Why is Everyone Using Filtered Water?

why is everyone using filtered water

3 years ago when someone told us we should be drinking filtered water we thought they were being a little (ok.. a lot) OTT paranoid. How could our water not be ok to drink? We wondered… why is everyone using filtered water?!

We’ve known (and always promoted) that our bodies require water to function properly. Water makes up 70 or so % of us… makes sense, right?! But it’s taken us 3 years since changing our way of living and eating for us to properly look in to filtered water. 

We also know the whole fluoride aspect is controversial. To be honest, although the health issues caused by fluoride may or may not be proven (we’re all about questioning the advice we receive) we’d prefer to play it safe and start filtering our water.

We got on to the phone with Steve Arthy (water expert from Life Giving Water).

“Although most people in Australia drink water that is relatively clean compared to third world countries, this doesn’t mean that our tap/tank water can’t make you sick! Harmful bacteria, viruses and parasites have been contracted from municipal (tap) and tank water.” Steve Arthy, Life Giving Water

why is everyone using filtered water

We’ve been taught about filtering water with crystals (woo woo alert) and we’ve used our simple jug filter for a while. 

We know the not-so-high quality water filter products don’t in fact make the cleanest/purest water (they definitely don’t get rid of fluoride). We love our healing, pretty crystals for: display, arm candy and magical powers (hehe)… but for us, both these options are NOT enough when it comes to filtered water!

With the help of Life Giving Water we’ve been learning a heap more about the quality of the water we drink. And we’ve been drinking proper filtered water for the last month (they hooked us up with some awesome water filtering products). Seriously fascinating and kinda super glad we’ve started looking in to our water! 

“Using a quality filter will remove all the chlorine. Chlorine has some big question marks on its safety with regards to affecting the beneficial bacteria in the digestive system.

The digestive system is a hot topic right now as so many people are suffering gut-related symptoms and issues. Removing the chemicals and contaminants from your water can be a great place to start.”

As you know we don’t push our view on to anyone… we’re simply sharing our journey with you all and want to create a positive place where we can chat all things health and happiness. And good water = health and happiness!

So feel free to get amongst it and add your two cents. We’d LOVE to hear it.

We live in Canberra, Australia. So the water that comes out of our taps is known as Town Water, then there’s Tank Water and Bottled Water.

Town Water: water quality changes depending on source BUT it’s usually (see how we said usually) got chlorine or chloramines (a mix of chlorine and ammonia) to disinfect it.

We’ve got added fluoride here in Canberra. Then there’s also lead, iron and other metals that leach from old pipes and systems.

We’re not going to go on and on about the potential health risks from the individual chemicals (but maybe you’re keen to do your own research? We did). When we think about drinking and showering in these added chemicals something doesn’t feel right. Right?! 

Tank Water: doesn’t have the chemicals used in town water but it’s mostly collected from roofs and these usually have chemical/pesticide residue (oh and nasties from animals too!). We don’t know much about tank water but we’re thinking those pesticides are gross (afterall… we all diss pesticides on fruit/veg… soooo let’s not drink the stuff!).

Bottled Water: expensive, bad for the environment and then there’s the risk of BPA leaching from bottles. We have been big bottled sparkling water drinkers since forever (so this sucks) especially since Emma has had recent issues with hormones and BPA can run a muck with our hormones.

We’ve also become a whole lot more conscious of our amazing environment (the world we live in) and want to keep it as amazing as possible for as long as possible! Less plastic bottles in landfill please and thank you. The below infographic might put this in to perspective… it did for us.

FactsBottledWaterEnvironment

Here’s some fun facts about the benefits of filtered water…

  • Removes high levels of contaminates.
  • Enhances water with antioxidants and makes the water more alkaline (ours is now pH 9 and it was a 6!).
  • It tastes great… alone, ice cubes, in tea, in kombucha and in cooking!

Now, you might be wondering what we’re doing to filter our water?!

We definitely didn’t want anything too bulky or confusing. We’re using the UltraStream bench top filter and it’s perfect for us (because if/when we move/travel for long times… we can take it with us!).
 
 why is everyone using filtered water
It’s not too big for our (tiny) kitchen. And it only took us 15 minutes to figure out installation (when we say ‘us’ we actually mean Merrymaker Dad, but we know we could have done it!).
 
We also got a shower hose filter
 

“Chlorine exposure not only exists in the kitchen, but also in the bathroom.

Having a hot shower exposes you to increased levels of chlorine as the chlorine vaporises when heated. Now you are absorbing it through your skin and lungs! Have cold showers (eek!) or use a shower filter.

Especially if you have any kind of skin issues like eczema, psoriasis, dermatitis, dandruff etc. As a bonus, no more chlorine smell and your cleansing products will foam up more as the water is softer!”

We’ve only just installed our shower filter so we’re super excited to keep you posted on any changes with our showers (we assume we might notice differences with our hair washing and feeling of our skin?! But we always say, that one should not assume… so we WILL keep you posted!).
 
We now have 3 different water filter bottles, too! Now we can have clean water everywhere we go! #winning
 
Ok… it’s over to you guys… do you drink filtered water? Thoughts/questions/ideas/rants…. go ahead… let’s hear it all! Leave us a comment at the bottom of this post!
 
Always merrymaking,
 
Emma + Carla
 
p.s we just want to say that water (filtered or unfiltered) still beats any other sugar filled beverage. So don’t be freaking out on us about water… k? Ok!
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