Aluminium in a water filter? You gotta be joking!

One of the latest entries to the water filter market is a home countertop system that promises all sorts of benefits, not the least being far better filtration using a new 'nano' form of ceramic in a filter. It reads wonderfully.

Only one problem; it fails to mention what the 'nano' parts of the filter are made from. These nano parts are like tiny hairs that attract sediment by being electrically charged. Which again, is all fine, except one would think that something so small could easily break off and end up in your glass of water, especially when coated with sediment.. So what is this nano material? Aluminium.

And why does this surprise me?

Because according to The PAQUID study in the American Journal of Epidemiology, (Rondeau, V., Jacqmin-Gadda, H., Commenges, D., Helmer, C. and Dartigues, J.F. (2009) American Journal of Epidemiology, 169(4); 489-496.),
"the risk of dementia was higher for subjects with a high daily aluminium intake (for intake greater than or equal to 0.1 mg/day, adjusted relative risk (RR) = 2.26, P=0.049). An increase of 10 mg/day in silica intake was associated with a reduced risk of dementia (adjusted RR = 0.89, P = 0.036). There was no dose-response effect for aluminium seen.

This study found that the risks of cognitive decline and dementia were higher for those who had a high aluminium intake from drinking water."

Sure, it's nanoparticles, but wouldn't it add to the cumulative total of aluminium your are ingesting from other sources?

So again.. aluminium in a water filter? You gotta be joking!

PS: Just in: Dr Mercola has an article along the same lines. I am not alone.

Taking it to City Hall; Citizen Power

From here
Joe Holbrook has been carrying around a dirty drinking water filter, wrapped in a brown paper bag.

He's been complaining to local officials that the filter, from his son-in-law's house next door, shouldn't be so dirty and gray.

It turns out Holbrook's drinking water in Pinconning Township has bacteria in it.

He passed off the filter to Bob Hill, from the Bay County Environmental Health Division, at a public meeting earlier this month about Saginaw Bay water quality.

Samples taken by the Bay County Department of Water and Sewer outside Holbrook's home in Pinconning Township have since found bacteria in his area's drinking water.

Under water quality standards, there isn't supposed to be any bacteria in drinking water.But five separate tests, conducted from Thursday through Sunday, found single colonies of 'indicator bacteria' in a drinking water line that feeds Holbrook's home and others in the area, said Bill Schubert, water superintendent for the Bay County Department of Water and Sewer, which distributes water from the Bay City water plant.

The Pinconning Township samples didn't contain enough bacteria to cause health problems, Schubert said, or trigger a boil water advisory for residents.

The results are classified as "atypical" rather than "positive," he said.

Still, the water department takes bacteria seriously, Schubert said.

Holbrook said he's upset his pleas for help were ignored by some local officials.

"If I wouldn't have brought that filter in, how long would I have been drinking this?" Holbrook said.

He's been drinking water at his home since 1988, and doesn't feel so good after hearing that bacteria was found.

"Is that why I've got a bad cold right now and I don't feel good? I think it was the water," said Holbrook, 69.

Schubert said he doesn't know what caused the bacteria in the water line or how long it's been there.

Holbrook said his drinking water often smells like fish in the summer. He thinks Saginaw Bay beach muck, which has been found to contain traces of human waste, has something to do with his poor water quality.

On Monday, water crews were out in Holbrook's area flushing and resampling the lines where Holbrook lives, on East Whitefeather Road, and nearby Shore Road.

"We don't want anything in the water, that's truly our goal," Schubert said.

"We are continuing to sample and monitor it until we have it all clear," he said Monday afternoon.

But Schubert said people have to realize that the Bay City area's drinking water isn't pure. It's drawn from Saginaw Bay, and cleaned up as best as is economically possible.

"It's not sterilized water," he said. "It goes through a sand filter and has gone through a lot of tests, but it's not reverse osmosis."

Holbrook said he plans to keep using a $34 drinking water filter at his home, which he bought at Home Depot and replaces at least every three months.

His son and son-in-law, who live in neighboring houses, also use one.
"I don't want that stuff coming down in my glass when I turn the faucet on," Holbrook said.

What are You Sending Down the Pipe?

Here's a list of some of the items our sewerage plants have to contect with before cleansing our waste water.

"Water, fecal matter, toilet paper, hair, lint, rancid grease, stomach acid and trace amounts of Pepto Bismol, chocolate, urine, body oils, dead skin, industrial chemicals (aluminum, copper, zinc, lead, chromium, nickel, molybdenum, selenium, silver arsenic, mercury,) ammonia, ... soil, laundry soap, bath soap, shaving cream, sweat, saliva, salt, sugar. No artificial colors or preservatives. Some variations in taste and/or color may occur due to holidays, predominant cuisine preference, infiltration/inflow, or sewer cross-connections."
More here

It's not just Pollies who fiddle Wikipedia

I was alerted yesterday that Wikipedia had some not-s0-nice things to say about alkaline water. On checking it, it was glaringly obvious that my old competitor must be having a bad month again with time to waste. He had cut and pasted great chunks of info straight off his website, ragging alkaline ionized water. We have come to expect this sort of thing over the last seven years. We've even been 'dobbed in' to the Gaming Commission for not taking out a raffle licence! Sad.

However the data he put up bears comment. He is saying that although alkaline ionized water has some antioxidant effect, it isn't really alkaline. Over the years he's tried on many claims including 'it's too alkaline', it isn't really alkaline', 'alkaline isn't natural' and 'natural alkalinity is better'.

However, back to the item.

Few people have had the opportunity to delve into what pH is all about. The common concept of acid and alkalinity is of a liquid with either lots of acid or lots of alkaline minerals in it. This is not what pH is all about. pH is about what it says it is about; 'pH - per hydrogene, the French term for the amount of hydrogen ions (positive or negative) in a liquid.

It follows that if a liquid has more negative hydrogen ions in it than positive, it will be seen as alkaline, and vice versa. The minerals that give it those hydrogen ions are irrelevant; it is the hydrogen ions that matter, and this is reflected in the reading you'll get from litmus paper or a pH Meter. Your meter isn't saying it has 'x' amount of calcium or magnesium or sulphur. It's saying you have a liquid with a number of hydrogen ions that reflect the clour or reading it is giving you. Do you see what I'm saying? Forget the chemicals. Think Hydrogen.

So saying that something isn't really alkaline because it doesn't have lots of alkaline minerals in it is to miss the point. The real power and benefit of pH is the ability to deliver loads of the right sort of hydrogen ions (atoms) to you.

The difference in effect of a positively charged hydrogen ion and a negatively charged one are huge; a positive hydrogen ion, such as you get with our acid water, has the ability to oxidize, or break down things it comes into contact with. That's why we use acid water for killing bacteria, for cleaning, and for skin and hair support. That's why the huge and famous Tokyo Fish Market uses acid water to clean up after every days' trading; it's a wonderful way of cleaning up all the fish goo without chemicals.

Negatively charged hydrogen, on the other hand, is 'reducing', meaning it donates its energy to anything it comes into contact with. If it, for instance, comes into contact with a positively charged oxygen ion (also known as a free radical) it (and one more) donates itself and unites with the oxygen ion to re-create ordinary water. (H2O)
That's how an antioxidant works!

Can you see why it isn't how much chemical in a liquid that's important in assessing its pH?

Can you see how exquisite a method this is; to create a powerful alkaline oxygen laden antioxidant out of ordinary water?

Finally, this theory is easily measurable with a $200 ORP (oxidation/Reduction Potential) meter, because the electrical potential of a liquid is affected by the amount of hydrogen ions it has. Tap water is about +150mv, meaning it robs us of net energy.

Our Wiki competitor's water filter reduces it a bit, but we've never been able to get their water filter lower than +50mv, meaning that although it is better, it just means it oxidizes less than tap water.

We've seen our ionizers give -800mv readings, meaning almost ten times better antioxidant ability in every glass. We don't always get it because it depends on the water source, but generally you'll get a reading of -300+, making it around six times more effective than our angry friend.

I guess that's the reason he had to alter WikiPedia. If your story doesn't fit science, call in the spin doctors!

This man understands water!

Here's a look at what I think is an amazing work of water-art. If you love water I know you're going to love this website. I attempted to watch his videos - alas - to no avail.
Go here

The 'Ultimate' Water system

Here's a link to a video I found when cruising the Blogosphere. It's a water machine with more cosmic bells and whistles than the Hogwarts assembly hall.

What really knocked me out was the Star of david. that was the final touch in the ... er.. amazing device - which, by the way, you too can own for just under US$6000. See it here
http://www.pillaroflight.net/TVLWMFlashVideo.html