Hexavalent Chromium can be Removed by Reverse Osmosis Systems....

Today's Post: Thursday, 12-23-2010

Earlier this week there was a story that 31 cities in the United States tested as having hexavalent chromium in their drinking water at levels higher than the standard used in California to make an effort to stay under for health reasons.

But there’s two pieces of good news.

1. Actual animal testing found no short term health problems at a much higher level. In fact, only one city of the 31 had levels had levels higher than that.

If my memory serves, that level was 2 ppb. And, the scary problems were in locations over 400 ppb.

So that’s moderately re-assuring in that most people are not being quickly poisoned by the levels found by the study.

2. But, if you’re like me, you have these two questions:

a) My city or location wasn’t on that list. And the worst city had nearly 14 ppb which does look problematic. (Norman, Oklahoma tested at 13.9 ppb.)

And, even if my city tested lower, the water to my home or yours might pass through an area that manages to add some hexavalent chromium because the pipe goes through a pool of very contaminated water.

So, what if the water I drink could be that high or higher? (I haven’t the time, money, or expertise to hire that test done using tap water from my home.)

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b) What if lifetime exposure can cause cancer at much lower levels than 2 ppb?

That’s where the best news comes in.

Apparently using an in home reverse osmosis filter or purifier removes 13 14ths of the hexavalent chromium in the incoming water. That would lower a 14 ppb level to a MUCH safer 1 ppb. And, if the water is really polluted at 420 ppb, it would reduce it to a less deadly 30 ppb.

Such purifiers usually also have a pre-filter which removes particulates and some other contaminants to extend the life of the reverse osmosis filter or purifier.

That means that water going through those systems will protect you from hexavalent chromium in the incoming water.

And, between the two kinds of filtration, most other kinds of pollutants will be removed as well.

(That may also include the prescription drugs other studies found in tap water.)

Plus in many locations, the water will then have no taste since many of the things causing bad tastes and smell are removed. So it is more drinkable by itself and won’t spoil the flavor of tea, coffee, or cooked foods it is added to.

Lowe’s stores, in their plumbing department, sell a Whirlpool unit that has its own faucet for only the purified water that installs under your kitchen sink. It has the pre-filter and an indicator light when the pre-filter needs to be changed or have a new filter put in.

Model WHED 20 has this & model WHER25 may have it. These run between $147 on sale to about $160.

It takes a skilled plumber about an hour or and hour and a half to install. So, since their rates run from $150 to $250, it can run from $150 to $375 to install.

So, installed, it runs about $300 to $600. But that may be a good deal for two reasons.

1. We buy 8 gallons of bottled water a week for water that is a bit better and tastes MUCH better than our tap water.

BUT, that costs about $458 per year just to buy the containers of water at the store. So, just on that alone, buying one and having it installed will repay the cost the very first year from bottled water you no longer have to buy each week.

2. Bottled water is filtered enough to remove some pollutants, certainly enough to make it taste better. But the home systems not only remove those, they do not release chemicals from the plastics in the bottles into your drinking water.

This kind of home system removes hexavalent chromium. Do the bottled water companies remove this? And, if they don’t, would they tell you?

Bottled water also uses oil to make the plastic containers. And, it takes time and effort to bring them home from the store and take them out in the recycling when they are empty. So switching to an in home system cuts down on using oil and on the costs to recycle the containers.

So, the bottom line is it may pay you to get such an at home system and, if necessary, put it on your credit card. (The $38 a month saved will clearly cover the payments!)