Page 2 of 2 FirstFirst 12
Results 21 to 34 of 34

Thread: If You Must Drink Bottled Water...

  1. #21
    Senior Member Euro Pod Echidna's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Location
    Europe
    Posts
    3,574
    Add Echidna on Facebook
    Visit Echidna's Youtube Channel
    Is this about plastic bottles?
    Because the majority of bottles sold here are glass and multi-used.

    It's fair and square to advocate tap water if you have the luxury of living in a region where tap water is safe and potable.
    Many countries in the world, and yes developed ones too, cannot claim that.

    But NO tap water is free from harmful chemicals brought by drugs that people use, because drugs cannot be filtered with current technology.
    If you have an illness, taking that surplus of painkillers and hormonal drugs can push you over the edge.

    As long as tapwater is not safe in that regard, I'm not drinking it.

    And while we're at it; this drug surplus also flows into rivers, lakes and all other water systems, causing health problems for many aquatic animals up to the point they cannot reproduce and die out.

  2. #22
    There's glass bottles here as well ;0 for bougie perrier water

    as for tap water, generally speaking I think NA (more so canada) water is pretty ok compared to other parts of the world where the tap water isn't actually potable. (Omg something I learned from grade 7 is actually useful) so I've been able to get by just using Brita filters.
    The SeaGlass Siren

  3. #23
    You certainly can filter drugs and other chemicals out of water; it's quite easy to do with activated carbon...we use it in aquarium filters to remove residual medications after a treatment course, and to remove other chemicals and toxins as well. And there are some water bottles that do come with a small built-in charcoal filter! I think that's what is in a lot of the other water pitcher filters as well (I'd have to look into that more as I don't really use them, personally).

    Also, regarding poor people who live in developing nations or regions where tap water is unsafe (or even groundwater); people have been specifically tackling that problem by developing low-cost, ultra-portable water filters for that exact purpose. There's a company called LifeStraw that makes and sells these products, and when you buy any of their products, they actually donate water filters to schoolchildren in Kenya: http://www.buylifestraw.com/en/the-cause (I actually forgot about this until just now, I think I might buy one myself!)

  4. #24
    Also, has everyone watched that video I posted yesterday? Cuz most bottled water IS actually just tap water. :P

  5. #25
    Senior Member Euro Pod Echidna's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Location
    Europe
    Posts
    3,574
    Add Echidna on Facebook
    Visit Echidna's Youtube Channel
    Quote Originally Posted by Theobromine View Post
    You certainly can filter drugs and other chemicals out of water; it's quite easy to do with activated carbon...
    In that case, you are ahead of the rest of the world, because currently, scientists are working on a way to filter hormones with enzymes and it's nowhere near finished.

    I know you find dozens of sites saying their filters clean everything, however these are the sellers of said filters.
    Here's an excerpt from a scientific site regarding this issue:

    With such contaminants proving elusive to municipal filtration systems, the burden of protection often lies with the end user. But getting traces of birth control and other drugs out of your tap water isn’t so easy. Of the many different kinds of in-home water filtration systems available today, only those employing reverse osmosis have been shown to filter out some drugs. Some makers of activated carbon water filters claim their products catch pharmaceuticals, but independent research has not verified such claims.
    from http://www.scientificamerican.com/ar...-water-supply/

    Btw, our town has the latest, most expensive carbon filters installed, but even those are incapable of filtering enzymes, drugs and hormons out of the water.
    It would need nanotechnology for that.

  6. #26
    well. at least they're working on it.

    The SeaGlass Siren

  7. #27
    Senior Member Euro Pod Echidna's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Location
    Europe
    Posts
    3,574
    Add Echidna on Facebook
    Visit Echidna's Youtube Channel
    Yea, and they had better hurry

    Nano particles are a problem too, and they've spread everywhere now and clogging up the food chain as they are mistaken for plankton.

  8. #28
    Echidna, you don't actually need nanotechnology for that. The article you posted also mentions reverse osmosis systems, which are highly effective, as is steam distillation. Both of these purification methods remove VERY tiny ionic compounds, as well as larger organic molecules (such as hormones and enzymes). Sure, not all home water purifiers use this technology, but the point is, the technology exists and isn't even that complex. Aquariums and zoos (I've worked at several) use reverse osmosis/deionization (commonly termed RO/DI) filters to make completely purified water for extremely sensitive aquatic organisms. And steam distillation can be as simple as boiling a pot on the stove, catching the steam in a container, and then putting the container in a cold area to allow the steam to condense.

    Here is an article from the CDC describing the efficacy of various water purification methods: http://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/drin...treatment.html

    If you guys want, I can do as much in-depth primary source research as necessary (primary sources being research studies published in peer-reviewed journals; it's important to go to the primary research source because many popular news sites often misinterpret or misconstrue or oversimplify the facts...this is a huge pet peeve of scientists everywhere, don't even get me started ). That way we can all be on the same page and won't have to argue over the little details. Just...I'll do that later, I had a hyperactive kitten playing soccer under my bed since the wee hours of the morning

  9. #29
    ^this. primary research for everything.
    The SeaGlass Siren

  10. #30
    Also, by nano particles do you mean microplastics? Because if so, then you're correct that they're a huge issue with being mistaken for food particles by small organisms and thus ending up contaminating the food web. But let's just make sure we have clear definitions here: nanoparticle is just a term that refers to any particle that is between 1 and 100 nanometers in diameter. One micron=1000 nanometers. If you refer to the CDC webpage I linked earlier, you'll see that "A reverse osmosis filter has a pore size of approximately 0.0001 micron" and 0.0001 micron = 0.1 nanometer, so reverse osmosis definitely filters out nanoparticles. Hooray!

  11. #31
    Quote Originally Posted by SeaGlass Siren View Post
    ^this. primary research for everything.

  12. #32
    On, and one more thing real quick, for now. I just asked my dad about this to make sure I was on the right track with my explanations (he's a leading environmental scientist at an environmental consulting firm that does a lot of sediment toxicity analysis) and this was the quick answer he gave me:
    "Medications and hormones are certainly present in wastewater, and some amount at least passes through municipal wastewater treatment systems. I wouldn't expect these in groundwater wells unless they have been contaminated relatively recently. Most organic chemicals are carbon and energy sources for bacteria (not all, certainly), so I would not expect those kinds of things to persist for very long in groundwater. Activated carbon and reverse osmosis should do a good job of removing such large organic molecules (though physical filtration would not)."

  13. #33
    Senior Member Pod of The South Aziara's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Location
    Abbeville, Louisiana
    Posts
    1,046
    Quote Originally Posted by Cordelia View Post
    They don't live in an area of high poverty, and it shouldn't have been that polluted. I just doubt that a Brita water filter or even an RO water filter system is powerful enough to clean water that has been compromised by the unfortunate levels of chemicals. (And you can bet that I was super glad that my parents chose not to move into that subdivision 35+ years ago. Eep!) But you are right, there is enough fodder for quite a few more threads with this topic. Sadly.

    @Ciriun Yes, there are places to get large bottles of water. I know Jewel usually has a spot to refill the... I think they are 5 gallon jugs. There are a few companies who also do deliveries. I'm not sure what is available in your area though.
    This seems to be the case in all of Louisiana too, sadly. My mom had her kidneys basically destroyed by drinking tap water. Even the city water where I live now has lead and arsenic in it (not to mention flouride and chlorine).
    Also known as Salina Tideglow

  14. #34
    I solved the issue of bottled water simply by using filters to purify water in the refrigerator, on the site https://filterway.com/refrigerator-filters/kitchenaid/ there are almost all popular models that you can order and then install yourself, and what are you about half a year you get tasty water without bad impurities.
    Last edited by Randolph2; 12-06-2022 at 08:50 AM.

Tags for this Thread

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •