Why My Family Needed a Water Filtration System: a True Life Experience

My family needed a water filtration system for our home.  The chlorine content that the treatment facility says is “safe” makes our drinking water taste terrible.  My wife went to make spaghetti and found that yellow residue was all over the bottom of the pot. 

I thought she was exaggerating, but you could see the yellow dust sink to the bottom as the water heated up.  She threw it out and cooked something else that night.  I put off going to the store that night.  It was late and I didn’t think that the need for a water filtration system was that severe.  I definitely thought it was safe for the dogs. 

I went ahead and filled up their bowls and went to bed. During our morning walk, much to my dismay I found that all three of them had developed diarrhea and there was a distinctly yellow color to it, so it was pretty easy to identify the problem.

So, I went to the store and bought that water filtration system that screws on to the kitchen faucet.  After a couple of days, it started leaking.  I’m pretty handy, so I know that I installed the thing correctly.  By the end of the week, water was spraying everywhere whenever we tried to use it.  The dogs had gotten better, so we decided to give them bottled until I could do a little research and find a better quality water filtration system.

In the meantime, my daughter’s asthma got worse.  She would have several attacks every day, but only at home.  During an after hours visit to her pediatrician, I read in a health magazine that chlorine vapors trigger asthma attacks and that the effects are worst in the bathroom during a shower, but that the vapor can linger in the house throughout the day.  This added to my dilemma.  I didn’t even know that there was such a thing as a shower head water filtration system.

Through the internet, I found performance comparison charts and learned about things like certifications for the in home water filtration system.  It’s purely voluntary, but companies can have their products evaluate by independent laboratories and post the results. 

I also learned that in addition to chlorine, there are thousands of other chemicals to worry about, along with things like cysts.  I had to look it up.  It refers to the “oocyst” stage of microscopic organisms.  During that stage, they are resistant to even chlorine disinfection.  So, the stuff that was making my daughter and my dogs sick wasn’t even protecting us from parasites or bacterial infections.

I found that there was a water filtration system for the whole house that could better protect my family’s health.  Since my wife and daughter both like to take baths, rather than showers, I thought it was a good investment.

 
Just wanted to share my story, in case you need a water filtration system, remember to do a little research first.  There are really good ones and really bad ones, so you really have to be careful.