[This page contains information written by Ron Petruccione, a member of my local support group. He has subsequently sent me additional information, which I have added to the bottom.]

I feel we are taking in too many toxins, (heavy metals, PCB's, TMH's, insecticides, pesticides, fertilizers, GMO's, dyes, trans fats, nitrates and nitrites, etc.) never mind our little ones, and feel there are some immediate steps that will help the entire family. Since many of us need to get toxins out of our kids, we sure don't need any more going in than necessary. I have put together a compilation of different people's info.

Ron

~~~~~

At what point does an individual actually decide to make better choices regarding their health and their family's health? More recently, 'survival of the fittest' has increasingly become 'survival of the self educated and independent.' In terms of human survival, nature alone has determined the following order of nutrient consumption priorities:

1st priority is the air you breathe. Without it, you will suffocate in minutes.

2nd priority is the water you drink. Without it, you will die of thirst and dehydration within days.

3rd priority is the food you consume for energy. Without it, you will starve within weeks.

4th priority is the supplements you consume to replace what food (due to the demineralized condition of our soil) no longer provides.

5th priority is the ability to rid the body of toxins.

Today, without supplementing your diet, there is a strong possibility that you will suffer and die before your time with a number of nutritional deficiency diseases. I am confident that you will be relieved by the fact that just a few simple shifts in lifestyle choices will pay you huge health dividends, both short term and long term.

According to the EPA, indoor air quality "can be a serious (health) risk from the cumulative effects of these sources." [1] It all comes down to awareness and our ability to act on the knowledge that we possess. Severe and chronic diseases are directly related to the lack of integrity of the immune system [2] and subsequently the diminished ability of the body to respond to an immune insult.

How badly have we been affected already? Everyone knows that our environment is teeming with infectious agents. [2] They are not visible to the naked eye but the fact that we cannot see them does not make them non-existent.

Do you think the air is clean? How about the water? How many chemicals or additives are in the food you eat? According to the EPA's Toxics Release Inventory, six and a half billion (6,500,000,000) pounds of toxic chemicals are released by various industries into the environment annually. [3] One hundred million pounds are carcinogens. Every time you ingest, inhale or absorb any toxin your immune system must deal with it. Dr. Bert Berkson, consultant to the National Centres for Disease Control (NCDC) and Prevention and Professor of Applied Biology at New Mexico State claims that, "your immune system is constantly laboring to remove toxins from your bloodstream and tissues. These pollutants may be city smog, industrial chemicals, herbicides or pesticides. If you smoke you are exposing yourself to additional poisons. If you are a heavy alcohol user, the same is true."[4]

To achieve optimal health, an individual requires between two to three quarts of water daily. Tap water contains hundreds of organic and inorganic 'ingredients' that your body would have to deal with from an immunological perspective.[5] These include petrol-chemicals, organo-phosphate residues and elements such as cyanide, strontium, uranium and vanadium. The government has set standards due to the fact that arsenic, lead, copper, nitrates, phosphates and radon are common pollutants to our drinking water. [6]

It is far healthier to drink filtered, purified, ozoneated, reverse osmosis or even spring water (check for the independent laboratory testing with all spring water companies). The better water filtration systems use a combination of filtration purification modalities. On average, respiration, the act of breathing, occurs between fifteen and twenty times per minute. Air pollutants are found both indoors and outside but as a general rule, the quality of indoor air is up to 1000% worse than outdoor air, [7] and in some cases 100,000% worse. [8] The air in our automobiles is also hazardous to our health. According to the Air Quality Management Board, levels of pollutants such as benzene, toluene and formaldehyde are up to ten times higher in our cars than outside air. [9]

The obvious plan of action is to make every effort possible to remove these pollutants from the environment through use of ventilation and air filtration/purification systems. Everyone needs to purify the air in all their environments as much as they can in order to ease the stress on their immune system. Several authors have correlated that asthma is related to indoor air pollution. [10] [11]

Once inhaled, all airborne contaminants enter the chemical stew that your immune system wants to eliminate, but cannot due to a variety of reasons (insufficient water intake, deficient chlorophyll intake etc.) potentially causing health problems. [12] Dr. Elson M. Haas explains that, "there are many symptoms of toxicity but the most common signs are headache, fatigue, mucus problems, aches and pains, digestive problems, allergy symptoms and sensitivity to environmental agents like chemicals or perfumes."[13] When the combination of these factors causes the immune system to overload, almost any disruption to health can occur. [14] Airborne toxins compromise our immune system.

Every action you can take to decrease the toxic load on your immune system will have a synergistic effectiveness towards achieving optimal health. Current estimates are that one in three women and one in two men will suffer from cancer in their lifetime.[15] [16]

We need help. We must reduce pathogens in our environment. Breathe fresh air whenever you can, although according to most sources Americans spend as much as 90% of their time indoors. [17] Improve ventilation. It is extremely important to purify (sanitize, decontaminate) as much of our environment as we can.

Purify the air... in our homes, cars, and offices. Today we are fortunate to have products on the market that will reduce air and water contaminants by more than ninety-nine per cent. Plasma is the state of an energized gas. Lower wavelengths of ultraviolet light will energize air and create a plasma that will destroy biological contaminants, denature gases and chemicals, and neutralize odors. Every immune insult we can remove improves our health.

It is time to do all that we can to improve our immune system health. Let me reiterate. We must decrease our immune insults to the best of our ability because the threat to our immune systems will never stop. Watch what you eat. Purify the air and water. If we all could reduce the toxicity in our environment, it would decrease our immune system insults and optimize our chances of living a healthy life.

References:

[1] The Inside Story: A Guide to Indoor Air Quality. United states Environmental Protection Agency and the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission Office of Radiation and Indoor air (6604J). EPA Document #402-K-93-007. Washington. April 1995.

[2] Lane William, Baxter Susan. Immune Power. Garden City Park, New York. Avery Publishing Group. 1999; p43.

[3] Epstein S. The Stop Cancer Before It Starts Campaign. Chicago. The Cancer Prevention Coalition. February 2003; p12.

[4] Nature Works. Body Detoxification, Toxins and the Immune System. 2002.
http://immunedisorders.homestead.com/Detoxification.html

[5] Stoff J. Toronto Lecture. December 7, 2002.

[6] Drinking Water Standards. United States Environmental Protection Agency.
http://www.epa.gov/OGWDW/standards.html.

[7] United States Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Acid Deposition, Environmental Monitor Quality Assurance Project Summary: The Total Exposure Assessment Methodology. EPA Document #600-S6-87-002. Washington. 1987.

[8] AQMD Fact Sheet: Study of Air Pollution Levels Inside Vehicles. Triangle Park, NC. Research Triangle Institute and South Coast Air Quality Management District. June 10, 1999.

[9] Bjorksten B. Environmental issues in childhood asthma. Eur Respir Rev 1997; 7: p1114.

[10] Platts-Mills TAE, Carter MC. Asthma and indoor exposure to allergens. N Engl J Med. Vol 336. 1997; 138284.

[11] Indoor air pollution: Is 'Home Sweet Home' hazardous to your health? Rochester, MN. Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. August 9, 2002.

[12] Stoff J. A Study of the Effects of Oral Dietary Supplementation of Antigen Infused Colostrum/Whey Extract Upon Natural Killer Cell Activity in a Healthy Human Population. Scottsdale. Quantum Research Inc. 2001; p2.

[13] Haas, Elson M. Staying Healthy With Nutrition. Berkeley. Celestial Arts. 1992; p905-907.

[14] I B I D . P 4 0

[15] Lane William, Baxter Susan. Immune Power. Garden City Park, New York. Avery Publishing Group. 1999; p 119.

[16] Simone C. Cancer & Nutrition. Garden City Park, New York. Avery Publishing Group. 1992; p3.

[17] Indoor air pollution: Is 'Home Sweet Home' hazardous to your health? Rochester, MN. Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. August 9, 2002.

~~~~~

Hi All,

I hope my previous post didn't come across as a "the sky is falling" type of post. We all have heard about issues like the "hole in the ozone layer" that pollution is creating. Even though the US is somewhat proactive in this regard (albeit nowhere near enough), China, the Philippines and many others are not. It is also common knowledge, sited in the refs., that the pollution from all countries can circulate up in the jet-streams for over two years and continues to fall all over us -- including on our organic food, too (still better than the grocery store though). The prognosis for the next 5 yrs. is things will still be getting worse air quality wise. You may hear LA is better than last year, but that is just "spin doctor" work as LA was/is really bad and a notch up is nothing.

Think about this -- all the earth's land masses combined are approx. 1/3 the surface of the planet, less then 1/16 of that surface area is inhabited, yet the industrialized portion of it is putting out so much toxic pollution that it is actually overpowering the ozone layer (the earth's primary disinfectant system). Add to the mix that we are cutting down one of the largest oxygen producing parts of our eco- system (the rain forests), and you begin to see the tip of our problem.

I just want everyone I know to have at least considered that they may be taking in more toxins than they realize, and I feel it plays a larger role in our health, than people give it credit for. If your body's systems are already taxed fighting this issue, then your poor diet, poor drinking habits (lack of enough "good" water), poor air quality-indoors and out, lack of exercise, stress, etc., are actually quite the burden.

Now imagine that on top of this, your system had a few shots of mercury injected into it while your young immune system wasn't quite fully developed and you might agree with me that you need to make sure you are dumping more toxins than you are taking in EVERY DAY, otherwise you are making slow progress or losing the battle.

Ron

AIR

IMHO, HEPA room air purifier units are expensive and loud, Keep in mind 55 decibels (db) is basically conversation level. So if a unit says it "only" makes 55db of noise on its highest fan setting (which is what you'll be using, believe me), then that would be equivalent to always walking into a room with a TV on or someone having a conversation. So if you want to read or watch TV, you will have to compete with that.

You will have to make up your own mind if a "whole house" unit or a bunch of room units is for you. I favor whole house because it is quieter and less costly. In my opinion, there is only one whole house filter to consider. Better than any paper 3M filter or passive electrostatic filter, is the Envirosept. This replaces the filter in your central air heating/AC system. This line of defense is for particulates (dust, pollen, dander, etc...)

http://www.envirosept.com/

Combine that with a HVAC1 unit from Aran and I don't think you can do better. It will take care of the rest (VOC, fumes, gases, mold, spores, etc…) With this unit it is recommended you have sheet metal ducting throughout your home, if you have the "flex" plastic type the ozone will over time oxidize through it. Then you will have the fiberglass insulation coming into your house. Not good, as it makes for a very itching burning sensation in your nasal passages. This company also makes room units. There primary clientele is industrial/commercial though.

http://www.aranizer.us/

You can do room units if you like, just realize they will cost you in higher electric bills, filter purchases (especially the HEPA), not to mention if they quit working. Most only come with a 1 or 2yr. warranty.

The Sharper Image "Ionic Breeze" is only an Ion generator. It can give you some relief if you have allergies, but it doesn't do anything in regards to killing/oxidizing gases, vapors, bacteria, spores, etc… the list is long. It puts negative ions on the particulates so they will be attracted to the closest positively charged item. This is usually your floor or wall if it is close to one. If you purchased the model with the blue UV light is does kill some, but the bulb is small and for the same money you could do the whole house. And yes I have looked into Biozone, Alpine/Ecoquest as well as many others.

In talking to the manufacturers the main difference is in the length and wattage. You can usually tell this from the warranty on the bulb. As an example, you can see that the "Ionic Breeze" offers a 3yr. warranty but only 1yr. on the bulb. Where the Biozone offers 3yrs. on the bulb but also charges more than 3x more for the bulb. Also, Sharper Image doesn't state the length of the bulb, where Biozone does. It's up to you.

In closing, all these UV bulb units are the same, except for the ARAN. It is a true Plasma unit. The others use the term, along with tricky and confusing acronyms but are nothing more.

WATER – "Use a filter or be a filter"

Water, this one took forever, many months at least. I like a company named Pure Water Products and a product called "Wholly Water."

http://www.pwgazette.com/
http://www.wholly-water.com/media.htm

Pure Water Products is a manufacturer and will build anything for you.

Wholly Water are the only ones offering independent third party verification of NSF 42 & 53 criteria (which is the only thing that counts) and the only ones offering a 6yr. warranty on there product. (1yr. no questions, 5yr pro-rated) There are currently lasting 10yrs. When they do need servicing, you can send it back to be rebedded or do it yourself with a kit. This is your only additional cost, and still a lot less expensive than buying annual filters. Every other manufacturer on the market makes you buy replacement cartridges. Most everyone else only offers "Limited 1yr. on the housing.

I looked at Everpure, used by Disney, Coke and Pepsi, as well as at all kinds of European and Japanese units, at '2 Pure H2O', at every R.O. (reverse osmosis) unit it seems, I think I've looked at it all. I've read up on clustered water, stabilized water, oxygenated water, ozoneated water, memory retention, erasing the memory of the water, remineralizing the water, alkalizing the water, magnetizing the water, energizing the water, even talking nicely to it, OK not that one.

There are enough media types to make your head spin; sediment removal media-like sand, GAC - granular activated carbon, (sometimes they say "charcoal") media, Carbon Block media, ceramic media, KDF media, pH neutralizing media, activated aluminina, membranes and the list goes on.

Realistically, financially, ease of installation, the under the counter (kitchen sink) "Wholly Water" unit is the best way to go. RO is a close second and could be first in some peoples eyes, like mine, as I feel you get slightly better water, but it is more expensive in the long run and more difficult to install, but not too bad. With Wholly Water you can backwash it (that's a good thing) and it contains all the important media beds and leaves in the good minerals, plus it removes fluoride and arsenic, which is usually specifically left to RO systems, However, since they "bog down" (RO systems), thus not putting out their high quality water, you need to own a TDS meter (total dissolved solids) in order to know when to replace it. The 1 yr. recommendation they give is a rough ballpark, they have to put something down, but that RO system is not giving you the same quality one month to the next, as the main RO membrane gets dirty the quality of the water drops.

If you already have a RO system under your counter, you are doing well, but your child still takes baths and showers and so do you. Which is actually the main impetus for making this post, as you all know the best way to help your child is to help yourself first. Don't run yourself into the ground, how does that help your kid, take care of yourself.

You could make up some good ground by doing something for the whole house, referred to as POE (point of entry). Here a nice answer is a good size 20" 5 micron carbon block filter. (all the products you see at Home Depot and Sears use 30 or 25 micron filters, very inferior) It can be had for $160, plus installation from a plumber and filters are only $20 a year. You could go with a GAC (Granulated Active Carbon) automatic backwashing filter, but you are looking at $500+, plus that plumber again, who will be about $120. For those of you who already own a water softener, either of these would go before the softener, as it will help it run more efficiently and remove the chloride and lead. When I say that, I'm talking about 95%.

Realize there are major "Catch-22" issues when it comes to water. Mainly what's good for your body–vs- good for your house. For example, your body likes Calcium and Magnesium, your pipes do not. Your house pipes like soft water, your body does not. Softeners only combat hard water, they take out Calcium and Magnesium and replace it with Sodium.

If you have not copper repiped yet, putting in a softener would be a disaster as it would loosen all the crud in your pipes, plug up your faucets and reduce your pressure, if you're lucky! It also could break free so much crud that it will reveal holes that were rotted through and being held together by the crud. If you just repiped or have copper pipes, a 5 micron carbon block at POE with a softener is a good setup for the house.

If you had to pick one, go with the Carbon Block -- it is for the body, so sacrifice the house. You can do a carbon block for $160 plus installation costs of approx. $120. Installation was actually rather easy if you are somewhat handy, took me about an hour. A softener will run over $500-600. If you do the carbon block, you don't have to do the shower or tub filter stuff. KDF was primarily created for use in hot water applications and it doesn't do that great of a job, but if you already have one installed, it can only help and will last much longer.

So to recap in a nutshell:

If you rent, you may want to put a Wholly Water under the sink. And get KDS filters for the showers and bath. If you already have a RO system, pick up a TDS meter to really know when to change your filters.

If you own a house:

With original plumbing;

Put a 5micron Carbon Block @ POE to take away the chlorine and a good amount of heavy metals and other nasties and a RO or Wholly Water system under the sink to drink by. If you already have a RO system, get the TDS meter, if you have the shower filters leave them.

With copper plumbing;

You can do a 5 micron Carbon Block at POE or a GAC backwashing filter at POE. If you have a softener, leave it or take it out no matter. RO or Wholly Water to drink by. Shower filters if you have them. Something to think about, the solder used to sweat together your plumbing is most likely lead based. Estimates are 80% of the houses are. They make lead free solder but it's twice as expensive, so most home builders use the less expensive one. This is why I still recommend the shower and tub filters, because as the water stands in the pipes over night it leaches whatever it can. Water is after all a solvent by definition.

http://members.tripod.com/healingtools/wtres.html

So what lead is picked up from the solder the KDF shower filter will catch.

http://www.healingdaily.com/detoxification-diet/water-filtration-systems.htm

Distilled

My opinion of distilled is:

Bottled delivery is expensive, counter units are as well (constant, relatively expensive filter changes).

The part of distilled water leaching minerals from the body is false. It is however striped of all minerals, so if you are drinking it, which I feel is OK, you should be on mineral supplementation because you aren't getting any from your water, not because it is stripping it from the body.

Tap water these days has Trihalomethanes in it, a result of the water treatment plants adding Ammonia to the Chlorine in order to stabilize it. They say they need to do this because the chlorine wasn't making it all the way to the houses in high enough concentrations. Adding ammonia makes it more stable, but also turns the chlorine into a THM (Trihalomethane).

The carbon filter that filters the chlorinated tap water you put in your counter top distiller, removes the chlorine and leaves trace ammonia and THM Trihalomethanes, the byproduct of the chlorine/ammonia/organic matter exchange.

In a nutshell, "distilled water" is OK, just expensive and you aren't getting any of the good minerals. That's my opinion. I would do RO under the counter, over distiller.

Bottled Water

Your choices: Arrowhead type (delivered or store bought), the local water store.

With the local water store (who uses RO) you don't know how often they service their equipment. SO unless you are testing at home you just don't know what you're getting. Plus all the hassle of getting it, lifting it, etc….and it is more expensive than a RO system under the counter in the long run.

Arrowhead type

I have heard everything from, for every one truck that comes down from the Arrowhead mountain plant 10 leave the plant in LA. All unverifiable info. The only thing I've heard that makes sense to me is: If you are out and about if you have a choice of Aquafina or Dansia to buy those. Reason being they are made by Coke and Pepsi and being that Coke and Pepsi doesn't want the local water plant possibly altering a batch or two of their product, they filter very well in order to secure consistency. All the other brands you really don't know what your getting.

Pools and Jacuzzis, big issue here.

You are basically bathing in toxins (chlorine). You can convert your pool to Ozone or salt and stop using chlorine all together, or cut it by 90% depending on the system you use. Here's a few links

http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/dept/coachsci/swimming/chlorine/chlorine.htm
http://www.bioniser.com/FAQ.html
http://www.carefreeclearwater.com/
http://www.delozone.com/

Did you know in the "84 Olympics, the athletes from the European countries made the Olympics Committee tear out the chlorine system because they refused to swim in it? Afterwards, the Olympics Committee tore out the new system and put the chlorine system back in. Talk about the power of politics.

A note about tubs:

Both of the following links have bath ball dechlorinators, do not buy them they are fake. I have both and a water testing kit and they both failed.

http://www.goshower.com/cottonswow/showertimer.html
http://www.realgoods.com/shop/shop1.cfm?dp=109&ts=1042881

My answer was to remove the tub spout, it should unscrew, leaving you with a ½ inch male pipe thread, (dress up as you see fit) from there you can screw on a 90 degree elbow and use a shower filter. The tub will fill just as fast. Or get your little one to take showers I like tubs because I use the Epsom Salts. There is a product call "Mediterranean Blue Bath Salts", it is a dechlorinator. This might be something to consider for the short term until you get things installed, if you choose to do at all.

Water filters are a very competitive market the only thing I can do for us here is give you my opinion. Pure Water Products is very straight-forward, honest and of best value. If I found anything at a better price it was of inferior quality or had hidden expenses and items claiming to be of better quality and charging more were the same as PWP products or commercial grade.

Hope this was of some help?

~~~~~

[Additional Info #1]

There is no way to really help the air you breathe in your house unless you go to the expense of sealing up all the possible drafts and remove anything that off-gasses (carpets and the padding under them, the vinyl floors, Pergo and the rest and the glue that holds them down, the urethane on top of your hardwood floors). The folks with the marble and tile floors thru out are OK, that's pretty much everybody, right?!

Even if you do all that you still have to open your door to leave the house so what is the point. Air is a global issue for us city dwellers, end of story. You could go live in the mountains, but short of that...

If one has very sever allergies they can get "some" relief (with these products), but if they are that sensitive they should be looking that their diet anyway, much more progress can be made there.

Aranizers(I have borrowed some models from friends) don't seem to do anything different than the Ecoquest/LivingAire, Sharper Imagine and all the rest. The "ozone units" that fit into your house air conditioning unit you need to be careful of. I at one time thought they were the best approach,(cover all your rooms more efficiently) the ones that actually produce ozone can only be used in the older sheet metal ducting. The newer ducting is made of a plastic flex tubing with fiberglass inside. The ozone will break down the inner plastic lining then you will be blowing fiberglass into your rooms in a few years.

If you put a "real" ozone producing unit in your "room" it will bring an early demise to most things in your room (cd collection, computer components, elastic waistbands, you get the idea, that's what ozone does, "oxidizes, decomposes, natures disinfectant-yes". You won't notice it per say because it is so gradual, two or three years-hard to say.

If one still wants to pursue for piece of mind or their "psychies", get a room HEPA unit that has a pre charcoal filter and keep on top of rinsing off the charcoal filter so you don't have to buy the expensive HEPA filter as often.

To really help yourself though, the answer really is "diet and exercise", it's just hard with the schedules we keep. We can't stop taking in these toxins around us, we can try to minimize our intake (diet though -more than air or water) but unless we work on getting them out just as fast or faster (chelation and lymph system-exercise) what's the point. Pick the chelation approach that makes the most sense to your child's needs (then start it) and get them moving/exercising/sweating everyday. I'm not talking saunas, dry saunas, FAR or any of the rest. I'm talking about the sweaty mess they are when they go to a birthday party/jumpy/tramp/rebounder/tumbling glass, etc... my favorite though is swimming in a non-chlorinated pool! (salt or ozone) because they also stay hydrated and as far as I'm concerned the best all around exercise known. Every major and minor muscle group without the impact, feel free to post to the group or your site.

Ron

~~~~~

[Additional Info #2]

I believe in a whole house filter, also known as a "backwashing" filter. There are many companies out there. They are all the same, so don't pay more for the fancy electronics. I actually like the mechanical kind with stainless steel parts. I like the following site, they will let you "custom build" your own and include shipping in all there prices, send you reminders and all that stuff. http://pwgazette.com/5600.htm

For city dwellers like ourselves the choices are already made:
(1) 1.5 Foot Centaur Catalytic Carbon Filter
(1) Metal Bypass Valve ending in 1" Female Pipe Thread, for 5600. If you have a house or family of four you'll be wise to get the 1" fittings. 10 X 54" ChemSorb Filter -is just a sediment filter, don't bother with it. The above set-up is just over $700, but you're going to spend over $600 anyway. You can also look here http://www.pwgazette.com/fleckbackwashing.htm and your uncle might like the "Filter Media" link.

IMHO the Wholly water is for apartments were you can't install a real system, even at that there are better systems.

" What kind of water do we end up with in the bathrooms, where the kids brush their teeth and bath? Without something more than the GAC, won't they still be getting things such as metals? Also, they will still be drinking fluoridated water when brushing teeth, won't they?

You hit the first nail on the head! The good news is the chlorine and some chloramines will be removed by then with a backwashing filter.

" My main water concerns are removal of any metals, parasites/bacteria, inorganics (like pesticides), and fluoride. I want my kids to be able to bathe in water, shower in, and drink the water upstairs as well as be able to safely drink downstairs."

"Any metals!" that's a tough one, (just so you know). I just wrote to Dana about this.

You can find on that site a whole house R.O. system for about $5-6K if you want. My approach is a whole house backwashing filter, with R.O. in the kitchen for cooking and filling water bottles and ceramic filters under the sink in the bathrooms http://www.pwgazette.com/uf.htm

The only way to treat the shower and tub (other than the whole house backwashing filter)is to put another filter on where it exits. Easy enough for the shower but the tub is a little ugly, but pointless none the less because anything that has made it that far will go past these basic filters. KDF55 sound familiar, your whole house filter already did that job.

Your uncle is on the mark to recommend a pre-filter a 10 or 5 is good it will not reduce the pressure in your house, just make sure to change it or rinse it out on time in order to make your other (more expensive filters- RO membrane) last longer. The GAC filter would go before the RO so most stuff is removed before the RO stage. RO removes down to below 1, like 0.001, but it also take with it the good calcium, magnesium, zinc and such. That is why the remineralizing stage, to add some of that back in, but it is not calcium carbonate, (which is nothing more than sidewalk chalk, seen in most vitamin supplements. Look for a calcium supplement that contains magnesium and zinc - gluconate is better than carbonate, more absorbable too.) it is called a Calcite filter last I knew.

The only way to get fluoride, aluminum and the metals is R.O. and as you'll see, only whole house R.O.'s can do this. So if you don't have the money, like me, this is why I say go with a backwashing system and RO in the kitchen. You have to write-off the tub and shower. BTW, if you have your "own" pool(ozone or salt, not chlorine system) then you have a work-around to the tub problem. Wish I had one.

~~~~~

[Additional Info #3]

It has been awhile since I visited the wholly water site. I find many issues with it, even some common sense basic flaws like:

Where do the contaminants go? With RO they are drained away during the process and with backwashing systems the unit “backwash” every night or every other day to expel the contaminants. Theirs stays in there and you backwash once every three months? Does not compute for me and to backwash you have to go underneath the counter reverse the water lines and run it into the sink for a while. You know how often that is going to happen.

I also looked at their house system briefly; it was made of all plastic parts and boosts a .1 micron post filter. A .1micron filter is to small to provide the required pressure for a house and if you read carefully that is the stage their system removes the cysts, bacteria, etc…

Lets also not forget the unit is 50% sediment removal (that large bottom layer you see-sand gravel,etc…) then boosts 4 other (large layers) please…if you buy a cartridge anywhere else it is considerably larger than those disks.

My .02 cents

Ron

~~~~~

[Additional Info #4]

Dana,
I was told of a man who uses H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide) in his spa instead of chlorine. He keeps a 1-2% ratio. This is the only way I know to be 100% chlorine free. I have purchased 35% food grade H2O2 (in 5-10-15gallon drums) and used it for years now and love the stuff. Most people are satisfied with the 90% reduction of chlorine when they install their ozone system and just don't bother with the last 10%, just depends on the person.
http://www.delozone.com/faq-pool-waterchemistry.html

[My thanks to Ron Petruccione for allowing me to use this information on my site.]