Water softeners are not filters. They do not clean the water, but rather change its behavior. Precipitated calcium and magnesium in water leave a film of sediment on hair, clothing, pipes, dishes, bathtubs, and prevent soap from lathering. Soft water exists naturally, but if the water in your area is naturally hard, you can treat it with a water softener. Conventional water softeners add salt to water in a process of ion exchange that reduces the high calcium and magnesium content, but can also elevate sodium levels in your drinking water. Magnetic water softeners operate by breaking up the large calcium carbonate molecules with their magnetic polarization. The calcium then dissolves and the suds return to your soap.
Water Treatment – Bactericides
A bactericide is an agent that can render water safe from harmful bacteria and other microorganisms including parasites, amoebae, protozoa, algae, cysts, and viruses that have a long history of causing waterborne diseases such as typhoid, dysentery, and hepatitis, among others. This is sharply distinct from simple charcoal water filters that, as we have seen, are incapable of such a task. The most common bactericides in use are the chemicals chlorine, bromine, iodine, and silver, along with ultraviolet light, and ozone gas.
Chlorine - By now, it is public knowledge that chlorine, added to the water supply to kill bacteria, combines with other chemicals to create a host of cancer causing by-products. But what is not so well known is that this famous bactericide is not so dependable against larger organisms such as cysts, amoebae, protozoa, and others. This first came to light in the late 1970s when the National Academy of Sciences reported 99 outbreaks of waterborne diseases in the U.S. including an epidemic of giardia cysts found in chlorinated water!
Bromine - Bromine is a well-known germicide, but because of its high cost it is almost never used in public water supplies. Its most common application is in industry and as a swimming pool disinfectant. It is quite effective against microorganisms, even more so than chlorine and does not cause “swimmers red eye” and other common chlorine side effects.
Iodine - Iodine is capable of destroying cysts, bacteria, and viruses, and is most popular with campers, travelers, and the military. Iodine, in itself, is a nutrient, but iodinated organic compounds may be formed in water with potential toxicity. For this reason it is not recommended for long term use or by pregnant mothers.
Silver - Silver has been used as a bactericide for a long time, but it has fallen from popularity. One of the main difficulties in using it for water purification is that it requires a long retention time. Silver is a slow working bactericide that has to stay in contact with the water for a fairly long time.
Iodine, bromine, and chlorine, although stronger than silver, also require adequate dosage and time to get the job done. Various factors may actually increase the amount of time necessary. With chlorine, for example, a tiny amount of ammonia in the water (from agricultural runoff or decaying leaves) can increase the amount of holding time required. Other common elements such as iron and sulfur also “use up” the chlorine, bromine, iodine, or silver, making them unavailable for killing bacteria. With typical water flow rates of up to one gallon per minute, this may not be sufficient time for the silver in the filter to do its job. In addition, with all these chemical bactericides, the combination of silver and other chemicals in the water may form potentially toxic compounds, not to mention the unsavory thought of drinking water that includes dead bacteria.
Ozone - Ozone is not new as a treatment for water, nor is it unnatural. It was discovered in the late 18th century by a Dutch scientist who named it after the Greek word meaning “smell.” The smell is actually the true smell of activated oxygen. Ozone is formed when oxygen is agitated and split. The freed molecules of oxygen temporarily jump on the backs of the regular oxygen forming 03 instead of 02. This condition lasts only for a few minutes as the 03 form of oxygen is unstable and quickly returns to the normal 02. Ozone, or “active oxygen,” is produced by passing air through an electrical field, or over the light from a particular wavelength (230 angstroms) in the ultraviolet range. The latter simulates the way nature makes ozone from sunlight.
Actually, we have been living with ozone all our lives and would be quite sick without it. Plants produce ozone on the tips of their leaves, which quickly turns into the oxygen they so generously provide us. Mountain top communities are known for their good health and longevity due, perhaps in part, to the higher ozone levels in the air. The “Ozone Layer,” located in the upper levels of the atmosphere, protects us from harmful ultraviolet radiation emanating from the sun. This natural shield is being eaten away by fluorocarbon emissions from industry, air conditioners, and refrigerators. This is the same problem that forced the elimination of aerosol cans in the 1970s. Because of our diminishing ozone layer, ultraviolet rays are penetrating the atmosphere to a greater extent than ever before and are multiplying the incidence of skin cancer in overindulgent sunbathers.
Ozone works in two ways: oxidation and flocculation. Oxidation refers literally to the combustion of pollutants such as microorganisms, THMs, pesticides, chlorine, dioxin, etc. by adding an oxygen molecule to them. Flocculation refers to the transformation of insoluble salts - sodium, fluoride, nitrates, etc. - into larger soluble compounds that can then be filtered. Radioactive minerals, asbestos, and heavy metals are also reduced in this way.
Many countries use ozone for municipal water purification including Germany, Italy, France, and Canada. In the USA, Los Angeles has a large municipal ozone system and used it instead of chlorine for the swimming pools in their 1984 Olympics. Numerous other U.S. cities are using ozone as part of their water purification and it is popular with bottled water companies.
You have to search hard to find ozone water purifiers and part of the reason is economics. In swimming pools, ozonation costs ten times more than chlorination. As for municipal treatment plants, the research, development, retooling, installation, and financing costs, along with the politics, make it slow going. Home machines for air purification have become quite popular. Ozone for water purification, however, is still hard to find and at $400, is somewhat costly. When combined with a high density carbon pre-filter, however, ozone offers a great deal of promise for water purification.
Ultraviolet Light - The same type of germicidal lamp used in hospitals and laboratories can be used to kill germs in water. These lamps produce short wave beams of (light) radiation that are lethal to bacteria, viruses and other microorganisms found in water. Water enters the ultraviolet (UV) purifier and flows into the ring between the bulb and the stainless steel outside chamber wall.
Energy at this wavelength is very effective at disrupting ribonucleic acid recombination in microorganisms, which renders them unable to reproduce. When these microorganisms are unable to reproduce, they are effectively prevented from causing illness to those who may inadvertently consume them - the microorganisms are inactivated.
It takes only seconds to destroy most microorganisms such as bacillus anthracis, clostridium tetani, corynebacterium diptheriae, escherchia coli, legionella bosemanii, legionella dumoffii, legionella gormanii, legionella micdadei, legionella pneumophilia, leptospira interrogans, mycobacterium tuberculosis, salmonella anteritidis, salmonella paralyphi, salmonella typhimurium, salmonella typhosa, shigella dysenteriae, shigella flexneri, staphylococcus epidermidis, staphylococcus aureus, streptococcus faecalis, streptococcus tactis, viridan streptococci, virio cholerae, bacteriophage, hepatitis virus, influenza virus, poliovirus, rotavirus.
These special lamps use about 60 watts of electricity and last as long as 7,500 hours. Thousands of gallons of water can be treated for an extremely low operating cost. And the appliances are low maintenance. Prices are in the $400 area with replacement lamps in the $100 range.