Remember high school biology? One of the first astounding facts we all learned as students is that the human body is approximately 70% water...water which must be replaced every 5 to 10 days! Yes, simple, ordinary water. It regulates your temperature, dissolves the body's waste products and flushes out toxins. Common sense reasoning tells you that the quality of water, which is up to 70% of your body, can radically affect your health and well being. That is why it is vitally important that you drink only pure water!

What is "pure" water? There are a lot of loose interpretations floating around out there, but to put it simply, "pure" water is H2O - two parts hydrogen, one part oxygen. That's it. Nothing else...Not H2O plus minerals, plus chemicals or plus anything else.

Pure water should be absolutely free of foreign particles, chemicals, minerals, bacteria or other contaminants. Today you may find water which has been purified to some extent, but the real question should be "to what extent?" Nowadays, absolutely "pure" water in its natural state is virtually impossible to find anywhere on our planet!

What are the chances my water is contaminated?

Today, there are very few people who are not aware of the problems with our drinking water supply. The news carries reports each week about yet another clean-up effort initiated on chemical spills, improperly lined landfills, agricultural run-offs and toxic materials which are rapidly leaching into our aquifers and contaminating our water supplies faster than regulatory agencies can find the solutions.

Rain and melting snow carry pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers into our streams, rivers, lakes and wells. Nitrates from fertilizers used for agriculture and home lawn care can contaminate a water supply. Trichloroethylene and benzene, the most commonly found contaminants surrounding hazardous waste sites, are both known to cause cancer. Municipal water that is properly chlorinated kills most bacteria and viruses; however, we now know that chlorine forms carcinogenic compounds such as trihalomethanes and chloroforms when it mixes with organic matter.

Even if municipal water was pure as it left the treatment facility, it may have to travel through miles of pipe to reach your home...And these pipes are guaranteed to be filthy.

Inside your home, lead and other heavy metals can be dissolving in your water supply from piping, solder joints and brass fixtures. Lead, when ingested, can cause severe neurological damage...particularly in children. The EPA estimates that 38 million Americans drink water that exceeds the 50 parts per billion, the "safe" level for lead. And, who is to know if 50 ppb isn't too much.

This dismal picture leaves many of us wondering just how wisely we're replacing this vital 70% of our own bodies every 5 to 10 days.