Most people never give it a thought, after all we live in the 21st century in an advanced western society and good healthy water always readily available isn’t it?
We can trust our government and our water supply companies can’t we?
And we believe them when they say that our tap water is some of the best in the world and is completely safe for human consumption, don’t we?
Here's an interesting fact.Just 1% of tap water in the UK is used for drinking and culinarypurposes, the rest is used for other household uses including washing of clothes and dishes, flushing toilets, washing cars and watering the garden amongst other things.
The pipes that carry your water will most probably also carry water to any local industry or factories and even farms so the water will be of a "general" good quality if a pipe is burst or fractured it is also possible for contaminated water to syphon back into the supply system and then be carried into your household plumbing quit easily, even if that doesn't happen it is possible (an quite likely) that whilst the pipe is being repaired and probably in a muddy trench, contaminated water can access your plumbing when the water is turned on, the normal advise from water companies is to let the water run until is is clear, but of course you will not see any bad bacteria or toxins that may have entered your pipes, and of course you would not realise whether or not bacteria has colonised in the hot and cold water tanks and is happily growing within.
So, how safe can the water companies make our drinking water when it only accounts for 1% of all water that we use, after all (as mentioned above)the rest of our water goes on bathing and showering or washing of clothes and dishes, cleaning of cars and general cleaning around the house, the flushing of toilets and watering the garden ect;
There are numerous scientific studies that report that Chlorinated tap water is a skin irritant and is associated with rashes and chronic conditions such as Eczema.
Chlorinated water can destroy polyunsaturated fatty acids and vitamin E in the body while generating toxins capable of free radical damage, this may well explain supplementing the diet with essential fatty acids i.e. evening primrose oil, flax seed oil and borage oil together with vitamin E, selenium etc can help with so many cases of Eczema and other dry skin conditions.
Chlorine. A Dictionary definition.
“ A highly irritating, greenish – yellow gaseous halogen, capable of combining with nearly all other elements, produced principally by electrolysis of sodium chloride and used widely to purify water as a disinfectant and a bleaching agent”
Chlorine a life saver and a powerful poison
Since the beginning of the 1890’s Chlorine has been used as a very powerful disinfectant to control various diseases and has been added to water supplies to control such diseases as Cholera, Dysentery, typhoid fever, it will also kill human beings!
Although Chlorine has proven to be a tremendously important element in controlling water borne diseases it has also been shown to be an health hazard in its own right, and should not be permitted to come into contact with the skin, should not be breathed in nor should it be drunk even in the small amounts that can be found in our household drinking water.
If Chlorine is so good why should we also avoid it?
“Chlorine is a poisonous greenish – yellow gaseous non – metallic element found in the halogen group of elements”
Because of its reactivity Chlorine does not exist in the free element state in nature, the most common Chlorine compound is in Sodium Chloride (common salt), which occurs in seawater and rock salt, and this is where it comes from.
Chlorine is industrially manufactured as a by – product of Caustic Soda by the electrolysis of brine obtained (cheaply) from seawater.
Chlorine is a highly reactive element and undergoes reaction with a wide variety of other elements and compounds, and because of its powerful oxidising properties it makes excellent bleach. A mixture of Chlorine and Hydrogen explodes when exposed to sunlight to give Hydrogen Chloride.
Because it is so poisonous (and cheap) it is used widely in disinfecting your household water supply, however beyond reducing the bacteria (good and bad) in water Chlorine does nothing to neutralise other pollutants in the supply and in many cases actually produces more health risks, more later.
A glass of ordinary tap water can look as if had just been taken from a mountain stream, whilst viruses, toxic chemicals and residual medications that have passes through the human body can remain in your drink, in the past scientists have even found traces of the birth control pill and Prozac in drinking water and this is after it has gone through cleansing and disinfecting by local water supply companies
When you next drink a glass of chlorine tap water just think of some of the other uses it is put to:
Manufacture of liquid bleaches and bleaching powder, I bet there is some in your cupboard right now.
To bleach linen and cotton, wood pulp and paper.
In the manufacturing process of a wide range of Chloro – organic solvents.
For the direct manufacture of Hydrochloric Acid.
In the manufacture of common household bleach, if you pour a glass of water and have a good sniff you will immediately recognise the smell!
Also used in the manufacture of paints, aerosol propellants and plastics.
So we now know that Chlorine in its liquid form is a very powerful Oxidising, Bleaching and Disinfecting agent, and is used extensively in industry and in the home and is very poisonous. Chlorine vaporises at very low temperatures and gives of a very disagreeable and suffocating odour and is extremely toxic, in its gas state it is one and a half times heavier than air and is Greenish/Yellow in appearance, in fact Chlorine comes from the Greek word Khloros meaning pale green, so named in 1810 by scientist Humphrey Davey
Chlorine became the first “chemical” weapon to be used in World War One by the Germans against the French troops during the evening (about 5pm) on the 22nd of April 1915. Troops of the French and Algerian armies reported a Greenish/yellow cloud drifting towards them from the German side, but apparently did little about it because they did not recognise it to be a threat in its self, but thought it was sent over by the Germans as a smoke screen to mask an advance by their troops. Within seconds of the French and Algerians inhaling the Chlorine gas its vapour destroyed the victims respiratory organs, inducing violent choking attacks causing widespread panic and saw the troops running in panic that left an amazing four miles wide gap in the allied defences leaving them totally vulnerable.
Since the early 1980’s scientists have known that the presence of free residual Chlorine in water is a primary cause of the development of Atherosclerosis, it causes fats to form as cholesterol deposits known as plaque and it is plaque that clogs arteries resulting in heart attacks a nd strokes.
Further scientific studies show that Chlorine destroys vitamin E an essential antioxidant, the lack of this vitamin impedes heart muscle function, weakens capillary walls and constricts blood vessels, thereby elevating blood pressure and increasing the risk of heart disease, there are also many studies that link Chlorine with cancer and heart failure.
It is fair to say until the water authorities are willing to use safer methods to keep disease out or our water pipes it will become the responsibility of the concerned householder to remove Chlorine from drinking water at the point of use, the kitchen tap, through filtration or other safe methods, there may also be a case for removing is prior to bathing or showering in it. Activated Carbon filters can be used to remove Chlorine and its by-products, if you choose to use such a filter it is essential to follow the manufacturers instruction.
Water Softeners deplete free residual chlorine in water.
Research done at The Queens Medical Centre in Nottingham found similar results, but went one step further and researched and tested by professor Hywell Williams, Professor of Dermato-epidemiology. The tests were done on children suffering from moderate to severe Atopic Eczema; they were aged between one and ten years. They were divided into one group of eight children with a real water softener and one group with a placebo water softener, the results of the tests were encouraging and calls were made for a definitive trial of water softeners for Atopic Eczema.
Drinking Chlorinated tap water.
Article by Dr. Zoltan P. Rona MD MSc. Health Link. Vancouver.
Most people never give it a thought. After all, our elected public officials keep assuring us that chlorinated city tap water is completely safe for human consumption. Numerous scientific studies, however, report that chlorinated tap water is a skin irritant and can be associated with rashes like eczema. Chlorinated water can destroy polyunsaturated fatty acids and vitamin E in the body while generating toxins capable of free radical damage (oxidation). This might explain why supplementation of the diet with essential fatty acids like flax seed oil, evening primrose oil, borage oil and antioxidants like vitamin E, selenium and others helps so many cases of eczema and dry skin.
Chlorinated water destroys much of the intestinal flora, the friendly bacteria that help in the digestion of food and which protect the body from harmful pathogens. These bacteria are also responsible for the manufacture of several important vitamins like vitamin B12 and vitamin K. It is not uncommon for chronic digestive disorders as well as chronic skin conditions like acne, psoriasis, seborrhoea and eczema to clear up or be significantly improved by switching to unchlorinated drinking water and supplementing the diet with lactobacillus acidophilus and bifidus.
Chlorinated water contains chemical compounds called Trihalomethanes which are carcinogens resulting from the combination of chlorine with organic compounds in water. These chemicals, also known as organochlorides, do not degrade very well and are generally stored in the fatty tissues of the body (breast, other fatty areas, mothers' milk, blood and semen). Organochlorides can cause mutations by altering DNA, suppress immune system function and interfere with the natural controls of cell growth.
Chlorine has been documented to aggravate asthma, especially in those children who make frequent use of chlorinated swimming pools. Several studies also link chlorine and chlorinated by-products to a greater incidence of bladder, breast and bowel cancer as well as malignant melanoma. One study even links the use of chlorinated tap water to congenital cardiac anomalies.
Anything you can do to filter tap and shower water that eliminates or even minimizes chlorine would certainly be helpful and possibly curative for some immune system problems. The use of at source water filtration devices is increasingly popular and affordable. Discuss their use with your health care practitioner.