Q. WHY ALL THE FUSS ABOUT DRINKING TAP WATER?
A. In case after case around the world, more and more is being discovered about the insidious, invisible presence of contaminants in our drinking water supplies. "Is my tap water really safe to drink?" This question has become the riddle of the 90's and will become the curse of the next century.

Q. WHERE ARE THESE CONTAMINANTS COMING FROM?
A. Since World War II and the chemical boom, scientists have unleashed approximately 65,000 new chemicals into the market place. Many of these chemicals are now found in sufficient concentrations in North American water supplies to be considered health threatening.

Q. HOW DO THESE TOXIC CHEMICALS GET INTO OUR DRINKING WATER?
A. For years, chemicals have entered our water system as waste from the manufacturing industry, leaching from the thousands of landfill dump sites and directly from untreated sewage disposal. Pesticides, herbicides and insecticides used in agriculture enter the supply through seepage and normal drainage. Acid Rain, which now affects us globally, continually contaminates our polar caps and surface water supplies. Contaminants are now in an ever repeating cycle being helped along by the natural cycles of Mother Nature.

Q. BUT ISN'T THAT WHY WE HAVE MUNICIPAL WATER TREATMENT PLANTS?
A. Unfortunately the water treatment methods developed more than forty years ago to combat water-borne problems such as bacteria are virtually useless in screening out the chemical threat. The costs of dealing with the chemical threat on a large scale basis are staggering.

Q. AREN'T THESE SMALL AMOUNTS OF TOXIC CHEMICALS INSIGNIFICANT?
A. Unfortunately the long term effects of many of these chemicals are not known and the decisions regarding "safe" limits are made primarily with the cost of reduction or elimination in mind. Perhaps the most troubling of all is that many substances, such as arsenic, mercury and lead, are known to accumulate in the fat cells of the body, and so what starts out as minute quantities slowly accumulate, which can lead to serious health problems. Lead has emerged as a scourge of the 90's after strong connections were drawn between it and health problems. How many of the other "safe" limits will be proven false in the future?

Q. WHY ISN'T OUR GOVERNMENT DOING MORE TO MAKE OUR DRINKING WATER SAFER?
A. In America, the E.P.A. has enacted stricter legislation to improve the quality and standards of drinking water. The high cost of research, coupled with the fact that scientists are still unsure of what chemicals, at what levels, are life threatening, undermines the regulations. Canada to date has no laws on water quality, only guidelines.

Q. IF THE GOVERNMENT CAN'T SOLVE THE PROBLEM, HOW CAN I?
A. You have little personal control over the quality of water as it enters your home, but you do have a choice to make about what happens to that water between the street and our tap. You can't stop drinking water, nor should you. To ask the government to provide high-quality drinking water to your home when 98% of your water usage ends up in the sewer would be a tax burden none of us would like to face. The answer is an in-home treatment system.

Q. WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A PURIFIER AND A FILTER?
A. Simply put, a filter is designed to be effective on selected impurities while a purifier treats water for a spectrum of contaminants. Not everyone needs a purifier. Purifiers will normally be tested in accordance with government lab standards and have documented test results available. Very simple filters may appear cheaper at time of purchase, but in addition to the increased efficiency of a purifier, the long term operating costs are generally less and you will be buying a lifetime item versus a cheap disposable one.