Written by World Changer Co Team Member - Ilyana Sauceda
Are you feeling lost in the world of water filters and the wonders of clean water? Don't worry—we've been there, too!
Let's explore the wonders of clean water together, from Brita to Big Berkey and beyond. We'll dive into what each filter offers so you can make the best choice for your hydration needs. First things first, you need to know the problems with your local tap water to be extra motivated to get to the end of this blog post, and to spend your hard-earned cash on a water filter.
Enter your zip code here: https://www.ewg.org/tapwater/
Ah, welcome back.. ready to dive in??
Unless you're collecting water from a stream or well, you'll likely drink water from the tap. Most people think tap water is safe because of their city's water treatment plan, but from what you may have learned above, that is far from true. Most city water treatment plants typically use a combination of coagulation, sedimentation, filtration, and disinfection to remove impurities and contaminants from water. However, these processes do not remove all types of pollutants including fluoride, chlorine, lead, and pharmaceuticals, requiring advanced treatment methods.
It's scary to think we could drink or cook with these toxins daily, so what options do we have? You could research how to make water safe again, but it's super easy to be misled on the biased internet.
So, the basics…water can be living or dead.
PROS of drinking “Living Water”
Natural minerals: Living water typically contains minerals that are naturally present in the environment; these nutrients are a crucial key to the proper hydration of our bodies.
Improved taste: Many people find that living water has a fresh and clean taste due to its natural source, which can make it more enjoyable to drink.
Potential health benefits: Living water has health benefits beyond just hydration.
Environmentally friendly: Choosing living water from sustainable sources is a more eco-friendly compared to bottled waters coming from unsustainable practices.
CONS of Drinking "Dead Water"
Loss of Essential Minerals: Without minerals like calcium, magnesium, and potassium, essential for bodily functions, drinking demineralized water will contribute to mineral deficiencies over time.
Potential Health Effects: Some research suggests that drinking demineralized water may lead to mineral imbalances, which could affect bone health, cardiovascular function, and electrolyte balance.
Altered Taste and pH: Demineralized water may have a flat taste and a low pH, which some people find unappealing.
Potential Impact on Digestive Health: Some studies indicate that drinking demineralized water may affect the digestive system's ability to absorb nutrients effectively.
You might be thinking those are two extremes, and they are. This is where water filters -a more sustainable approach to clean water- come in.
Different Types of Filters
There are a ton of different filters on the market, but odds are, your water filter isn’t doing what you think it is.
Brita
When I hear the term “water filter” used I think it's only fair I’d assume that the water I’m drinking would be filtered…right? Well, in some cases - like Brita filters - it’s only kinda filtered
I hate to break it to you, but Brita filters are probably one of the worst water filters on the market. Brita filters primarily use activated carbon filters to remove organic contaminants that affect taste and color, like chlorine and some pesticides. However, these filters are less effective at removing more harmful contaminants like lead, fluoride, bacteria, etc.
If that wasn’t enough reason for you to replace your Brita right now, then maybe this will help. You know all those pricey filters you have to replace every three or so months? Turns out their lifespan is much shorter than advertised. If you aren’t changing your Brita out on a tight schedule, more than likely it's not filtering your water. But wait, there's more. I know truly you’d think it couldn’t get much worse, but on top of everything, if your filter is expired it doesn’t hold all the contaminants that you filtered out over the past couple months. Instead, it dumps the concentrated amount of toxins into your water over the next few refills.
I know this is hard to hear, but don’t blame yourself. Blame misleading marketing from big corporations. So many fellow water drinkers around the globe have opted for Brita thinking this cheap option is taking out all contaminants. In reality, it's doing so much more harm than good.
Big Big Berkeys
For YEARS health bloggers raved about Big Big Berkeys, inspiring the masses to snag one for their kitchens. Unfortunately, if you are one of those people, you’ve been mislead. But if you haven’t bought one yet, let me save you a bit of money and disappointment.
Big Berkeys aren’t just any water filter. Berkey claims to remove over a hundred different contaminants from your water. Keyword “claims.” Here are the main problems to know about Berkeys:
Independent testing showed inconsistencies, particularly with chloroform filtration.
Tests commissioned by New Millennium didn't meet NSF/ANSI standards.
Does not filter out fluoride, total dissolved solids, bacteria, viruses, or parasites
Filters expire faster than advertised
LifeStraw
We genuinely researched all the top filters, including Lifestraw. While the straws are good in a pinch and on the go, Lifestraw pitchers unfortunately don’t remove all the toxins it claims to online. So many lies! But fear not, a better filter option below.
Bottled Water
You may be a fellow world changer that wonders how water bottle companies haven’t gone under yet, but according to stats you more likely are still buying water bottles, or are surrounded by people that still opt for the single-use plastics. Globally, billions of water bottles are purchased daily. In the US, millions of water bottles are purchased daily. Even if the bottle is trying its best by offering well-filtered, remineralized alkaline water bottled in recycled plastic, there’s no avoiding the high chance of leaked BPA; Phthalates; PET; Acetaldehyde. Yet still, the average American spends $1,460 on bottled water a year.
Kangen Water
I bet you’ve heard of Kangen Machines by Enagic. I also bet you’ve looked up the price of the water machines and thought NO WAY. Kangen machines are known for providing households with alkaline, antioxidant, mineral water at a costly price. The odd and unfortunate fact about the Kangen is that the machine DOESN’T FILTER your water. The company boasts of not removing water’s natural minerals, but that’s because it doesn’t remove most anything at all. Because alkalinity is easily achievable by manually adding minerals to your water, this only leaves the benefit of molecular hydrogen in Kangen water. This has been clearly proven to be an amazing antioxidant in the body, but at the cost of thousands of dollars you might opt for a glass of actually filtered mineral water with some organic blueberries on the side. In all seriousness, antioxidants are important in your diet and are worth upping your intake of antioxidant foods.
I know what you might be thinking…it's all a lot to take in. I get it. But that’s why I’m here! And while most of the water filter brands you might know of aren’t meeting standards, doesn’t mean you have no options.
Here are some water filters that ACTUALLY filter your water AND remineralize it.
Reverse Osmosis (RO) Filtration Systems with Remineralization | Aquatru and Langwater
Raise your hand if you’ve heard of reverse osmosis water before. While RO is not the only way to filter contaminants and toxins out of water, it is arguably the most effective. However, alone RO creates dead water lacking in all minerals. A truly good water filter will not only use RO to remove contaminants from water, but simultaneously remineralize it to create living water.
Aquatru has to be my favorite water filter I’ve researched to date. Langwater comes in a close second. These brands utilize reverse osmosis filtration as well as re-mineralization ensuring well balanced living water at an immensely lower price.
Here’s the breakdown:
Aquatru:
-extremely reliable
-compact size friendly for apartments
-water purifier $359-$449 (cheaper with discount code below!)
-filters: $22.95-$179.95 depending on purifier/filter & last for up to a year or 300 gallons - whichever comes first.
-tried & true—more widely used
Langwater:
-extremely reliable
-spontaneous cleaning cycles
-offers hot water and flavored water dispensers
-kits range from $374.90-392.80
-filters: $99.90 last up to 2 years or 3,000 liters of water - whichever comes first
-new company
I’ll admit, any good water filter will be a bit pricey (if you click the links below you save on either options!), but in the long run you’re not only saving money, but saving your quality of life.
You can snag Aquatru at a discounted rate using this link: https://aquatruwater.com/?oid2=50&affid2=6648.
You can get a discount on Langwater here: Langwater Discount
Before you get overwhelmed, let me add one more motivating piece. Zac Efron. Have you heard of his “Down to Earth” series? If you haven’t, don’t worry I’ll give a brief recap; although, I strongly advise you to watch starting with his episode on water.
The beauty of Zac’s show is that as he learns, we learn. There’s nothing more raw and real than a wakeup call to worldwide water issues. Emphasizing contamination and scarcity Zac walks us through the importance of sustainable water conservation, and access to clean living water for us and future generations.
Through interviews with experts and local residents, we see Zac fall in love with the taste and importance of living water. Visiting Paris, seeing the abundance of mineral water dispensers was nothing short of inspiring for both Zac and myself.
If neither Zac or I could convince you to invest in the right filter, think about this: the human body is made up of about 60% water. The type of water entering your system should be the second health priority on the list, after the air you breathe ;)
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