9 Reasons Why You Should Drink Filtered Water

Water is a crucial resource which many of us living in the cities have come to take for granted. Our survival and health depend on the water we drink, but yet we hardly give a thought to the water we use each day.

Here are ten reasons why we should not take our water at face value, and why a water filter could be the best investment we can make for our health:

1. The Water Myth

Pure natural water is a myth. In nature, water picks up minerals as well as contaminants like arsenic, viruses and bacteria as it flows through streams, sits in lakes, and sips through soil and rock in the ground. It is the amount of these substances that determines whether the water is safe or unsafe for consumption.

2. Great Polluted Lakes

The five Great Lakes -- Erie, Huron, Michigan, Ontario, and Superior -- make up more than 80 percent of the U.S.'s freshwater supply and more than 20 percent of the world's. But they have been increasingly polluted by agricultural, industrial and recreational activities that take place around and within the lakes. Pollutants, such as discharged waste water from factories, untreated sewage and toxic contaminants, enter and get trapped in the lakes, increasing in concentration over time.

3. Massive Contamination Power of Oil

Used oil is a major source of oil contamination of waterways and result in pollution of drinking water sources. Spilled or inappropriately disposed used oil from one oil change can contaminate up to 1 million gallons of fresh water, or a year's supply for 50 people.

4. Chlorine: The Double-Edged Sword

Chlorine is a commonly used disinfectant to remove viruses and bacteria from water. But chlorine is also toxic to humans and it reacts with organic compounds in the water to form by-products like trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids that can lead to cancer and reproductive disorders.

5. Killing with Ozone

Ozone is another popular disinfectant that is used standalone or in addition to chlorine to kill germs in the water. However, ozone can react with natural occurring bromide in the water to form bromate, which is a known carcinogen.

6. Chloramine: Deadlier than Chlorine?

Chloramine is an increasingly common disinfectant used as an alternative to chlorine as it is more stable and does not dissipate from the water before it reaches consumers. It also does not have the distinct smell and taste which is characteristic to chlorine-treated water. However, chloramine has been found to create more disinfection by-products than chlorination and increases the leaching of lead from pipes.

7. Mouth Wash or Drinking Water?

Fluoride is often added to drinking water by water suppliers to prevent tooth decay. But this controversial additive has also been linked to bone disease, including pain and tenderness of the bones, in some studies.

8. The Convoluted Journey of Water

Treated water from public water suppliers can be further contaminated as it makes its way to our homes -- by dissolving unwanted chemicals and substances such as asbestos, bacteria, viruses, lead and PVC from corroded pipes.

9. Drink to Even Weaker Immune Health

Seniors and young children, as well as people with immune systems compromised by chemotherapy, AIDS and other chronic diseases are more vulnerable to microbial and toxic contaminants in drinking water, even at levels determined safe by the authority.