You may be shocked to learn that nearly 40% of the United States is in a drought. That’s 27 States. In fact, 2021 will be the driest year on record in over a hundred years!
Drought conditions are not forecasted to improve anytime soon, either. That makes drought one of the greatest challenges of our lifetime. The purpose of this article is to alarm people about the effect that drought has on your drinking water. Stagnant and polluted water can make you very sick. Even if the water is still flowing through your tap, the quality is decreasing with every passing year, and you should be very concerned.
Many parts of the United States depend on groundwater as a primary source of water. Over time, reduced precipitation and increased evaporation of surface water mean that groundwater supplies are not replenished at a typical rate.
According to epa.gov, “reduced stream and river flows can increase the concentration of pollutants in water and cause stagnation. Higher water temperatures in lakes and reservoirs lead to reduced oxygen levels. These levels can affect…water quality.”
All of the fires burning in California, Oregon, Idaho, Washington, and Montana are not helping either. Runoff from drought-related wildfires can carry extra sediment, ash, charcoal, and woody debris to surface waters, killing fish and other aquatic life by decreasing oxygen levels in the water. This contaminated water also seeps into our groundwater supply.
Here’s another concern: salinity. Water flow and volume decrease during a drought which typically leads to increased salinity due to reduced dilution. Nutrient, turbidity, and algal levels are also increased in lake systems due to reduced flushing as well. So it’s not just our ground-water supply we need to worry about.
To sum it up, during times of extreme drought, our drinking water is under attack by bacteria, reduced oxygen, an increased concentration of already existing pollutants, extra sediment, and charcoal and ash from fires.
While our Municipal Water treatment facilities work diligently to maintain good water quality for us to drink, the truth is that they are resorting to more and more chemicals to treat our water. They have to keep bacteria levels safe. This means more chlorine, chloramine, and other chemicals are being added.
Meanwhile, the concentration of other pollutants is increasing. The EPA sets so-called safe levels for pollutants like nitrites, nitrates, heavy metals, and even radiation. But as water quality decreases, the concentration of those pollutants increases, pushing them to the higher end of safety limits. This makes our drinking water increasingly unhealthy.
Oxidation refers to the ability of water to oxidize or rust what it comes in contact with. It is essentially stealing ions, breaking down materials at a molecular level. Stagnation increases oxidation.
In water, oxidation is measured by ORP, which stands for oxygen eduction potential. The greater the ORP, the more oxidizing your drinking water. On the flip side, a -ORP (negative ORP) means that water has ions to give and is anti-oxidizing. Water with a -ORP is a powerful antioxidant for our bodies that helps us detoxify!
There’s never been a more important time than for each of us to get a home water filtration system. We simply cannot trust that the water coming out of our taps is healthy for us to drink anymore.
At the very least, you need a carbon filter to remove chlorine, sediment, and other larger contaminants from your tap water. But you really ought to consider a multi-stage water filtration system. You need different types of ceramic filtration, felt, and even ion exchange resin to effectively remove all of the contaminants from your tap water. Luckily water ionizers from Water for Life USA contain multi-stage water filtration systems to purify your water so that it is safe to drink once again!
Our water ionizers also restore the antioxidants to your drinking water using water electrolysis. This is the same natural process that the Sun uses. The result is water is transformed from a positive ORP (oxidizing) to a negative ORP (anti-oxidizing).
Tap water, bottled water, and any other type of home water filtration systems do not restore antioxidants to your drinking water. Only ionized water from a water ionizer is full of healthy ions, so this makes it the best water for you to drink.
Unfortunately, drought conditions are forecasted to get worse over the coming years. That means the quality of water coming from your tap will also get worse. If you haven’t done so already, get a multi-stage water filtration system or a water ionizer. They are the only way to make sure you and your family stay healthy.
