Some questions for ya....

Is all water heat treated/messed with before it can be consumed by the public?

What's the best pure/natural water that you can buy in the stores?

What type of water do farmers use to water/grow fruits/produce and is it heat treated?

Thanks in advance...

F1

Tap water hasn't been heat treated but has gone thru chemical treatments including the addition of chlorine.

Steam distilled water is the standard for purity. But when put it in a plastic bottle it will absorb poisons from the plastic. If you get your own glass bottles and fill them at a water store it may be pretty good but maybe not, depending on the store. To be sure you would need to distill your own water by boiling with the first few minutes of vapor allowed to escape. When frozen, pure water will be free of any milky white ice in the middle (the last part to freeze) since the water molecules freeze out first (the clear ice) leaving the impurities behind (the cloudy ice). Streams of air bubbles in the ice are ok though. With low temperature distillation, like solar you may actually concentrate some of the impurities that have a low boiling point. Distilling your own is pretty expensive depending on your electricity rates.

Farmers use water straight from the stream or well, untreated, no heat.

brome Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Tap water hasn't been heat treated but has gone
> thru chemical treatments including the addition of
> chlorine.
>
> Steam distilled water is the standard for purity.
> But when put it in a plastic bottle it will absorb
> poisons from the plastic. If you get your own
> glass bottles and fill them at a water store it
> may be pretty good but maybe not, depending on the
> store. To be sure you would need to distill your
> own water by boiling with the first few minutes of
> vapor allowed to escape. When frozen, pure water
> will be free of any milky white ice in the middle
> (the last part to freeze) since the water
> molecules freeze out first (the clear ice) leaving
> the impurities behind (the cloudy ice). Streams of
> air bubbles in the ice are ok though. With low
> temperature distillation, like solar you may
> actually concentrate some of the impurities that
> have a low boiling point. Distilling your own is
> pretty expensive depending on your electricity
> rates.
>
> Farmers use water straight from the stream or
> well, untreated, no heat.

Thanks for that...I guess it doesn't matter if the water is heat treated since there's no enzymes, etc to worry about....

F1

As pure as steam distilled water is from a chemist's view I share your concerns about the heat treatment, and for that matter any of the purifying treatments. It seems they all may leave the water compromised on some subtle level undetectable by western science. The only fully pure water is that which falls from an unpolluted sky on an unpolluted Earth. And it may not be totally impossible to get. Fossil water from before the industrial revolution, pure from an unpolluted Earth still exists in glaciers and underground aquifers. Glacier water may be hard to come by but water from the Ogallala Aquifer, which extends into Texas may be obtainable.

[en.wikipedia.org]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/14/2008 06:43PM by brome.

brome Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> As pure as steam distilled water is from a
> chemist's view I share your concerns about the
> heat treatment, and for that matter any of the
> purifying treatments. It seems they all may leave
> the water compromised on some subtle level
> undetectable by western science. The only fully
> pure water is that which falls from an unpolluted
> sky on an unpolluted Earth. And it may not be
> totally impossible to get. Fossil water from
> before the industrial revolution, pure from an
> unpolluted Earth still exists in glaciers and
> underground aquifers. Glacier water may be hard
> to come by but water from the Ogallala Aquifer,
> which extends into Texas may be obtainable.
>
> [en.wikipedia.org]

Yeah it seems that way huh!


F1

Right. I think that the water issue....is like a clean house issue. You do the best you can...and avoid the obvious pitfalls. Municipal tap water, in almost all areas, has to meet a high standard of cleanliness to begin with. I simply buy a few gallons of the municipal water that's been purified by the machines at the grocery with reverse osmosis, charcoal filtering, and UV. I then put it in glass bottles and leave it in the sun all day to 'structure' it. This is some pretty darn clean water. In any event, traditionally, I rarely drink water....as my dietary content is so high in water content....of course....although I try to drink quite a bit of water while fasting.

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

Hey guys,
I want to buy filtered water at the local co-op from a filtering machine, but no one can tell me whether the fluoride gets taken out? Does anyone here know?

Sharrhan:


[www.facebook.com]

I have well water--no Chlorine--but a little hard
so I sometimes distill it
When I had tap water I used a britta or distiller

For the past year & a half I've been using a Big Berkey water filtration system..It makes my heavily chlorinated city tap water MUCH more palatable..

[www.pleasanthillgrain.com]

The charcoal filters are initially expensive, as is the filter system itself, but after a lot of online & telephonic research I decided that this would be the most cost effective solution for me..

As DZM has already stated, drinking water is a subject where you make the most informed choice that you can & hope for the best..The info out on the net as regards to clean, potable water is so conflicting that for the longest time I just said the hell with trying to sift through all of the hype & bull, & just made no decision at all..

What finally prompted me to start looking again was the slowness of the Britta system, the yearly expense of the Britta filters, & the realization that the water from a half-to-nearly depleted Britta filter tasted almost as bad as the water straight out of my tap..

As most long-term raw vegans have indicated, the need for actually drinking water will dramatically decrease the longer a person is 100% raw..You will obtain the majority of the water needed for cellular functions from the fruits & vegetables that you eat..

I am not yet at this point, but when I reach this stage I will still keep my Berkey Water Filter around for folks who visit, watering indoor house plants, for fasting, & if I ever become ill where I might need to consume additional water..

Bruce

Rain was forcast for yesterday and today....I've been collecting rain water and I gathered up the courage to drink some and it tasted like soap!...yuk!!!

Experimentation continues!

F1





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/15/2008 09:35PM by fruitarianfitness.

fruitarianfitness Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Rain was forcast for yesterday and today....I've
> been collecting rain water and I gathered up the
> courage to drink some and it tasted like
> soap!...yuk!!!
>
> Experimentation continues!
>
> F1

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rain water picks up contaminants as it passes through the air on it's way to the earth..It also picks up contaminants & flavors from any surface that it travels over & across on the way to whatever collection vessel that you might be utilizing to catch it..

In any green water rain collection system the water must be filtered before the law will allow you to serve it to anyone else..I'm not sure where the law stands in the various states as regards to drinking the water yourself that you collect from the sky..

If your going to use the rain water for irrigating crops or as gray water to flush toilets, I don't believe that it needs to be filtered to the same standards as drinking water..

The following link may be helpful..

[cru.cahe.wsu.edu]

Bruce

baltochef Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> fruitarianfitness Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Rain was forcast for yesterday and
> today....I've
> > been collecting rain water and I gathered up
> the
> > courage to drink some and it tasted like
> > soap!...yuk!!!
> >
> > Experimentation continues!
> >
> > F1
>
> --------------------------------------------------
> ---------------------------------
>
> Rain water picks up contaminants as it passes
> through the air on it's way to the earth..It also
> picks up contaminants & flavors from any surface
> that it travels over & across on the way to
> whatever collection vessel that you might be
> utilizing to catch it..
>
> In any green water rain collection system the
> water must be filtered before the law will allow
> you to serve it to anyone else..I'm not sure where
> the law stands in the various states as regards to
> drinking the water yourself that you collect from
> the sky..
>
> If your going to use the rain water for irrigating
> crops or as gray water to flush toilets, I don't
> believe that it needs to be filtered to the same
> standards as drinking water..
>
> The following link may be helpful..
>
> [cru.cahe.wsu.edu]
> isc0268E-19-24.pdf
>
> Bruce

Yeah I figured as much, we have a couple of big factories near where we live.

Man we've come so far from nature....I'm actually experimenting with regular water and water from fruits.

F1





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/15/2008 11:10PM by fruitarianfitness.

F1

Yeah, the rainwater that I drank as a kid 40-45 years ago tasted WAY better than the water falling out of the sky today..Lots more contaminants in the air nowadays..

Bruce

baltochef Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> For the past year & a half I've been using a Big
> Berkey water filtration system..
I took a look at Big Berkey. I guess Tap
Water is poured in at the top? I'm currently using 3 under-
counter Water Filters from CrystalQuest.com. I've decided not to remove
so many of the Total Dissolved Solids by using a Demineralizing
Filter, but rather remove the Fluoride with a filter just for
that. I also remove the Chlorine with a Carbon Filter, and many
other chemicals that are in tap water with a third (6-stage) Filter.....WY

Wheatgrass Yogi Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> baltochef Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > For the past year & a half I've been using a
> Big
> > Berkey water filtration system..
> I took a look at Big Berkey. I guess Tap
> Water is poured in at the top? I'm currently using
> 3 under-
> counter Water Filters from CrystalQuest.com. I've
> decided not to remove
> so many of the Total Dissolved Solids by using a
> Demineralizing
> Filter, but rather remove the Fluoride with a
> filter just for
> that. I also remove the Chlorine with a Carbon
> Filter, and many
> other chemicals that are in tap water with a third
> (6-stage) Filter.....WY


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

WY

Yeah, the tap water is added to the top compartment..

There it passes through from 2-4 (I'm using 2 in my Big Berkey)--(there are 5 sizes of these filtration systems)--(the larger ones hold as many as 8 black filters in the top compartment) porous black filters to remove chlorine, bacteria, particulates, etc..

See the link above for more info as to the specifics for exactly what each type of filter will remove from the water..

If you want to remove fluorine, lead, & certain other heavy metals, than you have the option to screw white plastic filters onto the exposed threads of the black filters where they extend into the bottom reservoir..

I initially purchased the Big Berkey, a spare set of black filters, & 2 sets of the white filters..

After 11 months the water in the top compartment started to take an appreciably longer amount of time before ending up in the bottom reservoir..

After talking directly with the US distributors for Royal Berkefeld, I was informed that the white filters were reaching their capacity for contaminants & needed replacing..

During the same conversation, I was informed that at my rate of filtration & consumption of water (at that time 1 to 1.5 gallons per day) the black filters would have an estimated life span of between 6-8 years..

As long as I gently rinsed the black filters off every month or so & carefully scrubbed the inside of both compartments out with a clean brush & dish rag, I should have no trouble with the system..

So far, so good..

Bruce