Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) 

Drinking water is the most important aspect of our daily lives and it is vital to our survival. With the human body being made up of 60-70% water, it is extremely important that we consume clean, healthy water on a regular basis. The daily goal, suggested by the US National Academies of Sciences, is to drink half your body weight in ounces per day. For example, if the body weight of a person is 150 lbs. their goal should be to drink 75 oz. of water per day (150 x 0.5 oz. = 75 oz.). Not only does this allow the body to remain hydrated, but it also  offers many other health benefits as well. A healthy in-take of water will allow your internal organs to operate properly, strengthen your immune system, help your metabolism, and give you more healthy skin. It is important, however, to understand that not all water is good for the body and most people do not trust their tap water for regular consumption. Therefore, many people have turned to the bottled water industry.  It is estimated that 1.3 billion plastic bottles are used each day world-wide. Unfortunately, many of these bottles never make it to the recycling or landfill and plastics have become one of the top environmental polluters. So, what makes bottled water so much better than tap water and how can we reduce plastic pollution? 

The first step is to understand the difference between water from your tap and drinking water. Many homeowners may have a water softener or whole house filter installed in their home. These systems are great to remove hardness, iron, or even chlorine however they do not reduce the Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) in your home's water. TDS are invisible to the eye, however, they can have large, long-term effects on the human body. These contaminates may include lead, arsenic, trihalomethane, chromium, and barium, to list a few. There are, however, hundreds more that can be just as dangerous if ingested over long periods of time. It is important to understand that not all TDS are bad and it is very important that we have some in the body. Though, as we all know, lead and arsenic can have severely damaging effects. If you were to read a label on a bottle of water, it is required to state their purification process. There are many different filtration processes out there, yet, the best to look for will state "purified using reverse osmosis". Reverse osmosis has been proven to be the most successful way to filter out these contaminates and reduce TDS from water sources, providing customers with healthy drinking water.

So, how does this information allow us to reduce our plastic pollution? An average family of four, that is consuming the recommended amount of daily water, would use approximately 80-100 bottles per week, spending, on average, $40-$60 per month. Not only does this get expensive, but, according to the EPA, in 2018 only 8.7% of all plastics were actually recycled. This has lead to the mass pollution of our oceans and has impacted our environment. The best way to move away from single-use plastic bottles is use our own form of recycling. With today's technology, we can provide the same quality of drinking water, that you would get from a bottle of water, right from your kitchen sink. An under-the-sink reverse osmosis system will not only give your family clean, healthy water to drink, but will also help reduce plastic waste and save you money on a regular basis. 

If you are currently experiencing any of these issues or would like more information on the quality of your home's drinking water, please contact PURE by phone at (224) 655-7187 or visit our "Get Heathy Now" page and request a FREE consultation.