Living in Canada we are lucky enough to have access to some of the world’s
best drinking water. Despite this millions of Canadians decide to purchase
bottled water instead of drinking water from the tap. Why is this? Perhaps it’s
because there can be
many trace chemicals, heavy metals and pharmaceuticals contaminating your water.
Here is a top 5 list
of why many Canadians turn to bottled water instead of drinking tap.
1: Pharmaceuticals: According to the World Health Organization “Pharmaceuticals
are synthetic or natural chemicals that can be found in prescription medicines,
over-the-counter therapeutic drugs and veterinary drugs”. Typical Wastewater
treatment facilities have anywhere from a 20-90% capacity to remove
pharmaceuticals from our water. With a higher population of people taking more
and more prescription drugs we should be worried about trace pharmaceuticals in
our drinking water.
2: Pesticides: Of course pesticides can leech into our water
reserves. Many Canadians invest in eating organic fruits and vegetables to stay
away from pesticides. It’s a big contradiction when traces of pesticides are
then found in our water. Smaller communities are most at risk for pesticides in
their water as for the most part there are inadequate water treatment
facilities in these communities. Take for example British Columbia where there are
over 4,000 different water suppliers many with inadequate treatment.
4: Chlorine: Certainly it kills pathogens and
microbial pollutants in the water but at a cost. Chlorine itself is not so
harmful but it is the byproducts (BDPs) which could have a harmful reaction
inside our bodies. Dangerous DBPs created from the chlorination of water include (THMs) and
(VOCs).These byproducts can form free radicals inside of our bodies.
5: The Taste: Let’s be honest who really likes the taste of tap water. You can smell
the chlorine and you could certainly taste it. In my opinion this is one of the
main reasons millions of Canadians have turned to bottled water as their water
alternative.
BOTTLED WATER: According to Agtriculture Canada in 2009 we
produced 2.29 billion litres of
bottled water. Don’t be fooled by the bottled water industries extensive
marketing campaigns and go out and purchase bottled water which is often times
more expensive than the price of gasoline. Instead opt for
a water filter and help save the environment.
WATER FILTERS: There are so many different types available on
the market today. My recommendation is to invest in one that has some sort of
carbon filtration for (copper & lead) and nano filtratio (UF filtration or
Reverse Osmosis 99% and up removal rate of Pharmaceuticals) according to the
World Health Organization.
Whatever your needs;
investing in a water filter is a smart eco-friendly alternative to drinking
bottled water.
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