I don't know if this is actually the thread to ask this question, but it IS the thread that got me thinking about it. So here goes - Has anyone heard of the "pure effect filter"? My wife and I were discussing the safety, health effects, and nasty taste of almost all the tap water in the USA. At the very least surely most of the people involved in this discussion can agree with me that the majority of USA tap water tastes awful, right (I've had a very few exceptions to this, can't remember where however)? I do drink from the tap from time to time, but my wife really hates it and will often not drink water if there isn't any "clean" water (those quotations are ironical btw, I think tap water is nasty as well and if it tastes really bad and doesn't sit right in the belly then I figure something is wrong with it )

So we were poking around on the internet for filters or filtration systems, reiterating the inadequacies of brita, pur, and most other filters available to the retail market before running across the pure effect filters. Compared to most of the other "fluoride removal filters" I was looking at, these seemed the most legit. So I was just wondering if anyone has heard of, used, or is able to make theoretical statements about it's potential for working. They are extremely expensive for our budget at the moment, so we would either have to save up for a bit or get the "compact" model ($130 at the current sale price). I honestly don't see them listing any added benefits for having the more expensive (I guess more advanced) filters, but I'm going to get into contact with them and ask what the deal with the more expensive models is...

From the website -

It uses a combination zeolite, Kinetic degradation fluxion, and activated carbon media. Whaddyall think about these? Is it worth the dough? The site says it's better than reverse-osmosis (but then again of course it does )

PS: What do you guys think about using tap water in hoasca or any other brews? I personally hate to use it, I feel as though the impurities when reduced to the level that we reduce to (several gallons of water down to 1 liter or less) usually for how I brew) could reach much more potentially damaging levels. Not to mention interaction with the brews themselves (not even just the clashing of highly industrialized water with the spirits of the plants)

I would never brew with tap water..ever.

I am not really big into water filters etc either unless it is all you have access to. I would check findaspring.com first, see if there is a well or a spring near you. We had a $1500 filter and I will tell you, that thing has NOTHING on the spring water we collect..

There's no really legit seeming springs in Texas unfortunately... several listed but they seem either closed or probably contaminated. The best ones still had comments stating the need for filtration. However there is one about an hour and a half away so that's cool.

lol are you serious?!
there are artesian springs, <3 good ol' Edwards Aquifer.

That probably means that your spring water contains other stuff in it that makes the taste. Also, that something tastes good does not mean it is healthy by default (in bigger portions).

I think it would be great if you had your spring water tested, this since I'm pretty curious what is actually in it that makes it taste so good for you. I wonder if there are standard test kits for this?


Kind regards,

The Traveler

p.s. Our tap water is pretty clean as in no contaminants but it contains way too much calcium to be tasty.

Scotland is pretty much the only place that ive found where tap water is tastier than bottled water. Soft water ftw!! I'm guessing your spring water is soft water jamie?

True about taste not being a good indicator of healthiness. Of course, the reverse tends to work better... if it tastes terrible it is probably unhealthy.

;-)

As for the Dutch tap water, I found it to be marginal. Sure, they treat it and give you something that is probably fine, but I could never get the image of the Dutch water table being flooded with the toxic runoff from all of northern Europe out of my mind.

The Rhine still looks pretty good when it leaves Switzerland, but by the time it gets to Rotterdam? Ummmm, no thanks. And acid rain in Poland has been shown to make its way to Holland.

Kind of sucks that the Germans put the bulk of their factories and nuclear power plants on the Rhine just before it goes into NL.

In NL we have a diversity where we get our tapwater from, it sure is not from the rivers and lakes alone (about 37.5% comes from surfacewater). We get our drinking water from groundwater, natural dunewater, surface water and riperian(?) groundwater. Form these source, groundwater is used the most, followed by surfacewater, riparian groundwater and natural dunewater. We also put extra water in the dunes to naturally filter the water.

In the Netherlands it depends a lot where you life as to what water you will get. There is very tasty water around the "Utrechtse Heuvelrug" and at places in the east of the Netherlands. Large cities like Amsterdam and Rotterdam don't have to good tasting tapwater in my opinion. Also with a lot of the tapwater in the Netherlands there is too much calcium in it for my liking.


Kind regards,

The Traveler

Here is an article about a town in Arizona where 2 water treatment workers are being placed on leave for intentionally choosing not to fluoridate the town's water supply despite a referendum which passed in 2000 with 54% of the vote in favor of fluoridation. Apparently the town started in 2002, but it seems these two guys took the fluoridation out secretly of their own accord over a year ago.

http://www.eastvalleytri...1-ae6d-0019bb2963f4.html

Sadly, all those sources you mention are easily polluted by water seeping into the local water table. Only the deepest of wells under a sufficient layer of sedimentary rock or coal will actually be from a protected aquifer.

My experience in NL is that you can't dig a hole of half a meter or more without hitting water... except perhaps in the Maastricht hill country. This isn't just an issue for drinking water, but for all the dutch crops that grow in this very wet soil. I remember a study that showed relatively significant amount of carcinogens in things like Dutch onions (a plant that tends to accumulate toxins in the environment).

And, the standards which are considered safe for drinking water in most countries are a bit puzzling. With relatively high levels of arsenic and lead being considered safe. Even these towns in the US with water that you can literally light on fire due to natural gas contamination because of fracking... generally meet the local safety levels set by the regulators. Hooray for deregulation!

I prefer my water to be alkaline. I believe that, in industrialized societies, our diets and bodies tend to be too acidic.

"Every single person who has cancer has a pH that is too acidic."

Dr. Otto Warburg won the Nobel Prize in 1931 for proving that cancer can't survive in an alkaline, oxygen rich environment but thrives in an acidic, low oxygen environment.

http://www.kyhote.com/pl...20prevents%20cancer.htm

"Early warning signs of acidic toxicity include sugar cravings, fatigue, colds, allergies, fungal conditions, and obesity, which is caused by the body’s attempt to defend itself against acidity by storing acid in fat cells."

It also states that high cholesterol, osteoporosis, & diabetes are caused/supported by acidity in the body.

You do know that you are now claiming that all Dutch drinking water is polluted beyond certain levels? Do you have any credible sources for those claims?

To be honest this sounds more like fear mongering to me, merely by connecting dots that are not connected at all.


Kind regards,

The Traveler

Our water has been tested both independantly and by the city. It was concidered completely safe for drinking. The city just spent 40 grand to put in a new public well for drinking that tapped the same aquafer as all of our springs. I attended the city meetings with the mayor and municipal councel on the subject and they had to test the water before they could build the thing with a sign saying "fill your water bottles here".

What I mean when I saw that this water is better than our filtered tap water is simply that it is more hydrating. When I drink this water I swear I feel more hydrated. I have spoken with many other people who say the same thing. I spoke with one older man at the spring one day who drives about 30 minutes just to get this water and claimed that his joints in his legs even felt better after drinking this water. He said he felt that it was due to the water being more hydrating in the body.

Sorry Trav... I have made no such claim. What levels did I claim the water is polluted beyond?

I merely stated a few things that are well known to anyone who has any interest in the subject. Let me summarize the Dutch water situation for you.

1) NL is the lowest lying land in the entire region.
2) Water flows downhill.
3) Acid rain in Eastern Europe has been found to make its way to Holland (google it).
4) The Rhine looks like an open sewer in Rotterdam, and having been to the source of the Rhine, I can tell you that that water starts out pristine.
5) Ground water, Riparian water, surface water and most aquifers are fed by water seeping into the soil at some location.

You can connect the dots for yourself. I am not engaging in fear mongering. I have no interest or reward for doing so. I have spent a considerable amount of time in the Netherlands though, going back to the mid 80's... was even engaged to a Dutch woman.

What I will say, is that the basic water conditions there are not as good as those in most other European countries. The Dutch government does an admirable job of treating and filtering the water, and I am sure the water coming out of the tap is not particularly unhealthy... but there are some things which don't come out of the water so easily, and I don't feel that the levels that regulatory agencies find safe for human consumption to be acceptable to me personally.

People here might not be concerned with a little arsenic, lead or even radioactive selenium... plenty here have suggested that fluoride is a non-issue as well. That is for each person to decide for themselves, I suppose.