Bottled Water Stores? Coming to Your Town!

Most of us who have a house dog or cat can tell you that these creatures will ignore their clean dish filled with bottled water, and head straight to the toilet if given half a chance. People are like that, too, though thankfully they seem to be in the minority more and more now that bottled water is so popular in America.

The latest trend in America's love affair with bottled water seems to be a phenomenon called a Water Store, which is catching on quickly all over the country. The first water store was opened by rapper Kanye West and his father Ray. The store is called Good Water, and it was opened in Maryland. Business was so good that they soon opened another one in the Washington, DC area. The premise of Good Water is that of a self-service bottled water store.

There are three different types of water that consist of Good, which is water that has been purified with a carbon filter, and is said to be 85% pure. Better, which is water that has been purified by reverse osmosis, and its purity is said to be like that of most kinds of bottled water. Then, there's Best, which is water that has been purified with the carbon filter, the reverse osmosis filter, and then by way of distillation, and is said to be 99.9% pure. Customers can either bring in their own containers of any sort and fill them with water, or they can purchase containers right there are the store.

Good Water purifies the water themselves, right there on the store's premises. There is a state of the art, regularly inspected distiller that is used on a daily basis... sometimes all day long in order to be able to keep up with the demand for water! The unit used for distillation is located inside a room that was specially designed for it that is of course kept very clean - sanitized even. This water is about as clean as you can get water to be, and since it is purified on site, you know that it is fresh, too.

Good Water also sells various brands of bottled water by the case, as well as their own Good Water brand, but the gem of the store is the fill-your-own-container water. They sell a refillable cup/glass with free refills for life at the time of this writing.

California has several water stores. One is called The Water Lady Water- N- Ice Store, also known informally as Sonya and Company, and located in San Diego. This water is purified by use of reverse osmosis, ozonation, carbon filtration, ultra-violet lighting, and more - 10 stages in all. You can see the filter through a window in the back of the store. The filtration is what the Water Lady calls her "recipe". The laboratory test results for this water are always placed in a prominent place inside the business, so that people can see just what this water is free of that tap water still contains. This water store has been described as "self service". Customers bring their own bottles and containers, and bottle up the water themselves. Water Lady also sells containers of different sizes, from large to small, including some made of glass for safer water storage. You can save some money here by pre-paying for your water, and several free gallons are then added to your account. Of course, since the water works out to be only 35 to 45 cents a gallon, pre-paying would be simply for convenience!

Another California location for a water store is in Santa Cruz. Called All Pure Water, which features vapor compressed, steam distilled water with all organic chemicals removed. It is said that distilled bottled water is the best bottled water a person can use. It supposedly will purify the blood and clean inside the body.

California probably has more water stores per capita than any other state, simply because California has a water shortage. Campbell, California has its Pure Water Stores, Baldwin Park has a Quality Water Mart, Lancaster has Water To Go, Bell Gardens has Agua Water Store, San Bernardino has The Water Connection, and there are many others across the state, too numerous to mention here. Las Vegas, Nevada alone lists 48 different water stores. Water stores are also in Canada and other countries.

Most people, of course, have never heard of a water store, and when you talk about one, nine times out of ten you are met with puzzled frowns. But, the idea is catching on, and it probably won't be too long before every good-sized city has at least one water store. Predictions are that bottled water will be so popular by the year 2012 that it will actually be a bigger seller than soda!

People are thinking more about health than value, and that's a very good sign that businesses like the water stores will do quite well. Even though the tap water they can get at home is virtually free, these educated consumers realize what tap water contains, and much prefer to drink water that they know is pure and clean, with no toxic chemicals, pharmaceutical drugs, or heavy metals in it. It seems like bottled water is here to stay!

Jon M. Stout is Chairman of the Board of Element H2O. For more information about bottled water, purified drinking water go to the Elementh2o website.

Read More

Getting the Best Water You Can Get

Kevin: Now you have a spring where you spend a lot of your time there's a spring. Tell me a little bit about what you've done to get that water to you and to provide you with the best water that you can get.

David: Okay, well my assumption is is that water is a living thing. It likes certain things and it doesn't like certain things. It likes to move in certain ways and it doesn't like to move in other ways. One of the things we know about what is that when we run the water through too many straight pipes, the water becomes agitated and you hear this when you turn on a faucet and it goes [making noise of faucet messed up]. You know where the whole pipes shake in the wall, that's because water's agitated because it's being forced into an unnatural form. Water likes to meander, it likes to go back and forth like a snake and what we've done, we've taken that understanding and incorporated it into a way that we pull the water our of our spring and bring it to the house. I'm on a spring; I'm not on a well. I'm not on an artesian well. It's just a spring. We have a building on top of that pool but that pool is the spring. It was literally opened up or pushed back with wood about 40 years ago and then a building was put on top of it and then a whole pump system was put in that building to draw the water out. We pull that water out, it goes through a spiral pipes as water likes to spiral, it goes in a line, meanders through the ground, underneath the ground instead of being a straight tube, it's a meandering tube that's about two feet buried under ground that brings it all the way up to the house, comes into the house, goes through another spiral pipe, goes into a cartridge filled with local crystals because water likes silica. Crystals and silica are connected. That's what crystals are made out of. Then it comes through all the different outlets. Let's say it's in the shower or its on the sink in the kitchen and when it comes out we have special faucet heads that have the spiral pattern on them so that when you turn the water on there's never any [making noises of pipes] or the high pressure problems because the water is very calm. It's been spiralized, it's happy, been treated with crystals and it kind of comes out in almost like a spiral pattern. It's absolutely gorgeous. That to me is absolutely one of my favorite things about being at home is just drinking that water.

Kevin: Does spiralizing do anything to it molecular or at a structural level?

David: Yes it does and the evidence is indicating that, for example, if you take a piece of wood and you throw it on a fire, at a molecular level you are changing that wood you're turning it into ash. Well, on the other side of the spectrum, the exact opposite type of phenomenon is when we spiral air, water or any medium and what happens is that through spiral action, let's say it's a tornado. Let's say it's a waterfall. Let's say it's water going down the drain. When you have that spiral motion, certain elements in the water become active and certain elements in the water become passive. For example, if we burn something, oxygen becomes reactive. If you burn a piece of metal you know if you burn a bunch of wood, the pieces of metal in there, the oxygen will oxidize that metal and turn it into a rusty piece of metal. On the opposite end, hydrogen becomes activated when we're dealing with sprializing water and silica becomes activated and the ormose elements or the high energy particle elements become activated but oxygen becomes passive and therefore less aggressive so therefore, when we sprialize water we increase it's antioxidants potential and decrease the free radical potential because we want oxygen to be passive, not reactive.

Kevin: And by increasing the hydrogen, then you increase the antioxidant properties.

David: Right, because hydrogen is the main antioxidant. I mean the word hydrogen. Look at that word, the word hydro, which is water and gen which is generator or water generator. Once we have hydrogen if we have high hydrogen content, automatically the oxygen is attracted to it and we have water droplets. So the idea in our drinking water is we want to have as much hydrogen as we can find naturally. For example, spring water has a huge amount of hydrogen in it and then that hydrogen, especially if it's been vortexed, becomes a super powerful antioxidant. In fact, it's the best antioxidant, because it knocks out free radical oxygen by turning it back into water.

Kevin: What are some of the tools that you're using to spiralize the water?

David: Great question. I use several different tools. One of them is I have pipes in my line. The pipes that bring the water in the house have a spiral inside them so the water is forced into a spiral action which it actually likes. So that's one way. Another way is we have two different devices that will just spin the water in a vortex. So we'll put the water into a pitcher, we'll put the top on it, the top has a little paddle that spins around and it just spins the water just like if you was spinning the water in the pitcher with a spoon. You just spin it and then that will go for three minutes or so and then that vortex is the water.

I've also got the Vitalizer Plus, which does a similar type of thing. The vitalizer plus has magnets in it. That's something I don't really like, because I think it changes the water significantly but probably not for the worse, it's probably for the better but you know, I like my water exactly as it is. But anyway, that device is also a spiralizer. It vitalizes things up by spinning them into a big giant vortex and that's really cool.

What else do I use? Another thing I do is when I'm making a big pot of something - you know we do a lot of the medicinal mushrooms that grow on the trees up here at my house. We make a big pot of tea of that. I will spin it one way for a minute and then spin it the other way for a minute and then spin it one way for a minute and this is an old trick from European folk herbalism that improves the quality of your tea or water for the reasons we've just discussed.

Kevin: I never knew that. That's pretty interesting. A lot of people don't have spring water, but I don't want to move away from that right away. The people who haven't experienced true spring water, how can someone go out and find true natural springs? What are you looking for? How do you know it's natural and not just a cesspool? What are you looking for?

David: For everybody listening right now, one of my goals for even speaking is that you do that. That you go out. That's one of my goals for you, that you go out and you find springs. What you're going to do is you're going to talk to locals. You're just going to find out where the springs are. Now, they're always up in the mountains usually and therefore, you're going to see if you can find a place where you can kind of drive up there and fill up your bottles right there at the spring.

Spring water is located up at the top of the mountains for reasons that are probably too complex for me to get into right now but they do come up in the tops of mountains and thus violate everything in physics that we've been taught which is how come the water doesn't come at the bottom of the mountain, how come it's coming up at the top of the mountain.

How can the water actually be levitating up to the top of the hill and coming out there? That doesn't make sense? Doesn't gravity push everything down and how can water be coming up at the higher elevations rather than at the lower elevation? This is one of the great mysteries of water and its one of the reasons why you do want to have spring water because spring water is literally, not just imaginatively, but literally levitated and therefore, adds buoyancy and it brings that juice back into your joints which is a really critical part of nutrition and silica in the high energy particles are the reasons why that happens.

Kevin: When you're looking for springs - I know plenty of people who are hiking and they bring their iodine tablets and they drop it into the water, what's the difference between water from a spring or water from a stream if you're hiking like that? Do you need iodine or anything like that?

David: That's a great question. First of all, spring water, the type that you're looking for is the spring water that's very cold. That would be, for example, colder than 50 degrees. It's actually colder than the ground which is completely impossible according to normal physics because the water is coming out of the ground, the temperature coming out of the ground is usually around 58 degrees but the spring water is 45 degrees. That's a real strong indicator. If you have real cold water coming out of the ground somewhere then that's the water you want to drink. You'll notice if you test it that that water is bacteria free. Stream water may have bacteria in it because there might be goats pooping in it. You just never know. You've got to be a little bit careful of that especially if you're immune system is not acclimated to drinking wild creek and stream water, probably it's a good idea to put a little oxygen in the water or put a little bit of iodine in the water or something. Cayenne pepper is what I've used before and cinnamon. It's very good at killing the most all organisms that contaminate water and that's what I use when I hike. From there you can drink the water.

Kevin: I imagine you use that when you travel as well?

David: Yeah, I travel with those things. They're exceptionally important for water purification and also just keeping the system clean.


Kevin Gianni the host of "Renegade Health Show" - a fun and informative daily health show that is changing the perception of health across the world. His is an internationally known health advocate, author, and film consultant. You can find out more about the best water filters, water systems and how to get clean, pure drinking water at Renegade Water Secrets. He is also the creator and co-author of "The Busy Person's Fitness Solution"

Read More

Getting the Best Water You Can Get

Kevin: Now you have a spring where you spend a lot of your time there's a spring. Tell me a little bit about what you've done to get that water to you and to provide you with the best water that you can get.

David: Okay, well my assumption is is that water is a living thing. It likes certain things and it doesn't like certain things. It likes to move in certain ways and it doesn't like to move in other ways. One of the things we know about what is that when we run the water through too many straight pipes, the water becomes agitated and you hear this when you turn on a faucet and it goes [making noise of faucet messed up]. You know where the whole pipes shake in the wall, that's because water's agitated because it's being forced into an unnatural form. Water likes to meander, it likes to go back and forth like a snake and what we've done, we've taken that understanding and incorporated it into a way that we pull the water our of our spring and bring it to the house. I'm on a spring; I'm not on a well. I'm not on an artesian well. It's just a spring. We have a building on top of that pool but that pool is the spring. It was literally opened up or pushed back with wood about 40 years ago and then a building was put on top of it and then a whole pump system was put in that building to draw the water out. We pull that water out, it goes through a spiral pipes as water likes to spiral, it goes in a line, meanders through the ground, underneath the ground instead of being a straight tube, it's a meandering tube that's about two feet buried under ground that brings it all the way up to the house, comes into the house, goes through another spiral pipe, goes into a cartridge filled with local crystals because water likes silica. Crystals and silica are connected. That's what crystals are made out of. Then it comes through all the different outlets. Let's say it's in the shower or its on the sink in the kitchen and when it comes out we have special faucet heads that have the spiral pattern on them so that when you turn the water on there's never any [making noises of pipes] or the high pressure problems because the water is very calm. It's been spiralized, it's happy, been treated with crystals and it kind of comes out in almost like a spiral pattern. It's absolutely gorgeous. That to me is absolutely one of my favorite things about being at home is just drinking that water.

Kevin: Does spiralizing do anything to it molecular or at a structural level?

David: Yes it does and the evidence is indicating that, for example, if you take a piece of wood and you throw it on a fire, at a molecular level you are changing that wood you're turning it into ash. Well, on the other side of the spectrum, the exact opposite type of phenomenon is when we spiral air, water or any medium and what happens is that through spiral action, let's say it's a tornado. Let's say it's a waterfall. Let's say it's water going down the drain. When you have that spiral motion, certain elements in the water become active and certain elements in the water become passive. For example, if we burn something, oxygen becomes reactive. If you burn a piece of metal you know if you burn a bunch of wood, the pieces of metal in there, the oxygen will oxidize that metal and turn it into a rusty piece of metal. On the opposite end, hydrogen becomes activated when we're dealing with sprializing water and silica becomes activated and the ormose elements or the high energy particle elements become activated but oxygen becomes passive and therefore less aggressive so therefore, when we sprialize water we increase it's antioxidants potential and decrease the free radical potential because we want oxygen to be passive, not reactive.

Kevin: And by increasing the hydrogen, then you increase the antioxidant properties.

David: Right, because hydrogen is the main antioxidant. I mean the word hydrogen. Look at that word, the word hydro, which is water and gen which is generator or water generator. Once we have hydrogen if we have high hydrogen content, automatically the oxygen is attracted to it and we have water droplets. So the idea in our drinking water is we want to have as much hydrogen as we can find naturally. For example, spring water has a huge amount of hydrogen in it and then that hydrogen, especially if it's been vortexed, becomes a super powerful antioxidant. In fact, it's the best antioxidant, because it knocks out free radical oxygen by turning it back into water.

Kevin: What are some of the tools that you're using to spiralize the water?

David: Great question. I use several different tools. One of them is I have pipes in my line. The pipes that bring the water in the house have a spiral inside them so the water is forced into a spiral action which it actually likes. So that's one way. Another way is we have two different devices that will just spin the water in a vortex. So we'll put the water into a pitcher, we'll put the top on it, the top has a little paddle that spins around and it just spins the water just like if you was spinning the water in the pitcher with a spoon. You just spin it and then that will go for three minutes or so and then that vortex is the water.

I've also got the Vitalizer Plus, which does a similar type of thing. The vitalizer plus has magnets in it. That's something I don't really like, because I think it changes the water significantly but probably not for the worse, it's probably for the better but you know, I like my water exactly as it is. But anyway, that device is also a spiralizer. It vitalizes things up by spinning them into a big giant vortex and that's really cool.

What else do I use? Another thing I do is when I'm making a big pot of something - you know we do a lot of the medicinal mushrooms that grow on the trees up here at my house. We make a big pot of tea of that. I will spin it one way for a minute and then spin it the other way for a minute and then spin it one way for a minute and this is an old trick from European folk herbalism that improves the quality of your tea or water for the reasons we've just discussed.

Kevin: I never knew that. That's pretty interesting. A lot of people don't have spring water, but I don't want to move away from that right away. The people who haven't experienced true spring water, how can someone go out and find true natural springs? What are you looking for? How do you know it's natural and not just a cesspool? What are you looking for?

David: For everybody listening right now, one of my goals for even speaking is that you do that. That you go out. That's one of my goals for you, that you go out and you find springs. What you're going to do is you're going to talk to locals. You're just going to find out where the springs are. Now, they're always up in the mountains usually and therefore, you're going to see if you can find a place where you can kind of drive up there and fill up your bottles right there at the spring.

Spring water is located up at the top of the mountains for reasons that are probably too complex for me to get into right now but they do come up in the tops of mountains and thus violate everything in physics that we've been taught which is how come the water doesn't come at the bottom of the mountain, how come it's coming up at the top of the mountain.

How can the water actually be levitating up to the top of the hill and coming out there? That doesn't make sense? Doesn't gravity push everything down and how can water be coming up at the higher elevations rather than at the lower elevation? This is one of the great mysteries of water and its one of the reasons why you do want to have spring water because spring water is literally, not just imaginatively, but literally levitated and therefore, adds buoyancy and it brings that juice back into your joints which is a really critical part of nutrition and silica in the high energy particles are the reasons why that happens.

Kevin: When you're looking for springs - I know plenty of people who are hiking and they bring their iodine tablets and they drop it into the water, what's the difference between water from a spring or water from a stream if you're hiking like that? Do you need iodine or anything like that?

David: That's a great question. First of all, spring water, the type that you're looking for is the spring water that's very cold. That would be, for example, colder than 50 degrees. It's actually colder than the ground which is completely impossible according to normal physics because the water is coming out of the ground, the temperature coming out of the ground is usually around 58 degrees but the spring water is 45 degrees. That's a real strong indicator. If you have real cold water coming out of the ground somewhere then that's the water you want to drink. You'll notice if you test it that that water is bacteria free. Stream water may have bacteria in it because there might be goats pooping in it. You just never know. You've got to be a little bit careful of that especially if you're immune system is not acclimated to drinking wild creek and stream water, probably it's a good idea to put a little oxygen in the water or put a little bit of iodine in the water or something. Cayenne pepper is what I've used before and cinnamon. It's very good at killing the most all organisms that contaminate water and that's what I use when I hike. From there you can drink the water.

Kevin: I imagine you use that when you travel as well?

David: Yeah, I travel with those things. They're exceptionally important for water purification and also just keeping the system clean.


Kevin Gianni the host of "Renegade Health Show" - a fun and informative daily health show that is changing the perception of health across the world. His is an internationally known health advocate, author, and film consultant. You can find out more about the best water filters, water systems and how to get clean, pure drinking water at Renegade Water Secrets. He is also the creator and co-author of "The Busy Person's Fitness Solution"

Read More

The Importance of Water For Good Health

In this article, David Wolfe shares on the importance of water. David Wolfe is the author of the new book Amazing Grace and Eating for Beauty and many others.

Kevin: Well, David, I want to welcome you to this call. I'm excited to talk about what we're going to talk about today.

David: Thanks so much Kevin. It's going to be great. I think the subject matter at hand is probably the most critical of any health information out there.

Kevin: I'm excited about that. For those people who don't know who you are, why don't we just start and tell a little bit about how you got to where you are now and then we'll get into talking about water which is the subject of this conversation.

David: Well, a little bit of background. I was born originally on the East coast in New Jersey. Both my parents are medical doctors. I grew up inside the standard medical environment, mostly in my dad's office actually. I've seen that from the inside out that when I was a very young kid, maybe seven years old, we went to California, it was the first time I ate fruit off a tree. I think I became kind of a nature boy from that point on. Eventually when I got out of college I was looking for something to do and I had been doing raw food and developing kind of a diet program as a hobby on the side. Then gradually that became more and more of what I was doing as a career. I stepped out of the legal profession which is where I was headed and the engineering profession, which I was also headed in that direction too and actually into paten law which combines law and engineering. I got into nutrition fulltime and I've been doing that for about 14 or 15 years.

Kevin: That's great. Tonight we want to talk about water and there are so many places to start. Why don't we just start with the basis of why nutritionally we need water?

David: Water is the basis of all life. Ultimately there is no fire inside any living organism anywhere so if we look at what is going on in each cell we really see that each cell is a water bag. If we look at every cell in our body, in every plant, in every single living thing, it's just little water bags of little nutrients. Water is a primary substance of all life. We've hear he word hydration before. We know that hydration is critical to being healthy. We found out through Dr. Batmanghelidj's book, Your Body's Many Cries for Water, that most people's hunger pains are actually just thirst pains and if we can get each one of those little water bag hydrated then we're going to feel a whole lot better and we're going to detoxify a whole lot faster.

Kevin: What is the ideal level of hydration? I've heard so many different numbers, 90%, 60%, anywhere between there. What do you think is the ideal level?

David: You hear these numbers thrown around. The human body is 60% water, the human body is 80% water, the human brain is 93% water. I don't know how much any of that is true. We're basically water, secondarily fats and oil and it's probably an 80/20 thing. We're mostly water. 80% to 20% are fats and oils, proteins and other things on down the line but the key thing is how you're feeling about your own hydration. I really feel like I have done too much water at times. Literally drank myself until I was dehydrated and I've drank too little water as most of us have done. We've got to know the balance in between and that's something that we're going to work on here in this recording.

Kevin: Great, maybe this kind of leads into the next question, what is the goal when it comes to water? What are we looking for in terms of the benefits of health with water? It's more than just hydration, right?

David: That's right. In a world today with plastic bottles and all kinds of plastic everything, we've got to be aware that there are binders in plastic that are toxic to the human organism that actually are implicated in cancer, especially breast cancer and can interfere with hormone or hormone disrupters and therefore probably as a good beginning as we want to either get on to well water and then filter it down right in our own home, right in the line where it's coming in or if we're on municipal water, we want to take that water and do the best we can to purify it so that it doesn't carry any contaminates in it and its either renewed or we get water delivered to us in glass, if possible or non-out gassing plastics. These are options.. Having said all that, part of the way to actually make that water hydrate you is to realize that we're not really spring water on the inside.. Like the water bags which we call ourselves consists of water and salt. Therefore, we're more like an ocean on the inside and we may want to consider adding a pinch or two per gallon, maybe even more of sea salt to drinking water in order to maintain balance hydration.

Kevin: Now, I've heard that the mineral composition in our blood is very similar to ocean water. Is that true or is it chlorophyll?

David: That's what I've heard and here's how it relates. Ocean water is, from a mineral prospective, identical to chlorophyll which is identical to hemoglobin or our blood. So those three substances chlorophyll our blood and ocean water are identical with one exception and that is in ocean water the amount of sodium is drastically higher. In chlorophyll the amount of magnesium is drastically higher and in human blood the amount of iron is drastically higher. Other than that, all the other mineral ratios should be about the same.

Kevin: That's pretty incredible that there are similarities across the board.

David: I find it fascinating. When I look at the herbs, I look at the herbs as a giant water bag. It's like a giant cell and that cell is mostly salty because most of the oceans are filled with salt. Therefore, when we look at our own organism we have to consider that we salty ocean on the inside and therefore some salt with our water may be what's required in order to keep us hydrated.

Kevin: Salt in water can also help with regular bowl function, correct?

David: That's right. Dr. Norman Walker and Dr. Bernard Jensen, both of them spent about 60 to 65 years on that particular subject. That is determining exactly what kinds of minerals are used in the digestive process and keeps our digestive organs healthy, meaning our stomach, small intestine and large intestine or colon and what they found out is that the small intestine and the large intestine require mineral salt in order to retain moisture in those environments to stop constipation and to allow bowel movements to occur regularly and for detoxification to happen smoothly.

Kevin: With the minerals in water and there are so many different types of water: distilled, spring, all these different types, it sometimes gets so confusing. What are some of the minerals besides salt that we're looking for to get a full spectrum water?

David: That's a rare and great question. One of the minerals of course is silica. Silica is what gives water kind of a creamy smoothness. You'll see silica in spring waters in the way that the water kind of enrolls on itself and when it becomes very hyper organized and really just gets that almost mystical appearance especially when its very cold, when you actually tap that kind of water you discover that its silica content is high and if you want to know more about silica well you can just study crystals because crystals are made of silica.

Kevin: What are some of the nutritional benefits of silica?

David: Silica is extremely important for bone growth. We know that when we're young we have a high silica content of our body and tissues. When we're old, we have a low silica content. We know that silica nutrition is important for anti aging. In addition to that, silica wraps itself around or actually contains other minerals and those minerals are what we call high energy partials that are also found in water. Those are the minerals that respond to our consciousness. What that means is that we know that if we bless water it improves the water. We know that if we put intention into our water that it changes the structure of the water.. We know this from Dr. Masaru Emoto's work and much metaphysical work before. There's something in the water that's responding and it appears to be high energy particles that are held into the water by silica. That's where we are with the signs from all this and these high energy particles are often and mostly misidentified where mainstream science is right now, but not where cutting edge time.

Kevin: Really and what is that being identified as?

David: Well, mostly these high energy particles resist the cut burn poison chemical theory of science. That's how we test for everything, we cut it, we burn it, we poison it and then we analyze it and that theory causes certain types of matter to be left out of the equations. For example, if you put certain types of high energy particles through that theory, what you'll end up out on the other side is what is called carbon so it will be misidentified as carbon when in fact it was never carbon. It just appears to be carbon because it's black to spectrum emission and absorption so it appears to be black like charcoal but in fact is not actually carbon. That's probably the best way to describe it. These minerals can also be misunderstood or misidentified as iron, aluminum and in fact silica as well.

Kevin: So the water actually can be living?

David: Well, water is a living thing. That's what makes the whole earth alive. Every single organism exists, in my perception, as a vehicle for the ennoblement of water into consciousness.

Kevin: Say that again.

David: Every organism exists as a vehicle for the ennoblement of water into consciousness. Let's say you go and you drink water from the spring. You brought that water into your organism. If in fact your body is a wholly temple, then what you've done is you've brought the water in and nobled that water and made it part of your consciousness. That to me is really the fundamental understanding about water that changes it from something about; I've just got to drink this to be hydrated into more of the spiritual side of what water is about and what our role here is on the planet as storers of water instead of just drinkers of water.


Kevin Gianni the host of "Renegade Health Show" - a fun and informative daily health show that is changing the perception of health across the world. His is an internationally known health advocate, author, and film consultant. You can find out more about the best water filters, water systems and how to get clean, pure drinking water at Renegade Water Secrets. He is also the creator and co-author of "The Busy Person's Fitness Solution"

Read More

What Are the Best Water Purification Systems For Home Use?

There are a number of water purification systems on the market. Do you need one? And how do you go about choosing the right one for you and your family?

These are two important questions you'll want answered before you spend your money on the wrong thing.

Let's take the first question, first.

Why You Need a Water Purification System!

Unless you've been living on some other planet, I'm sure you've been reading about the information that's come out recently about the lack of quality of our municipal water supplies.

Over 90% of U. S. water systems contain traces of at least 10 synthetic chemicals and lead. A report done recently by Ralph Nader stated, "after reviewing over 10,000 pages of EPA documents acquired through the Freedom of Information Act...[it was found that] over 2,300 chemicals that can cause cancer have been detected in U. S. tap water."

A number of scientists believe that this rise in carcinogenic chemicals found in our water supply correlated with the rise in cancers over the past fifty to one hundred years.

A big part of the problem is the age of our water treatment plants, and the technology they use.

Most water treatment plants in the United States are fifty to one hundred years old. Some even older!

They were designed to purify our water of things like cholera, not high-tech pesticides.

Most of our water is purified by letting the water settle through sediment to get out the particulate matter, then it's sterilized by injecting an amount of chlorine in the water.

The chlorine kills any bacteria that can cause disease. The chlorine is, however, actually left in the water after it leaves the treatment facility. This is done because the transit time from the treatment plant to your house could be as long as a week or more. In that time, your water could become re-contaminated.

The problem here is you actually drink the trace amounts of chlorine when you drink tap water. That's certainly better than getting sick with cholera, but there has to be a better way!

You're right, there is!

Now, before you run off thinking that bottled water is going to save you from drinking all of these contaminants and toxins, think again!

Unfortunately, most bottled water comes straight out of a tap, just like your water. As a matter of fact, there are fewer restrictions on the quality of bottled water than there are on the quality of tap water!

The bottom line: you need to re-filter your water at the tap before you drink it.

How to Choose the Right Water Purification System

There are a number of water purification systems out there. Some work better than others. Oddly enough, some work too well!

There are also whole house filters, filters you attach to one faucet, and water pitchers that filter water. Which one should you use?

Most pitcher filters use a water filtration system that's too simple. They just can't get out all the stuff you need filtered out!

If you're just interested in filtering the water you drink or cook with, then you might want to consider filtering the water from just one tap. Drinking water, however, is not the only way you get water-born impurities into your body!

Your skin is actually your body's largest organ! We don't usually think of our skin as an organ, like the liver, but it is!

We both discharge and absorb toxins through our skin. When you take a shower, for instance, the hot water opens up your pores allowing impurities in your water to seep in.

To sum up, you might want to really consider filtering all of the water in your house, either with a whole house filter, or with a filter for each tap and for each shower head.

Some of the technologies used in water filters are granular activated carbon filters, metallic alloy filters, microporous ceramic filters, carbon block resin filters, and ultra-thin membranes.

The best water filters on the market use a combination of these technologies to filter and purify your water.

One thing you need your filter to do is to leave in the trace minerals naturally found in water so that it tastes good and so that we get these minerals into our bodies. Minerals like calcium are necessary to our health, and drinking water with trace amounts of calcium in it is one of the ways our bodies acquire that mineral.

There are a number of water purification systems to choose from. What you need now is an informative website you can use to further educate yourself.

These are two important questions you'll want answered before you spend your money on the wrong thing.

Let's take the first question, first.

Why You Need a Water Purification System!

Unless you've been living on some other planet, I'm sure you've been reading about the information that's come out recently about the lack of quality of our municipal water supplies.

Over 90% of U. S. water systems contain traces of at least 10 synthetic chemicals and lead. A report done recently by Ralph Nader stated, "after reviewing over 10,000 pages of EPA documents acquired through the Freedom of Information Act...[it was found that] over 2,300 chemicals that can cause cancer have been detected in U. S. tap water."

A number of scientists believe that this rise in carcinogenic chemicals found in our water supply is correlated with the rise in cancers over the past fifty to one hundred years.

A big part of the problem is the age of our water treatment plants, and the technology they use.

Most water treatment plants in the United States are fifty to one hundred years old. Some even older!

They were designed to purify our water of things like cholera, not high-tech pesticides.

Most of our water is purified by letting the water settle through sediment to get out the particulate matter, then it's sterilized by injecting an amount of chlorine in the water.

The chlorine kills any bacteria that can cause disease. The chlorine is, however, actually left in the water after it leaves the treatment facility. This is done because the transit time from the treatment plant to your house could be as long as a week or more. In that time, your water could become re-contaminated.

The problem here is you actually drink the trace amounts of chlorine when you drink tap water. That's certainly better than getting sick with cholera, but there has to be a better way!

You're right, there is!

Now, before you run off thinking that bottled water is going to save you from drinking all of these contaminants and toxins, think again!

Unfortunately, most bottled water comes straight out of a tap, just like your water. As a matter of fact, there are fewer restrictions on the quality of bottled water than there are on the quality of tap water!

The bottom line: you need to re-filter your water at the tap before you drink it.

How to Choose the Right Water Purification System

There are a number of water purification systems out there. Some work better than others. Oddly enough, some work too well!

There are also whole house filters, filters you attach to one faucet, and water pitchers that filter water. Which one should you use?

Most pitcher filters use a water filtration system that's too simple. They just can't get out all the stuff you need filtered out!

If you're just interested in filtering the water you drink or cook with, then you might want to consider filtering the water from just one tap. Drinking water, however, is not the only way you get water-born impurities into your body!

Your skin is actually your body's largest organ! We don't usually think of our skin as an organ, like the liver, but it is!

We both discharge and absorb toxins through our skin. When you take a shower, for instance, the hot water opens up your pores allowing impurities in your water to seep in.

To sum up, you might want to really consider filtering all of the water in your house, either with a whole house filter, or with a filter for each tap and for each shower head.

Some of the technologies used in water filters are granular activated carbon filters, metallic alloy filters, microporous ceramic filters, carbon block resin filters, and ultra-thin membranes.

The best water filters on the market use a combination of these technologies to filter and purify your water.

One thing you need your filter to do is to leave in the trace minerals naturally found in water so that it tastes good and so that we get these minerals into our bodies. Minerals like calcium are necessary to our health, and drinking water with trace amounts of calcium in it is one of the ways our bodies acquire that mineral.

There are a number of water purification systems to choose from. What you need now is an informative website you can use to further educate yourself.

To learn more about water purification systems visit my website!

Read More

Quenching a Nation's Thirst - Making Water From Air!

Bottled water is everywhere these days and has become a multibillion dollar business. You can't escape their presence anywhere, whether at a grocery store, convenience store, the beach, work place, home, etc, bottled water is there. The overall success that the bottled water industry has experienced, and the enormous profits from the sale of its water to the general public can probably be attributed to two factors. They provide convenience, and give the perception that drinking bottled water is much healthier. Nevertheless, you really have to look past the enticing pretty little label on the front of the bottle or 5 gallon water jug, and ask the question, is bottled water more beneficial to my health? Are there other sources of water that is better for my health? What is the cost of bottled water to the environment?

Each and every hour Americans discard an alarming 1.5 million plastic water bottles, which if they aren't recycled properly end up in a landfill somewhere for the next 100 years. This figure applies only as long as they are discarded properly. I often have the pleasure of seeing plastic water bottles on the side of many sidewalks, streets, and highways where they have been casually tossed by the previous owner; I guess that is another convenience for some bottled water drinkers. Then of course located in offices and homes around the country are water dispensers/coolers with the 3 or 5 gallon water jugs on top of them. The people using these have to take delivery of the jugs, store the jugs, lift the jugs, and replace the jugs each time one runs out.

A Few Little Known Facts

The bottled water you drink is considered by the Federal Government to be a food. This means that according to federal guidelines bottled water falls under the authority of the Food and Drug Administration (F.D.A.). However, tap water falls under the authority of the Environmental Protection Agency (E.P.A.) which has much stricter guidelines regarding water purity and contaminant levels than the F.D.A. The E.P.A. requires that water plants provide the public with reports on the water source, testing conducted, and contaminant levels (violations) if any are found. The bottled water industry does not have to adhere to these standards. You may find, depending on the particular brand of bottled water you drink, that your tap water is actually cleaner. Not to mention that many bottled water companies are misleading consumers by selling reconstituted tap water; not the refreshing spring water like the label would suggest.

Your local municipal water source is also required to test several times per day for microbiological impurities in the water. Bottled water companies are only required to test for this once a week. Local tap water also has to be tested much more often for chemicals than is required for bottled water companies. We then throw in the fact that the F.D.A. does not necessarily require (by way of loopholes) the same standards for bottled water from state-to-state. The numerous problems associated with bottled water and regulation of its quality should become self-evident.

Does All This Let Tap Water Off-the-Hook?

Unfortunately, tap water doesn't get off either. A National assessment of tap water quality conducted by the Environmental Working Group, dated December 20, 2005, concluded the following in their summary. "Tap water in 42 states is contaminated with more than 140 unregulated chemicals that lack safety standards, according to the Environmental Working Group's (EWG's) two-and-a-half year investigation of water suppliers' tests of the treated tap water served to communities across the country."

Recently, in Montgomery County, Maryland an estimated 440,000 households were without tap water due to a major main break that took eight hours to locate because it was in a wooded area. This left many residents and businesses without water for days. Some businesses were shut down altogether until this problem was resolved. Initially, the resident's who finally got their water flowing again were strenuously encouraged to boil the water before drinking it because of the tremendous concern by local authorities over impurities and contaminants that may still be present in the water.

In the national news you can see impending threats, or occurrences of problems to municipal tap water sources by way of natural disasters such as hurricanes, flooding, tornadoes, earthquakes, etc, almost every week. In addition, the same radical cowardly groups that caused 9/11, could also turn their eyes to our nations fresh water supply as a way to create terror, and wide spread panic by successfully or unsuccessfully attempting to release biological or chemical agents into our water.

States all over the nation are vying for water resources, and many of them have fresh water resources that are dwindling. Some states that are otherwise friendly neighbors are locked in disputes now over water rights. If you go to the New York Times and look up an article by Andrew C. Revkin entitled "New Climate Report Forsees Big Changes," the problem only appears to be getting worse for the United States, and the rest of the world.

The cost of municipal tap water appears to be on the rise as well. Just do a comparison of your water bill today vs. your water bill 3 years ago and I am sure you will see a noticeable increase.

Technology and Innovation to the Rescue!

The world is in desperate need of a viable realistic alternative to the increasing demand for safe, clean drinking water. The Earth's surface is 75% water, but only 2.5% is a fresh water resource, or usable by mankind. Three quarters of the 2.5% available is frozen in glaciers. That leaves about .625% available for use by mankind. From that small amount left over for use by mankind, and other living organisms, 70% is used world wide for agriculture, and another 15% for industrial use.

Science and technology have come to the rescue. There is now available a revolutionary patented technology that will change all of this. It was developed by a company who's insight, innovation, and desire to help mankind drove them to provide a more sustainable, more environmentally friendly source of water. I have spoken to many people over the past several weeks about the technology, and most of them are completely unfamiliar with it. Innovation now allows us to create pure drinking water from air by way of an atmospheric water generator.

At any given time there is approximately 3.1 quadrillion gallons of water in Earth's atmosphere. The hydrological cycle (evaporation, condensation, and precipitation) manufactures billions of gallons of water recycling in the atmosphere everyday, making this supply almost limitless and accessible in most parts of the world.

They have created an atmospheric water generating unit on the market today that extracts the water through a sophisticated condensation process and sends it through a series of state-of-science purifiers. The unprecedented technology removes all inorganic materials, undesirable odors and tastes, particulate matter smaller than .01 microns, and all forms of bacteria, metals, minerals, viruses and other elements that might pose any kind of health risk. The unit also serves to both dehumidify the air, and purify the air it uses to create water. This is a remarkable technology that is destined to become the future of water, and will ensure accessibility to clean safe drinking water for millions in the United States and world wide.

International Water From Air L.L.C is committed to providing the general public with up-to-date useful information that will assist in helping them to make intelligent and informed decisions regarding drinking water and living a healthier lifestyle.

Read More

The Compelling Costs of Bottled Water - Price Point Too High For Environment and Individuals

Americans are appalled at the rising cost of gasoline that topped $4 a gallon in May. Yet, we think nothing of paying $9 a gallon for bottled water. To make the comparison even more perplexing consider that gasoline, for most people, is essential to everyday living while bottled water is optional, usually unnecessary and generally troublesome for an already troubled environment.

Turn on the Tap

According to the Think Outside the Bottle campaign, Americans are the world's top consumers of bottled water while, ironically, the U.S. has one of the safest public water systems on the planet. So, why did the bottled water craze take the nation by storm? Some experts say it began as small status symbol, mimicking the bottled waters popular in France and Italy. But, as the sources of water changed and companies such as Coca Cola and Nestle entered the game, bottled water spilled over from simply posh to popular.

Too popular, according to nonprofit groups and environmental organizations. Americans spend a combined $11.7 billion annually on bottled water. The Container Recycling Institute (CRI) estimates that every person in the U.S. tosses 160 plastic bottles in the trash each year - or 8 out of every 10 bottles purchased. Given the preciousness of oil in the current economic climate, it's also important to note that CRI says it takes 15 million barrels of oil per year to make plastic bottles for America's bottled water addiction.

The Cost of Convenience

The convenience of bottled water has certainly added to its popularity. Think of Little League games, public events, road trips and that handy bottle at your desk. But now, as people become more aware of the environmental downsides of plastic containers and the questionable value of bottled water compared to tap water or filtered tap water, the tide may be turning.

A number of cities have ceased the once popular practice of providing bottled water for employees. In San Francisco, Mayor Gavin Newsom observed World Water Day in 2007 by canceling all the city's bottled water contracts. Chicago and Salt Lake City followed suit. The popular Austin City Limits Music Festival stopped providing bottled water to its legion of volunteers and rewarded patrons who recycled bottles with a special T-shirt.

The world renown Chez Panisse in Berkeley calculated the carbon footprint of the bottles of sparkling water it imported from Italy and removed the bubbly from the menu. And, in Canada, a movement is sweeping the land. Students in colleges and high schools are protesting contracts with Coca-Cola and Pepsi for their bottled waters. The students are lapping up free, fresh water from school drinking fountains instead.

Questions of Quality

As bottled waters attract increased scrutiny, public water systems are measured against them for both cost and water quality. The cost factor is extremely compelling. A bottle of water costs a dollar and often more, depending upon the brand. Water from the tap costs about $0.00002 per ounce. If a city's tap water is unpalatable due to chlorine treatment or other sanitizing chemicals, even the addition of a water filter to a faucet gets gallons of water for pennies a day.

Water quality is also variable in both bottled waters and public water supplies. According to the EPA, bottled water is not necessarily safer than water that flows from the tap. In fact, some bottled water is no more than treated (or untreated) tap water. Consumers are advised to read the label on bottled waters to learn the source and the method of treatment. More in-depth questions have to be addressed to the manufacturer. In contrast, specific information about public water systems, water quality and treatment are publicly available on the EPA's website. The Environmental Working Group also has a tap water database where people can look up water quality and content by zip code.

Well Into the Future

But, the most compelling concern about water in plastic bottles is environmental. The Container Recycling institute says the amount of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic bottles being recycled reached 1,170 million pounds in 2005 while the amount of PET bottles ending up in landfills reached 3,900 million pounds. That number includes some other beverages in PET containers but the institute says water bottles are the biggest problem. Many states offer no redemption incentives on water bottles and the plain, usually sugarless drink is just so popular.

Plastic water bottles in landfills do not rest in peace. They drift or are blown into other areas such as the Pacific Ocean where, according to CRI, they form a messy, toxic mass that is twice the size of Texas. It takes about 1,000 years for a plastic bottle to degrade into tiny pieces that, to fish and birds, often look like food. There is also increasing evidence that PET bottles and other plastic bottles may be a threat to human health.

Consumer Choice

So, what is a water-lover to do? First, the EPA and other experts advise giving your tap water a try. Some municipal systems, such as the one serving San Francisco, pour forth with crystal clear water from the High Sierra. Other communities, where there is heavy agricultural or industrial activity, may not be so fortunate. When contaminants and lead might be present, public systems use a variety of techniques to make drinking water safe. They are regulated by the EPA and frequent testing is federally mandated. That is to say the tap water is safe, but may not be taste tempting.

There are many effective filtering products on the market from faucet mounted filters to pitchers and filtered water dispensers. These devices remove contaminants and pollutants while improving the taste of water. They are quite affordable and provide families with assurance about the quality of water they use for drinking and cooking.

Once the source issue is solved, people will still want the convenience of portability. There is an increasing marketplace of containers for water, from personal water bottles made of reusable aluminum, stainless steel, ceramic and traditional glass. As awareness of the health dangers and environmental downside of plastic bottles spreads, a market-driven demand will result in even more choices for people who want fresh water at their side, wherever they may roam.

Visit us to learn how water filters can make your life better. For even better tasting water, try the new PUR flavor options.

Read More

The Bottled Water Debate - Behind The Scenes!

As the bottled water industry across the world grows to an unbelievable size, producing huge profits for the leaders in the market, whispers echo behind the scenes about the reality of bottled water and the suppression of information in this multi billion dollar world market. What is the truth behind bottled water.

According to the North American company Nestle Waters, bottled water is the fastest growing segment of America's beverage business and is the fifth best-selling beverage in the United States. According to the Australasian Bottled Water Institute, we spend about $385 million a year on bottled water, here in Australia.

It is a strange phenomenon that is seeing millions of consumers worldwide as being willing to spend 240 to over 10,000 times more per gallon for bottled water than for tap water. The rush of consumers for bottled water is understandable as it is easy to see the benefits of water are well-documented.

We use water to aid our systems with performing the digestive process, as well as to regulate body temperature. It is also used to promote healthy and clean skin and has been found to be a natural lubricant for joints. Within our body water also plays a vital role in that it helps move nutrients around the body and also carries waste through our complicated works.

The purported benefits of bottled water are equally well-marketed. A few of the better documented benefits of bottled water are that 1) Bottle water seems to have a better, cleaner, and sometimes crisper taste than that of tap water. 2) Bottled water is very handy as it is a commonly sold product that has already been purified and usually chilled too. 3) Bottled water is a great alternative when traveling in foreign countries or any area where the water is not the same or even a similar quality as that which we are used to.

Is bottled water the great beneficial product it seems to be or is there a more sinister side to this industry? Are we being told everything, or do we need to look more closely at the industry and the products being produced? Read on as we take a look!

To begin with we should take a look at what is being said about the product, by the product and so it is important to study labels a little closer. Water bottled in Europe and labeled as "mineral water" must come from natural springs to earn its "seal of approval."

"Artesian water" is drawn from a well that taps into a confined underground aquifer where the water level stands about the natural water table, elevating the water's purity. "Well water" is water that must be pumped to the surface through a hole drilled for that purpose. Water that earns the label "spring water" may come from a natural spring OR from a hole that is simply adjacent to a natural spring.

Some bottled water flies "under the radar" of regulatory requirements. Water that is labeled "carbonated water," "disinfected water," "filtered water," "seltzer water," "sparkling water," "soda water," or just plain "water" may be exempt from specific water-testing and contamination standards. This however is not commonly publicized knowledge that should be openly shared with the public before they choose the brand of water they will buy.

After some searching through various records and reports, the following information was found about the results of a study performed by the NRDC ( Natural Resource Defense Council ). The study reports that some bottled water was found to be less than standard quality, finding such things as industrial solvents, inorganic contaminants like arsenic as well as bacterial contaminants.

The report goes on to say that the current regulations that govern the water standards of bottled water in the market had "gaping holes". In fact, the NRDC presents evidence to substantiate the claim that "misleading marketing of some bottled water."

This NRDC report also states "At the national level, the Food and Drug Administration is responsible for bottled water safety, but the FDA's rules completely exempt waters that are packaged and sold within the same state, which account for between 60 and 70 percent of all bottled water sold in the United States (roughly one out of five states don't regulate these waters either)."

To conclude the report, the NRDC closes by saying that even though bottled water is covered by the FDA rules, that the quality and purity testing is still far less stringent than those that tap water must pass!

Overall the testing performed by the NRDC produced the following amazing results:
"After testing more than 1,000 bottles of water, NRDC found that 33% were contaminated." This is illustrated in the full report of the NRDC.

Not only have there been findings that the product inside the bottles, supposed to be water from a spring or other such natural source, are not in fact that, there is also the chance that the purified water that the consumer bought, in faith of it being a bona fide product, is nothing more than tap water in a bottle with a fancy label on it. So we see that the contents of these bottles are at least questionable, now lets take a look at the bottles themselves.

Lets assume that your water is indeed a pure water from a spring found somewhere nearby you that has been tested and found to be pure, is it still possible that the water you drink when you buy your bottle is no longer pure? Water held in a plastic bottle at the manufacturer, then at the warehouse, then at the distributor, then at the retailer, and also all the time in transit between these places before you get it, leaves ample time to leech out components from the plastic containers. This is a real concern.

Another risk is when bottling plants reuse bottles as the bottles can become home to a wide variety of bacteria that can cause symptoms including stomach aches, vomiting, and diarrhea.
To avoid the chances of this, it is safer to seek water sold in glass bottles.

Remember that how you store your water is almost as important as the water itself. Use glass containers or, the least reactive, #7 plastic bottles. You can find these bottles at most health food stores. They're also becoming "standard equipment" for workout enthusiasts, so look for them at gyms, sports stores, or online.

One last thing to keep in mind about the bottled water debate, concerns our environment. Bottled water is sold on the strength that is a healthy product that is safer for us than the alternative of tap water. A simple water filter would achieve this effect without the detrimental effects to our environment. What detrimental effects you ask? Consider the fuel that is burnt every year to transport this water from location to location and also to produce the bottles themselves. This leaves a massive carbon footprint on the planet that needs to be addressed.

In conclusion after presenting this information, take a think about exactly what is going on with bottled water and if you decide to continue using bottled water over tap water, then at least consider selecting a brand that you know is not trying to avoid purity testing by using labeling tricks, and also if possible buy locally made products to save our environment too.

Read More

Why is Bottled Drinking Water So Popular?

Despite a dedicated campaign by many municipal water companies and associations to marginalize bottled water in the eyes of the American consumer, exactly the opposite has happened - bottled water is more popular than ever and continues to grow in popularity.

Perhaps this is because the American consumer is truly an educated consumer and for years they have been misled about the purity of municipal tap water that is laced with contaminants and harmful chemicals and tainted with chlorine and other additives that impart nauseating odors and taste.

One of the most popular features of bottled water is that it does not require heavy doses of chlorine and so its taste is definitely more appealing than tap water, And, if one reads the purity reports issued by municipal water suppliers and required by the Environmental Protection Agency, it becomes evident that municipal water suppliers do not have the technology to purify large scale consumption of water.

One should read the reports carefully and note the warnings about cryptosporidium, rocket fuel, people with compromised immune systems or chronic illnesses and gasoline additives that remain in municipal water even after treatment and chlorination.

Bottled drinking water also contains no caffeine, no calories and no sugar and thereby competes with carbonated soft drinks that themselves are unhealthy in a world seeking higher health standards.

Water in bottles may seem like a relatively new idea--one born during the heightened awareness of fitness and potential water pollution during the last two or three decades but it traces its roots to the 19th century in America. The water is also be used as an ingredient in beverages, such as diluted juices or flavored bottled waters.

Water that has been treated by distillation, reverse osmosis, or other suitable processes and that meets the definition of "purified water" is the best bottled water and studies show it.

Water cannot be called purified" unless it is 99.9% free of any and all contaminants - a test that all municipal water and most bottled waters fail to meet.

Bottled drinking water has a valid place in the marketplace, so unless one is willing to give up all bottled beverages it seems a little hypocritical to single out water. It is so ubiquitous that people can hardly ask for water anywhere without being handed a bottle.

Water in bottles is the fastest-growing segment of the beverage industry, and the product has now passed both coffee and milk to become the second-most-consumed beverage. Water in bottles that crosses state lines is considered a food product and is overseen by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which does mandate that it be bottled in sanitary conditions using food-grade equipment.

Tap Water

Once, most Americans got their water only from the tap. Pioneers trekking west across the United States during the 19th century also typically considered drinkable (potable) water a staple to be purchased in anticipation of the long trip across the arid West. But, as the population grew, industrial, natural and organic pollutants fouled the source of natural drinking water found in rivers, streams and aquifers. Development of purification techniques were unable to keep up with population and pollution growth and municipal water purity disappeared.

The municipalities attempted to cover up the problem through the addition of copious amounts of chlorine and the establishment of "standards" by the EPA that allowed dangerous chemicals capable of long term damage to the human body to remain. And, the EPA testing stopped at the water treatment plant and did not consider the presence of lead, copper and other poisonous elements contained in the water pipes of houses that used tap water.

Because lead can leach from pipes as water travels from water utilities to home faucets, the EPA set an action level of 15 parts per billion (ppb) in tap water. This means that when lead levels are above 15 ppb in tap water that reaches home faucets, water utilities must treat the water to reduce the lead levels to below 15 ppb. Lead is particularly injurious to children at any level.

Many municipalities provide water that's discolored, chlorinated, and tastes like "pool" water. So if your tap water tastes poorly, it might be that your city's water system is severely under funded or is controlled by a corporation, not the same corporation that makes your bottled water, but it is obvious they have the interest in controlling where and how you get your water.

Tap water also has trace chemicals (especially insecticides) that are one of the causes of nerve diseases such as fibromyalgia, which has no known cure. There is significant contamination that water picks up in older plumbing from the source to the tap.

Beware of Bottled Tap Water

Some bottled water suppliers merely filter and bottle tap water - contaminants and all. Filtering tap water does not totally remove chlorine. Unless the label says it comes from a specific source, when the manufacturer says 'bottled at the source,' the source could be the tap. Yet sources of bottled drinking water are just as vulnerable to surface contamination as sources of tap water. One reason for the success of bottled water is that many claim not to like the taste of what comes out of the tap. But filtering out the taste of chlorine alone is not the answer.

Spring Water

Spring water is at best marketing hype and at worst misleading advertising.

Take for example the brand of water that is labeled "spring water" with the implication of purity that comes not from a fresh mountain spring but from deep wells in the undeniably less-picturesque Los Angeles suburbs, and one water supplier that sells water drawn from a municipal source in Corpus Christi, Texas-a far cry from the pristine glacial peaks suggested by its name and label. Even if the water does come from a spring, what's in that spring may be less safe than what comes out of your tap.

If the spring is near a cattle farm, it's going to be contaminated. One brand of "spring water," which had a graphic of mountains and a lake on the label, was actually taken from a well in Massachusetts in the parking lot of an industrial facility. That brand of Massachusetts "spring water" was so-named because the source occasionally bubbled up to the surface in the industrial parking lot.

In a civil case against one of the largest spring water companies, the plaintiffs charged that the supplier duped consumers by advertising that their brand of spring water came from "some of the most pristine and protected sources deep in the woods". The lawsuit alleged that ever since the original spring was shut down in 1967, the company had used man-made wells, at least one of which is in a parking lot along a busy road.

Consider These Facts

To be sure, many municipal water systems have run afoul of government water quality standards--driving up demand for bottled water as a result. Americans drank 26 billion liters of bottled water in 2004, or roughly one eight-ounce glass per person every day.

Tens of millions of consumers now shun tap water and rely on bottled water exclusively. Nearly one-fifth of North Americans use bottled drinking water exclusively for their daily hydration. Canadians consume more bottled drinking water than coffee, tea, apple juice or milk.

Become an educated consumer and read the EPA reports about municipal water carefully to determine the real purity of the water. Avoid the hype and spin so often found in reports issued by government agencies.

Use municipal water to wash your car and water the lawn, but if you want to remain healthy drink purified bottled water for the highest level of purity.

Jon M. Stout is Chairman of the Board of Element H2O an Ultra Pure bottled water company located in Chantilly, Virginia. For more information about bottled water, private label bottled water [http://www.elementh2o.com/Store] and bottled water delivery [http://www.elementh2o.com/local] go to the Element H2O website.

Read More

Water Filters Guide - What You Should Know Before You Invest In A Water Treatment System

To some "Water, Water, Everywhere!" is a comic story but to others in other parts of the world, it's not amusing. Despite its abundance on earth, water has been one of the scarcest commodities both in quantity and in quality. In spite of advances in technology, drought and water borne diseases are common place globally. Drinking water supplies are exposed to all sorts of contamination sources and therefore causing confusion among consumers about their water quality. On one hand we are lead to believe that drinking water is well treated and safe to drink, on the other hand we can see news reports about few inefficient water treatment plants, or operators who try to manipulate water testing results. Water advisories are common-advising consumers to flush their water before they drink when certain contamination is discovered.

One sort of relief is that EPA indicated in "Water on Tap" report that the "actual events of drinking water contamination are rare, and typically do not occur at levels likely to pose health concerns." But the report says further that "there are growing numbers of activities that can contaminate our drinking water." Drinking water supply (surface and groundwater) can be exposed to such contaminants from combined sewer overflows, sanitary overflows, stormwater runoffs, concentrated animal feeding operations, failed septic tank discharges, and a host of others. These contaminants range from fertilizer, pesticides, pharmaceutical drugs, toxic wastes, oil, radionuclides, and metals. (USEPA, 2003)

Contamination from the source

Drinking water supply is sometimes exposed to harmful contaminants right from the source. Disease-causing bacteria can get into municipal drinking water, well water, or contaminated ice. According to the 2002 CDC report, from 1985 to 2000, 251 outbreaks and 462,169 cases of waterborne illness related to contaminated drinking water were reported. Some of these cases were linked to surface water supply sources that have been contaminated by sewage. Some drinking water contaminations have been linked to Sanitary Sewer Overflows (SSO) and raw sewage discharges into distribution lines. Forty two percent of water-borne disease outbreak was linked to Giardia.

EPA identified 59 CSO outfalls in seven states having outfalls within one mile of drinking water intake. Although the Report to Congress did not find any relationship between a CSO discharges from these outfalls and the transport of contaminants to the vicinity of the intake, it says a more complex modeling is needed to do a better study. (USEPA, 2004)

Contaminants from home plumbing systems:

Water can be contaminated by lead in home plumbing systems. Lead contamination can lead to a variety of health problems. According to EPA, "in babies and children, exposure to lead above the action level of 0.015 mg/l can result in delays in physical and mental development." While it is rare that lead can contaminate water from the supply, lead can leach to drinking water from corroded pipes in homes that have lead pipes, joints, and solder.

How to obtain fresh tasting and healthy water - The good news is that advancement in water treatment technology has made it possible to remove these contaminants from our drinking water. Although, technology has not caught up with the pharmaceutical water contamination, most water treatment devices can remove drugs that contain volatile organic chemicals (VOCs). According to the NSF International, although many of the NSF certified treatment devices are specifically designed to remove pharmaceuticals right now "many of these products can help provide additional protection against wide array of other contaminants." Consumers have a wide selection of water treatment devices to choose from and you don't have to buy bottled water-which can cost you lots of money annually, to obtain healthy water. In fact, studies have shown that some bottled water contains some level of bacteria. This is because tap water and bottled water are not regulated by the same standards and the same agencies.

An NRDC study showed that one third of 103 brands of bottled water tested contained some levels of contamination which includes traces of arsenic and E. coli. (NRDC, 999). Also, home filtration systems can improve the taste or appearance of tap water at a minimal cost. According to an FDA Consumer magazine article "water purified with these products typically costs less than buying bottled water. According to Brita, its high-end faucet filter system provides water for 18 cents a gallon, a considerable saving from $1 or more typically charged for an 8- to 12-ounce bottle of water." (FDA, 2002)

Before you buy a water treatment device Experts recommend that you should find out what types of contaminants are in your water before you decide on which water treatment device to buy. Home water testing kits cost between $9.00 for single parameter to about $99, or more, if you want to test for multiple parameters. The bottom line is the cost of testing your water is less because you don't want to buy or be pressured to buy a certain water filter just because a salesman says it's good.

A typical water filter device is designed to treat one or more contaminants. Most water treatment devices are certified by National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) International. NSF (not to be confused with National Science Foundation) is an independent third party organization that has tested and certified thousands of water treatment devices such as home water filters, softeners, and purifiers to confirm treatment claims. Once you have confirmed what's in your water and have researched two or three water filters, you should confirm claims of treatment by these water filter manufacturers, then, make selection for the best water filter or purifier. If the treatment device you find is not certified, call the manufacturer to find out why. Beware that a treatment device may be tested but not necessarily certified by NSF.

What choices do you have?

Again, your choice of a filter device will depend on what your test confirms. For most, using a water filter may not be an issue but for those with compromised immune systems, it may be a necessity. Different options are commercially available. You may purchase a point-of-entry (POE) water treatment device if you want to treat all the water coming to your house. A POE or a whole house water filter is installed at the water main where water enters the house which will require an experience plumber to install. A point-of-use (POU) device is installed at the points where water will be dispensed around the house. These types of devices come as undersink or under counter, countertop, carafe, showerhead, and refrigerator water filters.

A POE (whole house water filter) can be fitted with activated carbon and reverse osmosis filters in that order. Some come as multiple-stage units fitted with more than one series of activated carbon filter to protect the reverse osmosis filter. Multipure ($629), Apec ($385-$469), Aquasana ($799) are some of the few POE filters that are NSF-certified.

Water softeners are ideal for homes with hard water. You may want to check with your local government is water softeners are allowed due to elevated chlorides discharge from softeners. Most wastewater treatment facilities are not designed to remove excess chlorides resulting in excessive violations of their permits. As a result, water softeners are being banned by some local governments. Prices vary for all types of water softeners.

For POU treatment devices, countertop or tabletop water filters are available in various shapes and models. A tabletop filter is ideal for home owners who do not want to tamper with plumbing, and for a tenant whose lease does not allow him/her to modify the plumbing system.

Undersink filters require some plumbing work. This is ideal for home treatment at a single location in the house. Prices will depend on the models and type of filters in the device.

In conclusion, before you choose an appropriate treatment device, review your CCR report or have your water tested. Consider the long term cost and health benefits and most important of all is to read the fine print. Research NSF-certified water treatment devices.

For the best water filter system buying tips, you may visit the author's blog at Water Filter Tips.

Read More

Purified Water vs Spring Water

As the overall safety of the public water supply is under scrutiny thanks to a recent Associated Press study that uncovered some disturbing contaminants, many consumers are likely finding themselves wondering if bottled water is better. For many, the facts about bottled water will make this the clear choice. The problem lies in deciding what kind of bottled water to select. Understanding the differences between purified water and spring water can guide consumers in the right direction.

While there are some distinct differences between purified and spring water, many find the overall benefits of bottled water in general make this option a smart one. The extra processing that most bottled waters are subjected to can help remove impurities that slip through the public water supply's treatment and testing programs.

Basic Bottled Water Facts Consumers Should Know

Bottled water undergoes a great deal more regulation and scrutiny than many consumers realize. While it is not regulated by the same agency that oversees the public water supply - the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency - it does receive government oversight. In the case of bottled water, the agency that insures strict standards are adhered to is the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Many states also add their own layers of protection in regard to regulation.

The FDA itself puts rather high standards on bottled water produced within and/or sold within the United States. This agency demands that suppliers of bottled water, purified, spring or otherwise do the following things:

Meet FDA standards - Bottled water companies must meet the FDA's requirements for safety, quality and inspection. These are required in exchange for being able to sell products on the US consumer market. These standards, by law, are as strict as or stricter than those set by the EPA for public water systems.
Properly label their products - The FDA demands, for example, that bottled water companies that use tap water without further processing clearly state so on their labels.
Beyond FDA regulations, many of America's bottled water suppliers are members of the International Bottled Water Association. This voluntary, industry association holds its members to stricter standards than the federal government and even state governments. The IBWA demands that its members:

Adhere to safety and quality standards - The IBWA goes above and beyond FDA and EPA standards in this regard.
Subject themselves to annual, unannounced inspections - These are performed to make sure that IBWA members are meeting the strict regulations the association places on its membership.
Bottled water sometimes comes from the same sources as public water. In fact, many suppliers of bottled water start out with the tap and then further process to create their own distinct brand. Some, however, do not.

Understanding Spring Water

While spring water and purified water can come from exactly the same underground sources, the treatment processes that are involved in the two varieties can vary rather greatly. In general, spring water must come from protected, pure underground sources to carry this moniker.

According to the IBWA, spring water that is bottled must come from an underground source that has natural water flow to the earth's surface. The water itself must be gathered from the spring or from a borehole that taps into an underground formation. To earn the title of spring water, the collected water itself must carry all the same properties prior to treatment that the spring contains.

Spring water is subjected to the same FDA and IBWA standards that other forms of bottled water must adhere to. This means that it must be tested for quality and that some form of treatment is generally called for to insure safety and purity.

The Purified Water Difference

Depending on the supplier in question, purified bottled water might actually come from the exact same source as spring water. This, however, is where the two varieties differ.

To earn the name "purified," water must undergo one or more specialized treatment processes, according to the IBWA. The options include distillation, reverse osmosis, deionization and so on. Purified water, in essence, is highly treated drinking water that does not contain the chemical compounds found in the public water supply. Chlorine aftertastes, for example, will not be found within purified water.

Distilled Oxygenated Water Is Purified At Its Best

Distilled oxygenated water is one form of purified water that is gaining a lot of attention. To create this particular product, the source water is distilled for purification purposes. This step in the process removes impurities and insures that FDA and IBWA standards are met or exceeded. The oxygenation process itself requires the infusion of oxygen molecules into the end product. The final result is a water product that is clean, crisp tasting and adherent to FDA and IBWA standards. Many find purified bottled water is the superior choice when safety and flavor both matter.

Making the decision to purchase spring water versus purified water often comes down to personal choice. Many people prefer the taste and the added security that purified bottled water can deliver. The reality is many forms of distilled and spring water come from the exact same source. In the case of purified water, however, the extra treatment measures can deliver peace of mind and an excellent flavor both.

Jon M. Stout is Chairman of the Board of Element H2O an Ultra Pure bottled water company located in Chantilly, Virginia. For more information about bottled water, private label bottled water [http://www.elementh2o.com/Store] and bottled water delivery [http://www.elementh2o.com/local] go to the Element H2O website.

Read More

The Many Advantages Of Purified Bottled Water

With concerns about contaminants in the public water supply running high, many people are turning to bottled water to alleviate fears. Purified bottled water is one choice that some people are discovering offers some distinct advantages. This type of bottled water is a little different than others.

Why Public Water Is A Concern

The public water supply has long been a source of worry for governmental agencies and consumers alike. Water systems can sometimes fail and when they do the consequences can be dire. Beyond impurities, public water systems are also subject to backflow contamination and other points of breach.

While the public water supply is subject to tight regulations, problems still exist. Examples of system failures abound. Perhaps the most notable study in recent years involves the Associated Press five-month investigation into the public drinking water supply and potential medicinal contamination. The study's results are rather eye opening.

According to the AP, some 41 million Americans are impacted by drinking water that shows some form of pharmaceutical contamination. In some water systems, more than 50 different medications were found in trace amounts in the supply.

While public health officials say the levels of medicine found in the AP's study are well below concern levels, not all experts are convinced. Scientists and physicians are unclear of what the long-term effects of drinking pharmaceutical laden water will prove to be.

Beyond the AP's study, the potential for contamination in the public drinking water supply has long been known. To protect against it, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requires suppliers to test for more than 90 different substances. These substances range from highly dangerous e. coli and heavy metals to nitrates and beyond. While the EPA demands strict testing procedures, the fact is some water systems fail and the problems are not detected until the water has been released for general consumption.

Bottled Water Offers An Advantage

Bottled water in and of itself is often seen as a superior choice for drinking over tap water. Bottled water suppliers are subject to many regulations that meet or exceed those set by the EPA although they are enforced by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration instead.

The distinct advantages of bottled water versus tap are found in the extra layer of processing that many bottled water products are subjected to. Thanks to FDA guidelines, bottled water suppliers that do not treat their source water are required to state so clearly on their labels.

While it's true that many bottled water companies do get their water from the tap, they take the cleansing and treating processes farther. This means that consumers are generally receiving products that are cleaner and safer than the public supply can afford. Plus, backflow issues do not come into play. Backflow occurs when water pumped out of the public water supply is suddenly sucked back in. Cross-contamination with tanker trucks, swimming pools and other similar depositories can and does happen thanks to this phenomenon.

In addition to the more obvious advantages bottled water provides, there are other benefits that can come along with making this choice. Many bottled water providers, for example, are voluntary members of an organization call the International Bottled Water Association. Members of this group subject themselves to stricter standards than the federal government demands in regard to purity and safety. To retain membership, suppliers must agree to surprise annual inspection of their plants and they must agree to further testing than the law calls for.

In general, bottled water is the superior choice. The purified variety, however, can give consumers a greater peace of mind.

Why Purified Is Different

Purified bottled water undergoes a slightly different treatment process than most other types of bottled water and especially tap water. To earn the title "purified," water must be treated through reverse osmosis, distillation or another similar, advanced means of purification. Purified bottled water might start out from the tap or come directly from a spring or other natural source, but it is processed in such a manner that makes it distinctly different than other choices.

Purified oxygenated bottled water is further treated by the infusion of oxygen molecules after the distillation process removes contaminants. The end result of the purified oxygenated water creation process is a product that is cleaner, safer and quite often better tasting than other waters.

Many experts consider purification through a steam distillation/oxygenation process to be the most effective.

The Advantages Of Purified

Purified bottled water can deliver some advantages that other forms of bottled water and especially tap water cannot. They include:

A greater degree of contamination removal - The extra steps taken to create purified bottled water deliver peace of mind along with this type of product.
Better taste - Many find the chemical free, oxygen infused taste of purified oxygenated bottled water is simply better than tap and other bottled waters.
Less guesswork - The fact is public water can often be a crapshoot. Thanks to the complexity of the delivery systems and the potential of backflow contamination, tap water drinkers are almost never sure what they are getting. While contaminations are few and far between, they can and do happen.
Purified bottled water delivers advantages that other sources of drinking water cannot deliver. When a clean taste, purity and safety are desired, this type of water fits the bill.

Jon M. Stout is Chairman of the Board of Element H2O an Ultra Pure bottled water company located in Chantilly, Virginia. For more information about bottled water, private label bottled water [http://www.elementh2o.com/Store/] and bottled water delivery [http://www.elementh2o.com/local/] go to the Element H2O website.

Read More

Is Bottled Water Better Than Tap Water?

As more studies come to light that bring the long-term safety of tap water into question, many people find themselves wondering if bottled water is the better choice for consumption, cooking, tooth brushing and more. When the facts about bottled water and tap water are presented, many people make the decision to go bottled. While tap water can and often is technically safe according to government standards, the trace substances found within can be of grave concern.

Concerns About Tap Water

The safety of tap water has long been a major concern for government agencies and the general public, as well. The potential pollutants that can find their way into the public water supply are quite extensive.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requires public water suppliers to test for more than 90 different types of contaminants. Despite the rigorous testing procedures that are in place in most jurisdictions, many public water supplies fail - in some cases, multiple times.

The Hillsborough County Water Department, since renamed Water Resource Services, suffered from multiple system failures in the early 2000s. This seemingly well regulated water supplier, serving the Tampa Bay area, suffered from repeated coliform contaminations and even an e. coli scare. This system is not alone in its failure to meet federal regulations despite the use of chloramines and other chemicals that are designed to remove potential hazards from potable water.

While the EPA does require extensive testing and requires each public water supplier to provide full disclosure in the form of an annual report to water users, government regulations do not cover every eventuality. This was made quite evident thanks to a recent Associated Press study that revealed the presence of pharmaceuticals in the public water supply in jurisdictions all over the United States. The investigation turned up evidence that shows some 41 million Americans might be impacted by medications found within their water.

The five-month study focused on water systems throughout the United States and found contamination - including antibiotics, anticonvulsants and more - in some 24 different metro areas. While the medications were found in trace amounts, the long-term impacts of consuming the water are unclear, the AP reported.

The medications themselves are thought to enter into the public water supplies via natural human elimination. Toilet water, which would contain traces of medication, is flushed and sent to wastewater treatment facilities. From here, treated wastewater is released back into the environment. Eventually, that same water ends up back in rivers, reservoirs, lakes and aquifers, which are the sources of public drinking water.

While the public water supply is well regulated and the water does undergo a great deal of treatment, systems are subject to failure. The long-term impacts of such failures remain unclear.

The Bottled Water Difference

Bottled water offers a distinct difference over tap water in a number of cases. While it's true that some bottled waters do come from the public water supply, many factors can make it distinctly unique and even a great deal safer.

According to the International Bottled Water Association, there are a number of things that make bottled water the better choice. Even in regard to the trace medicines found in tap water, Dr. Stephen Edberg of Yale's School of Medicine says that bottled water undergoes processes that are quite effective in protecting against the substances the AP reported finding in tap water.

Some of the measures that can help make bottled water stand out above tap include:

Regulations - Just like tap water, bottled water is regulated by government agencies. While tap is overseen by the EPA, bottled water is regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. This organization requires that bottled water manufacturers adhere to the FDA's inspection, labeling, safety and quality requirements.

Extra treatment - Most bottled water products undergo further treatments beyond what the public water supply is subjected to. Treatment can include reverse osmosis, filtration, distillation and more, depending on the particular supplier and the type of water in question.

Labeling laws - Companies that do not choose to further treat their bottled water beyond what public water suppliers perform are required by the FDA to clearly say so in their labels.

IBWA standards - Companies that belong to the International Bottled Water Association must adhere to strict standards that go beyond what the federal government requires. Members are subjected to plant inspections once a year that help insure that standards are being met.
While bottled water can start out the same as tap, it often undergoes further treatment that is designed to make it the safer choice.

Purified Is Often The Best

If concerns about contaminants in the public water supply are high, purified bottled water is often one of the best choices to make for drinking and more. This type of bottled water is more heavily treated. The distillation process that is required to create distilled oxygenated water, for example, is designed to remove impurities and create a cleaner, safer source of drinking water.

Answering the question of which is better bottled or tap often comes down to personal choice in regard to taste. If cleaner, safer water is desired, however, the facts about bottled make the answer quite clear. Thanks to the extra treatments many bottled waters are subjected to, this option stands out against the competition.

Jon M. Stout is Chairman of the Board of Element H2O an Ultra Pure bottled water company located in Chantilly, Virginia. For more information about bottled water, private label bottled water [http://www.elementh2o.com/Store] and bottled water delivery [http://www.elementh2o.com/local] go to the Element H2O website.

Read More