, this is added deliberately to your tap water in small amounts.

    Just this time the company got it horribly wrong.

    This incident became the UK’s largest ever mass-poisoning incident. Those who drank the water experienced urinary problems, diarrhoea, vomiting and joint pains.

    Decades later and still nobody knows the full impact. High levels of aluminium have been found in the brains of many locals who have died since.

    Of course the simple solution is…

    NEVER drink tap water.

    But what’s the alternative?

    Well, you might immediately think of bottled water.

    But bottled water is NOT the answer

    This is another area where the public is being underinformed and even mislead.

    Why?

    Mostly down to an industry that makes a lot of money from bottled water.

    The market is worth over £2.1 billion in the UK alone.

    Big businesses can sell water in bottles at stupidly high prices because they claim it’s more pure and natural than tap water.

    It’s life-giving stuff, just like you’d drink from a clean, bubbling mountain stream.

    But is it?

    A study published in the Canadian Journal of Microbiology found that even after just seven days of storage, the bacteria count in bottled water can explode a full 1,000 times greater.

    Plastic water bottles can also contain…

    Bisphenol A (BPA) – a chemical used in soft plastics to stop cracking. It can leach into water when exposed to heat. This raises level of a type of ‘bad’ estrogen is linked to prostate and breast cancers.
    Phthalates – a chemical used to make plastic flexible. Contamination is linked to liver cancer and sterility in men.
    The drinks industry would argue that these chemicals are in such trace amounts that a bottle of water is safe.

    But what about if you avoided tap water and drank bottled water throughout the day, every day, for the rest of your life?

    What would the accumulated effect be?

    And before you take ANYTHING the drinks industry say as gospel, look at this.

    In 1999 the Natural Resources Defense Council in the USA undertook an exhaustive four-year investigation, which included:

    Reviewing published and unpublished literature and data sources
    Studying the result for bottled water quality surveys
    Partnering with three independent laboratories to test more than 1,000 bottles of water distributed by 103 different brands
    Their lab results for bottled water indicated:

    4% violated Government standards
    17% violated local guidelines
    22% violated local-enforceable limits. 

    I'm sure some will still close their eyes and refuse to believe it. That's fine with me. 

  • JCB4X4
    JCB4X4 Forum Participant Posts: 466
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    edited April 2017 #84

    I was prepared to read through this but came to abrupt halt at the phrase "This is why we no longer use lead in pencils!"

    As far as I am aware or can research lead has never been use in the manufacture of pencils, except perhaps in the paint on he wooden casing.

    I can no longer take any of the rest of these claims seriously!! surprised

  • ChemicalJasper
    ChemicalJasper Forum Participant Posts: 437
    edited April 2017 #85

    Sorry Merve,  but posting psudoscience to back up psudoscience does not seem like a productive move! 

    Where are the references and citations? 

    There are none,  because there could be none,  as no scientific journal would publish any of that psudoscience. 

    Exactly as JCB4X4 states,  that "passage" is a littany of inaccuracies and made up "facts", pencils being graphite (a particular lattice structure of carbon), not lead,  being just one of the many bits of BS!

    Distill because you like it and it tastes better.... That's all you need to continue doing.  But it's not for everyone and it's not necessary for health reasons! 

  • ChemicalJasper
    ChemicalJasper Forum Participant Posts: 437
    edited April 2017 #86

    https://www.listbuildinglifestyleshow.com/087/

     

    😂😂😂😂😂

    You have got to be more careful who you trust Merve,  published scientists or marketers pushing multi-million dollar supliments sales! 

    If you send me a cheque for £100 I will send you your personalised gullibility report! 

  • Metheven
    Metheven Club Member Posts: 3,987 ✭✭✭
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    edited April 2017 #87

    Bottom of the barrel scraping now, it had more credence initially. I started but never finished reading it, just a load of implausible assertions with no facts to back it up.

  • Rocky 2 buckets
    Rocky 2 buckets Forum Participant Posts: 7,101
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    edited April 2017 #88

    pseudoscience
    ˈsjuːdəʊˌsʌɪəns/
    noun
    a collection of beliefs or practices mistakenly regarded as being based on scientific method.

    Yup, that covers it nicelysmile

  • huskydog
    huskydog Club Member Posts: 5,460 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    edited April 2017 #89

    I just drink out of a muddy puddlesurprised

  • Rocky 2 buckets
    Rocky 2 buckets Forum Participant Posts: 7,101
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    edited April 2017 #90

    Tip-filter itlaughing

  • Tinwheeler
    Tinwheeler Forum Participant Posts: 23,135 ✭✭✭
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    edited April 2017 #91

    Sometimes I wonder how I've survived as long as I have. tongue-out