Here is some important information that I feel you need to know in order to make an informed decision about your drinking water. -Kevin DISTILLED WATER By Nina Carrino The controversy between distilled water and spring water is becoming legend in natural health circles. How to choose for drinking purposes is usually a matter of who to believe and personal experience. - The Editor. In today's polluted world, distilled water is the purest water available. Since it assists in the elimination of many harmful substances, it has been recommended for detoxification and fasting programs, and for helping clean out the cells, organs and fluids of the body. Water from public water systems, and even from many wells and springs, is likely to be loaded with poisonous chemicals and toxic trace elements. This water is saturated with lime, salts, magnesium, sodium, iron, copper, silicon, nitrates, chlorides, viruses, bacteria, and many other harmful inorganic minerals and chemicals. American plumbing systems also contribute to polluted water. Zinc, copper, cadmium, lead and other trace elements are released in excessive quantity by the chemical action of the water in the metals of the water pipes. The Environmental Protection Agency recently reported unsafe levels of lead in American drinking water, accounting for growth retardation and lowering of intelligence in children, blood ailments, and pregnancy problems. Similarly, according to a recent World Health Organization report, "a substantial proportion of disease outbreaks can be attributed to deficiencies in drinking water disinfection." Twenty percent of the community water supply systems in this country are having consistent problems meeting the standards for drinking water of the EPA, according to Jack Sullivan, deputy executive director of the American Water Works Assoc. in Washington. It is evidently time to take greater care with the water we drink. Prevention is the keynote in the decision to use only steam distilled water. In distillation, water is turned into vapor so that all its impurities are left behind. (99% of lead content is removed in the distillation process.) In his book, The Choice is Clear, Dr. Allen E. Banik describes distilled water as "the only water which is pure - the only water free from all impurities." Distilled water acts as a solvent in the body. It dissolves food substances so they can be assimilated and taken into every cell. It dissolves inorganic mineral substances, acid crystals and all other waste products so that these can be eliminated in the process of purifying the body. As distilled water enters the body, it picks up mineral deposits accumulated in the joints, artery walls, or wherever such deposits occur, and begins to carry them out. Gallstones and kidney stones decrease until they can safely pass through their ducts. Arthritic pains lessen as joints become more supple and movable. Distilled water has the inherent characteristics of a magnet which picks up discarded minerals, and with the assistance of the blood and the lymph, transports them to the kidneys for elimination. It is this kind of mineral elimination that is erroneously referred to as leaching; the expression that distilled water leaches minerals from the body is inaccurate. It does not leach out body minerals; it collects and removes inorganic minerals which have been rejected by the cells and tissues, and which if not evacuated can cause arterial obstructions and serious damage. Odorless, colorless and tasteless, distilled water contains no solid matter of any kind, no minerals, organic or inorganic, and is made solely of the two gases, hydrogen and oxygen. It can be used as a drinking water, for cooking, for electric irons and batteries, and is so pure it is used for intravenous feeding, inhalation therapy, prescriptions and baby formulas. Thousands of distillers have been sold throughout the USA and in many foreign countries to individuals, families, doctors, hospitals, nursing homes and government agencies. A SHORT COURSE IN BAD WATER The average American citizen is not particularly worried about water pollution for a single reason: he believes that whatever impurities get into the water, the city water treatment plant gets them out. It's too bad about the dying fish and the tons of waste and all that chemical pollution, he figures; but he believes that by the time the water gets to his house, it has been decontaminated and returned to the state of pure water, clean water. However - Most treatment plants in America are at least 30 years old, and were built in a time when major modern-day pollutants had not even been developed yet. Only a quarter of the plants now in use are capable of going beyond simple chlorine treatment, which kills most bacteria but does practically nothing to remove pesticides, herbicides and other noxious chemicals. The Sad Facts Are These: · According to the U.S. Department of Public Health, 85% of the water in the U.S. today is dangerously contaminated. · The World Health Organization estimates that as much as 80% of the world's cases of disease are traceable to unclean water. Time Magazine, April 4, 1977. · There are now present in America's water systems over 12,000 toxic chemicals. Each year 500 new chemicals are introduced into industry which are more complex and difficult ot treat. · "125.40 billion pounds of toxic garbage are produced in the U.S. yearly; as estimated 93% of it is disposed of improperly." Family Weekly, January 11, 1981. · Over 23 million Americans are presently drinking polluted water, eight million are drinking water rated "potentially dangerous." · California is one of eight states that is considered an "alarming" toxic waste danger zone. · Only 12% of California citizens receive water from systems that consistently meet department of health Standards. Dept. of Consumer Affairs, 1976. · "For years, people have assumed that the earth would filter the rainwater and keep underground supplies pure. Recent evidence suggests instead that chemicals are seeping through the earth too, going a little deeper with each rainfall." The Sacramento Union, September 30, 1980. Exotic Chemicals · "We are living in a new era of organic chemicals, not just familiar ones, but exotic ones that have never previously existed on earth and to which no living thing has previously had to adapt," said Dr. Samuel S. Epstein, a specialist in environmental medicine at the University of Illinois. Well Water Contamination A National Health Problem · Washington (UPI) - "Many dangerous chemicals are seeping into wells at an alarming rate to threaten drinking water resources AMericans once took for granted," a report from presidential environment advisers said Saturday. "High quality ground water, - especially that used for domestic drinking water - is an imperiled resource in many locations." · ". . . Growing pollution of ground water, used by half the country for drinking, was one of three major problems the council highlighted for the 1980's." The Sacramento Union, January 18, 1981. What About Chlorine? · Chlorine is the most taken-for-granted chemical in our lives. · Evidence is mounting so rapidly that scientists no longer question whether chlorine causes cancer, but how great the threat is. "Except for smoking, we haven't identified anything else that accounts for potentially as much cancer as drinking water and chlorination." Dr. Robert Harris, Associate Director of Toxic Chemicals, Environmental Defense Fund. · “Chlorine in drinking water is the greatest crippler and killer of modern times, i.e., the prime causative agent of atherosclerosis and its end results, the heart attack and stroke." Joseph M. Price, M.D. , Coronaries/Cholesterol/Chlorine. Do You Take Water for Granted? Water is not one of life's fringe benefits; it is not an optional part of our daily intake. Water is the most important part of every living organism, including the human body. It comprises approximately 70% of all human tissues and is vital to every biological function. But while it gives and sustains life, water is also ironically the most devastating carrier of disease and death known to man . With chemicals and foreign noxious substances, water acts like a liquid sponge. It soaks up chemicals, absorbs them and carries them along with it, depositing them wherever it can, including our bodies. HOW WE FIX THE WATER PROBLEM Is Through Distillation In nature, the sun evaporates water into the air, where it rises and is captured by clouds. With the colder temperatures of the clouds, the evaporated water (steam) is condensed back into water and it falls back onto the earth as pure rain water. With our distillers, we duplicate this process. In a boiler, water is evaporated and the steam is captured, leaving the impurities (bacteria, metals, lead, etc.) behind. The steam is then recondensed and collected, giving us extremely pure water. High purity water quality should be monitored for two things. First, high purity water should be monitored by the level of total dissolved solids (TDS) in the water. In laymen's terms, one part per million total dissolved solids is equivalent to one milligram per liter of dissolved solids in the water. The U.S. Federal guidelines call for high purity water to have a TDS level of 10 ppm or less. Tap water quality varies from day to day, but typically ranges from 200 to 300 ppm TDS. All Pure Water, however, meets a much more rigid purity standard. Every drop of All Pure Water is much lower TDS than the federal guidelines. Secondly, we must be concerned about the level of biological contamination in water: bacteria, fungi and parasites (such as giardia), have caused sickness in tens of thousands of people each year. One of the real advantages of distilled water is the confidence that we can have in its biological contamination removal. Every drop of distilled water has been boiled, which is the single most effective protection against bacterial contamination. · It's the Purest: With all the news about environmental contamination, it is hard to be sure that the water you are drinking is the highest quality. When you want to be sure about your water's purity, steam distillation is the most reliable method. All All Pure Water is boiled under pressure and high temperature, the steam is collected and cooled in high purity stainless steel tubes and is tested every day to meet strict purity requirements. SOME INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT DISTILLED WATER You Should Know That Distilled Water . . . · is water that has been turned into a vapor so that its impurities are left behind. Then by condensing, it is turned back to pure water. · is free of virtually all inorganic minerals including salt and nitrates. · acts as a solvent in the body by dissolving nutrients so they can be assimilated and taken into every cell. · dissolves inorganic mineral substances lodged in tissues of the body so that such substances can be eliminated in the process of purifying the body. · does not leach out body minerals but does collect and remove minerals which have been rejected by the cells of the body and are therefore nothing more or less than debris obstructing normal functioning of the system. · is the ideal liquid for efficient functioning of kidneys, lungs, stomach, liver and other vital organs. · is universally accepted as the standard for biomedical applications and for drinking water purity.