Today Sally and I talk about the benefits of filtering your drinking water.
We are lucky enough to live in a country like Australia with near-universal access to clean water. While 93% of the population has access to mains water, some remote communities still lack access to clean water. Freshwater only accounts for 2.5% of the water on our planet and only 1% is accessible as fresh water, the rest is locked up as ice. Yes, we are lucky because 1 in 9 on the planet has no access to clean water – that’s 844 million souls. And 31% of schools also lack access to clean water (WHO/Unicef).
If you do have access to clean water, drinking water throughout the day is one of the easiest ways to support good health and wellbeing. Sally and I have discussed the need to drink enough water here and the benefit of kicking the soft drink habit here. Because water is so important for health, it is worth drinking the cleanest tastiest water you can, so consider a filter. I have never been a fan of bottled water because I am not convinced it is any better than tap water and I disapprove of the environmental impact. You can find out about the drawbacks of bottled water here.
Water filter choices for home
- Jug $20-$75
- Tap mounted $25-75
- Countertop $60-350
- Undersink filter $180-300
- Undersink Reverse osmosis system $600+
- Alkaliser (benchtop) $2-4000 (I recommend Akai)
- Chlorine Shower filter ~$70 we use shower filters from Clarence water filters to minimize absorption of chlorine via skin and lungs (for more see here)
Why we use a structured water device
Imagine water tumbling over rocks and down a wild river. It is crystal clear and sweet to drink. This water is so superb not only because it is free of pollution but also because it is structured differently from the water than flows into your house. Masaru Emoto has written a beautiful book which explores the impact of thought, pollution, radiation and water treatment on the crystal form of water. The picture is canned from his book [1]. 
So we graduated from an Akai alkaliser to a structured water device from Phion. This is not a filter and we fitted it in line on our house supply for about $1,500 fitted. It supplies the whole house and the garden. The Akai water tastes great and still makes us awesome coffee, but the structured water even better – it is smoother and softer.
The fourth phase of water
You learn about the three phases of water at school – solid, liquid, and vapour. Scientists have now discovered a fourth phase which occurs next to water-loving surfaces and exists in your body. This is the phase of water that fills your cells. If you are interested to learn more about this Bioengineering Professor Gerald Pollack has written about this in a pretty dense text [2] and there is a review here. There are simpler explanations on video here and here
My three tips for choosing the right filter
- Define your goals and budget (include saving by no longer buying bottled water)
- Check your water for impurities, contamination and pH
- Choose your filter
If you would like to take the next step with Harry Armytage, complete the listening scorecard here
To find out more about what Sally Estlin does, head here
[1] Masaru Emoto, The hidden messages in water, Atria books, Hillsboro, 2001. [2] Gerald Pollack, The fourth phase of Water: Beyond Solid, Liquid, and Vapor, Ebner & Sons, Seattle, 2013.Photo by Joseph Greve on Unsplash