~ by Jesse Gagnon, Residential Water Specialist
The industrial revolution changed the world forever. From innovations in textiles, mining, and technology came one of the most rapid eras of advancement the world has ever seen. This explosion in technology and manufacturing also resulted in a phenomenal disregard for the environment and the impacts of pollution were just not taken into consideration for more than a hundred years. We are only now starting to realize the long term damage these activities are having on our environment.
Among all of the negative environmental impacts resulting from the industrial age, water contamination is one of the most severe. Aquifers (base water tables) globally are turning up reactive and toxic contaminants in alarming concentrations. Many of these contaminants will still be present in the water table for a hundred or more years.
In the U.S, independent testing of various water sources has created enough buzz to garner national media attention. The findings have been alarming to say the least. A great deal of the analysis performed found industrial contaminants that shatter the EPA’s guidelines for safety. Of even greater concern, and for the first time ever pharmaceutical drugs have been discovered to be present in every major water supply nationwide. This is due to the increase of prescription drug use nationwide, with recent polls finding that 70 % of Americans use some type of prescribed medication daily.
In addition, municipalities apply different combinations of chlorine, ammonia, chloramine and fluoride to their water supplies to ensure that distributed water has been disinfected of harmful organic contaminants. Unfortunately, some of these disinfectant chemicals are not safe for long term consumption either.
But we need not despair… There is a solution to these assorted water problems. In order to ensure we do not need to turn to water from a bottle, taken from some unknown source, the water in your own home can be treated with the use of a reverse osmosis system which has a long track record as the most consistent way to remove and reduce nearly all inorganic compound and minerals that can be present in water.
