Chances are you already know that your drinking water contains traces of pesticides, herbicides & nitrates from fertilisers and industrial chemicals. You know that consumption of these over time causes untold miseries and pains to your body.

The following information highlights something equally bad, if not worse, because its importance has either gone unnoticed or has been made little of, even though it has always been with us.

KNOW THE SHOCKING FACTS ABOUT WATER BEFORE YOU DRINK

Throughout history man has suffered from a variety of miseries, many of which can be directly traced to the water he drinks. For example, the mummies of the ancient Egyptians and the skeletons of American Indians who lived in Wisconsin 1000 years ago, show the ravages of arthritis and other disorders directly attributable to the mineral rich water of both the River Nile and Lake Michigan.

We all need minerals to keep our bodies healthy - so how can the ones found in water do us harm?

The reason is because our bodies can only use minerals which come from plants, vegetables, fruit and living things called ORGANIC (OR CHELATED) MINERALS. Those minerals which come directly from the earth & water - called INORGANIC MINERALS are toxic to man and animals; only growing plants, vegetables and fruits are able to make use of them. With the help of sunlight, plants transform inorganic minerals in soil & water into healthy food for Man and animals. In fact the minerals available in a fresh salad far outweigh those you can extract from gallons and gallons of tap or mineral water and they are the right type for you ORGANIC!

The VITAL DIFFERENCE between these two types of minerals is not widely appreciated, even by people in the medical profession and the water supply business.

A HEALTH MESSAGE AHEAD OF ITS TIME

Water seeping through rock and soil dissolves traces of inorganic minerals. For example, if the rock is limestone (chalk) then inorganic calcium dissolves into the water supply to give us hard water. Man does not eat rock or soil, because he knows it will kill him. Drinking hard mineral water is equally dangerous the difference being that its deadly effect, degenerative disease, is stretched out over many years so the cause is not so obvious.

Did you know that it is CALCIUM NOT CHOLESTEROL, as originally thought, that is the main factor in disease of the arteries? The Arterial Disease Clinic and the UK Health Education Council tell us that calcium deposits laid on artery walls account for 40% of deaths in the UK between the ages of 35-74, many of them by sudden strokes and heart attacks.

These facts may come as a bit of a shock, especially to those living in hard water areas like London, East Anglia, The Midlands, and the South East of England. Hard to believe? Well, have you ever seen stalagmites and stalactites in caves, built up over the years by drop after drop of water - the very same water that we drink? And closer to home, after boiling your water, look at the ‘fur’ inside your kettle or the scale in your water pipes to see the possible effects that this water can have on your body’s internal plumbing. If your body cannot rid itself of these inorganic minerals immediately, it pushes them away into your joints or lines the walls of your arteries and veins with them. These deposits can also block the tiny capillaries, especially those in your brain and, depending on your vitality and life habits, the very circulation of blood and nutrients to all your cells will be impaired. Hardening of arteries and liver, arthritis and premature ageing, kidney and gall bladder stones, these and other degenerative diseases can occur as a direct result of the water we drink.

A SIMPLE TEST FOR YOU TO DO

Circle your head around slowly as far as it will comfortably go. Many people hear clicks and grating. This shows that inorganic minerals and toxic acid crystals have been deposited in the joint where the head rests upon the spine. Creaking joints and stiffness are not due to age. The process starts at birth, but we are unaware of it until the symptoms of degenerative disease begin to show.

THE SOLUTION PURE WATER

Your body needs water free from all inorganic minerals and other pollutants to perform its many functions. Fresh juices from organically grown fruits and vegetables are excellent and are given to people in health clinics to purify and revitalise their bodies. In addition to juices we need water for cooking and drinking but it MUST BE PURE. It can be produced easily and economically in your own home from steam distillation or by the new RO/DI (reverse-osmosis/de-ionisation) process a benefit from the silicon chip industry’s need for ultra pure water. These machines may sound technical but in principle they are simple.

Reverse osmosis is basically a chemical sieve which removes up to 98% of dissolved impurities (depending on the membrane type). The best membrane allows only pure water molecules to pass through while everything else including metals, chemicals, drug residues and bacteria is excluded. De-ionisation resins then exchange the remaining impurities to guarantee medically pure water. This purified water has a marvellously pure, fresh taste and is the type from which all liquid prescriptions are made by the pharmacist.

Distillers are cheaper to buy, but are very energy intensive, so probably cost more in the long run. They do not remove volatile organic contaminants which travel in the steam, and they also reduce the levels of dissolved oxygen which makes the water taste flat or dry. Another drawback of distillers is that they require frequent de-scaling, particularly in hard water areas imagine how your kettle would scale up if it were boiling for 6 hours per day!

Many people in response to water scares are now fitting CARBON FILTERS to the water main or using FILTER JUGS, but while they improve the taste THEY CANNOT PRODUCE PURE WATER and so the basic problem remains. Likewise, only use MINERAL WATER to bathe in, as the Romans did in Bath and other spas, but DO NOT DRINK IT.

Of course the vast majority of people drink ordinary water and their bodies must accept what is put into them. But don’t wait until pain strikes to start caring for your body. Do not value your health only when you are in danger of losing it.

SOME UNPALATABLE FACTS

The World Health Organisation refuses to endorse claims that mineral water has properties favourable to health. The UK has been taken to the European Court of Justice for failing to maintain water quality standards. The high nitrate levels in some of our supplies put bottle fed babies at risk whilst lead from old pipes impairs the brain and nervous system, especially in the young.

The consumer magazine, WHICH? After testing bottled waters said, ''Several brands did much worse than tap water in bacteriological terms... the EC water regulations don’t allow levels as high as these''. Other bottled waters contained even higher levels of contaminants.

''Homes may need purification units if drinking water is to meet EC standards. Thames Water is considering the use of reverse osmosis technology.'' The Independent July 25 1989.

In July 1991 West Londoners were warned that raw River Thames water had been discharged into the water supply. As a result of this pollution some people became ill.

At Camelford in Cornwall, South West Water was found guilty when a tanker of aluminium sulphate was poured into a reservoir by mistake. 20,000 people suffered. Some are still suffering today. Water containing poisonous DDT has been detected in underground sources 40 years after its use was banned. Past and present mistakes may seriously affect our grandchildren.

When will we become wise? The choice is yours: CHOOSE PURE WATER.

This article is aimed at providing sufficient background to allow YOU to choose the type of water you use at home. It is not intended to provide medical advise for individual health problems. Such advice should be sought from your own physician. The information which it contains has been drawn from many sources, however its principal inspiration has been the superb work done over the last 50 years by Drs. Paul & Patricia Bragg who, from personal experience and scrupulous scientific research into health and fitness, have influenced the lives of thousands of people including Royalty, Presidents, stars of stage, screen & TV, world class athletes and many others.