Last time it was the dreaded Cryptosporidium , an insidious little critter that was the cause of a numerous bouts of gastroenteritis. Well to combat that problem it seems that the cure may be worse than the original problem.

We have now been warned that the amount of something called trihalomethanes (THMs) is way over the recommended limit.

It was reported that these THMs are a result of disinfectants being used in the water. Here I was thinking that a bunch of house wives and husbands were polluting our water by using too many cleaning products and these were ending up in the septic tanks and then into the waterways and finding there way into our drinking water. How wrong could I be and apologies to those hygienists, however they too should be aware that anti-bacterials should not be used with septic tanks. In fact septic tanks rely on bacteria to work properly.

Eco Gravity Water Filter 

The source of these THMs are for those of you who are concerned, is chlorine
Yes this is the disinfectant that was reported to be the source of these THMs. THMs, as reported, are associated with an increased risk in miscarriage and are carcinogenic. It seems that our trusted water board have decided in all there wisdom to add more chorine to the water to combat the cryptosporidium bug. Makes sense, except chorine doesn’t kill cryptosporidium and too much of it can give us cancer.

The problem with chlorine
Chlorine is added at water treatment plants to combat bacterial contamination. The real problem starts, however, when chlorine combines with other organic contaminants to form trihalomethanes (THMs). These other contaminants originate either from herbicides and pesticides in agriculture or solvents, varnishes and glues used in industry. Our rivers, lakes, and reservoirs are contaminated by leaching from agricultural soils, urban waste and industrial effluents, for instance petrol. Ground water from underground reservoirs, wells and bores can also contain toxic organics, because these chemicals soak through the ground from waste dumps and the sites of agricultural chemicals usage. Yuk!

Not only can chlorine combine to form THMs, unfortunately it can also combine to form poly-chlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) which are also known carcinogens. The problem is not confined to drinking water either. Up to two thirds of our daily exposure to harmful chlorine occurs while we bathe as chlorine is both inhaled in steam and absorbed by the skin, contributing to conditions such as to dry, itchy skin, brittle hair and irritation of existing allergies.