MORE ABOUT THE WATER for Your Home by Henry Pine
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n the December issue I wrote a summary article about the bad chemicals, bacteria, harmful chlorine, and a multitude of other bad things in our supposedly safe drinking water in the Houston area. We briefly covered water softeners, which for the most part, only removes the calcium making your water more compatible with soap products and reduces mineral deposits, but leaves behind a slick residue. They do not make your water clean, more sanitized or safer. In this issue we will go into more details about what is in Houston’s water and the specific dangers to you and your family. On June 24, 2014, click2houston reported…”IS HOUSTON’S WATER SAFE TO DRINK/USE?” As reported, citizens in Houston complained loudly to officials and Channel 2 News about “tap water that tastes and smells foul”. From southwest Houston to Montrose to north of downtown and over to Westbury, the water was cloudy and had a foul odor. The public works department would not talk on camera, but told Local 2 – “the city’s responsibility is to meet federal and state standards and it is doing that.” You can read the entire article by going to Click2houston.com. The “right to know” is required by all cities to inform the public about what is in their water. The National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) found that some cities do great reports, but others are incomplete or misleading. HOUSTON was among seven other major cities cited for problems with their reports, and they received a poor and fair rating. The same years, 2000 and 2001 respectively they received poor and fair for their actual water quality and compliance.
“Arsenic, haloacetic acid, and total trihalomethanes were found in Houston’s ground water at levels of concern. They are by products of the CHLORINE DISINFECTION PROCESS that may cause cancer and they were more than double the proposed national standard. Radon was also at a high level of concern In another article by Douglas McIntyre, updated April 29, 2014 re “10 American Cities with the Worst Drinking Water” … Houston came in 6th. “Houston is the fourth – largest city. It gets its water from sources such as the Trinity River, the San Jacinto Rivers, and Lake Houston. Texas conducted 22,083 water quality tests between 2004 and 2007 on Houston’s water supply, and found 18 chemicals that exceeded federal and state health guidelines, compared to the national average of four. Three chemicals exceeded EPA legal health standards, against the national average of 0.5 chemicals. A total of 46 pollutants were detected, compared to the national average of eight. The city water has contained illegal levels of alpha particles, a form of radiation. Similarly, haloacetic acids, from various disinfection byproducts, have been detected.” Even though the data we have here is fairly old, it shows that even if the City of Houston improves or has improved greatly, it falls very short of what most of us that are concerned for our health…. want to drink. So we need to protect ourselves. Your own TOTAL home filtering, purifying system seems to be the only natural awakenings
sure way to do so, as long as you get a good one that will actually do its job completely. Also, remember that showering with chlorinated water is said to get more chlorine into your body than drinking it, so if you are thinking that the filter on or below your kitchen sink is protecting you and your family, you are missing possibly the even worse source of chlorine entering your body. Your family’s health is everything and the current, not so good, city water, is not likely to get better soon. For general budget purposes you should expect to pay about $ 3,000 - $ 4,000 for a small total home system, and about $ 6,000 - $ 8,000 for a large system that will take care of most 3 – 4 bedroom homes, with a good sized family, and last for 5 – 10 years with minimal maintenance. There is no monthly service needed for these better systems and there is no salt brine to deal with or RO filter to clean. Here’s to a clean, safe, glass of water from anywhere in your home, for your family’s future. Accent Natural Water, 23206 I-45 North Spring, TX 77373, 281-773-5441. Visit online at AccentH2O.com. See ad on page 43.
January 2016
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