Pure Water Occasional, December, 2024
 
In this last-of-the-year Occasional, you'll read about efforts to stop fluoridation of water, problems with lithium and how to get it out of water, the world's most polluted river, problems with anti-microbial shower heads, a web-footed mouse and a blob-headed fish, A23a is moving!, flow patterns in the world's rivers are changing, the EPA finally bans TCE, heavy water pollution in Iowa from animal manure, why you shouldn't drive on a flooded road, undersink filters, o rings,  and, as always, there is much, much more.

Thank you for reading, and sincere thanks from Pure Water Products for your continuing support.  
 
Thanks for reading!

Please visit the Pure Water Gazette, where you will find hundreds of articles about water and water treatment, and the Pure Water Products main website, where there is much information about water treatment and specific information about the products we offer. On both of these information-rich sites, pop-up ads and other distractions are not allowed.
 
 
 

 
 

Group Concludes that Water Fluoridation Has Reached Its “Tipping Point”

The Fluoride Action Network (FAN) issued the following statement in December of 2024:
 
We’ve reached the tipping point. Here’s what happened in 2024:
 
  • The largest study ever conducted on the effectiveness of fluoridation found essentially no reduction in tooth decay, no reductions in social inequalities, no reductions in missing teeth, and a net economic loss from the practice.
  • The first government-funded study looking at pregnant women living in a U.S. fluoridated community was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). It found a doubling of neurobehavioral problems for children born to mothers exposed to higher fluoride levels in optimally fluoridated Los Angeles, CA.
  • The National Toxicology Program (NTP) published their systematic review after 8-years, finding a “large body” of evidence that fluoride exposure is “consistently associated with lower IQ in children.”
  • After our 7-year-long legal battle in federal court against the EPA over the neurotoxicity of fluoridation, the court ruled that there is “substantial and scientifically credible evidence” establishing that water fluoridation “poses an unreasonable risk of reduced IQ in children.” The ruling requires the EPA to take regulatory action to eliminate this risk.
  • The legal victory brought unprecedented media attention to FAN and to the dangers of water fluoridation. It made ending fluoridation a nationally discussed issue, gaining attention from decision makers at all levels of government, including the incoming presidential administration, and generated a wave of communities suspending or ending fluoridation that continues to grow with each day.
  • The Cochrane Collaboration published an updated assessment on the efficacy of water fluoridation. It found that effectiveness has declined to almost nothing over the past 50 years.
 
 

 Lithium Removal with Household Water Purification Devices

 
 
Pure Water Gazette introductory note: We’re reprinting a truncated version of a very long article from the Slime Mold Time Mold website about removing lithium from water, a subject that has received little attention. After documenting the increasing amounts of lithium being found in our water, the article describes in detail some experiments done with conventional water treatment equipment available to residential users.  The experimenters tested a couple of home steam distillers, two standard undersink reverse osmosis units, and about a dozen popular carbon filters. The results were essentially as expected: the distillers did great and removed almost all of the lithium; the RO units reduced lithium by about 90 percent; the carbon filters were essentially ineffective at lithium removal (with one popular model actually adding a bit of lithium to the product water). 

 
 
 To read the full article, go here.  The original website version has detailed results of the tests including names of all the products tested and  charts and graphs. 
 
In the portion of the article reprinted below, the original is in bold type and our comments are italicized. 
 

Lithium is an element, atomic number 3. It is a soft, light, highly reactive metal with a variety of uses. Among other things, it’s often found as a trace mineral in drinking water. Small amounts of lithium are naturally present in many water sources, but levels of lithium in American drinking water have been increasing for the past 60 years.
 

In 1964, the US Department of the Interior published a report called Public water supplies of the 100 largest cities in the United States, which found a median lithium concentration of only 2.0 µg/L in US drinking water. The highest level they recorded was 170 µg/L.
 

In 2021, the USGS released a report that found a median level in US groundwater of 6.9 µg/L. This is almost four times the median level in the 1960s, but looking at nothing but the average obscures the fact that many people are getting exposed to even more. For comparison, the maximum level they found in groundwater was 1700 µg/L, ten times the maximum recorded in 1964.
 

The USGS also found that about 45% of public-supply wells and about 37% of domestic-supply wells contain concentrations of lithium “that could present a potential human-health risk per the current EPA guidelines.”
 

Levels in drinking water seem to have increased due to a number of related factors, including the use of drilled wells to tap deeper aquifers, higher levels of fossil fuel prospecting and pollution, and the fact that worldwide lithium extraction and use in industrial applications has increased in general, multiplying the opportunities for accidental exposure and pollution.
 

Lithium is not currently regulated in drinking water, and water quality reports don’t regularly include it. Most water treatment plants do not track lithium or attempt to reduce it. But the EPA and other government agencies are becoming more concerned about lithium exposure, even at the trace levels found in drinking water:
 

Just this January, lithium was added to the EPA’s proposed Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule. The Rule is used by the EPA to collect data for contaminants that are suspected to be present in drinking water and that do not have health-based standards set under the Safe Drinking Water Act.

…
Although useful for treating mental health disorders, pharmaceutical use of lithium at all therapeutic dosages can cause adverse health effects—primarily impaired thyroid and kidney function. Presently lithium is not regulated in drinking water in the U.S. The USGS, in collaboration with the EPA, calculated a nonregulatory Health-Based Screening Level (HBSL) for drinking water of 10 micrograms per liter (µg/L) or parts per billion to provide context for evaluating lithium concentrations in groundwater. A second “drinking-water-only” lithium benchmark of 60 µg/L can be used when it is assumed that the only source of lithium exposure is from drinking water (other sources of lithium include eggs, dairy products, and beverages such as soft drinks and beer); this higher benchmark was exceeded in 9% of samples from public-supply wells and in 6% of samples from domestic-supply wells.
 

Lithium is well-known to have psychoactive effects, which is why lithium salts are often prescribed as a psychiatric medication. In particular, lithium tends to make people less manic and less suicidal. Less charitably, it is sometimes described as a sedative.
 

But these effects may not always require psychiatric doses. A long-running literature of epidemiological research suggests that long-term exposure to trace levels of lithium commonly found in drinking water can also have psychiatric effects. Specifically, trace levels in drinking water are often found to be associated with decreased crime, reduced suicide rates, and/or decreased mental hospital admissions.
 

Finally, here at Slime Mold Time Mold we suspect that lithium exposure may contribute to the obesity epidemic. Lithium often causes weight gain at psychiatric doses, and while there’s no smoking gun yet, there’s some evidence that there might be a connection between long-term trace lithium exposure and obesity. People who are exposed to more lithium, especially at their jobs, tend to be more overweight. Cities with higher rates of obesity tend to have more exposure to lithium. And a group of Native Americans (the Pima) who had unusually high levels of lithium in their water also had unusually high levels of obesity, all the way back in the 1970s. Food levels may also be a possible vector (though it’s complicated).
 
Please go to the original article for test details.   To read the full article, go here.
 

 


 
 

 
The World's Most Polluted River

 
 
Environmental Regulation Matters
 

The Citarum is the longest and largest river in West Java, Indonesia. It is the third longest river in Java and has an important role in the life of the people of West Java, as it supports agriculture, water supply, fishery, industry, sewerage, and electricity. No one argues that it is perhaps the most polluted river in the world.
 
 
Despite the fact that the Citarum River has been named the world’s most polluted river by the World Bank, around 28 million people in Indonesia depend on it for irrigation and electricity — as well as nearly 80 percent of the capital city’s water supply.
 
 
It is estimated that more than 20,000 tons of waste and 340,000 tons of wastewater are disposed of directly into the waterways of the third-biggest river in Java every day from thousands of textile factories, killing nearly 60 percent of the river’s fish species and causing health problems for people who live along the banks of the polluted river.
 
 
In recent years, the Indonesian government has vowed to clean the Citarum River as studies from environmental groups had found that levels of lead in the river reached 1,000 times the U.S. standard for drinking water, but the problem has persisted due to the lack of coordination, maintenance and enforcement.
 
From the Pure Water Gazette famous water pictures series. 
 
 
 


 
 

Water News for December 2024

 
 
 
 
 
 
Effectiveness of Antimicrobial Shower Heads Questioned
 

To guard against harmful waterborne pathogens, many consumers, including managers of health-care facilities, install antimicrobial silver-containing shower heads. But researchers now report that these fixtures are no “silver bullet.” In real-world showering conditions, most microbes aren’t exposed to the silver long enough to be killed. However, the composition of rare microbes in water from these shower heads varied with each type of fixture tested. Water Online  (Gazette note: Common sense should tell us that at the flow rate of shower water microbes in water aren’t going to be controlled by the tiny amount of silver in a shower filter. Silver in the shower head may slow down the growth of bacteria in other media in the filter, but it isn’t capable of eliminating microbes in contaminated water. )
 
 
 
 
 
Scientists are still not sure what the fish’s blob is used for
 

During an expedition in the Alto Mayo region of Peru, part of the Amazon rainforest, researchers identified 27 new species, including an amphibious mouse with webbed feet and a unique “blob-headed” fish.
 
 
Water Used as Weapon in Gaza
 

Israel’s restriction of Gaza’s water supply to levels below minimum needs amounts to an act of genocide and extermination as a crime against humanity, a report from Human Rights Watch has alleged. It has accused Israeli forces of deliberate actions intended to cut the availability of clean water so drastically that the population has been forced to resort to contaminated sources, leading to the outbreak of lethal diseases, especially among children.  The Guardian
 

World’s oldest iceberg is moving
 

ANTARCTICA: The world’s largest and oldest iceberg A23a is on the move. After decades of being grounded on the seafloor and more recently spinning on the spot, the mega-iceberg has broken free from its position north of the South Orkney Islands and is now drifting in the Southern Ocean. The colossus A23a, which is double the size of Greater London and weighs nearly a trillion tons, calved from Antarctica’s Filchner Ice Shelf in 1986, and remained grounded on the seabed in the Weddell Sea for over 30 years before beginning its slow journey north in 2020.Full story from British Antarctic Survey.
 
 
Study Finds that River Flow Patterns Are Changing
 

UC College of Engineering and Applied Science Assistant Professor Dongmei Feng and her research partner, Colin Gleason at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, mapped the flow of water in nearly 3 million rivers, creeks and streams for the past 35 years and discovered more water flowing in upstream headwaters and decreasing flows downstream where more people live. 
 
 
The study published in the journal Science identified an increase in catastrophic floods known as 100-year floods in upstream waters over the last 35 years.
 
Researchers found significant declines in water flow in 44% of downstream sections of rivers and significant increases in 17% of upstream sections.
 
These changes can have profound effects on navigability, pollution, potability and even hydroelectric power. More sedimentation can cut off water flow to dams and damage turbines.
 
 
EPA Issues Complete Ban on TCE
 

Final EPA rules ban all uses of TCE. All consumer uses and many commercial uses of PCE require worker protections.
 
On Dec. 9, 2024 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized the latest risk management rules for trichloroethylene (TCE) and perchloroethylene (PCE) under the bipartisan 2016 Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) amendments, marking another major milestone for chemical safety after decades of inadequate protections and serious delays. These protections align with President Biden’s Cancer Moonshot, a whole-of-government approach to end cancer as we know it.
 
 
Iowa is “in crisis” due to illegal manure discharges into waterways
 

Iowa regulators are failing to properly penalize Iowa factory farms for illegally contaminating state waterways with animal waste, according to an analysis just released by a public health advocacy group. Between 2013 and 2023, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) recorded 179 incidents in which livestock operators discharged manure in violation of the law, fouling creeks and rivers and killing off more than one million fish, according to Food & Water Watch, which based its report on a review of state discharge enforcement reports. The quantities of discharges ranged up to 1 million gallons, the group said.  Full story in The New Lede.
 
 
Trying to drive on a flooded road is usually a bad idea.
 
According to the National Weather Service, more deaths result from drowning due to flooding than any other severe weather event. That’s because rushing water is a tricky thing. Is it an inch deep or a foot deep? Is there debris being deposited in the road that can damage the car or the tires? How powerful is the rushing water? There’s no way to know until it’s too late.
 
Six inches of water will reach the bottom of most passenger vehicles, causing the loss of steering and control; 1 foot of water will cause most vehicles to float; and 2 feet of rushing water can sweep away almost all noncommercial vehicles — including sports utility vehicles and pickup trucks.

 
 
Why We Send Postcard Reminders
 
If you have a product of ours that requires regular replacement parts, we send you a postcard reminder once a year. Reminders go to customers who need filter cartridges for whole house or drinking water filters or reverse osmosis units, washing machine or garden hose filters. Even shower filters.  UV customers also get cards to remind them to replace the ultraviolet lamp.
 
 
Cards are sent with the broad assumption that cartridges and lamps need to be replaced once a year. It’s an imperfect system, and once a year is as close as we can get. We realize that in some homes one person uses the shower filter while in others six do.   People often tell us things like the filter is in a summer home that is unoccupied much of the year, or that their daughter has gone away to college, so they don’t need replacements as often. That’s way too complicated for us. We are simple people and it’s a simple system.  Once a year. And it’s once a year from your last purchase: If we send a card in February and you purchase in April, you’ll get your next reminder in April. And if you don’t purchase, you don’t get another postcard, so rest assured that buying a countertop water filter from us does not put you on a never-ending mailing list. We aren’t like the Vet who’ll keep sending cards until you take Bowser in for his rabies shot.
 
Postcards may be the most popular thing we do, judging from the many thank-you notes we get. Cards make re-ordering easy. They tell you what you need to know to order by phone or from our website.
 
Why don’t we send email reminders instead? Email is cheaper and easier. We’ve tried, and email isn’t even remotely as effective as a postcard.

 
 
 
 

 


Undersink Filters
 

Pura Ultraviolet Undersink Unit
 
Pure Water Products features a full line of undersink water filters, all with standard sized components for easy replacement. These units are designed for easy installation, easy maintenance, and long years of effective performance. 

Black and White series. Our basic undersink units with single, double and triple housing versions. Ledge faucet, with several design and finish options available, and easy-to-install inlet kit are included. Many cartridge choices, all in standard size.
 

Black and White Triple Undersink Filter. Inlet kit is not shown in the picture. Optional faucet designs and finishes available.

Simple Undersink units. Single, double,  and triple filters that dispense water through the regular sink faucet and require no countertop installation. No hole in granite countertop needed.  Standard-sized cartridges, with many choices available. Simple undersink units have grown in popularity with rise in popularity of granite countertops. 


Pura Ultraviolet units.  Pura single, double and triple units featuring ultraviolet, sediment, and carbon block filtration. (See picture above.) Pura units all use standard-sized filter cartridges. We stock all parts.
 

Our Enhanced Performance Undersink Fluoride Filter. A four-stage unit with double the fluoride capacity of standard fluoride units. Replacements are furnished in a convenient four-cartridge pack.
 

Replacement Parts and Replacement Cartridges.  We stock complete replacement parts for every undersink unit that we sell.

See them all linked from this page:

Undersink Filters from Pure Water Products 
 
 

O Rings

One of the great things about products made with standard-sized parts is that it is always easy to find replacements. All Black & White units--undersink filters and undersink reverse osmosis units--as well as our Model 77 Countertop unit, simple undersink filters, Add-on filters, garden hose filters, cold water washer filters, and the Enhanced Performance Fluoride Filter--all use the same O ring.  The part number is OR001.
 
We  have many Pura customers and Pura o rings can be more complicated because over the years models have changed.  

Pura O Rings

Getting the right o ring for a Pura UV unit isn’t always simple. The chart below is designed to make it easy.
 
All o rings listed can be found here.
 
Pura Unit Description Built Prior to Fall 2009 Built after Fall 2009
UV1 (undersink unit) OR018 OR015
UVB (undersink unit) OR019 OR016
UV20 (whole house) OR019 OR016
UVBB whole house (See Note Below.) OR020 (See note below.) OR026 (See note below.)
There is one exception. There is an intermediate BB unit built between Fall 2009 and Jan. 2012. It uses a unique o ring: OR017.

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Places to visit for additional information:

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Thanks for reading. 
Pure Water Products, LLC, 523A N. Elm St., Denton, TX, 76201.  www.purewaterproducts.com. Call us at 888 382 3814, or email pwp@purewaterproducts.com.
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