You are here

Water Serving the Planet

WaterWater, water everywher, and what drop shall I drink? In our modern era of water shortages, flooding, and controversies surrounding water quality, I want to clarify and distill the issues, pun cheerfully intended! We believe we all deserve the purest of drinking water, in adequate amounts for daily use, and that wasteful pollution, spillage of water, and privatization of water supplies serve the planet poorly as we look to the future. DrDeborahMD.com starts the discussion with the seemingly mundane subject of chlorine in our water, which is more important than you might realize.

 

 

Fluoride: Cavity Prevention or Poison from Your Tap?

Most of us were brought up believing that fluoride is a magic bullet guaranteed to prevent cavities. Toothpaste and water supplies containing fluoride were considered a good thing. Today, many of us who have explored these faith claims have discovered exactly the opposite is true: dosing municipal water supplies with fluoride─a corrosive industrial waste acid─is not the best way to prevent dental caries, it also poses serious threats to human health, and ironically, can cause damage to children's teeth.

Unlike medications that require informed consent before they're consumed, our daily dose of fluoride is received without benefit of information and warnings.

First, a Little History About Fluoride

Water and Water Filters

Water may be the most underrated and least understood substance in the universe. Water is the most abundant element on earth and inside our bodies, yet it is also one of the most mysterious.

Every activity within the body occurs in a water-based fluid medium. Even the lungs and bones need water to function properly. That’s why drinking ample amounts of high-quality water is crucial to our health.

Unfortunately, tap water can no longer be considered high-quality, despite claims to the contrary. Water from your tap might look clean and pure, but ordinary tap water can contain hazards such as chlorine, chloramine, fluoride, giardia, cryptosporidium, and heavy metals like lead.

Chlorine in Our Water

You know you should be drinking eight glasses of water a day, but what kind?

Chlorine is by far the most widely used solution for removing bacteria and viruses from municipal water supplies. Your tap water may not be as innocuous as you think it is. Any number of harmful chemicals, heavy metals, and infectious agents may be dissolved in it.

What We Really Know About Chlorine

As a strong oxidizing agent, chlorine is cheap, effective, and convenient for disinfecting large volumes of water and preventing the spread of waterborne diseases like cholera, typhoid, and dysentery.