The fact that tap water in Moscow is harmful to health, only the lazy do not know. What determines the purity of the water and what kind of water is still better to drink, says Dr. Boris Akimov.
The purity of water depends on the method of purification, the state of the water supply network, as well as the time of year: in the spring, the water is of the lowest quality — the reservoirs from which it comes for purification are filled with dirty spring waters. The substances that pollute tap water can be divided into inorganic (from rust to calcium ions Ca2+ and magnesium Mg2+, which make the water hard) and organic (residues of bacteria and viruses).
An independent expert examination considers that the filters used by gorvodokanal have too little resource, as a result of which the water is not completely purified from active chlorine and typical organic pollutants. In addition, the filter used for a long time for water purification itself becomes polluted and makes the water passed through it unusable.
As for microbes, by the time the water is supplied to the water supply system, most of them have already been destroyed by chlorine, but chlorination is not the most favorable way to disinfect water, ozonation is considered much healthier. When chlorinated, organochlorine substances are formed in the water, which are harmful to health, and these substances are so small that household filters can not hold them. At one time in Moscow, the water was so chlorinated that the smell of chlorine was clearly felt in it, and the skin itched after washing.
What are the real possibilities of household filters? Any filter, even the most expensive one — is a glass of coal through which water is passed (a gas mask is also designed according to the same principle!), and it simply cannot make water curative. Therefore, when manufacturers of household filters claim their magical properties, you should not believe them — all this is shameless advertising.
Of course, filters make the water cleaner, purifying the water from those contaminants that the city water utility failed to copewith , including active chlorine, which loses its activity in the air. However, household filters can only purify water from inorganic contaminants, and not from organic matter-they do not cope with microorganisms at all. Moreover, clogged with dirt, for cleaning from which it is intended, the filter becomes dangerous to health, as microbes multiply in it. Therefore, the filters need to be changed regularly.
Do I need to buy a household filter? It depends on what you are going to use filtered tap water for. For household needs, it is quite suitable, but I do not recommend drinking it. Just as I do not recommend re-boiling tap water for drinking-organochlorine substances become more harmful to health.
For drinking, it is still better to buy bottled water. But here, too, everything is not so simple. The water must be artesian — with an indication on the label of the well from which the water was pumped. If the well is not specified, it means that the water was taken from the water supply system, cleaned with technical filters and artificially mineralized (which is the sin of large companies). Therefore, pay attention not to the bright label, but to what is written in small print. The truth is always there. And don’t drink carbonated water. What could be better than clean water? Nothing!