the water filter saga

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.

Lynn

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