http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18881799/site/newsweek/page/0/
We touched the subject of drinking water safety a few days ago. I expect that controlling "endocrine disrupters" is going to be a hot topic for the US water industry in the near future. There is almost no regulation about these contaminants in the US. Japanese and European are at least 10 years ahead in this area. You can find many links if you "Google" these two words.
Have a nice read.
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It's certainly a legitimate concern; for those of you who didn't have time to read it, I will summarize it for you:
1. If the government don't correct the problem, we'll all became Michael Jackson.
2. If you're truly worried about drinking water, the answer isn't bottled water, which in many cases is just bottled tap water—and requires large amounts of energy to transport. Consumer devices for removing contaminants include charcoal filters, tabletop water distillers and purification units that use reverse osmosis. They can all take out a wide variety of chemicals.
Ming you made very good summary. I'll add a few more important points:
1. The most efficient charcoal filters are made by molding or extruding very fine activated carbon powders into a cylindrical filter. Granular activated carbon are generally suitable for removal chlorine taste only. Both types of filters need to change often as instructed. Because there is no test standard for Endocrine Disrupters, how long a filter can last is a big question. So, please change often.
2. Distillers still can evaporate and condense volatile compounds; therefore, the most ideal design is having another effective activated carbon filter to post-treat the purified water.
3. Reverse osmosis membrane is not an effective way to remove neutrally charged organic or inorganic compounds.
4. Sometimes the membrane can adsorb then desorb large amount of these compounds, therefore, it still relies on an effective activated carbon filter to remove the organics. Change the final polish carbon filter often.
5. Both distiller and RO remove most of calcium and magnesium from drinking water. The recent studies showed that both minerals are critical for our health. "Re-Mineralization" of RO and distilled water has been a very hot topic in RO and distiller business. You also can take mineral dietary supplements.
5. You can "google" the key words "remineralization RO WQA". WQA is Water Quality Association.
6. The article below is for your reference: http://www.wcponline.com/PDF/Michaud.pdf
Please read it.
7. Remember to sanitize your RO regularly as instructed. It will become a bacteria breeding ground gradually once chlorine is taken out from water. This is because RO membrane is not a perfect barrier for removing microorganisms. It has it limitations, however, the manufacturers don't say a thing about it. You will find out the fine prints, such as: Only use this product with microbiologically safe water supplies.
I'll keep you all posted.
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