Contaminants and Toxins in your ordinary tap water.

Hexavolin Chromium 6.
This carcinogen was made famous with the movie Alex Brokovich. Acceptable levels are .06 PPB 9Parts per billion). Thirty One cities in the US tested positive with exessive levels of Chromium 6.

Florides.
Eleven countries have now banned the use of FLoride in drinking water including Sweden, Japan, Italy, France, Belgium. Only 2% of Europeans are subject to fluorinated tap water. Thirty to Sixty percent of Canadian children has signs of overexposure to Fluoride (Fluorosis).

Chlorine
Chlorine began in the 1890s to combat waterborne diseases such as cholera and thyphoid. Chlorine is a known poison.Chlorine reacts with waterborne decaying organic matter to creat a family of chemicals called trihalomethanes )THMs) and other highly toxic substances such as chloroform, bromoform, and dichlorobromethane all of which are extremely toxic in minute amoutns.

Chloramine
In systems where the level of chlorine used it not enough to kill bacteria, the chlorine/ammonia coumpound is used. Chloramine is represented as totally sage but do not give to your animals or fish tanks (it kills fish).

Bacteria
If the level of chloronation is not high enough bacteria can reinfect the water anywhere in the distribution system. If you are on a spring or a well, you are very vulnerabel to bacterial contamination from animals either dying or defecating in the source, neighboring pollution travelling from an adjoining watershed to the source, or the pipes.

Lead
Lead is a cumulative toxin that stays in the body tissue permanently, especially brain tissue. Children that are exposed develop brain and developmental damage quickly and permanently. Lead pipes and solder are the main sources of lead pollution. 98% of all households have lead in their plumbing. Houses older than 20 years or less than 5 years are at most risk. Houses in areas of soft water tend to corrode the lead from the pipes more easily.

Asbestos
This carninogen can come either from water with naturally occurring asbestos (such as areas that have a lot of serpentine rock) or asbestos-lined water pipes laid in the late 1950's. Asbestos is prohibitively expenses to remove from tap water.

Chemical Pollution
Sources are usually industrial or commercial, like leasing underground storage tanks. These toxins end up in the groundwater or supply through breaks in the main water pipes. Industrial solvents such as TCE (Trichloroethane), VOCs (Volotile organic contaminants) plastics, gasolines, petroleum products, Herbicidal groups such as dioxin (2-4D) lindane (a defoliant in wild and rural areas. Pesicidal groups such as DDT, malathionie, and other toxics used in insect eradication and control

Cysts
Microscopic worms, parasites, and protozoa. Biggest offenders are giardia and cruptosporidia which casue dehydration, intestinal disorders, diarrhea. Over 63%t of water problems are caused by giardia and cryptosporidia. The most logical efficient and economical solution to drinking water is to filer only the drinking water that you will be drinking. There is no possibility for re-contamination after purifying the water.Use high end drinking water filters costing $500 to get red of resistant iologicals, the fluoride, heavy metals, and other contaminants. Names like MutiPure, Spectrapure and Alpine are best to remove Chlorine, THMs, chloriform, chloramines, cryptosporidium and giardia lamblia, cysts, fluoride, minerals, pesticides and toxic chemicals, heavy metals, MTBEs, nitrates. It is difficult to find one filter that does everything: many reverse osmosis filters take out fluoride, but also the healthy minerals. Many of the high-end carbon filters will not remove fluoride or nitrates, but leave the healthy minerals. Always ask if it has been NSF-certified.

Hard water has more minerals in it, which obviously is better for the bones and teeth, and probably for the heart as well. Most naturopaths and holistic nutritionists don't like distilled water because they say it leaches minerals from the bones and teeth. In general, that seems logical, although some expert say it doesn't make any difference unless the person is extremely malnourished.

It all comes down to this choice: reverse osmosis or carbon block. With reverse osmosis you can remove fluoride but you also remove many minerals, and wasting about 4-9 gallons to get one gallon of pure water. With high-end carbon mesh filters, you can get rid of everything but fluoride, and you'll still have minerals. You will find the best price on the internet for high quality REVERSE OSMOSIS filtration systems here . If on the other hand you wish to go for a more affordable carbon block type filter, you can find the best price on the internet on the high quality Aquasana filters here