How Common is Quality Water?

Well hello again my friends, I hope that you have been doing well since the last time that we had the opportunity to connect. So, the topic of today’s love letter to you is something that each of us has an intimate relationship with and an absolute necessity for, and that is hydration. Besides the oxygen that we breath, water is the second most essential nutrient that is required for our survival. Depending on our age, what we recognize as our physical body is on average 60-65% water. With such a large percentage of what we are composed of being water, if we are looking to optimize our health, the quality of water that we bring into ourselves should be prioritized. Not only is it true that ‘You are what you eat’, but we can expand on that, as well ‘You are what you drink’!

Quality matters. When it comes to optimizing our health, in performance and ascetics, we easily recognize that quality food choices matter. We recognize the impact that quality sleep has on our mood, productivity, and recovery. When it comes to our relationships, we know that spending quality time together matters. But, how often do we consider the quality of the fluids that we are consuming and the impact that it is having on us.

Unfortunately in todays day and age - not all water is created equally. It's a sad fact that most if not all of our rivers, lakes, oceans, and aquifers are dangerously contaminated with toxins making them unsuitable for consumption by human beings and to put it lightly, harmful for the environment at large. But luckily we have water treatment plants, so we’re good right? Well, I’m sorry to burst your bubble, but that is what this post is about.

There are so many points that I could and would like to cover regarding this, but so I don’t end up writing you a novel here I’m going to keep this post concise and focus on our tap water. There will be many other posts to come where we will have the opportunity to dive into water much more deeply.

To begin with, a questionable amount of the tap water that is provided to us through our municipalities is extracted from the sewage that these municipalities collect. Let that sink in. Not only that but the infrastructure through which this water is distributed to us is questionable at best. The piping over time corrodes and those particulates are picked up by the water running through them and are delivered to you via your faucet with no filtration. Not to mention the strait lines and right angles of these pipes are not found in nature and de-structure the water (more on structured water and vortices in another post to come).

What about the rest of the water that our municipalities “purify” and distribute to us for our consumption? This “raw” or untreated water comes to our municipalities via the surface water supply or from underground aquifers, however as mentioned above these sources have unfortunately almost all been contaminated by us humans.

If we go back and consider what is done with our sewage before adding it back into our water supply is pretty disturbing. Once sewage has been collected and the ‘sewage solids’ have been extracted the rest is deemed suitable for environmental discharge.

So let’s think this through a bit further. We are dumping “filtered” sewage back into the environment and then using that same water supply to provide us with the drinking water that we have ‘on tap’ in our homes, in restaurants and our businesses. Yes, it goes through more filtration processes at these treatment plants but its still pretty gross considering that even though the filtration processes are sophisticated they still prove to be inadequate on a molecular level.

So you might be asking what am I trying to get at? In 2018, Americans filled a record of 5.8 billion prescriptions, that comes out to 17.8 prescription drugs per person (and we haven’t slowed down by any means up to today). So these pharmaceuticals are consumed, processed and excreted by the body and flushed down the commode and sent right out into our ‘raw’ water supply for us to use again.

But, you might say, these synthetics have been denatured by the metabolic processes of the body so they can’t be detrimental if in some way they are consumed again… right? Well…. That would be true however it has now been discovered that these pharmaceutical residues are being reconverted back into their active form by bacteria that are present in nature. Then we take this same water, filter it (with the same methods) and that’s what we are consuming. Yes, its in a much less concentrated form but it is equally if not more detrimental to each of us.

By consuming municipal tap water we are receiving homeopathic doses of a plethora of pharmaceuticals - birth control, anti-depressants, hormonal suppressants and stimulants etc. In homeopathy the medications get stronger as the molecular concentration decreases. I believe that you have the ability to connect the dots and see how this is incredibly detrimental when it comes to our health and vitality.

So what is the take away from all of this?

We must actively seek to consume hydration that is free from toxins/synthetics if health and vitality are truly what we desire for ourselves. This is something that our ancestors didn’t have to worry about, but given our current situation and environment we must be aware.

Where do we start?

In our homes we can begin with after market filtration systems for our tap water and when we are out away from home we must intentionally seek out quality bottled or filtered water that is reputable. But when it comes to after market filtration systems it can get a bit more complex, there is not a one size fits all filter. There are currently 5 different types of water filtration systems, and depending on the water quality coming out of your local municipality, using the right one is very important. In a later post I will break down the attributes of each and how to determine which is right for you. But for now I will start by giving you these types, and you can look into each. They are; mechanical filters, absorption filters, sequestration filters, ion exchange filters, and reverse osmosis filters.

When it comes to buying quality water when we are away from our homes there are several companies providing quality artesian spring water that has been third party tested. These are my favorite and provide not only extremely pure water, but they have the naturally occurring mineral concentration that we have evolved to require. Having these naturally occurring minerals present in water is essential to maintaining the proper water pH. And that is another rabbit hole that I will go down in a later post.

I hope that this love letter has sparked your curiosity and will nudge you into being a bit more aware of the hydration you are bringing into yourself.