It Isn’t Good to Fool With Mother Nature – Contaminated Water
(AKA Reason #23 For Not Drinking Bottled Water)
In the first week of February 2024, a Las Vegas, NV Jury awarded $130,000,000 to the family of a woman who had died from drinking REAL WATER brand bottled water. The cause of death was liver failure due to non-viral hepatitis caused by consumption of water contaminated with hydrazine. In total, $228,500,000 was awarded to all who were affected.
This story goes back to 2020/2021 during which time a total of seven people ages 7 months to 69 years were hospitalized in the Las Vegas area with the particular form of hepatitis. The cause was determined by the FDA to be hydrazine and the source traced to contaminated, beautifully packaged Real Water Alkaline bottled water. Once identified, production ceased and all distributed product recalled.
Hydrazine is a very simple man-made inorganic compound with the formula N2H4 that is often used as a propellent in small rockets and munitions as well as a precursor to the production of other chemicals and pharmaceuticals. It is harmful to exposed skin and is also carcinogenic. Fortunately, it is not found in nature. Its only association with use in water is confined to acting as an oxygen scavenger to reduce corrosion in boilers. The EPA doesn’t require testing for it in drinking water and a quick look at standard testing of bottled water by laboratories doesn’t list hydrazine as a test-for analyte.
How did hydrazine get into one water bottler’s product? The answer did not appear in the summary of the trial, but some interesting possibilities were published this week in the online Chem Jobber. It was established that Real Water started out with Las Vegas municipal water (void of hydrazine) which then was carbon filtered, treated with reverse osmosis, UV exposed, ozonated, potassium chloride added, electrolysis processed, potassium hydroxide, potassium bicarbonate, and magnesium chloride added, and finally into bottles. The FDA inspector as well as one responding chemist felt that the electrolysis step inadvertently created the hydrazine with its hydrogen from electrolysis and nitrogen from the air combining. Electrochemistry can be very unpredictable as this tragic case highlights. It is a discipline practiced by few and totally understood by fewer. Our take on the source includes the electrolysis but then its reaction to chloramines disinfection in LV water that were not removed by filtration.
Trying to “improve” water beyond removing contaminants proved to be counterproductive and, in one case, deadly. We have seen the mentioned electrolysis process come and go many times over the years with names such as Redox water, ionizers, etc. At one time, marketing companies offering electrolysis equipment and its processed water were concentrated in the Salt Lake City, UT area.
We continue to advise people to avoid bottled water and employ a properly designed, installed, and maintained in-home reverse osmosis system.
As a company, we have always stayed away from utilizing scare tactics about water in our literature as well as in conversations with our distributors or their customers. Our preference has been to understand all water treatment technologies, implement those best suited for addressing customer needs, and stay in that lane without pretending to be experts on health issues related to water contaminants.
Information received on January 8, 2024, however, compels us to advise as many people as possible about a significant health threat related to water – specifically bottled water. On that date, we received the findings on nanoplastics in bottled water published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Their examinations showed an average of 250,000 particles per bottle in those tested.
Even more concerning than the high numbers was their sizes as small or smaller than a virus. At this size, they can invade human cells disrupting their development or causing mutations affecting our neurologic, immunologic, circulatory, and all organ systems. So small, in fact, that they have been found in newborns. It’s no leap to realize that animals and fish have been exposed, so to some extent the particles are also in our food chain.
The plastic materials are identified by a laser bombardment process that reveals they consist of nylon, Teflon (PTFE) the forever chemical, PVC, packaging plastics including PET, and possibly in some cases the polymer used in the production of reverse osmosis membranes.
What are we to do? The obvious answer is to avoid bottled water. Next would be to use an in-home reverse osmosis system that has pores as small as 0.002 to 0.0001 microns or at least 1/5 the size of the smallest virus/nanoplastics. Finally, an entrepreneur somewhere, hopefully, will follow in the footsteps of Stephan Wiess and drill deeply for newly formed water as outlined in our blog titled “There is probably enough water on earth for everyone”. This water, at depths of hundreds of feet, has not been exposed to man’s contamination and could be transported to customers in SS or glass vessels.
Contaminated Water In Our Drinking Supply
We have been proponents of home reverse osmosis (RO) drinking water units since our founding over 25 years ago. Our initial and continuing contaminated water concern was the glut of disposable plastic bottle waste impacting the environment. Every year the need for these RO units increases as new, harmful materials are discovered in our drinking water such as fluoride-based chemicals, microplastics, fertilizers, and pharmaceuticals. All are virtually impossible to remove at a municipal water treatment plant and the situation will become worse as new contaminants are found and available municipal funds shrink. Having a private well is no cure for the problems.
Managing Plastic Microparticles
While recently doing some research on the pervasiveness of contaminated water from microplastics in our drinking water and our food chain I discovered an article in the October 2019 issue of Water Technology publication that truly distressed me about how bad our water sources are becoming. The article titled Managing Plastic Microparticles In Water by Joseph Cotruvo, Ph.D. who is a public health consultant formerly with the EPA. The plastic issue is bad enough but what was a total surprise is that the government permits 7,000,000 asbestos fibers longer than 10 microns in each liter of drinking water. The overall consensus is that more studies are needed to determine the health effects of ingesting these fibers from water contamination. We elect not to be part of that study and avoid the issue altogether by continuing to drink and cook with RO water and hope you do also.
Bottled Water Cost
Americans will spend $16 billion on bottled water this year. Think about it – millions of us every day will go out and pay to get something that is more or less the same as what comes out of our kitchen faucet.
Of course, it’s that ‘more or less’ detail that makes all the difference.
Bottled water, whether it is labeled as artesian, mineral or spring water, is regulated by the FDA and must meet that organization’s water quality standards. That gives us a sense of confidence that this water is healthier and safer, and it usually tastes better too.
But what if you could achieve those same levels of quality and taste in your tap water? How much money would that add back into your family’s budget?
Is It Just Tap Water?
Believe it or not, even if you buy water from the store you may be drinking someone’s tap water anyway. Pictures of mountains and glaciers on bottle labels help consumers to visualize the purity of a clear stream in the reverse osmosisckies, but that doesn’t mean that is where the contents originated.
Those brands that do put more effort into their product will filter water using reverse osmosis, which removes impurities and particles larger than .001 microns. But that is something you can do as well.
Dimewater Inc. offers several reverse osmosis systems that remove bacteria, pyrogens, viruses, pesticides, dissolved solids, sulfates, radioactive contaminants, pharmaceuticals, and other harmful particles from your water. Choose from our standard product line of reverse osmosis systems or choose to utilize our in-house engineering team to design a custom engineered system based upon your needs.
Call us at 760.734.5787 and get in touch with one of our water experts today.
Swiss food giant Nestlé might be forced to shut down its water bottling plants after Eddie Kurtz, the executive director of the California-based Courage Campaign has petitioned the California Water Resources Control Board regarding Nestlé’s water consumption. The company (as well as many others) is using the bottled water industry to bottle for profit water that they pipe from public lands, pump from the desert and draw from municipal water supplies.
While citizens are asked to watch and reduce their own water consumption, the company’s 5 bottled water plants and 4 food factories in the state collectively consume about 1 billion gallons of water each year, which amounts to 0.008% of the 13 trillion gallons of annual water use in the state. However, a shutdown of operations in California will not fix the drought, as Nestlé explained on their website.
Bottled Water Industry and Water Use
Despite the bottled water industry’s size, the amount of water used is relatively tiny compared to tap water volumes. According to the UCLA Institute for Environment and Sustainability, at almost 80%, agriculture is the largest user of water in the state, followed by urban residential use at 13%. Have you ever wondered what the water footprint of products we purchase is? High water use can also be less obvious. For example:
- 1 pound of beef – 1,799 gallons
- 1 pound of chicken – 468 gallons
- 1 ounce of chocolate bar – 200 gallons
- 1 pound of potatoes – 119 gallons
- 1 egg – 53 gallons
- 1 apple – 18 gallons
- 1 slice of bread – 11 gallons
Bottled water is a very efficient water user, as 100% of it is intended for human consumption. Conversely, only about 2% of tap water is used for human consumption, according to the International Bottled Water Association. Drinking bottled water is a healthy choice, reducing the overall beverage environmental footprint and keeping people away from unhealthy soft drink consumption. Also, bottled water is comprehensively regulated by the FDA, which has regulations governing the safety and quality of bottled water at least as stringent as the EPA standards for tap water.
How Is Bottled Water Made?
Many bottled water companies use public water sources for their purified bottled water products, thus supporting a strong public water system, which is important for providing people with safe drinking water. Many people believe that purified bottled water is just plain tap water in a bottle, but, once the water enters the bottling plant, there are several processes employed to ensure the water meets the FDA purified water standard. Bottled water treatments may employ one or more of the following processes:
- reverse osmosis
- distillation
- micro-filtration
- carbon filtration
- ozonation
- UV light treatment
The finished water product is then placed in a bottle under sanitary conditions and sold. In an era where more and more people are concerned about their water quality, an excellent business to consider is a water store. Dime Water Inc. provides a range of water store/water bottling units and we build them in a variety of different sizes, anywhere from 1000 gallons a day up to 100.000 gallons a day. Call us today at 760.734.5787 for specifics.
Resources:
- http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/california-drought/ban-bottled-water-industry-scrutinized-parched-california-n357256
- http://www.bottledwater.org/
- http://www.bottledwater.org/california-drought
- http://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodborneIllnessContaminants/BuyStoreServeSafeFood/ucm077079.htm
Bottled water has been a subject of high interest in the latest years, not only considering its health advantages, but also considering ocean pollution.
Around 1,500 bottles are consumed per second in the US and, out of the 50 billion water bottles consumed each year in the world, about 30 billion of them are consumed in the US.
Despite well-intentioned recycling campaigns, the bottled water industry and our addiction to drinking bottled water contribute greatly to global pollution.
There can be other causes of water pollution, such as oil spills and leaks, which can cause severe damage to ocean animals and plants. Such incidents, however, can be avoided by adopting new technologies like software solutions for water quality monitoring. By utilizing software to ascertain water pollution levels, production and other relevant practices can be fine-tuned to reduce environmental impact. This helps take a step towards sustainability and pollution reduction.
There are also other technological developments that help businesses and organizations work on their pollution trends. These see the likes of sensors that can provide reliable and accurate information in extreme, harsh environments. Companies similar to Sentech (learn more about Sentech’s work with subsea lvdts) may provide oil businesses such environmental technology.
While oil spills and other industrial water pollution issues can be solved with technology; however, plastic waste in water bodies might only get controlled with the help of every human being participating in the cause.
85% of PET bottles are either thrown away or end up in the oceans! The best estimate is 11 million tons of plastic waste material is entering the ocean every year. Businesses and organizations wanting to play their part in creating a greener world may want to rent plastic balers from phs Wastekit to manage waste effectively and free up valuable storage space while lowering the impact on the environment.
Ocean Pollution: The Great Pacific Garbage Patch
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a collection of marine debris in the North Pacific Ocean and is also known as the Pacific trash vortex, spanning waters from the West Coast of North America to Japan. The patch is actually comprised of the Eastern Garbage Patch, located near Japan, and the Western Garbage Patch, located between the U.S. states of Hawaii and California.
The amount of debris in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch accumulates because much of it is not biodegradable. Many plastics, for instance, do not wear down but they simply break into tinier and tinier pieces. In the presence of sunlight, many of these plastics break down into petroleum byproducts, which are the natural source of material for producing plastic.
The materials that result from the breaking down of the plastic are ending up in marine life and doing some terrible things to the health of fish and other ocean-dwelling life forms. We’ve all seen shocking images of dolphins playing with plastic bags and sea turtles and other animals What Eats A Jellyfish caught up in plastic rings, so this isn’t a new idea to us. As we eat fish, these materials will ultimately end up as part of our food chain. So, apart from looking like a terrible mess out in the ocean, it is also going to have consequences on our health.
Under Counter reverse osmosis units Replace the Need for Having Bottled Water
We should consider filtration in our homes and that is where we, Dime Water, come in with our under counter reverse osmosis unit. We have a particular under counter reverse osmosis unit that uses less water to waste than any other under counter reverse osmosis unit on the market.
We should stop using bottled water, especially this that comes in plastic bottles! Not only do we protect ourselves but also our entire environment, which will lead to cleaner waters and healthier marine life. Contact us today at 760.734.5787 to find out more about how an under counter reverse osmosis water purification system can help you lead a happier and healthier life.
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Bottled water has been a subject of high interest in the latest years. Bottled water is healthy water, or so marketers would have us believe with labels and ads showing deep, pristine pools of spring water, mountain peaks and healthy, active people consuming bottled water during their workouts.
The truth is bottled water is just water and in terms of sustainability, it is a dry well. There are about 50 billion water bottles consumed each year and about 30 billion of them consumed in the US, which means we consume reverse osmosisughly 60% of the world’s water bottles.
1,500 bottles are consumed per second in the US and 9.1 billion gallons were sold in 2011, which is 29.1 gallons per person, the highest in sales and volume in history!
There are many reasons why you should stop buying bottled water. Here are the top 5 reasons!
1. Environmentally Unfriendly
The bottled water industry and our addiction to drinking this water contributes greatly to global pollution, despite well-intentioned recycling campaigns. About 85% of PET bottles are either thrown away or end up in the oceans, posing a threat to marine life. Also, the production of bottled water used the equivalent of 17 million barrels of oil, releasing more than 2.5 million tons of carbon dioxide in 2006.
2. Too Expensive
Municipal water costs about 1 cent per gallon. Saying you buy a 20 ounce name brand for $1, that works out to 5 cents an ounce! Bottled water can cost 500 to 3,000 times more than tap water and shockingly, most bottled water is simply just filtered tap water. Some companies filter or radiate the tap water with UV light before selling it to you at several thousand times the cost of municipal tap water. Think twice before buying this glorified tap water!
3. Poor Quality
You should be aware that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has strict guidelines for tap water but does not oversee bottled water regulations. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has weaker regulations and applies the EPA’s regulations only selectively to bottled water. They inspect bottled water only if it crosses state lines, but approximately 70% of it never does,making it exempt from FDA oversight.
4. Harmful Bacteria
A study conducted by the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC), which involved testing more than 1,000 water bottles, including 103 bottled water brands, revealed that a third of the brands contained arsenic, bacteria and synthetic organics exceeding allowable limits. Also, Canada’s C-rest laboratories in Montreal found high levels of heterotrophic bacteria in 70% of the dozen bottled water they tested.
These bacteria can be pathogenic and can cause infectious diseases like E. coli. According to the US Pharmacopoeia, heterotrophic bacteria in drinking water should not exceed 500 colony-forming units (CFUs) per millimeter. The highest recorded level from the sample was 80,000 CFUs per millimeter!
5. Plastic Chemicals
Plastic is not just bad for the planet, it is not good for us either. Most small 16-20 oz bottled waters are made from polyethylene terephtalate (PET), which are known to leach harmful plastic chemicals and hormone disruptors into the water. A study conducted in 2000 found that 8 out of 10 large 5-gallon jugs tested left the endocrine disruptor bisphenol A (BPA) in the water, which has been linked to breast cancer, prostate cancer, reproductive development disorders and diabetes. Leaching of plastic chemicals increases with age and heat, so storing bottled water is not a good idea.
Alternatives to Bottled Water
Before you choose pure hype over pure water, you should be aware of the alternatives to bottled water. Tap water and home water purification systems are cheaper and healthier alternatives in the long run. Tap water is regularly tested for bacteria and toxins, falling under the jurisdiction of the EPA. Chlorine, chloramines, and fluoride are reverse osmosisutinely added to tap water and water contamination can occur at a thousand different entry points during the trip from the water plant to your home. Thus, every family should seriously consider installing a water purification system in their home for drinking water.
Water purity could be a cause for concern as Each year, it is estimated that contaminated drinking water causes 485,000 deaths. With the high risk of contamination, water treatment techniques should be utilized in households. As essential water might be to all, it would be equally essential to drink clean, drinking water. This is where reverse osmosis systems come in handy, being a great water purification choice as they produce an unlimited amount of ultra-pure drinking water, all from the comfort of your own home. Reverse osmosis removes up to 99% of bacteria, chemicals, heavy metals, organics, and radioactive pollution, producing delicious and fresh drinking water at a fraction of the price of bottled water.
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