A filter company called NSA enjoyed tremendous success in the 80’s and 90’s by selling under counter water filter systems via a door-to-door sales force. Their salesmen were able to demonstrate through a simple test that the water the customers were drinking from their taps was not clean and pure. The information came as a shock to the customers because they assumed that their water was clean. Suddenly, the customers became aware of the fact that what you can’t see actually could hurt you.

When people objected to the price of the system or the cost of the replacement filters, the standard sales line was “you can buy a filter or be a filter”. People didn’t like the idea that their own bodies had to clean the water that they assumed was already clean. As soon as people “got it”, they didn’t object to spending money on “better” water.

Not much has changed in the last 25 years, except that the water that comes from our taps is worse than ever. Virtually every type of contaminant in our society ends up in our water supply. The contaminants end up either being washed down a drain into our storm or sanitation sewers, or leached through the soil into the water table.

We know that there is gross stuff in our water because we can taste and smell it. That is why we have seen the bottled water industry grow to a staggering $17 billion dollars in annual sales in the USA alone. Those that don’t like polluting our environment with disposable plastic bottles, or object to the obscene price of bottled water, typically have jugs of water delivered, or purchase Brita type systems. While the bottled water companies (Coca Cola and Pepsi for example) and Brita type companies would like us to believe that their products are the solution, they are not. Brita filters for example remove virtually nothing from the water. If you don’t believe me, read the label on a Brita filter. Fortunately for Brita shareholders, people believe that if you can’t see or smell anything, their water is good. You can’t help those that don’t want to help themselves.

Don’t just buy a filter….Clean it to keep it working

I was reading Gabe’s latest blog effort on his Alkastream website with interest. Gabe provides a story about one of his customers who loved their new Alkastream. The interesting part of the story is that the customer found that the water wasn’t as effective after 3 to 4 months of use and the flow rate of the water had slowed down. When Gabe asked the customer if they had been cleaning the filter once a month as recommended in the User Manual, the answer was “no”. Gabe took out the filter and it was covered in “gunk”. The customer was shocked at the amount of buildup on the filter after three months. She asked Gabe if she would have been drinking the stuff that was stuck on the filter if she had not been using the filter. Gabe said “of course”. Gabe rinsed the ceramic filter under the sink and used the scouring pad to clean off the filter. The pictures at the top of this article are the before and after pics that Gabe used in his article. Gabe put the “clean” filter back in the Alkastream and the water flow rate returned to normal. The customer called Gabe a few days later and told him that she was once again experiencing the original health benefits again. You can see the article at:

http://www.alkastream.us/filtration/would-you-drink-this/

When I was selling electric water ionizers before I retired, I never got to see the blockage that took place in the filters, because the filteration components were housed in opaque sealed filter containers. I did get to witness buildup in the drinking lines and connectors when I would do repair work on machines. However, you don’t really get a feel for how much stuff is in our crystal clear water. When I started testing the Alkastream unit for Ian Hamilton, I was stunned by how much crap accumulates on the filter. People think we have pristine water in Canada. Nope! The water in Toronto not only smells and tastes bad, it is just scary how much sediment builds up in the filters….and in a hurry.

Summary

The point of this article is that every home should have a filter system for drinking water. In addition, don’t assume that the filters are working efficiently all the time. You should check your filters every month to see if the accumulated sediment needs to be cleaned off. Therefore, you should make sure that you have a filter system where you can see the contents of the filter. Better still, make sure you have a system where you can perform periodic cleaning of the filters in order to extend the life of the filter.

If you don’t want to be a filter, then buy one. If you do buy a filter, make sure that you clean it every month.

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