This weeks Article

Chlorine and Your Shower.

Chlorine is universally used to chemically disinfect water. It kills germs, bacteria and other living organisms. Chlorine readily passes through the cell wall and attaches to the fatty acids of the cell, disrupting the life sustaining functions. The human body is composed of billions of cells. Most people are aware that the quality of their drinking water can be improved by filtering their tap water or buying bottled water. However, many do not realize that they are addressing only a part of the problem. 

One half of our daily chlorine exposure is from showering. Chlorine is not only absorbed through the skin, but also re-vaporized in the shower, inhaled into the lungs, and transferred directly into the blood system. In fact, the chlorine exposure from one shower is equal to an entire day's amount of drinking the same water. Drinking filtered or bottled water only does half the job. For people who are concerned about their health and beauty,  

Why Not Carbon Filters? Carbon is an excellent filtration media when used under the right conditions, such as, in point-of-use drinking filters. However, carbon-drinking filters are designed to filter tap water under conditions that are much different than found with shower water.

Temperature:

• The temperature of tap water ranges from 60- 75 degrees (F).
• Showering temperatures typically range from 85-105 degrees (F).
  
  Carbon is a cold water filter. It is most effective at temperature ranges of 50-80 degrees (F). At higher temperatures, carbon becomes ineffective. It will "off-load" and release contaminants into the water. Sprite shower filtration media was designed for hot water, becoming more efficient as the water temperature increases.  

Flow Rate:

• The flow rate of most drinking water filters is less than 1/2 gallon per minute (GMP).
• Shower water flows at a minimum of 2.5 GPM (5x greater).
  
  Even using cold water, a minimum of 5x the amount of carbon would be necessary to filter the shower water.

Volume:

• Most drinking filters produce 1-3 gallons per day (GPD).
• Shower usage ranges from 12.5-50 GPD (12x greater).
  
  Even with cold water and a 5x larger carbon filter, the filter would have to be an additional 12x larger, or a total of 60x the size of the original tap water filter.

Of course, you don't shower in cold water and wouldn't use a 60 lb. shower filter. And we wouldn't cut a carbon filter in half and expect it to adequately filter shower water.

For solutions to Filtering Chlorine and other chemicals from Showers and Baths CLICK HERE

 





















This weeks article reprinted from Spritewater website.