A high-quality water filter is an important element of a healthy home and one of the easiest switches to make for a healthier life!
There are now great water filters available for any home type. From countertop units that work great in apartments to full under-counter and whole-house filters, it’s easy to find a great filter for your home!
Finding the healthiest and most nutrient dense food options is extremely important, but to some degree, finding the best water options can be even more important! Some sources of water can contain hundreds of chemicals and many of these chemicals can be more easily absorbed from water than from food.
What’s In Your Water?
If you are drinking tap water, the answer to that question is 300+ chemicals and pollutants, according to research from the Environmental Working Group. Among these contaminants are:
Volatile Organic Chemicals
(VOCs) such as pesticides, herbicides and other chemicals. These chemicals are found in most municipal water sources and even in well and other sources due to agricultural run-off and contamination. Research links certain VOCs to damage in the reproductive system, liver, kidneys and more.
Heavy Metals
Metals like lead and mercury are found in some water sources and have been linked to many health problems.
Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals
These chemicals may mimic or interfere with the normal hormones in the body and they are being found in increasing amounts in the water supply. From this testimony before a congressional committee on the issue:
Over the past fifty years, researchers observed increases in endocrine-sensitive health outcomes. Breast and prostatic cancer incidence increased between 1969 and 1986; there was a four-fold increase in ectopic pregnancies (development of the fertilized egg outside of the uterus) in the U.S. between 1970 and 1987; the incidence of cryptorchidism (undescended testicles) doubled in the U.K. between 1960 and the mid 1980s; and there was an approximately 42% decrease in sperm count worldwide between 1940 and 1990.
These chemicals are known to affect animals when they enter the water supply as well.
Fluoride
This is perhaps the most controversial of the contaminants in water (if something like water contaminants can be controversial!) because it is purposefully added to the water and there is much heated debate about the benefits/harm of this. Anyone who listened to the Heal Thy Mouth Summit is well aware of the potential dangers of fluoride thanks to Dr. Kennedy, but the short of it is this: If fluoride has any benefit, it would be directly to the teeth, as drinking the fluoride has not been statistically shown to increase oral health at all. Additionally, fluoride has been linked to thyroid problems and other disorders when consumed internally.
Check Your Water
You can check your local water quality report to see what contaminants are in your water supply. This is helpful in determining what you need to filter out when choosing a filter.
The easiest way to find your local water report is to check your local water company’s website. The report should be publicly available. If that doesn’t work, try Googling the name of your city and “water quality report” to find it.
Choosing A Water Filter
Once you know what you need to remove, it’s much easier to choose the best water filter option for your family. So what are the options for those of us not interested in drinking a chemical cocktail every time we are thirsty? These are the options I’ve tried in order of my least favorite to the filter we use now…
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