I have measured my well water with a ppm and it just 21!

[www.youtube.com]

Low TDS is natural for places which are remote from cities with large populations. In UK, you get tap water of 15-20 in rural Scotland, and about 650 in London. In cities smaller than London the TDS is usually around 350.

The differences are shocking to say the least. I cannot imagine using tap water for anything other than washing up, unless it's been through our RO filter first.

>Banana ice-cream rocks!<



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/13/2012 09:29AM by chat.

I'm confused - when they say 'tap water', does that mean any water that comes out of any tap, even if it's from a well or spring, so that no matter how great the water is at the source, it looks like that after going through the tap? Or by 'tap water' do they mean the city water, public water that is usually referred to as 'tap water'.

So for example, Alan with his pure well water wouldn't need to filter it just because it goes through a 'tap' before he drinks it?

KidRAW
"Tap Water" Means Public City Water coming from pipes and water plants.

Water from wells is called well water even though it comes out of a tap also.
No water treatment of any kind is needed here.

How do you measure your well water with a ppm?

Lol you don't measure it with a ppm, ppm refers to parts per million. You can measure it with a TDS meter, which measures total dissolved solids in ppm.

You can buy this meter for peanuts on eBay, or any store which sells RO water filters.

>Banana ice-cream rocks!<



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/13/2012 03:50PM by chat.

Thanks, Chat. I just looked it up --

[www.amazon.com]

I'll be checking my water soon. We have well water, also. If you have a lot of minerals in your water, does it make a difference on the PPM reading? Would it be higher or lower? Is it good to have a lot of minerals in your water or not. My scientific knowledge is very little, I admit.

Yep that's the one. Unfortunately, the meter will not differentiate between good minerals and bad stuff in the water, because for it's purposes it is all dissolved solids. In my case living in a city I'm sure there is more bad stuff in the water than good, so I'm happy to filter it all.

It's definitely good to have a mineral rich water, though i think not essential as we can get those minerals from elsewhere. But this is one of the things that is pointed to when people object to RO filter, that it strips the water of good stuff as well as of bad.

>Banana ice-cream rocks!<

P.S. I wouldn't normally know this stuff too, it's just we keep marine aquarium where pure water is essential, so sometimes there is no choice but to learn the technical part. Something along these lines: [www.reefkeeping.com]

>Banana ice-cream rocks!<

The Disgusting Crud in Your Tap Water
25:32 Minute Video
[www.youtube.com]

KidRaw I've never thought much of the minerals in tap water since I read about Paul Bragg's grandfather. He drank well water with a high mineral content and his autopsy said that his arteries were like stone.You can read about it at this link (it's only 2 pages of this book).

You wouldn't add powdered rocks to your diet would you? Well drinking well water is about the same thing.

[books.google.com]

Wow, now I'm wondering if my hard water is messing up my health. I'll have to do further research. I did have an osteoporosis test done last year and I'm the lowest risk possible - I figured it was from the greens.

I appreciate the link - very interesting reading.

"Historically, water was hardened to raise the pH to reduce the leaching of lead from lead pipes, which could cause lead poisoning. The advantage of drinking hard water is that it will supply calcium in the form of calcium carbonate (chalk), which can reduce the risk of osteoporosis. In order to be able to absorb it, however, you will need to have a good supply of natural vitamin D in your diet."

[www.eastorange-nj.org]

So hard water has calcium and magnesium but that's bad.

I think the water quality varies from location to location. But most tap waters are less than the best for people to drink. I once lived in a city with water that was completely undrinkable, even by conventional standards.

The city actually told residents NOT to drink it, but use it for showering and cleaning etc...It had arsenic in it, and sulfur way above what was allowable for drinking. Also had high levels of iron. I took a few showers in it actually, but without thinking too much about it I started showering at the college in the nearby city, which had a different water source. I do remember my hair feeling like straw because of the mineral build up. Peoples homes also had this staining that occured in the sinks and toilets.

More info: There are many types of calcium compounds (95 accoring to Wiki) pure calcium is a silvery metal, so the calcium we are more familar with is in compounds with other substances. The type in mineral water is calcium carbonate and excessive consumption causes renal failure according to drugs.com.

In other words, calcium carbonate will clog your kidneys just like it clogs your showerhead:

[www.drugs.com]

Metabolic

Prolonged ingestion of large amounts of calcium carbonate and other sources of exogenous calcium can rarely result in the "milk alkali syndrome" and calcinosis. The milk alkali syndrome is characterized by the triad of hypercalcemia, metabolic alkalosis, and renal insufficiency.

Metabolic side effects have rarely included hypercalcemia and hypophosphatemia. Hypercalcemia may be more likely and more severe in patients with renal dysfunction. In patients on chronic dialysis, hypercalcemia may also result from excessive calcium in the dialysate, vitamin D intoxication, or severe secondary hyperparathyroidism. Other metabolic side effects have rarely included "mild alkali syndrome", calcinosis, and irreversible renal damage.


Renal

Renal side effects have included renal failure, formation of renal calcium and a single case report of a calcium carbonate and calcium phosphate-filled renal cyst.

The renal failure that accompanies hypercalcemia and alkalosis in the milk alkali syndrome is usually transient."



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/18/2012 07:15AM by Ifeelgood.