Sunday, January 20, 2008

WATER - THE BASICS

Hi and welcome to the first article for our blog. We are happy that you have taken the time to visit with us. The focus of this blog is to offer you a small amount of knowledge related to handling and processing water for your RV. There are close to 9 million RV’s in use in the United States today. Obviously, we are a people that enjoy camping and the Great Outdoors. Some folks enjoy camping with their families in a small pop-up or trailer while others may enjoy camping in the air-conditioned comfort of a large motor home. The common factor is our fun and enjoyment of spending time with family and friends while campfire smoke blows in our face and bugs dive-bomb us. We must be nuts! But, there we are, having a ball.

One subject common to all that RV is water. We can find water in just about all of the camping places we visit. We need water to drink, bathe, clean and cook. Many folks rely on bottled water for consumption as an alternative to using on-board water or available campsite water.

As you read these articles, my hope is that you gain a good working knowledge of the subject and will be better advised to safeguard yourself from water-borne contaminants. Where possible I will provide you with web links to further explore the subject matter in more detail. While it is true that I am in the business of manufacturing water filter systems for RV use, my focus is and will continue to be educating my fellow RVers.

Water is the cornerstone of life. Without water, there would be no life as we know it on our little blue marble. Although I have invested many years in studying water, I find that the more I learn, the less I seem to know. On the surface, water would appear to be a simple chemical compound, not worthy of more than a passing glance. People tend to take water for granted, until something goes wrong. We folks that have the good fortune to live in the United States are blessed with generally good water. Other parts of the world are not so fortunate.

So, let’s start right from the beginning. What is water and why is it important to us? Water is basically composed of just two elements – hydrogen and oxygen. It is the only chemical compound that can be found in three forms - liquid, solid (ice) and gaseous. This simple and yet complex substance is the singular most important element on earth other than the air we breathe. Water is the giver of life, without which we would not be here. We can survive for many days without food but only hours without water.

http://www.waterwarning.com/ states, We now know the fluids that flow through our body are what create our level of well being. The human body is a water machine, designed to run primarily on water and minerals. By weight our body is about 72% water, another 8% is a combination of chemical compounds and the remaining 20% is bone and solid tissue. From the most basic standpoint it is a common sense equation, if we are made up of 72% plain water, then naturally the quality of the water we consume will have a very dramatic impact on our overall state of health. Every healing and life giving process that happens in our body happens through Water!”

The amount of water that exists on earth today is the same amount that was here when our planet was formed, over 4 billion years ago. Various estimates for total water on this planet range up to 344 million cubic miles. Only one percent of this water is available for us to consume. Put another way, if all the water on earth was represented by one gallon, we would have just one tablespoonful to drink.

We live in a closed eco-system on our little planet. Our water is recycled over and over again. There is no “new” water and a dinosaur could have last consumed the water you drink today. This reclaiming process functions as a huge filter that removes many of the contaminants and returns water to its basic chemical composition, H2O…. that is, for the most part. Today there are so many different contaminants, many of which are man made, our eco-system is really stressed in trying to remove them. When water arrives at your tap, it can contain some foul and even harmful constituents. Our body, being the amazing organism it is, then becomes a water filter. Dependant on ones immune system and general physical health, the consumed contaminants may pass through our bodies unnoticed or possibly make us sick.

Some contaminants actually collect in our body without notice, until they reach a lethal level. This includes metals such as lead, mercury and arsenic. One nasty chemical we all are exposed to is chlorine. It is in all of our municipal water, mandated by the federal government. Yes, it is important because chlorine kills many biological contaminants. BUT, it should also be noted that many in the scientific community have identified chlorine as a cancer-causing element along with having a negative effect on our general health. Take a look at this article published by DR. Zolton Rona, MD - http://www.selene.com/healthlink/chlor.html

So, what we have to do to minimize the danger lurking in our water is remove the contaminants including chlorine. This is a formidable task. It is even more difficult for the RVer because every time we hook up to a new water supply, we may face a new combination of contaminants. For those of you that think you are “beating the system” by using bottled water, you are in for a big surprise. We will cover that issue in the next article. In the third article we will discuss the different types of contaminants and where they come from. The article after that will concentrate on how we can process water to render it as safe and palatable as possible. Allow me to leave you with just one thought to ponder. You need to take charge of the water you use, whether at home or on the road. Do not rely on the existing assumption that all water is safe. That is simply not true. Every year there are millions of cases of illness due to contaminated water reported in this country. It is safe to assume that an even larger number goes unreported (ever had the “Outhouse Trots” or upset stomach and didn’t know why?)

In future issues I also want to devote some time to the maintenance and use of the RV fresh water system. We will be covering a lot of ground on this blog, all focused on keeping you as safe as possible. In the mean time, I invite you to cruise through our website at http://www.covesystemsinc.com/. There you will find a lot of good information and technical data relating to RV water issues. Feel free to email me at rvwater@aol.com if you have questions or need further information. See you in the next issue.

Cheers and Happy Trails.

Jim Worden

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