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Shame on IonWays: Greed Before Honor

rob — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 16:50:01 +0000

There was a time when I respected the IonWays water ionizer company. In the days when deceptive advertising and bashing competitors were common place for many of the water ionizer companies, IonWays always took the high road. As IonWays’ fortunes have plummeted, it appears their ethics have done the same.

Providing the World with Clean Water

Each year, 3.5 million people around the world die because of unsafe drinking water. Scott Harrison is the Pied Piper of creating safe drinking water for the planet. In the last 5 years, Scott and his group www.charitywater.org have raised over $40 million dollars to finance nearly 4,300 water improvement projects. They have provided safe drinking water for more than 2 million people and counting.

Last summer, I worked with a group of like minded individuals who wanted to lend our time and expertise to the cause of providing safe drinking water to people in need. We devised a plan with 3 primary goals:

1) Provide affordable clean alkaline “ionized” water to the public in America and elseswhere
2) Reduce the environmental impact of disposable water bottles
3) Donate the profits from sales to provide a temporary safe drinking water alternative to those waiting for Charitywater.org projects to be completed

Charity Bottles

Our plan was to purchase filters from a company called Seychelle (www.seychelle.com). Seychelle has been producing filters for bottles for many years which remove 99.99% of the contaminants from water. We wanted the Seychelle filters to do more than simply provide clean the water, so we introduced Seychelle to a well known supplier of bio ceramic minerals that are found in the Antioxidant Filters. Seychelle found a way to add the minerals to their filter and the results were good.

We designed a stylish new bottle because the Seychelle design was/is very utilitarian. There was nothing physically wrong with the Seychelle bottle, but why not have something more appealing to look at and easier to hold. After all, plastic bottles cost less than a dollar when purchased in volume.

We decided upon a retail price of $49 for the new bottle. Our product cost would have been approximately 30% of the retail price, which would leave a healthy profit after covering normal business costs such as shipping and administration. We were going to use the profits to provide free bottles or other temporary filtration units to those waiting for Charitywater.org to provide a more permanent solution.

Me and my Big Mouth

Our group was very excited about our plans because of the potential impact of our efforts. I wrote about our intentions on this blog and discussed the subject openly with people in the water industry. I never felt the need to hide the concept designed for charity. Everyone I spoke to loved the idea and many offered their help. Detailers and retailers were anxiously waiting to carry the new “not for profit” product which would “help save lives”. In hindsight, I should have kept everything secret until it was ready to go.

IonWays Enters the Filtered Water Bottle Business

IonWays has been stedily losing market share for years. The core of their sales team left a couple of years ago and the company has never recovered. Their equipment is out of date. Their marketing plan has been haphazard at best. To combat their flagging sales, they introduced their Elita non-electric water ionizer in 2011 at a price of $1,499. The head of the company heralded their new non-electric water ionizer as the way of the future and he was right. Unfortunately, he failed to recognize that their brand name and their sales team wouldn’t be able to overcome the fact that similar competitive products were selling for around $300. IonWays recently abandoned sales of the unit.

Finding themselves without anything new to offer their MLM team, IonWays decided to enter the filtered alkaline bottle market. I wonder where they suddenly got the idea. IonWays convinced Seychelle to work with them instead of our charity group by offering to unleash their multinational MLM sales team on the new bottles. I remember the day when the head of marketing for Seychelle called me to tell me that they couldn’t work with us because they had agreed to work with a “large multinational company”. When I discovered that the company was IonWays, I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Pricing

The new portable bottle recently introduced by IonWays for $119.95 uses the old style Seychelle bottle and the same filter that we were going to offer at $49. You can see IonWays’ new Elita PhD bottle here:

www.ionways.com/shop/

You can sell the old Seychelle bottle here:

store.seychelle.com/Std._Filtration_Bottles-24oz_Pull_Top_Bottle_Standard.html

I used the picture of the 24 oz Seychelle bottle instead of the 28 oz bottle because it has a filter that will be located at the top of the bottle instead of the filter that extends to the bottom as seen on the Seychelle website.

Note the retail prices of the bottle ($29.95) and replacement filter ($14.95) on the Seychelle website for their standard filters. Seychelle was rightfully going to charge us a few extra dollars for the alkaline filters in order to compensate them for the cost of the additional minerals and labor. We were going to use the unique alkaline feature to bump the price up to $49 so that we could generate extraordinary profits that would allow us to provide free bottles to the third world.

The Bottom Line

Our group believed that at a price of $49, the “do gooders” among us would see the value in paying a little more to help save lives. In fact, we thought the price would be seen as good value to anyone regardless of their views on helping humanity.

Instead of the public being able to help save lives while buying the bottles for $49, IonWays is now offering the same bottle for $119.95. The 700% market will all be used to generate corporate profit. I feel like throwing up.

If you are reading this article, please dont support IonWays by purchasing the Elita PhD filter bottle.

If and when Seychelle decides to sell their alkaline filters to other people besides IonWays (Seychelle removed the alkaline filters from their website when they did the deal with IonWays), there will be people, including myself, who are willing to put in a great deal of effort (without pay) to get an extremely valuable project back on track.

How Much Water Should You Drink?

rob — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 20:26:03 +0000

I continue to receive questions about how much water you should drink. I wrote a long detailed article about this issue in the past, but it is worth mentioning again…but this time in short form.

I don’t think anyone really knows how much water you should drink. No two people are the same and there is no set formula. To be sure, your body does burn off water by breathing and sweating, so it is important to replenish each day. But how much?

The EU recently had another brain fart when they recommended that bottled water companies were not allowed to claim that drinking water would help with dehydration. When you get to be my age, you have heard, read, and seen a lot of dumb stuff, but that one is a beauty. What did jump out at me in the article was the fact that the report recommended that people drink 1.2 liters of water per day to replenish lost liquids. Most of the literature that I have read recommends 8 glasses per day (2 litres) or more if you perspire. Others claim that you don’t require that much water. Some of the Olympic athletes that I have worked with drink up to 8 liters of water per day when they are training.

Here are some things that I have learned about the amount of water you should drink:

1) Most of us eat more than enough each day
2) Our brain doesn’t recognize the difference between hunger and thirst
3) When we have hunger pains between meal and after dinner, it is actually our body crying out for water
4) Snack on water instead of food as it will satisfy your craving and make you feel better…and other good stuff
5) Drink mineral rich water if possible as the free hydrogen that is created provides energy to “pick you up”
6) You can tell if you are drinking enough water by checking out the color of your pee. If your pee is almost clear or a light yellow, your water consumption is in good shape. If your pee is dark yellow, start drinking more water.

It is virtually impossible to drink too much water as your kidneys can process 15 liters (4 gallons) of water per day. Extremely rare cases of over consumption of water have been reported in infants and marathon runners, but only in situations that any clear minded person would recognize as excess. Drink up…the benefits are many!

Dr. Mary McCartey Needs to Drink More Water

rob — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 01:02:24 +0000

I have the incredible good fortune of being able to spend my summers at our cottage. That means that when we have a heat wave like we are having these days, I’m able to jump in the lake as often as it takes to keep a smile on my face.

Even though I’m always aware of proper hydration, it is easy to make a mistake. I fell asleep in the sun this afternoon and when I woke up, I was light headed and groggy, obvious signs of dehydration. Two our guests suffered similar symptoms. It doesn’t take much!

Dr. Mary McCartney, a physician from Scotland recently criticized the wisdom of drinking 8 glasses per day, indicating that people don’t need to drink that much water. Her statements have been criticized far and wide, and for good reason.

You need to replace the water you lose each day. Under normal conditions, that means 2.5 quarts/litres per day. You get about 0.5 quarts/litres from your food, which means you need drink 2.0 quarts/litres of water per day. If you exercise for one hour, add a quart/litre. When the weather is hot add a quart/litre.

You don’t have to drink water specifically, but your body doesn’t require any other fluid. Acidic drinks, sugar based drinks, and alcohol just cause havoc in your body that can have long term and devastating effects. Perhaps Dr. McCartney should lay off the fine malts offered in her country and drink more water.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author.

ORP, pH, and Hydrogen…A New Perspective

rob — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 00:11:49 +0000

In my thousands of hours of reading and researching about ionized water, I have never been able to find a good explanation of how or why electric water ionizers work. I keep reading about the wonderful benefits of hydroxyl ions and the hydrating properties of the water, but to quote an old advertising campaign “where’s the beef”. I know from personal experience and from speaking to hundreds of others with their own personal experiences, that ionized water works. However, I’ll be darned if I can find a reasonable explanation as to why.

I always assumed that the lack of widespread acceptance of electric water ionizers was due to the high prices charged for the machines, but perhaps the real reason is that people just won’t buy into something that they don’t understand. If the seller can’t provide a plausible explanation and the medical community condemns the product, the buyer is asked to make a leap of faith. At a price of $2,000 to $4,000 that is a big leap.

My quest to understand how and why water ionization works has lead me in recent months to the world of Dr. Hayashi (pictured above) and his theory that hydrogen is the key to healthy water.

Due to my inability to “get to” Dr. Hayashi, I have been reading about and talking with his most loyal supporters in America. If you are interested in learning additional details about hydrogen and its health benefits, check out the writings of Craig Hoffman at his website at www.hydrogenfriends.com or see what Bruce Curtis has to say atwww.LivingWaterUSA.com.

As my education about water ionizers has progressed, I have come to the realization that many of my original thoughts about ionized water were incorrect. You have to start somewhere, and like so many others, I began my journey by listening to a sales presentation from an excellent Enagic representative. Finding myself intrigued but concerned about the $4,000 price tag, I checked out the “unbiased” ionizer review sites which turned out to be totally biased towards the companies that paid for the sites. At that point in time, the “more is better” game was on for me and so was the preoccupation with pH and ORP. Today, I understand that the real factor behind the health benefits of ionized water is hydrogen. Before I get into a discussion about hydrogen, I think it is appropriate to review what I have learned about ORP and pH.

ORP – Oxidation Reduction Potential

In its simplest form, ORP is the measure of the availability of electrons (measured as an electrical charge) in a solution such as water. Negative ORP values in a solution have the ability to reduce the destructive nature of free oxygen (aka “free radicals”) in the body. The lower the ORP of a solution, the greater its ability to feed electrons to the electron hungry free oxygen in the body, and thereby neutralize the nasty effects of oxidation. So far so good….lets get negative!

Before you start accepting the electric water ionizer industry mantra that “more is better”, both intuition and my research indicate that moderation is the key. A steady diet of anything that doesn’t occur in nature is not a good thing and more is definitely not better. Based upon what I have read and experienced, mildly negative ORP values, in the range of -10 to -200 are the best for the human body over the long term. It seems logical to me that a good “flush” of the system in terms of a mild “detox” every six months or so makes sense. However, it also seems logical to me that drinking strong alkaline water on a sustained basis will force your body to compensate from what it naturally requires. I believe that drinking alkaline water and eating an alkaline diet are good for you and will eventually overcome years and years of bad dietary choices, but over doing it can be harmful as well.

A negative charge can be created by electrolysis in electric water ionizers through the creation of hydroxyl ions (OH-). ORP can also be created through natural ionization by both electric and non-electric water ionizers such as antioxidant filters or hydrogen sticks. Natural ionization can be achieved by means of introducing water to magnesium or other alkali earth metals such as calcium, sodium, or potassium, which I will explain below.

Electric water ionizers actually split the source water into two separate streams. In the separation process, the machines create alkaline water with potentially very low negative ORP values due to the creation of a large amount of OH- (hydroxyl ions) produced. The negative charge associated with hydroxyl ions (OH-) is unstable and short lived if the water is jostled or if the water comes in contact with air. The presence of light will also dissipate the ORP charge. Electric water ionizers also create free hydrogen due to the presence of minerals in the water. Ultimately, the water produced by an electric water ionizer will return to the natural level of ORP generated by the mineral content of the source water.

Non-electric water ionizers creat ORP because of the stronger attraction between oxygen and magnesium than the attraction between oxygen to hydrogen. When water comes in contact with magnesium, the oxygen atoms disassociate from hydrogen and bond with the magnesium. As a result, hydrogen atoms are left free in the solution. While atoms are not ions and don’t carry a specific electrical charge, the hydrogen atom has one free electron that essentially acts like an ion because it can easily donate its electron. Since the ORP being created occurs naturally due to the presence of magnesium, the ORP is much more consistent/stable/long lasting under normal conditions.

Electric water ionizers can produce stronger initial ORP readings because of the creation of short term OH- (hydroxyl ions), but the hydroxyl ions themselves are not beneficial. The process of electrolysis produces hydrogen in massive quantities as witnessed by the collection of hydrogen gas bubbles in your glass when you first recieve water from the machine. Unfortunately, the gas bubbles are lighter than water and rise to the surface and dissipate. I always drink water produced by an electric water ionizer within ten seconds after it is produced if possible. That way, I can receive all the healthy benefits of the hydrogen before it dissipates into the air.

pH is often referred to at the potency or potential of hydrogen. What the “p” really stands for is “negative logarithm” and it can be associated with other elements besides hydrogen. Sorensen, the creator of the pH scale ultimately defined pH as the negative logarithm of the concentration of hydrogen.

In pure water with a pH of 7.0, the number of H+ (hydrogen ions) is equal to the number of OH- (hydroxyl ions). At a pH of 7.0, there is one hydrogen ion present for every 555 million water molecules. That means that hydrogen ions are very rare. If the water has ten times as many hydrogen ions as normal, the pH will be 6.0 and if the water has ten times fewer hydrogen ions, the pH will be 8.0.

If the number of hydroxyl (OH-) ions exceeds the number of hydrogen ions (H+) in water, the water will become alkaline. The higher the ratio of OH- to H+, the higher the pH. If you subscribe to the marketing efforts of the electric water ionizer industry, you would believe that a machine that produces the higher pH is superior for health benefits. Unfortunately, that is not true, because it is the amount of free hydrogen in the water that makes you healthy, not the ration of hydroxyl ionis (OH-) to hydrogen ions (H+). Therefore, the key factor is how much hydrogen is in the water, not how you can get the pH level. If you want to gain a better understanding of the relationship between hydroxyl (OH-) and hydrongen ions (H+) and water molecules, check out the following links which provide useful graphics: http://www.johnkyrk.com/pH.html and http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/ph-scale. In the second link, click on the Run Now button highlighted in green

Hydrogen

I believe Dr. Hayashi is the leading authority in the world on the subject of ionized water. Dr. Hayashi believes that consuming hydrogen is a significant factor when it comes to being healthy. At one point in time, Dr. Hayashi supported the use of electric water ionizers, but he changed his mind at the turn of the century. Although you still see websites using his name and his research to support the use of electric water ionizers, I can assure you that he they are doing so without his authorization.

So, why is hydrogen so important to our health? It seems that there are two reasons which include
antioxidant properties and chemiosmosis.

Antioxidant Properties of Hydrogen

Those of you who have been following my blog will understand the antioxidant properties of hydrogen. For those that are reading about this for the first time, here is a quick recap. Our bodies require oxygen to survive. Unfortunately, we only use about 98% of the oxygen that we breathe. The other 2% of unused oxygen forms nasty free radicals which attach to other cells and begin the decaying process of oxidation. Hydrogen is the perfect antidote as hydrogen combines with oxygen to form water. Therefore, the ingestion of free hydrogen, or hydrogen gas molecules (H2) which get broken down into hydrogen atoms in the body by hydrogenase, is critical in combating free radicals.

Chemiosmosis – Energy Producing Properties of Hydrogen

What the heck is chemiosmosis? According to Wikipedia: Chemiosmosis is the movement of ions across a selectively-permeable membrane, down their electrochemical gradient. More specifically, it relates to the generation of ATP by the movement of hydrogen ions across a membrane during cellular respiration. For a more in depth description and a graphic, visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemiosmosis

What does the relationship between hydrogen and chemiosmosis and ATP and mitochondria have to do with your life in layman’s terms? Consuming hydrogen helps the mitochondria in your cells to produce energy. More and more athletes are turning to the consumption of hydrogen as they get an energy “boost” and they receive more sustained energy from consuming hydrogen. Most of the people that I have spoken with over the years experience and energy boost when they first start drinking ionized water. Now I know why, and it has nothing to do with oxygen. I will dedicate a future article to the topic of chemiosmosis and how it relates to the production of energy in the cells in our body.

Summary

What is the best way to get free hydrogen to the places in your body that matter the most? By that I mean into the mitochondria in your cells and to the potentially damaging free oxygen that exists in your body. The answer is ionized water because it is absorbed quickly and handled efficiently by your body. The same process can also be achieved by means of consuming an alkaline diet, which also has additional benefits, but drinking ionized water full of free hydrogen is fast and easy.

What is the best ionized water to drink to help as an antioxidant and in chemiosmosis? You can achieve the same beneficial results from ionized water produced by electrolysis or by natural means via hydrogen producing products such as antioxidant filters or hydrogen sticks.

The makers of hydrogen sticks take the position that water produced by electric water ionizers is bad for you. They lobbied Dr. Mercola for three years about the perils of using electric water ionizers before Mercola spoke out against the use of electric water ionizers last fall. I’m not convinced at all that the position of the hydrogen stick people is correct as the water has had an incredibly positive effect on my life over the years without any negative side effects. The fact that Dr. Mercola supports their position doesn’t impress me as he clearly didn’t do his homework on the issue.

I’m now reasonably certain that the water produced from antioxidant filters will provide all the same health benefits as electric water ionizers for a fraction of the price. In addition, the antioxidant filters are far superior filters to the filters provided in electric water ionizers as they remove fluoride, chloramines, THMs, VOCs, lead, mercury and a lot more on top of the sediment and chlorine that the filters in electric water ionizers remove.

I much prefer antioxidant filters to hydrogen sticks for home use for several reasons. Antioxidant filters are fast and convenient, they are capable of producing a much stronger output if the user desires a range of outputs, and they remove contaminants from the source water. The hydrogen sticks do provide a very useful function for those wanting access to effective ionized water when they are on the go. The sticks are extremely portable and they continually produce hydrogen which is useful when water is being jostled around.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and the people mentioned in the article.

China Invests in Water Cleanup While America Back Peddles

rob — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 12:54:26 +0000

Economic times are difficult in the USA. The President has introduced a plan to reduce the deficit by $4 trillion over the coming years. As a result, fiscal restraint is necessary. I get it.

I don’t want to get into the taxation argument because the rhetoric will never end. How the government raises the necessary funding to keep the country running are up to minds far brighter, or at least far more vocal them me. How the country spends its money is much more interesting to me because cuts in spending affect us directly. One of the cuts that the government has found to be the least objectionable is spending on maintaining clean water. Why not… we are so lucky to have clean water. The reality is that our water is not clean for most of us and it is about to get a lot worse.

For many years, we have scowled at China for their complete lack of interest in protecting their environment at the expense of economic development. Our feeling of superiority allows us some measure of satisfaction while we continue to export more and more jobs abroad in the name of corporate earnings.

As our government is slashing the Clean Water Act funding, the Chinese government and private sector are investing to reverse the damage to its water resources and provide clean water to its people

The mainland’s rapidly expanding private water sector, valued at $48 billion, is currently the third largest in the world, according to research firm GWI Global Water, behind the United States at $110 billion and Japan at $59 billion. Analysts estimate the industry will triple to reach at least $150 billion over the next five years.

We can keep our water safe for drinking. However, we are not investing in securing a clean water supply in the future with proper structural investments. We are already seeing the negative effects of a lack of planning. The relief from water shortage concerns that the southwest is enjoying this year is a result of a winter that provided an abundant ice pack, not from planning for the future. What happens in the future when the icepack is small? When municipalities and counties and states start having massive water restrictions, it will affect businesses, agriculture, and yes all of us in our own homes.

Spending cuts are needed. I’m happy I’m not burdened with having to make tough decisions about which budgets get cut. All I do know is that there is nothing more important than the air that we breathe and the water that we drink. Our municipalities are burdened with budgetary issues and it seems that nobody cares what we are drinking in our tap water, or whether there will be enough clean water to meet our future needs, as long as our taxes don’t go up. Maybe if we started producing products at home and creating new jobs, thereby increasing the tax base, we could afford to make the structural changes to provide us with safe and healthy drinking water in the future.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author.

What’s In Your Water: The Environmental Working Group Helps

rob — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 17:40:52 +0000

The EWG is a non-profit organization that was founded in 1993 by Ken Cook and Richard Wiles.

The organization has two noble goals. The first is to protect the human population from health problems attributed to toxic contaminants. The other is to replace federal policies that damage the environment and natural resources with policies that invest in conservation and sustainable development. It is not surprising that their website now has over one million subscribers.

My primary interest in supporting the EWG is based upon their work with water, or more specifically, their efforts to promote safe drinking water. You may not know who they are, but they are in the news a lot these days. Their recent study that showed that the municipal tap water from 31 out of 35 cities tested failed to comply to regulations on the cancer causing substance Hexavalent Chromium, aka the “Erin Brockovich” contaminant. Their recent activities also include exposing the fact that most bottled companies don’t provide proper labeling, urging the EPA to reduce the amount of fluoride and perchlorate in municipal water supplies.

The EWG and Water:

The EWG has identified 316 chemicals in U.S. tap water, 202 of which aren’t regulated. They maintain the position that the EPA’s failure to regulate the remaining contaminants from our tap water poses a significant public risk. I agree with them 100%. It is disgraceful that our citizens are consuming up to 200 harmful contaminants in their drinking water without being aware of the fact. I’m trying to do my bit to help. I hope you will at least take the time to learn what you are putting in your body and how it affects you.

How The EWG Can Help You:

The EWG has prepared a data base that identifies the contaminants in 48,000 communities in the USA from 45 States plus the District of Columbia. You can click on the following link to type in your Zip Code and Water supply company to find out what is in your water:

http://www.ewg.org/healthyhometips/filtertapwater?utm_source=waterwelcome&utm_medium=email&utm_content=second-link&utm_campaign=hht#identify

Once you have determined what is in your water, the EWG recommends the appropriate filter. Now this is an organization worth supporting!

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author.

Reducing the Deficit: Spending Cuts for Safe Drinking Water are not the Answer

rob — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 18:48:43 +0000

I have been reading a lot of news articles this week regarding the efforts of businesses and the Republicans to “gut” the EPA’s Safe Drinking Water Act. Since there is no upside to getting into a political argument, I will keep this discussion focused on money.

The Deficit

With the federal deficit for 2011 expected to be $1.65 trillion dollars, and the overall federal deficit expected to double to $20 trillion dollars by 2015, it is not surprising that fiscal restraint is finally on the agenda.

A number like $1.65 trillion doesn’t mean much to me other than it is a really big number. It starts to make a little more sense when you break it down into dollars per person. When you do the math, the deficit this year amounts to more than $5,000 for every man, woman, and child in the USA. Ouch!

Drastic measures are required to balance the books in America. It can’t be done overnight, but if steps are not taken NOW, the rest of the world will begin to treat the US dollar like play money.

Spending Cuts

Everyone has a different opinion about how to reduce the deficit. Some want to raise taxes, but those are a rare breed at the best of times, and virtually non-existent when economic times are tough. That leaves spending cuts.

We are witnessing proposed spending cuts to lots of things these days that are being hurried through the House to bring into law. Spending cuts are never easy, but some are more difficult to accept than others. It seems that busting unions, reducing expenditures on education, and jeopardizing safe drinking water are not the places to start.

At a time when America continues to face ongoing financial crisis, it just doesn’t make sense to me to destroy the things that make America great. The future depends upon education and jobs, and most important of all, safe water to drink and air to breath. Surely people can agree that the basic resources required to sustain life in America should be the main priority moving forward.

What does make sense when it comes to spending cuts?

It makes sense to me to look at three significant factors when it comes to spending cuts. First, it seems that we should be looking at the areas where the most money is spent, because spending cuts in those areas can produce the greatest savings. Second, it makes sense that the cuts should have the least amount of negative impact on Americans. Third, the cuts should not affect the health or safety of American citizens.

Cutting the EPA’s Safe Drinking Water budget by $947 million dollars will help save money, but at what cost? Reducing the budget of an organization that has been running on a shoe string for safe drinking water by 27% will have an enormous negative impact on the safe drinking water of American. The savings of nearly a billion dollars represents 1/1,650 of the deficit and American citizens will pay dearly for the savings.

According to Wikipedia:

“Defense-related expenditures outside of the Department of Defense constitute between $319 billion and $654 billion in additional spending, bringing the total for defense spending to between $1.01 and $1.35 trillion in fiscal year 2010.”

Is it just me, or doesn’t it seem strange to you that the range of spending on defense has a variation of $340 billion? Instead of “gutting” the Safe Drinking Water budget and leaving American citizens at risk, doesn’t it make more sense to reduce the defense budget by just one out of the $1.35 trillion? If they don’t even know how much the budget is because of the $340 variation, would they even miss it? Would the reduction of a billion dollars from a $1.35 trillion defense budget affect as many American citizens as a $billion dollar cut the EPA Safe Drinking Water budget?

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author.

The “Dirty Water Act”: Allowing Unsafe Drinking Water

rob — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 16:20:41 +0000

The news just keeps getting worse for Americans these days when it comes to their drinking water.

Earlier this week we received the news that the new federal budget proposes to handcuff the EPA Clean Water effort by reducing its budget by 27%. Today, we learn that the House will vote on anti-clean water measures that would gut the Clean Water Act. Every citizen should be aware of what is going on so that they can make their own decision about the future of their drinking water.

John Devine writes for the National Resource Defense Council Staff blog. He provides us with an article today about a bill in front of the House that could have a negative impact on the water that we drink for a long time. According to Mr. Devine:

“Although the Newt Gingrich-led Congress in the mid-90s tried in vain to pass the “Dirty Water Act” gutting the Clean Water Act notwithstanding broad public support for that law and the resources it protects, the House this week will vote on a suite of anti-clean water measures that would make Mr. Gingrich blush.”

You can read Devine’s article here: http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/jdevine/dirty_water_actors_in_congress.html

Devine shares with us: “Many of these anti-environmental earmarks have nothing to do with fiscal discipline or budgeting, but instead are sneak attacks on fundamental protections against polluting our water. Together they paint a bleak picture of what the world would look like if the new Republican leadership in the House could have its way.”

The article outlines sections of the bill that would have harmful effects on America’s drinking water: *

* Section 1747 of the bill would halt the Environmental Protection Agency’s ongoing work to clarify which waters remain protected by the Clean Water Act in the wake of confusing court decisions. EPA estimates that roughly 117 million Americans get at least some drinking water from systems that rely on headwater and other critical streams for all or part of their supply. Many of those streams are at risk of being denied Clean Water Act protections today.

* Amendment #216 (submitted by Rep. David McKinley, R-WV) would effectively strip EPA of the authority Congress gave it under the Clean Water Act to prohibit or restrict certain discharges that would have an “unacceptable adverse effect” on our water, fish or wildlife. EPA has used this authority sparingly – only 13 times since the law was enacted in 1972. In other words, it is reserved for truly bad projects where the discharger can’t or won’t curtail the impacts to water resources.

* Amendment #230 (submitted by Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-VA) would sabotage decades of work by state and federal officials and by concerned citizens, which culminated when EPA released a comprehensive cleanup plan for the Chesapeake Bay watershed in December. The amendment would prohibit EPA from enforcing this plan if states fail to meet their pollution control commitments.

We are all aware of the fact that China has ignored the environmental catastrophes being committed in the name of economic growth. Let’s not let that happen in America.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author.

Budget Cuts Hurt Drinking Water Safety

rob — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 14:52:26 +0000

The Environmental Protection Agency “EPA” was created to protect people from the people who abuse the land, water, and air that we breathe. The Agency also ensures that the public has access to clean, safe drinking water through its Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds.

The EPA has always been severely understaffed and underfunded and it is about to get worse. Mr. Obama’s new budget has proposed a $947 million spending cut to the Clean Water and Drinking water budget, a 27% decrease from the 2010 budget. If this news doesn’t upset you, then it should.

It seems odd that Mr. Obama spoke glowingly just 12 days ago about the great work being done by Scott Harrison to bring clean water to the rest of the world, and yet he is proposing a budget cut that will surely reduce the safety of drinking water for Americans. You can see a video clip here: http://www.charitywater.org/blog/prayer-bfast/

Why a spending cut to such an important agency?

We all know that Mr. Obama is faced with the near impossible task of trying to right a ship that has been on the verge of sinking due to enormous fiscal negligence by many administrations.

Hard choices and spending cuts are inevitable as the economic situation in America has deteriorated to a point where other nations no longer want to accept American currency, and are dumping American currency as fast as they can. In fact, there is widespread talk all over the world that the US currency will soon be dropped as the international currency of business.

How the budget cut to water quality affects you

We have all heard about the abuse of the environment in China. In fact, there has been a lot of ink and cyberspace dedicated to the topic that China continues to sacrifice its environment in the cause of economic development. We also hear about poor drinking water conditions in various parts of the world, but nobody pays attention because it is not “our” problem.

The condition of drinking water in America is about to become “our” problem. A budget cut of $947 billion will provide a proverbial drop in the bucket when it comes to curing America’s financial woes. At the same time, it will put enormous strain on the budgets of individual states and municipalities.

States and municipalities are not in a position to take on an additional billion dollars of costs as many are trying to stave off bankruptcy themselves.

So, who will pay for the infrastructure to keep our water safe? YOU will pay, either by paying more for water, or by sacrificing an already low quality standard drinking water.

What do you mean by the statement “an already low quality standard of drinking water”?

The EPA has identified 60,000 contaminants in America that find their way into the drinking water supply. The Safe Water Drinking Act mandates that municipalities provide maximum legal limits to the concentration of 90 of the 60,000 contaminants.

The recent declaration by the EPA that it was going to limit the amount of perchlorate in drinking water supplies has been heralded in the news as a step in the right direction. In addition, the EPA announced that it was looking into limiting the concentration of 16 more toxic VOC’s (Volatile Organic Compounds).

Just when it looked like the government was starting to take positive steps towards protecting our drinking water… BAM… a $947 million cut to the safe drinking water budget.

What can you do to protect yourself?

It seems almost ludicrous to be discussing protecting ourselves against current and potential problems with our drinking water. Not in America.

However, the reality is that you have two choices when it comes to the safety of drinking water. One is to trust that everything will be fine. The other is to make sure that you do have safe drinking water.

You can always ignore the situation knowing that you can always boil your drinking water when things get worse. The boiling process removes pathogens which include cysts such as cryptosporidium and giardia, bacteria such as E.coli, typhoid, etc. However, boiling doesn’t remove heavy metals, pesticides, herbicides, pharmaceuticals etc. Boiling also fails to remove foul tastes and odors, and turbidity.

Start researching filtration systems! Don’t wait… do it NOW.

That doesn’t mean that you go out to Walmart and purchase a $15 Brita filter. Brita filters remove almost nothing from the source water as they are basically designed to make the water taste better… read the label on the Brita box if you don’t believe me.

You can purchase good “point of use” drinking filter systems for about $250. The cost of replacing the filters each year will be range from $100 to $200 per year depending upon the contaminants in your water.

If you are thinking that you might as well just drink bottled water… think again. Most bottled water is simply tap water that has undergone the most simple of filtration possible to improve the taste. The bottled water industry in not regulated and it is a huge marketing scam.

Please take this matter seriously and install a water filtration system in your home and at work to protect your health. The problem is not going to go away. I don’t want to have to say “I told you so” because I hate when my wife says that to me.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author.

Brown Water Safe to Drink??? Just Ask The Owner

rob — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 16:49:58 +0000

I see reports almost every day on the internet where the President of some water supply company is claiming that the discolored/bad tasting/ foul smelling water that they are providing to their customers is safe to drink. You can read the news item that is the source of this article at: http://online.wsj.com/article/AP18c82e9a85114ceb895f55bc710e6539.html

Today, officials in Malverne in Nassau County, NY are reassuring residents that their rusty, brown water is safe to drink. The say the discoloration is due to naturally occurring iron. William Varley, the President of Long Island American Water tells his 74,000 customers that the brown water doesn’t pose a health hazard. I’m sure that is comforting to the people in Malverne who see the brown water when use their kitchen sink, or run a bath or shower, or wash their clothes.

Of course the Nassau Health Department says Malverne meets state water quality standards, which by the way, covers 90 out of 60,000 contaminants which find their way into the water supply according to the EPA. Even when your water appears to be clear and pure, the fact is that your water is likely full of toxins. The toxins typically include chemicals such as fluoride and chlorine or chloramines that your provider adds to the water.

Don’t reach for bottled water as an alternative, as the price you are paying is a complete rip off. In addition, bottled water is terrible for the environment and there is a very good chance that it may not be any safer than your tap water. Bottled water won’t have a brown color of course, but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have other issues. When it comes to water, what you can’t see may hurt you.

Purifying your own tap water allows you to be sure that your water is safe to drink. Relying upon your municipality or water supplier may not always prove to be in your best interests.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author.