Water is life. Literally. Having access to clean drinking water can make an extraordinary impact on your health and well-being. Not having clean water for drinking and cooking can result in illness and even death. The secretary general of the UN reported in 2014 ” Water-related diseases kill a child every eight seconds, and are responsible for 80 per cent of all illnesses and deaths in the developing world –- a situation made all the more tragic by our long-standing knowledge that these diseases are easily preventable.” [Source: United Nations]
The fact is that we don’t really know what is in our tap water and municipalities only test water for certain contaminants. This combined with an infrastructure of ageing pipes means that you could be dosing yourself with harmful chemicals and heavy metals each time you have a drink or use water to cook with.
Contaminants in tap water can vary significantly and include hormone mimicking endocrine disruptors, chlorine, bacteria, viruses, protozoans(amoeba), organophosphates and even heavy metals such as cadmium, lead and copper.
When you drink polluted water, your body needs to work harder to rid itself of toxins. This depletes your immune system and lead to problems such as infections, lead poisoning etc. The solution is to purify your water at point of use. You need to purify your water if you:
- Harvest rainfall or borehole water
- Use water from a dam, river or stream
- Use municipal water
We expect to see an increasing focus on water security in the future and it is therefore important that you can be assured your water is not only safe but good to drink.