What kind of water is best?

It’s certainly not the water that comes from our taps in South Africa. According to two Water Engineers P.Polasch and C.C. Margeot, South Africa’s level of water purification technology, lack of specialized staff and lack of proper control and monitoring. To quote from their paper entitled “Shortcomings in water purification practices in South Africa”.

South Africa is probably the only country among the industrialized nations which does not have a stringent standard for drinking water…… drinking water must not contain such organisms or such concentration of substances which after long-term ingestion could have a detrimental effect on the health of man.

They proceed to explain how low our standards are, for example.

• The European Environmental Committee (EU 250mg/l) limit on chlorides is 25 milligrams per liter, the World Health Organization’s in 200 mg/l (who has no regulation for chloride) but the South African Bureau of Standards 1984 limit is 600 mg/l. (SANS 241 between 100-200 mg/l)
• Polasch and Margeot claim that Cadmium causes anemia, decalcification of bones and liver diseases, while mercury attacks the central nervous system.
• Both substances are present in our drinking water.
• The EEC cadmium limit is 0.005 mg/l and its mercury limit at 0.001 mg/l. the SABS sets its limit on cadmium at 0.02 mg/l (SANS 0.003 MG/L) (four times as much as the EEC’s) and on mercury at 0.01 mg/l (SANS 0.0001 MG/L) (ten times as much).

The following are some of the toxic minerals in our water.

• Arsenic
• Manganese
• Hexavalent Chromium
• Cyanide
• Phenol Compounds
• Sulphates

Polasch and Margeot go on to highlight further inadequacies in our water purification system:

• South Africa has no set level for carcinogenic (cancer inducing) substances in its water.
• There is no set limit for the aluminium (SANS 0.15-0.3 mg/l) content. They point out that aluminium affects the mental processes of man adversely. By comparison EEC standard is 0.05 mg/l.
• Drinking water should be odourless, tasteless (but palatable) and colourless. Yet the SABS’s 1984 limit for colour does not stipulate the maximum allowable level. The SABS level is 20 mg/l as opposed to the EEC limit which is 1 mg/l.
• Much of the drinking water in South Africa has a greenish tint due to so-called vegetation colour. These can result in the formation of toxic substances in the human body. Yet the health authorities have no objection to this green tint.
• While the rest of the world is attempting to improve the quality of drinking water, South Africa has adopted the opposite approach as is demonstrated in the table where the 1984 standards are higher than that of 1971.
• The SABS only addresses some 27 parameters of water quality as opposed to the EEC’s 70 parameters.
• They close this section of this paper saying “It transpires from the foregoing that the SABS 241/84 does not reflect modern health requirements and also does not take into consideration the fact of continuously deteriorating quality of water in our drinking water sources”. This news is indeed alarming.

A point not covered fully in this document is the effect of chlorinated water. (Bear in mind that world-wide, much of the drinking water is chlorinated.) Chlorine has been found to asthma attacks, nausea and disorientation. In addition, chlorine is a powerful irritant which also destroys vitamin E. This vitamin is a natural antioxidant which helps to prevent cancer.

As for fluoride, if it really did prevent tooth decay, there would be a marked decrease in dental decay as this substitute is also present in our water. Fluoride has been found to stimulate bone formation but the bone is poorly mineralized and brittle. Fluoride is also toxic to the rest of the body. Dr Leo Spiro, who was awarded a degree in recognition of his research on fluoridation by the London University, says that fluoride damages brain and nerve cells, is harmful to reproductive organs, affects the thyroid gland, damages the liver and creates a high incidence of bone fracture. He adds that, “We cannot prophecy what would happen to the organs of the body if it were subjected to constant doses of fluoride for a lifetime”. Fluoride is one of those industrial waste products that someone decided would be of benefit, without having done and long-term tests on the effect it would have on the human body.

There is not much you can do at the point of purification but at least you can do something about the quality of the water in your own home. You can filter your water quite easily by using any of the variety of filters or pottery filters currently available. For the most part they are practical and easy to use and remove chlorine and organic contaminants from the water. As there are so many domestic water purification systems on the market, I suggest that you look for an established brand, backed by solid research, which will be able to supply you with replacement filters or cartridges for years to come. If you can afford it, a reverse osmosis purifier is best. Ultimately, all drinking water should be purified and so should any water you use for cooking.

A question I am often asked is: “What about mineral water?” Although bottled water is rich in minerals, unfortunately these minerals are not present in a form that our bodies are able to use easily. Unlike the minerals in fresh fruits and vegetables., those in mineral water are easily deposited in our joints, muscles and tissues, where they can cause stiffness, gall or kidney stones, premature aging of the skin and even cataracts. Do not be alarmed. This does not mean that you should never touch mineral water – it is probably the best drink you can have in a social situation. Merely limit your intake. I would say that one glass a day should be the maximum that you consume. If you have a choice, go for the non-carbonated variety, as the bubbles in sparkling water is produced by carbon dioxide, a waste product which the body tries to eliminate. It doesn’t make sense to force carbon dioxide into the body when it has gone to so much trouble to get rid of it in the first place.