I’ve been pretty proud of myself lately. I’ve been drinking lots of water. That means laying low on the coffee. And remembering to hydrate myself before I feel thirst. So I don’t want all my hard work to be compromised by having the wrong water filtration system.
How much water do you need?
There’s a lot of confusion about how much water daily is ideal. I’ve talked about this before, so if you’ve been with me a while, sorry for the repetition. But here’s a fantastic way to determine how much water you should drink daily.
Take your weight in pounds. Now divide that number in half (150 pounds pounds divided by 2.) The number you come up with is the number of ounces you would ideally drink daily. So that means someone who weighs 150 pounds would need about 75 ounces of water daily. And keep in mind you’ll need extra on the days you workout or just sweat a lot.
But back to your water filtration system
The amount of contaminants coming out of your faucet can be scary. There can be lead, or chlorine, or fluoride. But there can also be hormone disruptors, volatile organic compounds, cysts, and more.
And the effects can add-up as you drink glass after glass. So good quality water is such peace of mind. I’m proud of myself for staying hydrated. But I also want to make sure I’m not drinking something that can have negative consequences down the road.
Your water filtration system
Most people I know have some sort of filtration system. Whether that means a pitcher for your fridge, or a filter under your sink, or something that hooks right into your main water supply. But how do you know if you have the right filtration system for the pollutants in your specific water supply?.
There is so much variety in water toxicity. And your water might contain a variety of pollutants. Or it might not contain any at all. And so how do you know if you really need a filtration system for your home? Or how can you be assured that you’ve chosen an adequate one?
Environmental Working Group
Well, the great thing is that the Environmental Working Group now has a helpful solution. Their site allows you to find the exact type of filter you need. Because it lets you search for the unique pollutants that might be hiding in your town’s water.
All you need to do is insert your zip code in the required box. And you’ll get a list of the contaminants found in your water that exceed health guidelines.
In my world, knowledge is power. You could, of course, use this information to freak yourself out. But then you’re missing a great opportunity. Because you can use this information to make educated choices about your water filtration.
For instance, my home area has higher levels of arsenic in the water. Arsenic is naturally found in the earth. But it’s pretty bad for you if you ingest it in high levels. And this should influence my choice in water filters.
Different filtration systems are better for different pollutants
Once you know what type of contaminants are exceeding healthy levels in your water, you can see if your water filtration system is adequate for removing them. Go right onto your filtration system’s website to see where your filter excels and where it falls behind.
Some types of water filtration systems are more comprehensive than others. For instance, reverse osmosis filtration systems are considered the gold standard for easy home water filtration. But these systems tend to come at a higher price and tend to have to be attached to the actual plumbing in your home. Making them more of a challenge for people like me who rent.
Distillation is a good option for apartment dwellers since many distillation systems can easily fit on a counter top. Distillation turns healthy water into steam, separating it from toxins which need higher temperatures to boil. This unfortunately isn’t a quick process. It can literally take hours to let steam drip back into healthy clean water. But distillation gets out more toxins than even reverse osmosis filtration.
Find your perfect water filtration system on the EWG website
The great thing about the Environmental Working Group’s new tool is that it also lets you search filtration systems by specific criteria. For instance, since my water contains unhealthy levels of arsenic, I can search the website specifically for filters that are effective at removing arsenic. And if you buy the filter through their Amazon link, you help support the EWG. Which is great since they do so much to educate consumers about how to stay healthy and safe.
Again, knowledge is power. Get to know what’s happening in your neck of the woods. And this may help you stay hydrated in a way that is nothing but healing and healthy.
YES! More people need to read this. I absolutely hate tap water and yes water has a taste. Our plumber recently installed a new filter for our system since our old system broke, it was the best money we spent on the house.
I love the Environmental Working Group. I have always used them for products I buy. I didn’t know they did this too. Very cool!
I think this feature is new!
I didn’t know you could search EWG by zip code. This is so helpful! I was frustrated trying to Google water quality when we recently moved to a new town. The resources you linked are exactly what I was trying to find!
Glad this was helpful!
This is really useful! I hadn’t realised how much water I should be drinking.
I drink a lot of water to begin with so that’s great and I also have my own ph balanced machine at home, which helps me with it. Great article. http://www.aniatravels.com
We use Body Glove for water filtration and love the result so far. Thanks for all the info and suggestions in this post.
xo Sheree
I quite happily forwarded this post to my husband. He’s been in water treatment (engineered sales) his whole life, so I know he will find this information most interesting.
Confession: I drink water (tons), coffee or wine.
🙂