Chlorine

[sxysadi]

I hate chlorine in my house!! We have a britafilter but the filter cartridge cost are getting out of control and it doesn't do anything for our water anywhere else except at the kitchen sink. Is there any kind of filter we can put in that will filter the whole house ? - prefer something DIY.

[greg-cws]

There are many options, depending on space available and your budget:-

1. Whole house self-backwashing chlorine filter (GAC/KDF)
2. Cartridge-based filters (GAC or Carbon Block)
3. Combination softener/conditioner/chlorine removal system.

All could be installed by a DIYer.

Have you had your water tested yet ?

[RalphCanPlumb]

Chlorine is supposed to be in your water-You don't need to filter it out.

[greg-cws]

Chlorine is supposed to be in your water-You don't need to filter it out.

Almost...

Chlorine is very important in protecting public health by delivering water safely from the city plant to your home, while minimizing bacterial contamination.

Think of it like a banana - chlorine is the peel protecting the delicate fruit from dirt. You peel it before you eat it ! :)

Chlorine is highly toxic and it's byproducts of disinfection (DBP) are highly carcinogenic.

I wouldn't drink chlorine if you paid me.

[sxysadi]

I called my city and this is what they told me

Carbonite hardness 150ppm
Chlorine 2ppm

They said that is all info needed to choose a filter. They said the chlorine is harmless and not a health risk for us

[greg-cws]

If you have the space, I would recommend a whole-house chlorine removal filter with 2ft3 of GAC with KDF & gravel underbedding.

It will measure about 10" wide and 6 feet tall.

Do you have room for something that big ?

[ion_avenger]

What is your pressure, mainline pipe size and do you have the ability to pipe the system to a drain ?

[ion_avenger]

Chlorine is a highly toxic ocidizer.

Chlorine was employed in WWI as MUSTARD GAS.
Chlorine byproducts are highly carcinogenic.

Chlorine is not harmless & is a MAJOR health risk, both in drinking & bathing.

greg-cws's comment about the banana is a great analogy. Use the chlorine to protect the water from bacterial contamination during reticulation, but dispose of it before human exposure.

Are you planning on softening that water also ?




I called my city and this is what they told me

Carbonite hardness 150ppm
Chlorine 2ppm

They said that is all info needed to choose a filter. They said the chlorine is harmless and not a health risk for us

[sxysadi]

thanks guys. we want to do the whole house system.
greg, look for a PM - my husband wants to get one from ISW.

[greg-cws]

Thanks, I hope you enjoy your new system.
Post us a review after a few months and let us know how you like it.

Best regards

Greg

[ion_avenger]

Chlorine, Cancer, And Heart Disease

"We are quite convinced, based on this study, that there is an association between cancer and chlorinated water." - Medical College Of Wisconsin research team

The addition of chlorine to our drinking water began in the late 1800s and by 1904 was the standard in water treatment, and for the most part remains so today. We don’t use chlorine because it’s the safest or even the most effective means of disinfection, we use it because it is the cheapest. In spite of all our technological advances, we essentially still pour bleach in our water before we drink it. The long term effects of chlorinated drinking water have just recently being recognized. According to the U.S. Council Of Environmental Quality, “Cancer risk among people drinking chlorinated water is 93% higher than among those whose water does not contain chlorine.”

Dr. Joseph Price wrote a highly controversial book in the late sixties titled Coronaries/Cholesterol/Chlorine and concluded that nothing can negate the incontrovertible fact, the basic cause of atherosclerosis and resulting entities such as heart attacks and stroke, is chlorine.” Dr. Price later headed up a study using chickens as test subjects, where two groups of several hundred birds were observed throughout their span to maturity. One group was given water with chlorine and the other without. The group raised with chlorine, when autopsied, showed some level of heart or circulatory disease in every specimen, the group without had no incidence of disease. The group with chlorine under winter conditions, showed outward signs of poor circulation, shivering, drooped feathers and a reduced level of activity. The group without chlorine grew faster, larger and displayed vigorous health. This study was well received in the poultry industry and is still used as a reference today. As a result, most large poultry producers use dechlorinated water. It would be a common sense conclusion that if regular chlorinated tap water is not good enough for the chickens, then it probably is not good enough for us humans!

There is a lot of well founded concern about chlorine. When chlorine is added to our water, it combines with other natural compounds to form Trihalomethanes (chlorination byproducts), or THMs. These chlorine byproducts trigger the production of free radicals in the body, causing cell damage, and are highly carcinogenic. “Although concentrations of these carcinogens (THMs) are low, it is precisely these low levels that cancer scientists believe are responsible for the majority of human cancers in the United States“. The Environmental Defense Fund

Simply stated chlorine is a pesticide, as defined by the U.S. EPA, who’s sole purpose is to kill living organisms. When we consume water containing chlorine, it kills some part of us, destroying cells and tissue inside our body. Dr. Robert Carlson, a highly respected University of Minnesota researcher who’s work is sponsored by the Federal Environmental Protection Agency, sums it up by claiming , “the chlorine problem is similar to that of air pollution”, and adds that “chlorine is the greatest crippler and killer of modern times!”

Breast cancer, which now effects one in every eight women in North America, has recently been linked to the accumulation of chlorine compounds in the breast tissue. A study carried out in Hartford Connecticut, the first of it’s kind in North America, found that, “women with breast cancer have 50% to 60% higher levels of organochlorines (chlorination byproducts) in their breast tissue than women without breast cancer.”

One of the most shocking components to all of these studies is that up to 2/3s of our harmful exposure to chlorine is due to inhalation of steam and skin absorption while showering. A warm shower opens up the pores of the skin and allows for accelerated absorption of chlorine and other chemicals in water. The steam we inhale while showering can contain up to 50 times the level of chemicals than tap water due to the fact that chlorine and most other contaminants vaporize much faster and at a lower temperature than water. Inhalation is a much more harmful means of exposure since the chlorine gas (chloroform) we inhale goes directly into our blood stream. When we drink contaminated water the toxins are partially filtered out by our kidneys and digestive system. Chlorine vapors are known to be a strong irritant to the sensitive tissue and bronchial passages inside our lungs, it was used as a chemical weapon in World War II. The inhalation of chlorine is a suspected cause of asthma and bronchitis, especially in children… which has increased 300% in the last two decades. “Showering is suspected as the primary cause of elevated levels of chloroform in nearly every home because of chlorine in the water.” Dr Lance Wallace, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Chlorine in shower water also has a very negative cosmetic effect, robbing our skin and hair of moisture and elasticity, resulting in a less vibrant and youthful appearance. Anyone who has ever swam in a chlorinated pool can relate to the harsh effects that chlorine has on the skin and hair. What’s surprising is that we commonly find higher levels of chlorine in our tap water than is recommended safe for swimming pools.

Aside from all the health risks related to chlorine in our water, it is the primary cause of bad taste and odor in drinking water. The objectionable taste causes many people to turn to other less healthful beverages like soft drinks, tea or other sweetened drinks. A decreased intake of water, for any reason, can only result in a lower degree of health.

The good news is that chlorine is one of the easiest substances to remove from our water. For that reason it logically should serve it’s purpose of keeping our water free from harmful bacteria and water borne diseases right up to the time of consumption, where it should then be removed by quality home water filtration.

No one will argue that chlorine serves an important purpose, and that the hazards of doing away with chlorine are greater than or equal to the related health risks. The simple truth is that chlorine is likely here to stay. The idea that we could do away with chlorine any time in the near future is just not realistic. It is also clear that chlorine represents a very real and serious threat to our health and should be removed in our homes, at the point of use, both from the water we drink and the water we shower in.

[ion_avenger]

From Dr. Mercola's website - http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/05/30/The-Newfound-Link-Between-Probiotics.aspx (http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/05/30/The-Newfound-Link-Between-Probiotics.aspx)

Multiple studies have shown that obese people have different intestinal bacteria than slim people, and the functioning of this gut microflora can impact your waistline.

After all, inside your gut is a living ecosystem, full of both good and bad bacteria. The functioning of this gut microflora in your body can be likened to that of an ant farm, working together as an intelligent whole to perform an array of functions, which include extracting calories from the foods you eat.

One reason the microflora in your gut could play a key role in obesity is because it appears the microbes flourishing in an overweight body are much more efficient at extracting calories from food.

In fact, one study showed a family of bacteria known as firmicutes was more plentiful in obese people (20 percent more), whereas another bacteria called bacteroidetes was almost 90 percent lower.

Firmicutes appear to be more efficient at taking calories out of complex sugars and depositing those calories in fat. When these microbes were transplanted into normal-weight mice, they suddenly gained twice as much fat. And in a human study, obese people who lost weight increased their bacteroidetes, while the numbers of firmicutes decreased.

Another way your gut bacteria influences your weight is through a single molecule in your intestinal wall, which is activated by the waste products from gut bacteria. When activated, the molecule slows the movement of food through your intestine, allowing you to absorb more nutrients and thus gain weight.

Why Probiotics are Especially Important During Pregnancy

Nearly everyone can benefit from optimizing the balance of good vs. bad bacteria in their gut using probiotics, but if you are pregnant or planning to be, this is of utmost importance to you and your new baby.

As this new study showed, simply taking a high-quality probiotic may help you to regain your figure after pregnancy, but the benefits go well beyond this. Research shows giving pregnant women and newborns doses of good bacteria can:

• Protect babies from developing eczema in childhood
• Help prevent childhood allergies by training infants' immune systems to resist allergic reactions
• Help optimize your baby’s weight later in life
• Improve the symptoms of colic, decreasing average crying times by about 75 percent
• Reduce your risk of pre****** labor

Babies that are given the best start nutritionally by being breastfed (the source of your first immune-building good bacteria) also tend to have intestinal microflora in which beneficial bifidobacteria predominate over potentially harmful bacteria.

So aside from taking probiotics during pregnancy, the first way you can encourage your newborn’s gut health to flourish is by breastfeeding.

How to Increase Your Levels of Good Bacteria

Positively influencing the bacteria growing in your body is relatively easy, and involves taking in plenty of good bacteria while discouraging the growth of bad varieties.

One of the most important steps you can take to do this is to stop consuming sugary foods. Eating a healthy diet low in sugars, grains and processed foods will generally cause the good bacteria in your gut to flourish, and naturally build up a major defense against excessive amounts of bad bacteria that can damage your health.

But even with an extremely low-sugar diet there are other factors that negatively influence your gut bacteria, including:

• Antibiotics
• Chlorinated water
• Antibacterial soap
• Agricultural chemicals
• Pollution

All of these factors help to kill off your good bacteria. This is why it’s a wise choice to “reseed” your body with good bacteria from time to time by taking a high-quality probiotic supplement or eating properly fermented foods like natto and kefir -- which are naturally rich in good bacteria.

Since helpful bacteria are increasingly absent in most people’s diets, it is important to purposely include fermented foods that contain live probiotic bacteria in your diet, or take a probiotic supplement regularly.