The nature of water has a great importance in maintaining the quality of your life. The critical factors relating to water are related to the health of all living things. Water is not just H2O.  Water is so unique its magical, it can be perfectly clear and yet, have dissolved within it, many very deadly products that can't be seen, smelled or tasted.

All plants and animals are mostly water and after that mostly calcium. Calcium is very important and there are two kinds one is water soluble and very important for your health and the other calcium causes health problems big time.  See Calcium

The Problem is Real.

The Essentials of Life

Food, air, and water are the essential elements for all living things. The food we eat the water we drink and the air we breath are all subject to one major problem Toxic chemical contamination.

Toxic Chemicals

In the United States the Food and Drug Administration has required changes in the food we eat, to reduce or eliminate the unhealthy preservatives, dyes, and additives that have shown to be Hazardous.  Federal and State governments have worked to reduce the Toxic pollutants in our air and water and yet the problem keeps growing.

Our society is becoming more and more health conscious. Yet water, the most common essential element of life, suffers from treatment methods that can cause more problems than it cures. Chlorine used in water treatment to control water borne disease is responsible for health problems such as:  Cancer, Heart Disease, Arterial Sclerosis, Diabetes, Pancreatitis, Alzheimer's, Brain and Nervous System Damage, Aids and other life threatening Disease.

Can You put a price tag on health.

Can you afford to wait and think about this problem after one of your loved ones develops cancer, and has only a short time to live?

Food

The food you eat, is like your body, mostly water. Your food is grown with chemicals, processed with chemicals and treated with water that has been subjected to many and varied forms of chemical contaminants, some maybe beneficial and others that are not.   A common methods of fly control in poultry growing houses is to add insecticide to the chicken feed. The effects of adding these chemicals to your body are not well understood and potential problems may not show up for years, or even decades.   Ionetics has a safe solution to improve the quality of your food and water.   

Air

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently released the "National Study on Industrial Air Pollution."  This study emphasized the fact that 14,000 industrial plants in the U.S. generate hazardous waste.  These plants are adding an estimated 247 million tons of toxic chemicals to our nation's air and water. This represents over one ton of toxic chemicals for you, and one ton for each member of your family!  The physical reality of "what goes up must come down" holds true, and anything in our air will sooner or later end up on the ground and eventually in our water supply.

Water:

"One of the Great Mysteries of the Universe" The presence of abundant water on our planet is unique. It is not found in any large quantity on any other planet in our solar system and as a result neither is life as we know it. Water is truly amazing. It is difficult to produce and even harder to keep pure. Water is the universal solvent. Everything it touches starts to dissolve and in so doing, water contaminates itself.

Nature's Water Supply

Rain is nature's way of purifying and creating fresh water. When toxic chemicals pollute the atmosphere, we disrupt natures purification system. When we take water from lakes, streams, and wells, and use it over and over again, each time adding chemicals and contaminants, we are further disrupting nature's process.  Toxic waste and industrial pollution are a major problem. An untold list of chemicals is constantly being added to our ground water supplies and natural aquifers through landfills.

Agricultural Pollution

Chemical contaminants from herbicides and pesticides used in agriculture seep into our water supply through runoff after a rain or irrigation. Many of these chemicals do not readily break down. They react with other chemicals to produce even more deadly by-products.  All of these toxic substances end up in our drinking water.

The EPA and state agencies are working constantly to monitor and detect problems before they get out of hand. It is easy to monitor a toxic spill when the police or fire department is called in, or when your favorite fishing hole has dead fish washed up on the shore, but the slower contamination processes are hard to see.  

Who is responsible?

You should demand to know and then think about your own actions. Did you realize that when you were spraying your plants and trees to kill a pest, you were killing the earthworms, poisoning the birds, and contaminating our water supply ?

Did you read the label?

The Appalling Truth

Cancer, heart disease, aging, and many other diseases are all interrelated to the toxic chemicals in our water supply. Heart disease, arteriosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), arthritis, emphysema, gout, Alzheimer's disease, Pancreatitis, diabetes, gallstones, kidney stones, and liver problems can all be attributed to chemical and mineral contamination and imbalances in our bodies.

The Body's Chemical Factory

We breath, eat, and drink by-products and toxic chemicals that affect our liver. The liver is the second largest organ in our body. It functions like a miniature chemical factory, producing enzymes and hormones that are interrelated to all other functions of the body. The liver is responsible for performing complex chemical reactions and synthesizing needed chemicals.  When substances such as alcohol, chlorine, benzene, and hundreds of other non-essential chemical contaminants are consumed, the liver's ability to function properly is disrupted and may eventually be destroyed.

Cholesterol and Arteriosclerosis

Cholesterol is found in the saturated fats we consume. The liver manufactures cholesterol. The function of cholesterol is as a building block for the liver to produce hormones to and to carry nutrients to the body cells and act as a lubricant for the blood vessels, allowing blood to flow freely.  Arteriosclerosis is a condition of calcification in the blood vessels. This calcification results from the interaction of cholesterol, acting as cement, which binds calcium and magnesium.

Calcification

Arteriosclerosis, Pancreatitis, diabetes, gallstones, kidney stones, and plaque on your teeth are all interrelated. Calcification is similar to the scale found in your water heater and the plumbing fixtures of your home. Arteriosclerosis is a gradual building-up of the sedimentation resulting from the binding of cholesterol and calcium.

Toxic Minerals

Many of the toxic minerals you ingest with water are chemically changed in your body and form hard deposits that are insoluble. They cannot be Digested so they are stored by your body in various organs. Because these minerals are electrically attractive, they accumulate in size until they restrict the ability of the organs to function properly.

Care Not Cure

Doctors cure disease after you have something to cure. Nutritionists try to promote health and well-being by preventing the problem in the first place. If you had kidney stones or a gall bladder attack, you would call a doctor, not a nutritionist. You want relief and a cure. Yet before the gall bladder attack or before the kidney stones appeared, a nutritionist could have been helpful in preventing the problem in the first place.

Preventive medicine is like changing the oil in your car or replacing the filter in your furnace. It's a lot easier and cheaper to change the filter or oil, than to change a furnace or an engine. Similarly, many health problems can be prevented by eliminating the toxic chemicals from the food and water you consume.

Our Endangered Water Supply

America prides itself on its vast resource of fresh water. Yet every day we hear about how our water is threatened through acid rain, ground water contamination from toxic dumps, and carcinogens found in the water supply. A recent article in the Science News, Dec 24, 1988, reported that "One water-quality study identified 2100 different compounds contaminating US drinking water."

The ordinary problems

Bad taste, odor, stains, hard scale, and iron are unpleasant and objectionable. Yet, it is usually the contaminants in water that you cannot see, smell, or taste that are most harmful to the health of you and your family.

Major medical problems like Pancreatitis, colitis, diabetes, arteriosclerosis, premature senility, and many forms of cancer can be directly attributable to toxic chemical contaminants in our  water.

The Mighty Mississippi

It starts as a trickle that you can jump across in Itasca State Park in Northern Minnesota, as it flows, it passes many small towns and farms and cities. Where it passes it furnishes drinking water and absorbs waste and sewage.

Many communities do not adequately process the amount of waste they create, and they dump raw sewage into the river. In most cases, this sewage is organic and as the Mississippi travels south, nature attempts to purify this great body of water with sunlight and oxygen. Unfortunately, man's ability to contaminate exceeds nature's ability to cleanse. As the water flows from city to city, the Mississippi becomes more and more contaminated.

Increased Cancer

The burden of this contamination is evident by the drastically increased rates of cancer from North to South in municipalities that obtain source water from the Mississippi.

Do you Know

What's in Your Water ?  By law, all products sold must contain a label indicating the product's content. The first thing indicated in the label must be the primary item, and additional items are listed in decreasing order of quantity.

If the water from your tap had to be labeled, and the source water was from a river, the second most prevalent item would more than likely be toilet paper and then toxic chemicals. Crystal clear water can be very deceiving. You cannot always see or taste the contaminants that may be in the water.

Simple water tests will not identify many of the contaminants in the water that may be dangerous to you. The type of testing generally used by water treatment specialists only analyzes the superficial problems of color, staining, and bad taste.

Brain Damage

Spots on your dishes are a pretty minor problem compared with the damage to your child's nervous system resulting from the lead or nitrates in your home water.

A common methods of fly control in poultry industry is to add insecticide to the chicken feed. A chicken only lives a few weeks you continue eating these chemical laden products  year after year,  Insecticides are toxic to flies what are those chemicals doing to your body  The effects of  these chemicals are not well understood and the potential problem of ingesting them, may not show up for years, or even decades.  Not only chickens but many foods are processed with a wide variety of chemicals.  A simple solution is to ask your butcher about the meat products and then clean all meats, poultry, vegetables and fruits with a rinse agent that will greatly reduce chemical contamination and provide biological control while providing an essential mineral supplement to your body,  Cutane.

Water We Drink

The quality of America's drinking water has become an issue of major concern in the past decade.

Disasters like the Times Beach and Love Canal incidents are becoming more common, when whole neighborhoods are evacuated and boarded up because of dangerous levels of drinking water contamination.

Governmental efforts to prevent and reverse this growing contamination of water supplies are not proving successful.

The EPA "Says"

A draft report by the EPA concludes, "...The key governmental program to monitor the contamination of underground water supplies by toxic wastes is not working...

many states have proved unable or unwilling to make the contaminators obey the law, and the agency itself has been deficient in overseeing the states in assuring that the standards for protecting underground water supplies were met."

Clearly, the job is too much for our federal, state, and local governments to handle.

Researchers have determined that in addition to obvious pollutants of offensive odors, tastes, and colors, there are a multitude of contaminants in many water supplies that are detrimental to good health1.

Private wells can be exposed to a number of ground water toxins, particulates, or pesticides. You cannot see or smell some of these poisons, and you should not be drinking them.

Chlorine,

The chemical used to kill harmful bacteria, has itself recently come under medical scrutiny.

Municipal and central water supplies inject chlorine into their community's water to control bacteria.

Human ingestion of chlorine in water has been indicated as one of the basic causes of hardening arteries, heart attacks, and strokes.

It has been found that chlorine can combine with the non-harmful chemicals in the water to form carcinogens such as chloroform and carbon tetrachloride.

1"Danger in Our Drinking Water," McCall's Magazine, November, 1968.

2Dr. Joseph M. Price, Coronaries, Cholesterol & Chlorine, Pyramid Books, New York, 1971.

Joseph M. Price, M.D., attending Physician at Saginaw General Hospital, Saginaw, Michigan, states that

"Chlorine is the greatest crippler and killer of modern time.

Most medical researchers were led to believe it was safe, but we are learning that all the time we thought we were preventing epidemics of one disease, we were creating another."

Dr. Herbert Schwartz of Cumberland County College in Vineland, New Jersey adds

"Putting chlorine in water is like starting a time bomb.

Cancer, heart trouble, and physical aging conditions are attributable to chlorine treated water supplies.

It is making us grow old before our time by producing symptoms of aging, such as hardening of the arteries."

Dr. Milem Bier, Research Biophysicist at The Veterans Hospital in Tucson, Arizona, says that in his studies, "chlorine was given in very diluted solutions to dogs, with the result that the dogs immunity reactions were so interrupted it caused a rejection of kidney transplants."

The chlorine problem is very similar to that of air pollution.

Chlorine is an oxidizing agent very much like the poisonous nitrogen oxides we have in the air."

How Bad is the Problem?

Researchers have identified the principal sources of our nation's water contamination problem: 181,000 industrial ponds and landfills, 20 million septic tanks discharging one trillion gallons of waste each year, 24,000 mining impoundments, and 16,000 municipal landfills spread across America.

Governmental efforts to prevent and reverse this growing contamination of water supplies are not proving successful.

Rea, an environmental illness specialist in Dallas, Texas, has concluded that

"Our water is as contaminated now with chemicals as it was with bacteria before chlorination."

Growing concern over chemical contamination of private water supplies has prompted more and more home and business owners to install water treatment systems.

Traditionally, homeowners have used water softeners to filter out harmful chemicals and prevent contamination.

Water softeners do not eliminate chlorine. They are expensive and new installations are restricted in some areas because water softeners add sodium to the water which the treatment plants cannot remove.

Sodium is commonly linked to high blood pressure and hypertension. Water softeners remove necessary trace minerals such as calcium and magnesium.

The Foundation of the Body

Water in coffee, milk, and other liquids helps in this incredible cleansing process. It also helps to maintain the delicate water balance of the body, a process that will collapse with a 5 percent loss and cause death with a 10 percent loss.

(Water For Health and Healing by Frederick M. Rossiter, M.D.) Rossiter states

"The simplest, least expensive 'do-it-yourself' measure for the maintenance of good health is regular attention to drinking water, supplying the body with its necessary life-giving fluid."

The average person loses 6 pints of water daily. The kidneys, through their 40 mile network of filtration tubes, process 100 gallons a day, straining out the waste and returning the purified fluid into the blood stream.

Skin absorption.

Another factor that has long been overlooked

The skin is our largest organ, measuring 17 square feet on the average person, weighing more than all other organs combined.

The water you bathe in and shower in is very important. The hotter the water, the more your pores open. In addition, showering aerates the water allowing toxic gases to escape that are then inhaled.

The American Journal of Public Health Has This To Say About Skin Absorption

Compared with oral ingestion, skin adsorption could be the major method of contaminants entering the body.

The outer layer of skin is not the barrier we thought it was.

Any cuts, sunburn, rash, or other abrasions in the skin lower its barrier against skin penetration of contaminants.

If you are perspiring, bathing, or swimming, and the contaminants are in the water, the penetration is greater.

The hotter you are and the hotter the water, the greater the penetration.

Penetration is greatest in the softer areas of your body; e.g., there is more penetration in the genital area than in the hand.

Penetration is greater for the young and for seniors. Other routes of penetration include nose, ear, cheeks, eyes, and mouth.

Exposure Through the Skin,

Assessments of the hazards posed by toxic chemicals in water have been based on drinking the water. But a new study by three researchers with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Quality Engineering suggests that

The body's absorption of water pollutants through the skin - by washing, showering, bathing, or swimming - has been seriously underestimated.

More importantly, skin absorption of toxic substances may frequently constitute the primary means of human exposure to these toxic pollutants in water.

Try this experiment - weigh yourself before taking a hot bath. Dry off and then weigh yourself again. A 150-lb. person will normally gain from 2 to 4 pounds!

The bottom line is: bottled water or counter top filters do not provide adequate protection from exposure to chemicals in water.

American Journal of Public Health,

Halina Szejnwald Brown, Donna Bishop, and Carol Rowan contrast their estimates of skin absorption versus drinking for three toxic chemicals

Toluene, Ethyl benzene, and Styrene.

Depending both on the compound involved and the body region exposed, skin can act as a fairly strong barrier to chemical entry or as no barrier at all.

Their analyses were based on data published for the hand, one of the least porous areas of the body. They estimated absorption levels for:

1) an adult taking a 15-minute bath and drinking two liters of water,

2) an infant bathed 15 minutes and fed one liter of water, and

3) a 48-pound child swimming one hour and drinking one liter of water.

Concentrations of each chemical were varied from 0.005 milligrams (mg) per liter (l) of water to 0.5 mg/l.

Their most surprising finding was that for the swimmer, between 83 percent and 91 percent of the chemicals entering the body came through the skin.

Ironically, they report that the highest doses resulted from water with the smallest concentration of the pollutant.

Dilute concentrations enter the skin far more easily than a pure chemical will, Bishop notes, because most organic chemicals will dry out the skin, making it less porous.

Bathing-versus-drinking

Depending on the chemical and concentration

29 to 46 percent of the chemicals entering the body occurs through the skin in infants, and 50 to 75 percent through the skin in adults.

Bishop says their numbers might be low by at least a factor of ten because they modeled skin porosity using data from studies with pure chemicals and exposures involving the relatively nonporous hand.

When your skin is in contact with water, it absorbs water rather than drying out.

Chemical contaminants, chiefly chlorine with its oxidizing and bleaching ability, causes the loss of body oils and cause dry, irritated skin.

Martin Fox, Ph D., a noted nutritionist, prints the following table in Healthy Water for a Longer Life, based on these skin absorption studies.

"We conclude that skin absorption of contaminants in drinking water has been underestimated and that ingestion may not constitute the sole or even primary route of exposure."

Skin Absorption Verses Oral Ingestion

Skin Oral

Absorption Ingestion

Adult bathing 63% 37%

Infant bathing 40% 60%

Child swimming 88% 12%

Overall average 64% 36%

"As you can see, the rates of skin absorption are tremendous. . . Keep in mind these calculations are based on skin absorption studies on the hand, which is a much better barrier against harmful substances than other skin areas, many of which are more sensitive. This means the true absorption rates are significantly higher!

The Highest Doses

Of toxic chemical ingestion resulted from water with the smallest concentration of the pollutant. In fact, diluted concentrations enter the skin far more easily than a pure chemical will. . because most organics dehydrate the skin and make it less porous.'"

The Kind of water

one drinks and bathes in is very important. Those proponents of drinking (bathing is never mentioned) demineralized water (distilled or reverse osmosis) have failed to look at growing indications that minerals in water may be more bio-available than minerals in food!

De-mineralized water (distilled and reverse osmosis processes) have 85% to 99% of everything removed, including minerals.

This type of water is then termed "aggressive," meaning it will seek out minerals to electrically balance itself!

People drinking this type of water should know that the water will deplete minerals from their body.

Vegetables and other foods cooked in this type of water will have the nutrients pulled from their food into the cooking water, which is usually drained off.

It is crucial for people drinking demineralized water to supplement their mineral intake. Minerals are the spark plugs, the electrolytes of the body that allow the natural electrical circuitry from the nerve center of the brain to each and every part of the body.

Healthy Water, Longer Life

By Martin Fox reports clearly shows ". . the relationship of drinking water to heart disease and cancer and the importance of a variety of minerals for good health.

The documented studies on both animals and humans reveal the importance of drinking water with a high degree of total dissolved solids and hardness (calcium and magnesium) . .

Hard water, high in calcium and magnesium, provides protection from a variety of potentially harmful agents such as cadmium, lead, chlorine, and dietary fat.

The conclusion from these animal studies is very clear: hard water is healthier for you than soft water."

Dr. Masironi, from the World Health Organization (WHO), states:

"Usually modern diets are marginally deficient in many elements, and therefore, the contribution of hard water or a daily intake of lithium or magnesium, or particular other elements may make a difference between optimal and sub-optimal intake.

Also, chemical forms of many of these elements in water are different from what is in food.

In food, there may be some chelating agents that prevent immediate absorption of certain elements and even if they are contained in very high amounts in food, their absorption comes down to perhaps a few percent. .

Mineralized Water

A study was done in India, where the food is deficient in calcium, and people get most of their calcium from the water they drink." Martin Fox states. "The metabolism of essential vs. non-essential metallic elements ( zinc, lead, cadmium and so forth) is greatly affected by the presence and amount of the essential element. If needed essential element are present, there is less incorporation of non-essential element. Therefore, more of the non-essential element is excreted."

Dr. Betty Lee Morales and her husband, John Clark in Organic Consumer discuss the water of the Vilcambas tribe and the Hunzas. Both of these people are known for their long, vibrantly healthy lives. Both drink highly mineralized water. This water flows naturally in mountain streams over rocky formations that release high levels of minerals. The water is naturally charged as it tumbles and flows freely unpolluted.

Living Water

Viktor Schauberger, an Australian naturalist and iconoclast writes in Living Water

"It is only Nature which can and must be our teacher. . . We must try to understand how Mother Nature transforms water into the lifeblood of the planet and makes it available to us, pure and life giving."

Schauberger further states

"Those who year after year are forced to drink only sterilized water should, for once, consider what effect such chemically adulterated water has on their own organisms.

Water which has been sterilized and adulterated leads inevitably to bodily decline. It causes spiritual debilitation and a systematic degeneration of the very foundation of manhood." "There is very strong evidence that misunderstandings of our environment originating centuries ago have contributed to the spread of illness today. This has further been compounded by incorrect methods of treatment which have lead to serious cultural, technical, and economic failures. . ." Now is the time for everyone to consider the world's environment.

WATER: Our Magic Crystal

We developed in water within our mother's womb and entered this world from water.

Water in the human body is essential for all life processes.

"Water is the medium in which all intracellular chemical changes take place."

There Are at Least 10 Different Types of Water

mineral water, raw water, soft water, boiled water, rain water, snow water, deionized water, distilled water, reverse osmosis water, filtered water, and the eleventh, and most beneficial, ionized water.

These forms of water vary in their mineral content and have different characteristics when in contact with other substances.

You've heard the expression "We are what we eat." Its more accurate to consider the food we consume as the energy source and the fuel we burn in our chemical furnace. The water we consume is what we are.

(Fetus)

The human body develops before birth in water called amniotic fluid. Amniotic fluid contains the oxygen, nutrients, minerals, and metals essential for life. This amniotic fluid functions before birth similar to the way in which blood functions in the human body after birth.

Blood and amniotic fluid are the media that hold and furnish the nutrients that our bodies need to sustain life, to grow, and to develop.

Your Liquid Body

The composition of our body fluids includes sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, chloride, phosphate, and sulfates and more.

These same nutrients can be found in varying degrees in our ground water, the soil, and our oceans.

All living creatures, including humans, are mostly water.

The essential minerals and nutrients in the water of our bodies provide us with life and health.

Water, as scientists know, exists in many forms with many characteristics. Pure water is never found in nature.

"Almost pure"

Pure Water can occur in nature when it changes from its solid to gas without turning to a liquid. This happens when heat energy from the sun comes in contact with snow or ice at temperatures below freezing, and changes the water directly from ice to vapor.

The water vapor becomes contaminated immediately upon contact with air.

Water is such a common substance that its importance is usually taken for granted. Water has a remarkable ability to dissolve substances.

Water is the universal solvent.

Water begins to dissolve whatever it comes in contact with, and in that way water contaminates itself.

Water is exceptionally cohesive, this power is exhibited in water's high surface tension and its outstanding ability to adhere strongly to a variety of substances. This property is known as wetting.

Water and the Human body

The water content of the fat-free tissues of the human body is between 70% and 80%. The majority of chemicals essential for the living body require water. Water is the most unique chemical in our universe, and the most essential ingredient for life. What seems so simple is so very complex. Water is the most important element of human life properly balanced water with beneficial minerals and nutrients. The lack of essential minerals, nutrients, and metals that you obtain from food and water will lead to degenerating health problems and possibly death.

Mineral Balance

Mineral Nutrients At the turn of the century, American missionaries returned from China with strange tales of habits and customs of the Chinese. During times of famine and drought, when all food was gone, families would fill the cook pots with earth (plain old dirt) and water. To the uneducated peasants, there were only two things you couldn't eat: wolf's heart and dog's lungs. It seemed reasonable to the peasants that the soil must have food value if it could produce plants and trees when water was added.  What looked like a good idea did not stop starvation. The peasants were right. There are lots of minerals and nutrients in the soil. Unfortunately, they are all in the wrong chemical form to be digested and used as a food source by humans and animals.

Processed Minerals

The nutrients in the soil must be processed and changed by plants and converted organically for our bodies to be able to digest and obtain the food value we need. Plants need nitrogen.

Our air is 78% nitrogen, yet most plants cannot absorb nitrogen from the air. Nitrogen has to be chemically changed to nitrates and absorbed by the plants through the soil. Over-fertilization and excess nitrate application leads to ground water contaminants and nitrates in our water supply. The nitrates that plants need are harmful to humans and animals. Humans and animals get their mineral nutrients in conditioned form from plants and natural water.

Natural water contains minerals such as calcium and magnesium naturally found in the form of water soluble bicarbonates. Removing these essential minerals for animals mean that chickens can not lay eggs and cows can not produce milk. The minerals found in natural water and food are essential for the health and well being of all humans, plants, and animals. The Ionic form minerals or metals are in determines whether they are healthful or hazardous to you

Minerals in Our Water

Water in the atmosphere forming as rain comes in contact with carbon dioxide (CO2), in the air and in turn causes the water vapor to becomes slightly acidic. (carbonic acid)  This slightly acidic rain water penetrates the soil and migrates down through various layers of earth. As it does, it comes in contact with beds of limestone, shale, and magnesium rock. Water containing this mild carbonic acid breaks down limestone, releasing natural minerals in the form of calcium and magnesium bicarbonates.

Water and Calcium CA HCO3

You and I are mostly water. After water, we are mostly calcium _ calcium is evident in your bones and teeth, yet calcium is also very important for us in other ways.

Benefits of Calcium.

Everybody needs Calcium. In the human body, calcium is required to insure the integrity of cell membranes, to regulate nerve and muscle action, to maintain normal muscle contraction. Calcium assures proper cardiac rhythm and plays an important role in blood coagulation. Calcium activates enzyme processes and is the most important element of bone development.

Two Forms of Calcium

Calcium Is Very Much Misunderstood! There are two Basic forms of calcium. The first is calcium carbonate, this calcium is like minerals in soil. It is not soluble in water and has little or no food value in the human body. Calcium Carbonate is found in nature as limestone, marble and oyster shells. This form of calcium, considered "hard", causes scale.  You can grind up oyster shells to a fine powder and put it on the tip of your tongue and it won't dissolve.   Calcium carbonates are not water soluble and cause scale. Calcium carbonate has to be dissolved in an acid solution and then it becomes chemically converted to calcium bicarbonate.  Acid rinsing is often used to remove scale in plumbing systems, as acids will break down scale to form water soluble bicarbonates.

Mineral Water Hard Water

Water with over 50 ppm (parts per million) of calcium is considered to be hard water. The reality is, this water is not hard but has the potential for being hard. Truly hard water would be cloudy. Water with high levels of dissolved calcium bicarbonate can cause hardness and scale when the water is heated, cooled, or has a pH change.

Soft Calcium

Calcium bicarbonate, Ca(HCO3) is the soft form of calcium, soluble in water and found in well water, natural springs, and Artesian wells. This is the form of calcium most readily used by plants, animals and humans. Calcium and magnesium bicarbonates, along with other minerals, are generally classified together and identified as calcium hardness. When heat is applied to water that has calcium bicarbonates dissolved in it, a chemical reaction occurs. The applied heat drives off hydrogen ions and the calcium bicarbonate reverts to its original form of calcium carbonate.

Water may contain large quantities of dissolved minerals. Most doctors consider minerals, like calcium, good for you. Minerals make your drinking water, coffee, tea and beverages taste good. When essential minerals such as calcium are removed from water, that water loses its food value. When dairy cows are given water lacking calcium they can't produce milk. Chickens can't lay eggs, and human bone growth, muscle action and nervous system functions are affected.

Dissolved minerals.

Dissolved minerals of calcium and magnesium can cause hard scale buildup in your pipes, water heater, and other water fixtures. Heat, mainly from your water heater, causes minerals to get hard and form scale deposits. Lime scale buildup in your pipes will reduce your water pressure and flow rates. Scale buildup in your water heater causes it to wear out and will dramatically increase your energy costs over the years. Scale makes glassware and tile harder to clean. Hard water lowers the sudsing action of soap.

Softener are not the solution

Salt softeners have little or no health benefit, and in most cases are a health hazard. Salt softeners add sodium to the water and backwash high levels of salt. Salt softeners are restricted by some states. Salt softeners promote mechanical corrosion, do not remove toxins, do not control bacteria and algae, and will load up with iron. The fact that salt water softeners remove healthy calcium and replace it with sodium is a cause of health concerns to many people. Salt softeners create sodium carbonate, which is similar to most detergents. This causes your skin to feel slippery in the shower and bath.

Why rinse with a detergent? Who likes soapy coffee? Salt softeners and polyphosphate treatment are the standard solution to prevent calcium and scale buildup. Both are expensive and add a detergent to the water. They are not a health benefit, nor do they solve a long-term problem.

Pure Water

There is no such thing as naturally occurring pure water. The only time water is found in a pure form is when hydrogen and oxygen gases are brought together and ignited. The combustion of these gases produces water vapor, which is quickly contaminated by the environment. In nature, water is easily contaminated. Some of the contaminants are:

Pathogenic.

Bacteria, virus, algae, and other disease-causing elements.

Synthetics.

Man-made chemicals, such as herbicides, pesticides, fertilizers and toxic wastes.

Natural.

Organics of plant and animal material.

Nutrients.

Beneficial salts, minerals, and metals.

To Understand Water

and its relationship to the human body, we must first understand matter and the atom.

An atom is the basic structure of matter. It is the smallest particle of matter that can enter into chemical combinations.   There are over 100 basic atomic elements every one has its own unique physical and chemical characteristics.   Atoms are qualified to there specific type: Excited Ionized, Labeled, Neutral, Normal, Radiating, Recoil or Stripped.

Atoms are composed of:

Electrons - negatively charged particles         Protons - positively charged particles

Neutrons - neutral charged particles

Protons and electrons determine the chemical properties of an atom. The protons and electrons in an atom are equal in number.

Hydrogen is the least complex element.    The positive proton and negative electron are attracted to each other, in forming the hydrogen atom they are in balance (1 to 1).

The Hydrogen atom has 1 electron and 1 proton

An oxygen atom has   8 protons, 8 electrons, and 8 neutrons

       Neutrons add mass or weight to the atom and have no electrical charge.

Lets Look at Water

Water is composed of 2 parts hydrogen and 1 part oxygen, 

Hydrogen Oxygen Hydrogen HOH  

Hydrogen

When hydrogen is stable it is bound together as elemental hydrogen gas.  

Oxygen

The oxygen atom has 8 protons, 8 neutrons, and 8 electrons

When oxygen is in its balanced form it is O2, or elemental oxygen gas

Each oxygen atom now shares 4 electrons with the other atom.

In a water molecule, 

the oxygen atom and hydrogen atoms combined and  sharing electrons. 

Table 1. Common Ions in Natural Water

calcium Ca++ bicarbonates HCO3-

magnesium Mg++ chloride Cl -

sodium Na+ sulfate SO4 - -

iron Fe++ nitrate NO3 -

manganese Mn++ carbonate CO3 - -

copper Cu++ phosphate PO4 - -

Common Water Problems

Everyone wants and deserves clear, clean, healthy water, without bad taste or odors. Let's look at some common water problems.

Discolored Water

Water with suspended solids may look dark or cloudy. While the water may be safe to drink, its appearance can make it objectionable. The suspended material can be from various substances like clay, fine rock, or dirt, silt, calcium carbonate, silica, iron, sulfur, or man-made products. Discolored water may also be caused by organics, animal or vegetable matter, algae, bacteria, oils, or chemicals.

Municipal and industrial water treatment will commonly use flocculating or coagulating agents to cause the small particles to combine, forming larger particles that can be filtered easily. Other methods to improve clarity, is the use of fine mesh filters of sand and gravel or activated carbon to effectively screen out turbid material. Backwashing the filter bed is essential to maintain water pressure.

Bad Taste and Odor

Bad taste and odor can be caused by organic matter, bacteria, algae, hydrogen sulfide, excessive minerals, metals, or chemical contaminants. In many cases taste and odor will be greatly improved simply by filtering the water through a large bed of activated charcoal filter. Some taste and odor problems may require oxidizing with oxygen or air injection.

The common rotten egg odor results from small amounts of hydrogen sulfide gas in well water. Small amounts are not considered a health problem but certainly make water taste and smell bad. Sulfur gas is very corrosive. You must regularly replace water fixtures destroyed by its corrosive power. Silver exposed to this gas tarnishes in seconds.

EPA WATER QUALITY

Tastes and Odors

tastes and odors present in an individual water supply system fall into two general classes natural and man made. Some natural causes may be traced to the presence of or contact of water with algae, leaves, grass, decaying vegetation, dissolved gases, and slime-forming organisms. Some of the manmade causes of taste and odor may be attributed to the presence of chemicals or sewage.

Water having a "rotten egg" odor indicates the presence of hydrogen sulfide and is commonly referred to as sulfur water. In addition to its objectionable odor, sulfur water may cause a black stain on plumbing fixtures. Hydrogen sulfide is very corrosive to common metals and will react with iron, copper, or silver to form the sulfides of these metals.

Depending upon the cause, taste and odor can be removed or reduced by aeration or by treatment with activated carbon, copper sulfate, or an oxidizing agent such as chlorine.

Aeration is exposure of as much water surface as possible to the air. Hydrogen sulfide can be removed by aeration or by a combination oxidization-filtration process. A simple iron

removal filter will also do a good job of removing this objectionable compound when small amounts are involved.

The activated carbon treatment consists of passing the water through granular carbon, or adding powdered activated carbon to the water. Activated carbon absorbs (attracts to itself) large quantities of dissolved gases, soluble organics, and finely divided solids. It is therefore extremely effective in taste and odor control. Activated carbon can be used in carbon filters commercially available from the manufacturers or producers of water-conditioning or treatment equipment. The recommendations included with the filter should be followed.

Copper Sulfate.

The most frequent source of taste and odors in an individual water supply system is algae. These minute plants produce certain biological byproducts which cause tastes and odors in the water. These tastes and odors may be accentuated when chlorine is added to the water. When they are present in a water supply their growth can be controlled by adding copper sulfate to the water source, as described in the section dealing with "Algae Control."

Tastes and Odors.

Surface water frequently develops musty or undesirable tastes and odors. These are generally caused by the presence of microscopic plants called algae.

There are many kinds of algae. Some occur in long threadlike filaments that are visible as large green masses of scum; others may be separately free floating and entirely invisible to the unaided eye. Some varieties may grow in great quantities in the early spring, others in summer, and still others in the fall. Tastes and odors generally result from the decay of dead algae. This decay occurs naturally as plants pass through their life cycle. For additional discussion, see "Control of Algae" in part IV.

Tastes and odors in water can usually be satisfactorily removed by passing the previously filtered and chlorinated surface water through an activated carbon filter. These filters may be helpful in improving the taste of small quantities of previously treated water used for drinking or culinary purposes. They also absorb excess chlorine. Carbon filters are commercially available and require periodic servicing.

Carbon filters should not be expected to be a substitute for sand filtration and disinfection. They have insufficient area to handle raw surface water and will clog very rapidly when filtering turbid water.

Bacteriological Quality

The Public Health Service Drinking Water Standards have established limits for the mean concentration of coliform bacteria in a series of water samples and the frequency at which concentrations may exceed the mean. The results are expressed either in terms of a direct count of bacteria per unit volume - if the membrane filter (MF) procedure is used - or in terms of the "most probable number " (MPN). This latter term is an estimate based on mathematical formulas of probability.

The recommended standards for drinking water are roughly equivalent to restricting the coliform concentration to not more than one organism for each 100 milliliters of water. 5

Application of the Public Health Service Drinking Water Standards to individual water supplies is difficult due to the low frequency with which samples can be properly collected and examined. Bacteriological examinations indicate the presence or absence of contamination in the collected sample only, and are indicative of quality only at the time of collection. A sample positive for coliform is a good indication that the source may have been contaminated by surface washings or fecal material. On the other hand, a negative result cannot be considered assurance of a continuously safe supply unless the results of a thorough sanitary survey of the surrounding area, together with subsequent negative samples, support this position.

Collection of Samples

for Bacteriological Examination, for a reliable indication of the bacteriological safety of an individual water supply, the owner should depend on the experience of qualified public health personnel. Special precautions are necessary in the collection of water samples, and proper training and experience are essential in evaluating the analytical results. Before a sample is collected. The examining facility should be contacted to obtain its recommendations. (100 milliliters is about one-half cup.)

Other Biological Factors

Certain forms of aquatic vegetation and microscopic animal life in natural water may be either stimulated or retarded in their growth cycles by physical, chemical, or biological factors. For example, the growth of algae, minute green plants usually found floating in surface water, is stimulated by light, heat, nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus and the presence of carbon dioxide as a product of organic decomposition. Their growth may, in turn, be retarded by changes in pH (measure of acidity). The presence of inorganic impurities, excessive cloudiness or darkness, temperature, and the presence of certain bacterial species.

Continuous cycles of growth and decay of algae may result in the production of noxious byproducts that may adversely affect the quality of a water supply. The same general statements may be made regarding the growth cycles of certain nonpathogenic bacteria or microcrustacea that inhabit natural waters.

A water source should be as free from biological activity as possible. Biological activity can be avoided or kept to a minimum by:

1. Selecting water sources that do not normally support much plant or animal life.

2. Protecting the supply against subsequent contamination by biological agents.

3. Minimizing entrance of fertilizing materials, such as organic and nutrient minerals.

4. Controlling the light and temperature of stored water.

5. Providing treatment for the destruction of biologic life or its by-products.

Because algae and other chlorophyll-containing plants need sunlight to grow, the storage of water in covered reservoirs inhibits their growth.

Corrosion Control

The control of corrosion is important not only to continuous and efficient operation of the individual water system but also to delivery of properly conditioned water that has not picked up trace quantities of metals that may be hazardous to health. Whenever corrosion is minimized there is an appreciable reduction in the maintenance and possible replacement of water pipes, water heaters, or other metallic appurtenances of the system.

Corrosion is commonly defined as an electrochemical reaction in which metal deteriorates or is destroyed when in contact with elements of its environment such as air, water, or soil. Whenever this reaction occurs there is a flow of electric current from the corroding portion of the metal toward the electrolyte or conductor of electricity, such as water or soil. The point at which current flows from the metal into the electrolyte is called the "anode" and the point at which current flows away from the electrolyte is called the "cathode." Any characteristic of the water which tends to allow or increase the rate of this electrical current will increase the rate of corrosion. The important characteristics of a water that affect its corrosiveness include the following:

1. Acidity. A measure of the water's ability to neutralize alkaline materials. Water with acidity or low alkalinity (a measure of the concentration of alkaline materials) tends to be corrosive.

2. Conductivity. a measure of the amount of dissolved mineral salts. An increase in conductivity promotes flow of electrical current and increases the rate of corrosion.

3. Oxygen content. Amount dissolved in water promotes corrosion by destroying the thin protective hydrogen film that is present on the surface of metals immersed in water.

4. Carbon dioxide. Forms carbonic acid, which tends to attack metallic surfaces.

5. Water temperatures. The corrosion rate increases with water temperature.

Corrosion and Scale Relationship

Corrosion and scale are associated problems, but their effect and cause should not be confused. The essential effect of corrosion is to destroy metal; scale, on the other hand, tends to clog open sections and line surfaces with deposits. The products of corrosion often contribute to scale formation and aggravate the problem of its treatment.

Prevention of Corrosion

When corrosion is caused by the acidity of the water supply, it can be effectively controlled by installing an acid neutralizer ahead of a water softener. Another method of controlling corrosion is that of feeding small amounts of commercially available film-forming materials such as polyphosphates or silicates. Other methods for controlling corrosion are the installation of dielectric or insulating unions, reduction of velocities and pressures, removal of oxygen or acid constituents, chemical treatment to decrease the acidity, or the use of nonmetallic piping and equipment.

pH Correction or Neutralizing Solution

The pH of water may be increased by feeding a neutralizing solution so that it no longer attacks parts of the water system or contributes to electrolytic corrosion. Neutralizing solutions may be prepared by mixing soda ash (58% light grade) with water - 3 into the water supply with feeders as described under "Chlorination." and may be mixed with chlorine solution to accomplish both pH correction and disinfection with the same equipment. Soda ash is available at chemical supply houses.

Nuisance Organisms

Organisms that have been known to cause problems in water supplies include several species of algae, protozoa, and diatoms that produce tastes and odors and clog filters. Iron bacteria plug water well intakes and clog pipes in distribution systems .

Still other nuisance organisms are copepods, whose eggs pass through filters; midge larvae or bloodworms; and snails and mollusk. These organisms vary in complexity and size. They are uncommon or absent in ground water, but are common in surface waters.

Perhaps none of the organisms is injurious to health. Interference with water treatment processes and unpleasant taste, odor and appearance constitute the chief complaints against them.

Control of Algae

Growths of algae can be controlled by treating the water with copper sulfate (blue stone or blue vitriol) or, when feasible, by covering the storage unit to exclude sunlight. Maintenance of an adequate chlorine residual will effectively control the growth of algae and other organisms wherever storage is covered and protected from contamination. The particular control method, or combination of methods, is determined by studying each case to assess the probability for success and the costs involved.

This information on Problems related to Water are from the Environmental Protection Agency Water Quality Handbook.

The Real Problems are on the following pages.

Toxic Chemical Contaminants

247 million tons of toxic contaminants from industrial air pollution are emitted into the air in the United States each year.

This allows each of us the opportunity to breath 1 ton (2000 lbs) of toxic contaminants.

There is no estimate on the enormous amounts of toxic contaminants that are added to our rivers, lakes, and sewage treatment, or disposed of in private dumps and underground reservoirs.

All of the contaminants in our air, water, and land end up in us through the water and food we consume.

Many communities are finding toxic contaminants in their drinking water. The state and federal government's position is to investigate the level of contamination through committees and bureaucracies. While their performance looks impressive, it only delays finding a solution for the problem.

The hard cold fact is that the interests of business and industry have been given a higher priority than the health of the public. Our government has acted as a buffer to protect the interest of business and industry.

Chlorine and THM

Many city water supplies contain high chlorine levels. Recent studies link chlorine in our tap water with cancer, heart disease, arteriosclerosis, and premature aging.

Every day new studies find more toxic chemicals that are getting into our city and well water supplies. Many of these chemicals are suspected of causing cancer and birth defects. There are so many suspicious chemicals that our government cannot keep up with the testing required to set official, safe standards for all of them.

What's Official ?

Your municipal water company mainly checks for chemicals on the "official" list (even though "unofficial" chemicals may eventually turn out to be just as unsafe.) Feel free to call or stop at the lab or office to get a copy of the analysis of your municipal water for yourself. Please send one to the author of this book.

Dioxin

Dioxin is a complex molecule of chlorine. It is chlorine in possibly its deadliest form.

In a recent article from the National Cancer Society relating to dioxin, a scientific group traced the contamination of Rainy River to pulp mills processing and bleaching paper.

When chlorine is used to bleach paper at the mills, the by-product, dioxin is discharged into our sewer and river systems.

Chlorine Dioxin and other chemicals are a loaded gun aimed at us by a madman.

A study in Science News found dioxin-contaminated milk caused by dioxin leaching into the milk from cardboard containers.

And what do our United States Authorities have to say about Chlorine and Dioxin.?

"There is no evidence linking Chlorine with Cancer."

The Canadian Authorities consider in the Niagara river and the water flowing over Niagara falls into the St. Lawrence Seaway and on into the Great Lakes as the:

"Largest volume of toxic water in the world"

Primarily contaminated with Dioxin And Chlorine related chemical compounds.

There is no mystery to water!

There is a very big misunderstanding of water treatment methods. Present methods of water treatment have a very important relation to everyone's health. Present methods of water treatment is our main Problem !

The Problem is Halogens.

Chlorine, Fluorine, Bromine, & Iodine.

Halogens have a very reactive behavior, all readily combine and form numerous organic chemicals. Outside of Hydrocarbons and petroleum products, Halogens are the largest volume of chemicals produced and consumed in the world today.

Removing Carcinogens

The following information was received from the American Cancer Society concerning the difficulty removing carcinogens from our drinking water.

Trihalomethanes and chloroform are indicators of the formation of chlorinated material during drinking water chlorination. They are used as such an indicator because they are volatile and thus easily measured. Volatiles, however, comprise only about 10% of the total organic compounds present in drinking water.

We know that there are likely to be cancer suspect agents in the other 90%.

Boiling the water, or simply aerating , causes Trihalomethanes to evaporate. However, it does not remove nonvolatile contaminants, and therefore is not an adequate solution to the problem.

Using an activated carbon filter on the faucet does not help much. When the water pours out of the faucet, it does not spend enough time in contact with the carbon to remove all of the toxic material.

Superficial Solutions

Present methods of water treatment, treat only superficial problems.

The Problem The solution

Calcium scale salt softeners

Bad taste counter top filters

Odors reverse osmosis

Discolored water chlorine

Iron stains chlorine

Chlorides & sulfates reverse osmosis

For odor and bad taste, counter-top activated carbon filters are often used. The concept is good, but the absorption ability of the average system treats less than 1/2 gallon a minute. When a person opens a faucet half way, the flow rate will be 2 gallons per minute. This means that many of the contaminants pass through the filter.

Because of the small amount of activated carbon in counter-top units (usually less than a pound), the useful life is measured in weeks or months and requires constant replacement.

Reverse osmosis and distilled water remove all the minerals and nutrients in the water both good and bad.

Reverse osmosis systems discharge 4 to 5 gallons of waste water for every gallon available to you. They have little or no nutritive value, the taste is flat, and they require pre-treatment of the water with activated carbon filters.

The cost of distilled water processing is higher than the reverse-osmosis process, due to the energy required.

Coffee and beverages made with RO or distilled water lose much of their flavor, because the minerals that enhance the flavor of most beverages have been removed.

Salt Softeners

Salt water softeners are called ion-exchange systems. The exchange means healthful, beneficial calcium is taken out of your water and exchanged for non-essential sodium. The sodium in turn leaves a non-free-rinsing residue on whatever the water contacts.

For calcium scale, salt softeners and polyphosphate treatment are the standard solution. Both are expensive and add a detergent to the water. They are not a health benefit, nor do they solve a long-term problem.

Reverse Osmosis

Reverse osmosis has been known for thousands of years and is an excellent method of turning salt water into fresh water.

The reverse osmosis process removes 85 to 95% of all substances in the water. It removes healthy beneficial minerals that the body needs. The water it provides has little or no nutritive value, and the taste is flat.

Reverse osmosis works on pressure differential and discharges 4-5 gallons of waste water for every gallon it recovers.

Reverse osmosis systems require pretreatment with activated carbon systems to remove chlorine and volatile organic chemicals that break down and destroy the reverse osmosis membrane.

Reverse osmosis systems produce demineralized water which balances itself by stripping essential minerals from the body cells it contacts. Using reverse osmosis systems to treat all your needs would require a 5-fold increase in sewer and water charges, plus the continuing cost of activated carbon and reverse osmosis filters.

Reverse osmosis water is expensive to produce and is generally not economical for producing all the water a family requires.

Distilled Water

Distilled water is created by boiling and converting water to steam or vapor. In this process, the water boils off leaving the chemical contaminants and beneficial minerals behind.

Distilled Water is not Pure Water

Many chemicals in particular VOCs, Volatile Organic Chemicals, petroleum distillates such as Benzene, Toluene, Xyloune and other highly Toxic chemicals have lower Boiling points than water.

When the source water has VOCs, they will boil off first in the distillation process and decontaminates the water. Small cartridge filters can not always effectively remove or eliminate this Problem.

Distilled water is like reverse osmosis water. When the minerals are removed, the water will tend to re-balance itself by stripping minerals from whatever it comes in contact with and that includes cells and tissues of the body.

Distilled water, like reverse osmosis water, requires high cost energy to manufacture, and pretreatment with an activated carbon filter to remove volatile organic chemicals is required.

Distilled water will remove up to 99% of the healthy minerals your body needs. Coffee and beverages made with this water lose much of their flavor, because the minerals that enhance the flavor of most beverages have been removed.

Activated Carbon

A Better Alternative

There are 3 main types of activated carbon systems.

1.Granular Activated Carbon GAC

2.Solid Block Carbon

3.Granular Activated Carbon with Silver

Granular Activated Carbon

Granular activated carbon is a miraculous filter material that has the ability to adsorb thousands of man-made chemicals; some of these include fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, solvents, and chlorine. The activated carbon will filter and bind these toxic contaminants within its microscopic, porous structure.

The EPA uses activated carbon to clean up chemical spills, and considers Activated Carbon as the best technology available for the removal of toxic chemicals in water systems.

If a child were brought to an emergency room after swallowing one or more unknown poisons, and those poisons could not be quickly identified, a well known method of treatment is to flush the stomach and then add a mixture of water and fine activated carbon powder. As this mixture passes into the intestines, the activated carbon has the ability to absorb and bind chemicals from the blood.

Granular activated carbon adsorbs and absorbs chlorine and other contaminants. Most natural and man-made organic chemicals and living matter, like algae, are partly composed of carbon atoms. This is why activated carbon attracts these chemicals and is such a great filter material.

Solid Block Carbon

The solid block method uses pure carbon. It is pressure formed and packaged in a cartridge form for ease of use and replacement. This form of carbon is designed for limited use and will treat a specific number of gallons (generally less than 1000).

It's primary purpose is to improve taste and remove chlorine and offensive odors. The solid carbon block is not self cleaning and its useful life is generally cut short by being loaded and restricted in function. Solids and mineral buildup in the solid block filters to restrict pressure and reduce water flow. There is no effective means of biological control and therefore, bacteria contamination is always a concern.

Silver Impregnated Carbon

Bacteria contamination is always a problem. Systems that use silver impregnated activated carbon to solve this problem require EPA registration to monitor toxic emissions of silver.

Federal Study

A study of 30 popular systems for water treatment was reported in the April, 1984 issue of the Journal of American Waterworks Association. Only four of 30 had over 93% removal of VOCs. Ten systems removed 25% or less, and the average removal rate was 47%.

Statistical analysis indicates no significant differences between silver and non-silver units. Field tests confirmed that the addition of silver does not significantly reduce bacterial growth.

Silver is metabolized in the liver and stored by the skin and fat cells in the body. Long-term exposure will lead to permanent discoloration of the skin (grayish-blue), and further ingestion will lead to toxic and allergic reactions. While silver is a safe water additive at recommended levels at high levels, it is toxic.

Ionic Water Conditioning

This story began over 30 years ago at summer camp on a dark moonless night close to midnight.

After an evening campfire, a special treat was skinny dipping in the camp's pool. Just before midnight, one of the camp counselors took the precaution of making sure the pool was well-disinfected with ample quantities of chlorine.

As we all made our mad dash for the pool, I could smell the chlorine a block away. It made it easier to find the pool in the dark.

As soon as we got wet, our noses and sinuses were burning, our eyes became swollen and burned, and all the tears in the world could not soothe the pain. My throat was sore; and I could only breathe with difficulty. To this day I can still smell that chlorine.

Science Digest

Many years later, an article in Science Digest, July, 1984, caught my attention,

"No sting swimming pool."

I called Science Digest for more information. I was told the product was originally developed for NASA for the Apollo space flights. A method was actually available, which would disinfect water and eliminate the need for chlorine or toxic chemicals in swimming pools.

The chemical free method

was called Ionization. After a great deal of research and investigation, I came to the conclusion that a major method of water treatment had been overlooked and never properly developed. The technology was not new-it dated back 4,000 years to the early Etruscans, the people who founded Rome. In the EPA's Safe Drinking Water publication, they discuss the use of a similar system dating back to 2000 BC.

Ancient Water Treatment

Apparently, early Etruscans used copper vessels with charcoal as a system to keep stored water clean for extended periods of time.

Ionization

In my research, I discovered many patents dating back to 1927, all related to non-chemical means of treating water with the use of electricity. As I further discovered, several methods were patented and products were being sold today for industrial and commercial use, such as cooling towers and boiler feed water.

Electronic Water treatment systems have been used in industrial applications for over 50 years. They use high voltage and are potentially dangerous. There primary purpose is scale control and they have some ability to control bacteria and algae.

The New technology

For the Apollo space missions a solution was needed to control bacteria in an enclosed environment. The main problem was, the use of potentially dangerous chemicals to disinfect human body waste.

To eliminate the use of chemicals a system was developed for NASA using low-voltage electronic creating copper and silver ions. This replaced the use of chlorine or other potentially explosive chemicals.

The new system proved to be an effective alternative to earlier High Voltage methods of water treatment and was effectively used on the early Apollo Space Missions.

Swimming Pools

Low voltage Ionization systems were tested on a swimming pools that had no chlorination and had high levels of bacteria and algae.

" The pools were black with algae."

The water was crystal clear.

The results were spectacular.

The water was tested and found to be bacteria and algae-free. The quality of the water exceeded federal standards for drinking water.

A unique feature of the electronic Ionization was the creation electrically charged ions that were free and active in the water.

The free Ions were not only attracted to bacteria and algae, they also combined with scale and chemical contaminants, allowing them to be removed by filtration.

When toxic chemicals used to control bacteria and algae are eliminated small animals and Fish can live and thrive in an ionized pool. Aquatic plants, garden plants, and lawns all benefit from ionized water.

It is even better for people. Swimming all day in an ionized pool, your skin feels soft and not all dried out; your hair is soft and manageable; and your eyes will not burn.

A very serious concern of many people especially women is allergic reactions and skin irritation. Chlorine and other pool chemicals aggravate these problem.

On many occasions I have heard and seen people with severe skin problems like eczema and psoriasis after swimming in an ionized pool discover amazing improvements with there skin.

The water itself is very beneficial in promoting healing, when irritating chemicals are eliminated, swimming in an ionized pool is a very pleasant and beneficial experience.

Come on in. The water's great!

A common comment from our customers was, The water in my swimming pool water feels so good, why don't you do something about the water in my home?"

From those customer comments,

The Eliminator Ionic Water Purification System was developed, it was designed to condition all of the water in a home, farm or business, and replace the use of water softeners and taste and odor filters.

The Eliminator kills algae and bacteria and removes toxic chemicals. An ionic water conditioning system combines the benefits of both soft and hard water.

Unlike water softeners, it does not add sodium, uses no salt, and is almost maintenance-free. It can eliminate chlorine, sulfur odor, bacteria, algae, and nearly every undesirable water pollutant.

The Eliminator removes or eliminates:

Chlorine and its by-products, Scale & Lime build-up, Bad taste and odors

The Eliminator is very effective in removing:

Volatile organics & phenols, Herbicides & pesticides

The Eliminator can be designed to remove or control Radon, Lead, Bacteria, algae and Iron .Without the use of Salt, sodium or other chemicals.

The Eliminator's method of water purification is a natural, chemical free approach to the problems related to safe, healthful water.

The Eliminator

The Eliminator prevents dissolved minerals in your water from turning to scale. Heat causes minerals to form hard scale. The Eliminator electrically charges the dissolved minerals so they do not bind together and form scale.

The Eliminator is designed to neutralize the harmful effects of hard minerals by ionization, and dissolve existing scale in your pipes and water heater.

The Eliminator removes chlorine, foul tastes and odors, dirt, rust, toxic chemicals, and physical contaminants from your water system.

It contains an electronic controlled Ionization chamber, high quality activated carbon, and a special blend of natural minerals to provide you with "Premium Quality Water"

The Eliminator reduces your soap usage just as salt water softeners do. The water throughout your house has a clean, mountain spring taste with the healthy minerals in it. You feel really clean after bathing, without a soap residue. Your plants, both indoor and outdoor, absorb water more easily, and they require less watering.

What This Means To You

The Eliminator is the best means by which you can assure a safer drinking water supply for a family's health and enjoyment. Baby formulas, coffee, tea, soups, lemonade mixed drinks, and all of the other foods and beverages you prepare will be healthier and permit the full flavor of your food and drinks to come through. Your family will notice the difference immediately.

Pure Water

The Eliminator does not use . . .

Toxic Chemicals, Salt, Magnetic, Catalytic Conditioners, Crystals, Ozone, Chlorine.

Ionization.

You have seen Ionization in electronic smoke eaters, electronic bug zappers, and in air ion generators. They ionize air - we ionize water! Electronically with safe low voltage

Removing Toxic Chemicals

Chlorine and chemical contaminants are trapped and filtered by the granular activated carbon in the Eliminator tank. The Eliminators are designed to filter from 1,000,000 to 20,000,000 gallons of water before the carbon must be replaced-this is 10-20 years for an average home or business.

The Eliminator tanks are designed to filter these toxic chemicals out for specific water flow rates. Some chemicals take longer to filter out in a carbon bed than others. Chlorine filters out fast, chloroform takes much longer.

"Breakthrough" is a term the EPA uses to describe a carbon filter that is starting to let contaminants through.

Based on test data Activated carbon will prevent contaminant breakthrough for specific gallon capacities and must be sized properly.

Backwashing prolongs the life of the carbon. The activated carbon should be tested and replaced regularly severe contaminant exist. Backwashing gives added protection from bacterial build-up in the filter. This is a feature that cartridge filter systems simply do not have!

One cubic foot

of activated carbon has the surface adsorption area of five square miles. It's capacity is enormous. With backwashing and bacteria control, granular activated carbon has a long life and a wide ranging ability to remove toxic contaminants, heavy metals, and lead. It's capacity is enormous.

Water Chemistry

The Eliminator ionization system puts excess hydrogen ions and free electrons (with a negative charge) into the water. This excess of hydrogen helps the calcium bicarbonate hold onto their hydrogen atoms and prevents them from being converted into calcium carbonate when heated. Excess electrons attach to silica and clay particles, preventing them from becoming a binding material for scale.

Negative Ions

Any excess of electrons or hydrogen not used will act to help break up existing scale by converting back to soluble calcium bicarbonate.

Action

The Eliminator acts on chemical contaminants in three ways:

1.Creating free oxygen to act as an oxidizer and combining with dissolved minerals and iron.

2.Electrical attraction - the ionization process creates positively charged ions, which combine with negatively charged chemical contaminants.

3.Filtration - once the physical properties of the minerals and chemical contaminants have been acted on, they can effectively be filtered and removed.

Filtration

The Eliminators filter removes sediment and organic matter, and combine and hold oxygenated compounds, which can be backwashed and purged from the activated carbon filter.

Well Contamination

Well contamination is normally caused by groundwater runoff absorbing fertilizers pesticides and chemicals used in agriculture and industry .

Chemicals on the ground end up in the well as nutrients for microorganisms and become contaminants for humans and livestock. Microorganism nutrients are chemical compounds of nitrate, phosphate, sulfate, carbonates, and metals, such as iron. To some extent, all of these chemicals can be found in most water supplies.

Nitrates

Nitrites in well contamination is serious when nitrates are found in combination with nitrites. Both human and livestock are susceptible to intestinal and respiratory diseases caused by bacteria, and aggravated by nitrates. Humans, especially infants, are at risk

Nitrites

Nitrites absorbed by the body enter the blood stream and severely deplete oxygen from the blood. Nitrites are more dangerous than nitrates as nitrites aggressively strips oxygen from the body.

The Eliminator produces free oxygen which combines with the nitrites and converts them to nitrates that pass into the filter and are held by the activated carbon.

Activated carbon was not previously used for nitrate removal because the nitrites and nitrates acted as a breeding agent and resulted in bacterial contamination.

The Eliminator controls bacteria and protects the activated carbon allowing its use for nitrate removal. The ionic reactions of the Eliminator further react with nitrates to release nitrogen gas which is 78 % of the air we breath.

Sulfates

Sulfate reducing bacteria use sulfate as an oxygen source, producing sulfite and hydrogen sulfide (rotten egg gas) as wastes. Their growth is accompanied by bad odors and tastes. These same wastes create extreme corrosion problems in galvanized and iron piping systems. They also attack lung tissue of young cattle causing a deep cough and susceptibility to recurring pneumonia. Toxicity is greatly enhanced when water stands in exposed to air.

The Eliminator system, in addition to killing microorganisms, transforms sulfite and hydrogen sulfide to sulfate and colloidal sulfur, that can be filtered out. Sulfate, commonly found in rural water supplies, was used generations ago in the form of Epsom salts as a human laxative.

Sulfate acts as an irritant to the digestive tract, causing diarrhea, and with prolonged use can cause ulceration and infection. Antibiotics are useful in warding off infection, but repeated infections can leave scarred intestines that are not able to function properly.

The Eliminator system removes suspended sulfates and hydrogen sulfide gas. The ion chamber creates oxygen that breaks down the gas into sulfur particles and water. The copper ions released in the water create insoluble copper sulfide particles that are filtered in the carbon tank.

Iron

Iron is a necessary element in nutrition, it is also toxic when ingested in excess. There is no efficient process for the body to eliminate iron. High iron levels displace calcium from bones and teeth. An excess of iron disrupts the balance of calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium. The Eliminator will oxidize and remove, by filtration, a portion of iron. Iron has the ability to combine with fatty acids and act like a detergent to increase the dissolving of fats and fat-soluble vitamins.

Iron Stains

Too much iron or manganese in your water creates orange or black clothing stains. It also stains your bathrooms, kitchen water fixtures, and concrete walls.

The Eliminator creates oxygen in water; the oxygen combines with dissolved iron and manganese that are then filtered and removed.

In agricultural applications, when water with a high mineral content containing some iron is treated with the Eliminator, eggshell quality greatly improves, even in old birds, from enhanced vitamin D absorption. Egg yolk color often darkens from increased levels of vitamin A. Similar effects in swine and cattle are evidenced by improved breeding records.

The Eliminator contains a special filter material for iron and manganese which helps to complete the conversion of dissolved iron and manganese into filterable solids. Visible ferric oxide (rust) in the water is simply filtered in the tank.

Iron bacteria is killed by both oxidation and the action of the small amount of copper ions released by the electrodes. The dead bacteria are then filtered. Iron concentrations as low as 0.3 ppm (0.1 ppm under some conditions) will cause staining.

The iron concentration, together with the water flow rate required, determines the basic size of the filter system. The higher these factors are, the larger the system required.

The Eliminator Ionization System is capable of filtering out the three main types of iron found in water supplies: soluble iron (also known as "clear water" or ferrous iron), precipitated iron (also known as "red water" or ferric iron) and bacterial iron (also known as iron bacteria).

Lead

There is much concern about lead in our water. It is very unusual for lead to come into your home from well or city water. If you have a lead problem, it usually comes from the solder used to put your copper pipes together.

Chlorine's corrosive action is a key factor causing the lead in pipe solder to get into your water. The Eliminator helps stop lead from getting in your household water by stripping chlorine out of your water before it gets in your piping. In addition, the activated carbon will filter out any lead that does get into your water supply.

Radon

Radon is a colorless, odorless radioactive gas that gets into your home through well water or seeps through small cracks in your foundation. The government says that up to 20,000 people may die each year from lung cancer caused by radon. Breathing radon is more of a problem than drinking it.

The EPA considers an activated carbon tank as the "Best Technology" to remove radon gas.

The Eliminator can handle low levels with no special maintenance. The Eliminator system can and should be properly sized to assure safety and performance for any known radon contamination level. Radioactive radon gas is attracted to and trapped by activated carbon. It is important to make sure that the backwash drain line is set up so it does not vent radon gas back into your building.

Tannins

Tannins that may be present in some water supplies, are the result of various forms of decaying vegetation. Tannins can cause problems in the operation of the Eliminator filter by forming a sticky coating on the media, thus rendering it incapable of filtering iron. Generally with tannin concentrations of 0.5 ppm or less, more frequent backwashing will prevent the sticky coating from forming. I

Algae and Bacteria

Algae and bacteria cause more odor and taste problems than health problems. However, most people prefer to drink water without bacteria or algae in it, even if it is "safe." Most city water systems do a good job keeping them under control.

Iron bacteria is common in well water and shows up as an orange slime in toilet tanks. Some potentially harmful bacteria in wells is undetected because these types are uncommon and not checked in standard tests.

Families with constant health problems, where well water might be the problem, should test for these uncommon bacteria types.

The Eliminators Ionization is lethal to bacteria, algae, and some viruses. Because mineral ions stop bacteria and algae from contaminating the filter, odors caused by bacteria and algae will disappear.

Originally NASA used copper/silver electrodes in their ionization systems. However, new research shows that copper alone is just as effective and it doesn't have the health problems associated with silver. For this reason, we do not use or recommend silver-impregnated carbon for bacteria control.

The ionization portion of Intec's Eliminators provide s for bacterial control, and has been shown to be faster acting, longer lasting, and more effective than chlorine in controlling bacteria, algae, fungus and mold.

The Intec Eliminator Water Treatment systems are designed for large volumes of water at standard pressure without flow restrictions.

Water and Nutrition

Ionization for agriculture and livestock production has major benefits:

Ionic minerals, primarily calcium, magnesium, and iron, are beneficial nutrients that are essential for good livestock production and readily found in water supplies. By conditioning beneficial minerals and removing toxic contaminants, the Eliminator promotes healthy livestock production.

Biological Fouling A major cause of livestock problems is directly related to bacteria, fungus, mold, algae, and virus through the water supply. Some disease organisms will affect livestock directly. Others will create bad tastes and odors, which will lead to low water intake and decreased production.

The Eliminator kills bacteria, fungus, algae, and many forms of virus without the use of chemicals. Through mineral ionization, the Eliminator kills bacteria by contact and is faster acting, longer lasting, and more effective than chlorine. Simultaneously it adds a residual to the water to give long-term protection of open waters, keeping them as a source of healthy, pure water.

Limitations

of the Eliminator System, Since calcium is not removed from the water (it remains in its natural 'soft' state) you may experience fine 'powder' marks on your fixtures and glassware. These wipe off easily and will not cause permanent damage. You may have to change your detergent or add a rinsing agent to your dishwasher.

Bacteria If elevated bacteria levels in the water supply are dangerous or causing health problems, custom designed systems are required to produce adequate levels of protection. These special systems require large enough tanks to allow contact time and must be sized to your specific need.

Iron

The Eliminator is not generally designed to remove all the iron in well water as some iron is essential and beneficial. If iron removal is a primary concern, the amount of oxygen may have to be increased in order to eliminate it. This can be done by the addition of a higher powered electronic unit or additional electrodes with a properly sized holding tank. These additions will assure sufficient contact time for iron removal.

Tank Size

It is important to have a large enough pressure tank so there is enough time to convert sulfur gas, iron, or manganese into filterable materials. Good backwash flow and frequency is also very important to keep the filter bed clean and give it longer life.

Acid Water

The ionization system will raise pH slightly if acid water is a concern. Pre-treatment with a small filter to increase pH is available, or the addition of pH increasing media can be ordered and added to the Eliminator. This media will require periodic replacement every 2-3 years, depending on the level of use and the pH of the source water.

Cloudy Water

or the first few weeks after installation, you may notice cloudy water with small white particles in the hot water. This is due to the de-scaling system and will improve as scale is reduced. This effect primarily occurs in the hot water line and the cold water line should be used for cooking and drinking water.

You Owe it to Your Family . . . . . to act!

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