Would You Use Harsh Water Tablets:
If There Were a Safer Alternative?

Sodium Dichloroisocyanurate, a component of some water purification tablets, is the same substance used for disinfecting swimming pools. While in water tablet form it is diluted, warnings include ‘irritating to eyes and respiratory system’ ‘harmful’ ‘burns’ ‘sore throats’ ‘contact with acids liberates toxic gas’ etcetera. While its warning ‘harmful to aquatic organisms, is a crucial reason for using this compound in water tablets, and while there are instances when it or a similar compound simply must be used, why would you if you didn’t have to?

On most occasions when you’re traveling, your need is for more general yet thorough, water purification turning the third world municipal tap water into safe drinking water and ensuring that clear flowing stream or pond water doesn’t pass on any dangerous pathogens.

On these occasions, the chemical armory of a water purifying tablet can include tongue twisters such as sodium carboxy-methylcellulose, polyacrylamide, sodium carbonate, and aluminum sulfate, which could be sheer overkill when a Sure Aqua chemical-free water filter will do the job perfectly.

Water purifying tablets often come with advice to use in the short term only and include a warning to “Keep Out of Reach of Children,” whereas, with Sure Aqua, we want kids to love using our water drinking straws, and because each water straw is chemical-free, they can.

Chlorine in water is a complicated issue. On one hand, chlorine is a naturally occurring element and a powerful disinfectant. When it comes to water purification, chlorine works. Used to treat the city water supply in many metropolitan areas, chlorine can help to prevent nasty waterborne diseases like cholera. On the other hand however, regular high doses of chlorine are not a good idea.

Chlorine has a chemical reaction with any organic matter present in the water, which creates trihalomethanes (THMs) such as chloroform as a bi-product. The health risks of ingesting THMs are not fully understood, so it’s difficult to dispel or confirm the man myths circulating about the effects of drinking water containing chlorine.

However, research suggests that ingesting a large dosage of THMs can have adverse health effects, and so it’s best to avoid methods of water treatment like water purification tabletsthat rely on chlorine.

The main argument for avoiding chlorine in water is that chlorine can react with organic matter to create chloroform, a type of THM. Chloroform has been linked to the formation of many types of cancer, but the connection is uncertain. Chloroform can also be present in air and food, so it’s difficult to determine how much damage the presence of chloroform in water is doing.

Despite links between chlorine and chloroform, chloroform and cancer, according to the Australian Cancer Council: ‘There is no evidence for the myth that drinking chlorinated water or swimming in chlorinated pools can cause cancer.’ So if your city’s water treatment facilities use chlorine, don’t worry, there isn’t necessarily a need to filter it out. Chlorine is certainly safe in small doses.

Swimming pools often contain high levels of chlorine. This is for a reason: they keep it sanitary. If the pool is correctly chlorinated, you’re unlikely to get sick from the presence of e-coli and other nasties in the water. However, liquid chlorine is extremely dangerous, so be wary of other people’s home pools. If you own a pool make sure to sanitize it accurately and keep the chemicals in a safe place. 

Basically, chlorine is one of those tricky gray areas. Just like so many other things teetering on the line between good and bad, health and profit (think GM food, weight loss pills, fizzy energy drinks, flirting with your boss), it’s hard to know where you stand. A healthy way to approach chlorine in water is not to worry so much that you opt for bottled water over tap water (bottled water has its own unique set of evils), but not to rely on water filtration devices that rely on chlorine as a disinfectant.

Where is Sure Aqua in all of this? Sure Aqua recognizes that chlorine is what it is. It doesn’t filter it out. If the water treatment facility in a particular city has deemed it appropriate to put chlorine into the water, it’s probably necessary. Chlorine kills bugs and the amount of chlorine that they are allowed to use is harmless. Most countries allow a maximum of 5mg for every liter of water, but the presence of chlorine in most areas is much less than that.

However, no Sure Aqua products use chemicals to filter water. Therefore, Sure Aqua filtration is completely safe, providing you with nothing but clean water and peace-of-mind.

Moving away from the harmful method of cleaning water of iodine and chlorine as chemical purifying agents, many of the major water purification companies now use chlorine dioxide disinfection in order to purify water.

Chlorine dioxide disinfection is primarily used as an industrial bleaching product. As a disinfectant, chlorine dioxide disinfection is used in ammonia plants, oil fields, textiles, electronics and even medical wastes. In the food industry, chlorine dioxide disinfection is beginning to be used to disinfect fruit, vegetable and poultry and food processing equipment.

Some of the major brands use chlorine dioxide disinfection to purify. Chlorine dioxide disinfection water purification tablets take a relatively long time to take effect: most are between 30 minutes and 2 hours. As a method of personal water purification, carbon dioxide disinfection isn’t a great option. However, if for some reason you need to purify a large volume of water at one time, carbon dioxide disinfection tablets are relatively effective.

So, what are the pros and cons of carbon dioxide disinfection? On the plus side, carbon dioxide disinfection tablets are lightweight, so you can just shove them in your backpack and head off. However, carbon dioxide disinfection tablets don’t provide any method of carrying water, so they’re less portable and useful than they seem.

Scientists are divided about the use of chemicals like carbon dioxide disinfection to purify water. Some say it’s entirely safe, whereas other argue it’s better to avoid them if possible. Essentially, carbon dioxide disinfection is better than nothing. In small doses, if you are not relying on carbon dioxide disinfection as the primary method of water purification, you’re unlikely to experience adverse health effects.

However, if you ingest too much chlorine dioxide you are liable to have pain in the nose and throat, coughing, chest pain and eye sensitivity, especially around bright lights. Worse still, according to the Australian government extremely high exposure to chlorine dioxide can cause pulmonary oedema, which is a severe, life threatening illness caused by fluid in the lungs.

Chlorine dioxide disinfection is used more and more frequently in place of other chemicals that purify water such as chlorine and iodine.  However, according to the World Health Organization ‘the toxicity of chlorine dioxide and its by-products, such as chlorite, limits the use of this disinfectant because the amount of toxic by-products is difficult to control or measure’.

The World Health Organization goes on to explain the producing carbon dioxide disinfection from sodium chlorite and acid is very expensive when compared to chlorine, which as a natural element is free.

So essentially, we know that chemical interference with a life-essential such as water is best avoided.

However, many people still keep carbon dioxide disinfection for disaster preparedness. Due to their size and weight, it seems to make sense. Nevertheless, even in emergencies there are usually better ways to purity water, so long as you are prepared. A water bottle like the Sure Aqua Bottle is far more practical as it can store water, there is no waiting time and there are no chemicals involved.

Ozonation For Cleaning Drinking Water: What Everyone Should Know

Ozone: Details About A Very Special Form of Oxygen

Ozone or O3 is a special chemical form of Oxygen gas. 3 Oxygen molecules bind together and form ozone. O3 is a very powerful purifier and disinfectant due to its special chemical nature. Oxygen is the most important gas for surviving on this earth as it helps in body’s metabolic activity. Normal oxygen that a person takes in as part of respiration consists of two molecules of Oxygen bound together. The process that uses O3 for purifying water is defined as ozonation.

A sudden storm in the summer makes you feel the freshness in the air; this is the smell of ozone formed by lightning bolts during the storm. UV rays also produce ozone by inducing chemical binding between the normal O2 and free oxygen radical present in the air.

How Does The Concept of Ozonation Works?

In ozone particles, one oxygen atom is weakly bound with the natural O2 molecule. The weak bond known as covalent bond allows the Oxygen atoms to have higher affinity to other organic substances like bacteria, viruses and other microorganisms. When a single atom of Oxygen attaches with an organic substance or body, oxidization occurs and the byproduct in this reaction is a simple single oxygen atom (O-).

Ozonation Process: The Synthetic Process In Water Purifiers

Synthetic purification of water follows the basic principle of natural ozonation. In ozone water purifiers, the system consists of an ozone generator that produces O3 artificially. The chemical process is similar to the natural (sunlight, UV rays, lightning bolt induced) ozonation processes. Inside the chamber, a high UV ray source is installed and the ray converts some oxygen into ozone. Upper atmosphere of the earth consists of an Ozone layer that protects us from the harmful UV rays; the natural principle is followed in this synthetic purification process.

Once the generator has produced ozone, the gas passes through a diffuser and thus ozone-saturated bubbles are formed. Bubbles are then allowed to mix with water and then water is reserved inside the purification tank. Ozone bubbles let the single oxygen atom free to attach with the organic molecules present in water and ultimately oxidization takes place. In simple words, ozone eats up the harmful organic molecules and purifies water.

The above mentioned process denotes a simple explanation of the concept of ozonation. The chemical reactions and processes are much complex and that’s why a researchable subject.

Advantages and Disadvantages

One major advantage of using ozonation for cleaning drinking water is the fact that it is more effective than the use of chlorine to kill bacteria and viruses. Also, ozone decomposes fast which is why there are no expected harmful residuals after using the process.

One of the disadvantages of using ozone in cleaning water is the fact that it can be irritating and even toxic. Low dosage may not be able to get rid of cysts and viruses. In addition, this type of water treatment can be quietly costly.

You can find the elaborated chemical procedures online and learn more about the mechanisms. International health organizations have their guidelines and suggestive articles on purifying water by Ozone gas. However, ozonation process purifies the water to the utmost level and a properly mediated process can assure the drinkable water quality.

Forward Osmosis: What it is and how its used

Forward osmosis is a process using a special water-permeable membrane, which separates water from substances or contaminates contained within it. It works using osmotic pressure, which is created by placing solutions of two different concentrations side by side. The first of these is termed the draw solution, which tends to pull in the feed solution due to its higher concentration. The membrane rests in the middle, and as the feed solution flows through it, it strains the unwanted particulates out of the water. These contaminates or undesirable substances are classified as solutes, because they are dissolved in the water itself.

What is the difference between forward osmosis, and the more well-known process of reverse osmosis? In reverse osmosis, rather than relying upon solutions of different concentrations to drive the cycle, it is powered from an outside force instead. This is necessary, because reverse osmosis forces the higher concentration solution to flow back into the less concentrated one – against the osmotic gradient.

Forward osmosis is far simpler, typically being a one step process, relying upon the solutes alone to carry out the job. These solutes trade places as the filtration occurs, which can produce drinkable water in many cases. Take water from a stream, lake or river with harmful contaminates contained within it as an example. Benign solutes will be in the draw solution, which are safe to ingest. These will take the place of the unwanted particles in the river water, making it potable and safe to drink.

The ease of the mechanism has made forward osmosis a popular choice for portable water filtration, as only gentle stirring or suction is needed. Products intended for backpackers are especially numerous, and these use solutes such as fructose or glucose which can be readily ingested. Thus, the pathogens in the outdoor water sources the hikers select, will be replaced with beneficial sugars instead. Often, a water bottle with a special straw is the form that is offered, as the suction speeds the forward osmosis process. Other units rely upon osmotic pressure alone, though these take a bit longer to perform the operation.

Another product which uses forward osmosis as its base, are special hydration bags for survival situations. These are issued to combat forces in desert regions, as they allow them to filter their own urine and create drinkable water. Even seawater could be successfully filtered using this approach in theory, and it has gained some interest for use in life boat emergency kits.

However, when it comes to desalination, a second step is usually added for better results. Most often, forward osmosis is allowed to take place with the seawater, and then the resulting solution is subjected to a secondary filtration method. There are many options available today, such as using another specialized membrane or heat to finish the job.

What are the benefits of this approach? Much of the salt is removed by the forward osmosis, allowing the equipment used in the rest of the process to run far smoother overall. Salt water has a reputation for causing mechanical issues, and desalination plants using reverse osmosis as their first step often run into problems.

The only downside to forward osmosis is that the draw solutes end up in the filtered water, and a second step is necessary to remove them. However, this isn’t required when solutes which are safe to ingest are used. As amply demonstrated by the above discussion, this is a small limitation, as forward osmosis has many practical applications due to its simplicity. It has several advantages over reverse osmosis too, making it an excellent choice for removing harmful contaminants in a variety of different situations.