It would be nice to have some kind of mineral supplement which will safely chelate the evil fluoride out of the body and prevent any kind of adverse affects of fluoride.
I am still not able to avoid fluoride in water. its there, I know the dangers and I am drinking it. I know that Distillation and Reverse Osmosis are 2 methods to remove fluoride from water. But for some reason both these methods dont appeal to me. Distillation is slow, consumes tons of electricity and RO is wastage of water. Plus both Distilled Water and RO water are demineralized.
I drink BRITA filtered water which removes some contaminants but not all.
I am wondering if supplements like Magnesium/Boron should be able to safely chelate all the bad fluoride out of the body via the kidneys...
PS:
I am completely avoiding fluoride toothpaste for the past 8 months or so. I am using plain baking soda for my teeth burshing. Recent visit to dentist showed that my teeth are in excellent shape. No problemo.
My hubby bought this carafe for water at his work place....I'm anal about carry my water everywhere but he takes rapid transit to work and won't carry glass jugs with him.
It's called aquaspace and looks like a Brita filter but uses bone char for the medium. Bone char is used in Africa for cheap filtering where natural fluoride is huge problem. The disadvantage is that water must sit in it for awhile to pull out Fluoride...i.e a shower filter running hot water through would not work.
I think he paid around $50 for carafe. Here's his emails with the company ...scroll to the bottom and work your way up so it makes sense. (ignore the "i'm allergic to aluminium" statement...I've never heard of this and guess Curt made it up to get an answer......)
website for this carafe.... http://aquaspace.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=65&osCsid=4bb1eda8690aba7bde85ef6ca231922d
Lynn
Hi Curt,
The suggested break in is to soak the filter for 15 min to hydrate the
media then flush the until (backwash) by holding the bottom up to the
faucet to flush out the fines.
I do suggest you order a special order Carafe that we make using 100%
bone char. Under low pH water conditions activated alumina could produce
an aluminum hydroxide which is a form of aluminum. For all practical
considerations you will get about the same fluoride reduction from the
"all bone char" unit as our standard CA-100F.
Hope this helps,
Michael
_________________________________________________________________________
Sent: Monday, April 02, 2007 11:00 PM
To: Aquaspace
Subject: Re: CA100f: does it contain any form of alumina/aluminum?
Thanks for the info! We're interested.
What is the suggested tactic for break in of the alumina filter to
reduce the fines intake?
Aquaspace wrote:
> Hello Curt,
>
> I have just returned from a week of travel, so I apologize for the
> tardy reply.
>
> Our Carafe CA-100F is made up of Activated Alumina, Bone Char and our
> Aquaspace media. BOTH the activated alumina and bone char medias are
> effective for the reduction of metals and fluoride. The Carafe does
> not give off any Aluminum, however there are activated alumina fines
> which are given off in initial use of the product.
>
> Although aluminum is made from activated alumina it requires a
> considerable amount of energy to produce the metal Aluminum from the
> alumina. However the aluminum ion is found in both aluminum and
> activated aluminum.
>
> It is possible for us to make a Carafe as a special order using only
> Bone Char or we can use an ion-exchange media which is effective for
> fluoride reduction, however is more expensive and the capacity (gallon
> rating per filter) would be much lower than the adsorptive medias we
> now use.
>
> Due to the characteristics of the filtration parameters for flow rate
> makes it very difficult to filter a shower at the point of use for the
> reduction of fluoride unless we use a small tank which we place on the
> floor and run a shower hose down to the tank and then back up again to
> a shower wand/spray head.
>
> We have found that chemically sensitive people have various thresholds
> and the more sensitive they are the bigger the filter required to
> alleviate the problem.
>
> The best suggestion is to provide you a Carafe made only of bone char
> for drinking water and if you find that works for you then you can
> consider a unit as described above for your shower.
>
> I hope this answers your questions.
>
> Thank you for your interest in AQUASPACE!
> Michael
> Technical Service
>________________________________________________________________________________
-----Original Message-----
>
> Sent: Tuesday, March 27, 2007 10:46 PM
> To: Aquaspace
> Subject: CA100f: does it contain any form of alumina/aluminum?
>
> Does your CA100f contain any form of alumina / aluminum in it's action
> to remove fluoride? Do you have more technical details on it's
> fluoride removal technology? I'm allergic to aluminum, yet need to
> eliminate fluoride from my environment.
>
> I could use a shower filter that removes fluoride.
>
> Thanks, curt
>
thanks this is very interesting. after reading thru the emails i am still unsure about whether or not the filter disperses aluminum into the water? if i read it correctly, the filter does initially disperse aluminum, but then stops? do you know?
Curt couldn't get a definitive answer from them on this so I would guess yes it does.
Here's a few more stories that make me suspicious of it.
I also talked to someone who sold multi-pure filters and she tried to get independent testing results on alumina filters for fluoride. She couldn't find a thing so suspected yes alumnia or something formed from it leaches into the water.
And a friend who uses a royal Dalton filter for fluoride on her water tested extremely high after a year or so for aluminum in her hair. I'm suspicious of her filter although she didn't seem interested in investigating this further.
Curt had the aquaspace carafe filter made with just bone char...they will do this if you request it. I don't know what that means in terms of how much Fl makes it through but I told him it's still probably better than unfiltered.
btw...aluminia is used in many city water filtration system to flocculate out solids.
So if this is true that it's leaches Al then most of us are getting some no matter what.
Silica is supposed to help chelate out Aluminium although I've no idea how...simply one of those things I've read a few places with no supporting evidence.
well, aluminum will bind very quickly with fluoride, forming aluminum flouride, which is just about the LAST compound you would ever want to ingest, as the fluoride will serve to escort the aluminum into your brain, which puts you at great risk of alzheimers and all kinds of other disorders. the fact that your friends hair tested high for aluminum illustrates this quite well.
but you are probably right about cities using alumina filters.
both boron and calcium bind readily with fluoride. i am sure the bone char is high in calcium which would mean it does leach out some fluoride, but exactly how much i would have no idea. i am really not a big fan of ingesting boron in the form of borax, but it may be less toxic to add a tiny pinch of borax to the water to bind the fluoride than to leave the fluoride in there. just a thought.
F.A.N. Discussion Forum > Activated alumina filters
I have recently been searching for a filter that removes fluoride. I had been under the impression that the only filter which could remove fluoride is reverse osmosis. However, in searching the net, I have read that "activated alumina" filters can also effectively remove fluoride. Is this true, and if so, would you recommend them?
August 18, 2006 | Unregistered CommenterAnon
Activated alumina filters can, indeed, remove most of the fluoride.
One of the concerns I have though, is the possibility that some of the alumina (i.e. aluminum) in the filter could end up getting in the finished water. This would be particularly undesirable if it caused the formation of aluminum-fluoride complexes, which can be more toxic than aluminum or fluoride by itself.
Unfortunately, little research seems to have been done to study this issue. A recent report from the European Union does suggest though that it is a possibility under some conditions. To quote:
"The panel found that some aluminium is released in the treated water, but this can be kept to a minimum under the right processes." See: http://www.fluoridealert.org/news/2636.html
>>> There is NO ACCEPTABLE LEVEL OF ALUMINUM - Keeping it to a minimum is NOT good enough! <<<
http://www.sonic.net/kryptox/AL/AL.htm
Aluminum and Fluoride
Video on, "Aluminum Fluoride G-Proteins and Altzheimer's Disease," August 5, 2001
Three water Fluoridation Studies: 80% of Lab Rats Dead Before Study Completion -- USEPA Conceals Study Results from Public, November 11, 2000
Death knell for fluoridation? Bruce Spittle, M.D. and Albert W. Burgstahler, Ph.D., Fluoride, 31(2) 1998, pp. 59-60
Research links low levels of fluoride and aluminum to Alzheimer's and kidney damage
Newly discovered toxic interaction of fluoride and aluminum in tap water is the death knell of fluoridation
Combination of fluoride and aluminum has unforseen effects in drinking water
Tragedy and HypeSoy products are an unsuspected source of excess aluminum, May 11,2000
Aluminum, fluoride and hormones, IFIN Bulletin number 28, December 15, 1999
Abstracts on aluminum and fluoride
Alzheimer's disease and dementia
>>I've copied the info above with the link; if you go to the site, there's links to all the articles. Any amount of fluoride + Any amount of aluminum is a deadly/dangerous combination. PLEASE make SURE that whatever filtration device you use provides a guarantee of elimination of BOTH fluoride & aluminum <<
Uny...did you see my post above on how I can't get a difinitive answer on alumina filters??? Something smells fishy about them so I avoid. You can have these bone char filters made without the alumina ...Curt's is. Now where the bone char comes from is the next question.....
We didn't drill down that deep as it's a never ending hole of problems.
Our house drinking water is glass bottled from Arkansas. It's a total ridiculous waste of gas to buy water trucked into Atlanta from Arkansas but it's the only source I could find of clean non-plastic stored water. I have 5 five gallon glass bottles delivered a month and use it for all cooking and drinking. We're going to add a whole house bone char/charcoal filter for bathing and washing...to the tune of mucho buckos.
The whole water situation makes me sick I'm so frustrated with it. Just leave the d*mn fluoride out and I can deal with the rest with regular filters.
Yep, something does seem to smell a bit fishy...and I'm like you, if I can't quite figger out what exactly that smell is, I always choose to walk away from it.
Wow, getting all that bottled water to ya has to be a fairly major expense. I'm guessing there's some reason why you don't choose to 'go distilled'? You could buy a BIG distiller for (I'm guessing) just about the same amount of money you spend on 3-4 months worth of bottles. I've read so much on the benefits/non-benefits of distilled water, I'm just plain pooped. But I have read a couple of studies that seem to have proven that the minerals taken out of the water by distilling, add up to about the same (per gallon) as the minerals found in a grain of rice or two. And as far as the "energy" of the water, my honest thinking is that by adding a few grains of rice, a rock, a few sprouts (anything truly natural and organic), the water is pretty much re-energized. Andreas used to say that even touching it would restore it's 'energy'.
We've got an undersink RO for drinking/cooking ($300-$400) range; we haven't yet had the water tested (maybe next 'filter change'), but the specifications were great. We've been VERY pleased with it.
We live in an old/tiny farmhouse that was MOVED to it's current location in 1901...and the plumbing has been 'jury rigged' throughout the house for decades (the original house had NO running water; then it didn't have an indoor bathroom until the late 1950's). So PART of our water is fluoridated (Rural Water Co-op) and the other part is well-water (super high in calcium/lime -argh- and just bordering on the 'acceptable' level of fertilizer/pesticide/herbicide poisons). We run the well water into the RO, but it's gonna be almost impossible to change the bathroom to the well water (and I don't know which is worse, the well-water with the farm poison or the Rural Water with the fluoride...grrr), so we HAVE to start looking for a whole-house something or other.
If you don't mind me asking (or telling), how much is your whole-house filter system going to cost? At this point (or some point), I'm honestly considering saving up 'big bucks' and thinking about a HUGE distiller or whole house RO. I agree SO much!...I'm just totally sick of this whole "can't even get clean WATER to drink or bath in" thing!! And I live in the friggin' sticks on a lil' farm in Iowa, and I've got a spring fed well...and it's STILL got fluoride in it from the pesticides!!!!
GRRRRR. I may be 'sick n' tired' of the "fight", but they're not gonna poison me and take the health away from me n' my hubby without a HUGE war!
Trapper I believe leaves the water in a glass jar in the sun for a day... not sure if he allows the moon cycle to hit it or not.
I have also heard it is best to leave the jar in contact with the ground while one does this.
There are other things he does, but I cannot remember if they are consistent or not and I think his best description was lost in the crash... wait for him to chime in.
I was on the verge of ordering Aquaspace's Fluoride filtering carafe when I stumbled on this thread - just in time! Thank goodness!
I've known about Doulton filters for awhile so I read the specifics today and saw that they also use activated alumina to filter fluoride. I sent them an e-mail asking if they could tell me why it would be safe to use this for filtering water. I received this very prompt reply:
"Although there is some speculation that a trace amount of alumina can leach from the media to the filtered water, there hasn't been any scientific confirmation of this. However, if there is any leaching of alumina residue in to the water, it would be trapped by the ceramic filter in the final filtration stage. We sell the A-2 (Activated Alumina) filters as a specialty filter that are part of a dual or triple housing system in which always has a Doulton Ceramic Filter as a final polisher, and in itself has the capability of removing micro-contaminants as well as inorganic/organic chemicals and heavy metals. However, this filter alone does not have the capability of high fluoride removal, hence the reason why we also use activated alumina. If you still do not feel comfortable using this filter, try the B-2 (heavy metal/fluoride filter) which is a highly activated catalytic carbon filter. This too will significantly reduce fluoride as well as heavy-metals and arsenic. In any case, the medias that are used in all of our filters are NSF approved and are industry standard. I hope this helps and thank you for your inquiry."
I think our cost on bottled water is around $50/month so not hideous but not good either. It's Mt. Valley Water from Arkansas and is the stuff used in the detox clinics for people with chemical sensitivities.
I've got friend with an autistic child who did all the water research and decided this is the best course so I trusted her research. She's got a degree in theoretical mathematics and is home full-time teaching her children and working to get her son back on track. I've never met anyone who pulls apart research like this woman...she's utterly amazing.
I have folders on water and can never get to the bottom of any of it. My mother does distilled water and does fine. (side point...she also invested in one of those water alkalizers based on somebodies cancer story...her blood tested way too alkaline when she was using it and she felt horrible too)
So when I was trying to figure out what to do on our water we first bought a multi-pure sink filter to the tune of $300. Then I bought a alumina filter to add on...then stupidly did the research after spending $80 on that. I got rid of it....
Then I started calling filter companies all over the country trying to get to the bottom of what to do. OMG...talk about a mish-mash of stories.
Here's some of what I found out but don't take this as the final answer....just what different filter manufacturer's have told me when I drilled down:
-plain ole activated carbon filters will reduce fluoride to a certain extent depending on the acidity of your water and the age of the filter. Brita filters work extremely well in the beginning but taper off quickly.
- it's possible the reason RO reduces fluoride is because the water is pre-filtered through carbon. The fluoride molecule is extremely small and RO works by physically keeping out particles with a membrane. One filter company told me the water molecule and fluoride are so close to the same size he thinks both make it through the filter. The tests on RO are done while the filters are fresh and he believes it's actually the charcoal pulling out the fluoride. You need tests done on a RO filter that's a few months old with an old charcoal pre-filter. I can't find hide nor hair of that information so I'm thinking the filter guy was correct.
- running hot water quickly, i.e showers, cut channels through the charcoal filters and they quickly lose their ability to absorb stuff and clean water. So these activated shower filters are not useful for long. Again the tests are done on new filters not ones after a month of continual use.
- finding a company that does independent testing is like looking for a needle in a haystack. They often just use each other info. off websites...call and ask who did their independent tests to see what I mean.
- Brownstein is working on a whole house filter for fluoride but it's not on the market yet. This is brand new so the person who told me still hadn't talked to the filter company about getting it. I need to follow up with her and see what's come of that and what the medium is....bone char seems to be the only good solution.
if I think of more I'll post....this is why I gave up and went with bottled for now.
then I cut back on my long hot showers and only soak in hot water if I'm doing mag baths.....however I think the chances of getting fluoride and god knows what else in are high.
Uny...the one I was thinking of is $1700...aiyee. It's the one on aquaspaces site. However I emailed asking for independent testing and testing on water done after a 3 months of normal use on the filter...never got a reply.
Also want to know where the bone char comes from....i.e guessing it our local US slaughter houses so what's in the bones of these animals and what goes into my water from them....heavy metals maybe???
I need to call this company and force some answers out of them..just haven't.
Right now I've got three potential companies I need to look into:
1. aquaspace...just mentioned above.
2. the one Brownstein is supposedly working with for a whole house filter
3. a company in Marietta Ga that advertised a whole house Fluoride reduction filter for around $1,000. This is only 30 minutes from my house so my summer goal is to drive out their to sit down face to face and find out what goes into their filter. It's possible they can make the filter to suit me.
Does this help...probably not...just gives you a headache like it does me????
Although I think you should hold off on RO whole house until these newer filters coming out get sorted out.
One more thing....I looked up the filters the UN has tested for 3rd world countries with natural fluoride problems. Coconut charcoal was in the list so it's got to do something or it wouldn't have even been considered. I would like to know why it got rejected but never could find that information.
Development, optimization and promotion of simple and low-cost fluoride removal methods
Download this document
Background
Fluoride is the 13th most abundant element in the earth crust (625 mg/kg) and often has a natural rock-derived origin in drinking water (Koritnig, 1951). Different minerals and their corresponding rocks, such as granites, basalts, syenites, shales etc., can contain high fluoride concentrations. Groundwater, interacting with these rocks, can dissolve fluoride and pose a health risk if used for drinking water supply.
Often drinking water is the main source of total fluoride intake, especially in areas where fluoride concentrations in groundwater and/or surface water are high. However, in some areas foodstuff or indoor air pollution, due to burning of coal, may make significant contributions to the daily intake of fluoride (e.g. Nielsen and Dahi, 2002; Ando et al, 2001). The WHO international guideline value for fluoride in drinking water is 1.5 mg/l. In hot climates this value is more stringent and a range between 0.7–1 mg F/L is recommended (WHO, 2004), due to higher water consumption. Different fluoride experts suggest the fluoride threshold concentration should be lowered to 0.5 mg/l (e.g. participants comments on WHO draft publication “fluoride in drinking water”, 2000; Heikens et al, 2005).
Excess fluoride intake causes different types of fluorosis, primarily dental and skeletal fluorosis. White line striations followed by brown patches and, in severe cases, brittling of the enamel are common symptoms of dental fluorosis. Skeletal fluorosis first causes pain in the different joints, then limits joint movement and finally causes skeletal deformities, which become particularly acute if fluoride uptake occurs during growth. Since these ailments are incurable, fluorosis can only be mitigated by preventing intake of excess fluoride. According to estimates of UNESCO (internet source, status January 2007) more than 200 million people worldwide rely on drinking water with fluoride concentrations higher than the present WHO guideline value.
For several decades, different fluoride removal techniques have been studied in various different countries. Nevertheless, implementation especially in developing countries is sparse and most often restricted to limited areas.
Bone char defluoridation
In 1928, Wayne suggested the use of bone char to reduce the fluoride concentration in water. Hence bone char defluoridation was one of the first defluoridation methods at all. The chemical composition of bone char is dominated by hydroxyapatite (Ca5(PO4)3OH) with a significant carbon content (3-5 wt%).
Bone char is an effective filter material for the removal of fluoride, provided the bone char is of high quality. “Unless carried out properly, the bone charring process may result in a product of low defluoridation capacity and/or deteriorated water quality” (Dahi, 2000). Production of high-quality bone char requires much practical experience..
The Catholic Diocese of Nakuru, Water Quality Section, Kenya (CDN WQ) has successfully developed and is currently producing, implementing and disseminating simple and low-cost defluoridation units, using bone char as a sorption medium. The following production steps are carried out to obtain high quality bone char and to guarantee successful treatment:
· Charring: During the charring process organic impurities are partially mineralized and the specific surface area of the bones is increased. Oxygen content, temperature (particularly temperature distribution in the furnace) and charring time are the most important parameters that determine the quality of the bone char.
· Crushing and sieving: After charring the bones are brittle and easy to crush. CDN WQ developed a crushing machine that replaced the laborious hand crush. Sieves are attached to the machine that enables the separation of the crushed bone char into three different fractions.
· Washing: The bone char may still contain organic impurities and dust from the crushing process that is removed during the washing steps. NaOH and CO2-solutions are used to wash the bones.
· Drying and packing: For safe storage and facilitation of transport, the bone char is dried outdoors, packed and stored, ready for use.
Household units
Two different designs of household units are available: A defluoridation bucket (20 L) containing bone char and a combined household unit that removes microbiological contamination, heavy metals and fluoride (Picture 1). A monitoring survey, conducted in October 2006, showed that 32% of the household units had a fluoride removal efficiency of above 99%. In 80% of the household units the fluoride concentration in the treated water was < 1.5 mg/L. According to interviews carried out with the users, the bone char of the household units that exceeded 1.5 mg F/L have never been regenerated, hence the filter medium is saturated with fluoride and further uptake is reduced.
Almost all cane sugar refineries require the use of a specific filter to decolorise the sugar and absorb inorganic material from it. This whitening process occurs towards the end of the sugar refining procedure. The filter may be either bone char, granulated carbon, or an ion exchange system. The granular carbon has a wood or coal base, and the ion exchange does not require the use of any animal products (2).
Bones from cows are the only type used to make bone char. According to the Sugar Association and several large sugar producers, all of the cows have died of "natural causes" and do not come from the U.S. meat industry. Bone char cannot be produced or bought in the United States (3).
Bone char is derived from the bones of cattle from Afghanistan, Argentina, India and Pakistan. The sun-bleached bones are bought by Scottish, Brazilian, and Egyptian marketers, who sell them to the U.S. sugar industry after the bones are first used by the gelatin industry (4).
Bone is heated to an extremely high temperature, which results in a physical change in the bones composition. The bone becomes pure carbon before it is used in a refinery.
Refined sugar does not contain any bone particles and is therefore kosher certified. The bone char simply removes impurities from the sugar, but does not become a part of the sugar.
Individual pieces of bone char, like granular carbon, can be used for several years. They must be continuously washed to remove the sugar deposits. Companies that use bone char claim that the char is more economically feasible and efficient than other types of filters (4).
Many cane refineries use bone char. Domino, the largest sugar manufacturer, uses bone char in the filtration process. The cane refineries of Savannah Foods, the second largest sugar manufacturer, also use bone char. California and Hawaiian Sugar employs bone char filters in addition to granular carbon and ion exchange filters. All these companies use the bone char in the refining process of brown sugar, powdered sugar (sugar mixed with corn starch) and White Sugar .
the more i look into RO the more i dont like it. this link says it can encourage bacteria growth due to the slow process, and he doesn't believe its very affective at removing fluoride.
RO is basically a filter with very small pores and water is forced
through
under pressure. It's a slow system, producing filtered water gradually
and
storing it in a tank. Here are the problems.
1) The filter material, which has _very_ small pores, allowing through
only
those molecules of atomic weight less that about 180 (water is 18), is
made
in a high tech process. There are two kinds, "Thin Film Composite"
(TFC)
and "Cellulose Acetate"/"Cellulose Tri-Acetate" (CA/CTA). The second
is
preferable on a techinical basis because it is not as easily degraded
by
chlorine as the first. Problem is that the process necessary to make
such a
thing involves the use of some nasty chemicals:
[From Lono Kahuna upua A'O's book "Don't Drink the Water", second
ed. 1998, ISBN 0-9628882-9-x]
A major question about RO systems using CA or CTA membranes
recently
surfaced through the research of Gene Shaparenko, owner of Aqua
Technology Water Stores, a company which manufactures distillers.
He
discovered that a chemical, known as 1,4,dioxane, is applied to the
cellulosic materials of which CA or CTA membranes are made.
[reported in
_The South Valley Times_, article "Lifelines", Apr 1990] Its
purpose is
to etch the small pores in the material through which the water is
filtered. 1,4 dioxane is a colorless solvent which mixes easily
with
water. It is known to be extremely toxic when inhaled or absorbed
by
skin contact. It is ranked alongside asbestos, benzene, carbon
tetrachloride, DDT, formaldehyde, msutard, gas, PCBs, TCE, and
vinyl
chloride in the State of California's Toxic Chemical List.
According to Mr. Shaparenko, no one at the state or federal level
of
government seems to know that this chemical has been routinely used
to
manufacture membranes which are used to "purify" water. Nor does
anyone
seem to know just how much of the chemical leaches into the
finished
water product, or how many gallons it takes to effectively purge
the
chemical, if indeed, it is purged at all.
This is a major concern, because the vast majority of RO systems
sold for
residential use have employed CTA membranes. Not only are they
cheper
than TFC membranes, but resistant to chlorine, and most residential
customers are on chlorinated water supplies...
He may want to know this. I am not clear what the manufacturing
process is
for the TFC membranes, but they have been around longer and they may
have
been more closely inspected for their manufacturing methods. If he
switches
to TFC then he will need to put in a prefilter to remove the chlorine
so the
TFC filter does not get degraded.
2) Another quote from the same book:
According to a study published in Canada by Canadian virologists,
[Pierre
Payment, Eduardo Franco, Lesley Richardson, and Jack Siemiatyci,
"Gastrointestinal Health Effects Associated with the Consumption of
Drinking Water Produced by Point-of-use Domestic Reverse osmosis
Filtration Units," "Applied and Environmental Microbiology," Vol.
57,
no. 4, April 1991, pp. 943-948.] it was discovered that RO systems
have a
penchant for growing bacteria, apparently because the finished
water is
devoid of chlorine and it takes so long to be made. Because the
water
sits stagnant at room temperature, sometimes for days, RO systems
become
an ideal breeding ground for bacteria, which can double their
populations
every 20 minutes or so. In their study of many types of RO
systems, the
virologists measured an average of 10,000 bacteria per millileter
of
water - 20 times the accepted level for city tap water. About a
third
of filters produced water with more that 100,000 bacteria per ml,
or 200
times more than average tap water. Some bred up to 10 million
bacteria
per ml!
The study went on to further demonstrate that, because of this
contamination (which occurs because bacteria contaminating the end
of the
dispensing faucet can be "sucked back" into the storage reservoir),
people who drink RO water suffer 10 times the number of bouts of
gastroenteritis as people who drink tap water.
The book's suggestion, if one has an RO system, is to replace CA/CTA
membranes by TFC membranes, put a prefilter like what is known as
"KDF" to
get rid of the chlorine, and add an ultra violet unit between the
storage
tank and the water dispensing faucet to kill the bacteria, and he even
suggests a carbon post-filter between the RO unit and the storage
tank.
Now, I have not looked into the manufacturing process used to make these
KDF
filters, so I don't know that they don't use something nasty too, but the
little I know so far, it seems like it might be ok (it's apparently just
a
zinc-copper alloy). Also the carbon filters include "Activated",
"Catalytic-Activated" and some of the "Catalytic-Activated" are
impregnated by
silver nitrate to keep bacteria from growing. This latter is also
poisonous
and to be avoided. I am not clear on the maufacturing process for other
"Catalytic-Activated" filters. Even the merely "Activated" ones are made
by
some sort of steam process starting from wood, coal or petroleum
products.
Those three get more distasteful as you do down the line. [Added for
this message:
Or coconut fibers - probably what we should go for.]
[Also I had a note about the availability of a] small KDF filter for
shower to get rid of the chlorine [29 bucks at HomeFocusCatalog.com, part
number 1181128, 800-624-2112 and supposedly it lasts for a year]. I'm
also
showering in cold so that I don't inhale the steam which contains all
kinds of
chlorine byproducts and fluorine (along with a whole list of others that
I
won't bother with here).
----------
CONCLUSION:
One more point on exposure. The EPA has standard methods to test
exposure to a pollutant in water. Accoring to those standard
calculations, 60% of our exposure comes through drinking the water and a
full 40% comes from a) showering (skin absorption and inhallation of
steam) and b) absorbing the pollutant through the skin which is in
contact with cloths washed in the water. Since I cant figure out how to
get the fluoride out of the water, I have taken the following measures:
1) I get my drinking water from a well tested spring. I use it to
drink, cook and wash my vegetables.
2) I get water from a well that is dependable and which I use to bathe (I
heat it on the stove, like the good old days) and wash my cloths (by
hand, it's not hard).
LOLOL....just relooked at that post and it's from a weston price list! It's the one that got me started on searching out a good water filters. Small world when I run across my own research paths and can't even recognize them anymore.
the reason i am interested in this subject is that i have been using RO water on and off for a while, and am now worried its really not that great. this filter looks very good, they claim it removes fluoride but doesn't use aluminum. the Fluoride Action Network gave it a good review.
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Minerals to chelate fluoride? 
Re: have you seen this filter? 
