We do need some iron

An little article in the January/February Atlantic explains how a fellow has introduced small pieces of iron for rural Cambodian people to put in their cooking pots as a way to combat iron deficiency, which affects roughly half of Cambodia's children and pregnant women.  He found great success once he had the iron pieces fashioned into the shape of a smiling replica of a type of fish the locals consider a symbol of good luck.

This illustrates the importance of trace elements for our health.  That's one of the key reasons we recommend 'classic' filtration over reverse osmosis.  Classic filtration leaves needed trace elements in the water, supporting health.

It's also interesting how too much of many things can hurt us, while appropriate amounts will help us. See a story we wrote years ago that showed how too many organic tomatoes caused a health problem.

See this article in the International Journal of Medical Investigation for more info on trace elements.

Lots of the serious articles about the importance of trace elements in your drinking water cost money.  If you are sufficiently interested, just do a search and you'll see them.  However, we believe it makes great sense that these elements, needed for nutrition, should be in our drinking water.  We believe in Mother Nature.  We have seen those who think trace elements aren't absorbed when drinking water, but quite simply don't believe it.

We've also read research showing that over the long term, taking supplements will partially offset damage done by not having trace elements in your water, but supplements can't fully replace natural absorption from drinking water.

See the kitchen filters at friendsofwater.com for affordable, effective filters to support your health.

San Francisco Source Pipe Issue

San Francisco needs to repair a critical 19-mile stretch of pipe bringing water to the Bay Area from Hetch Hetchey.  The pipe is at risk of collapsing.  The pipes also carry the main supply of water for the hydroelectric powerhouse for the city.

However, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission is struggling financially and it's hard to see where the needed $625 million needed for the repairs will come from.  They are in the red already.

There are also only two to three months a year that the work could be done, because at other times the pipes couldn't be taken offline without a shortage resulting.

If the 19-mile tunnel failed San Francisco could be cut off from this water supply for up to nine months.  Several solutions are being considered.  

San Francisco Water

We just returned from a long weekend in San Francisco.  Living out in the Sierra Foothills as we do, we enjoyed many city activities not available here.  We spent a lot of time in the Golden Gate Park and its museums.  We went to Ocean Beach.  And we enjoyed eating out at different styles of restaurants.

We were surprised that San Francisco restaurants still automatically put water out for every person.  Given the extreme drought California is experiencing, we thought there would have been more awareness about not wasting water. 

Another surprise was that not one of the restaurants we visited filtered their water.  When we asked, servers seemed surprised to learn that there was both fluoride and chloramine in their water supplies - and that there is lots of evidence to support people shouldn't be drinking those.  (See earlier blogs here or our website for more information about why.)

In San Francisco, or any other place with a water supplier (not your own well), you can check what is in your water by looking up "San Francisco (or your town) Annual Water Quality Report" on the web.  Open the site from your local water supplier, not a national site. 

To select the right filters if you are on a municipal system, all that we need to know from the annual report is if the water has fluoride - and if the disinfectant used is chlorine or chloramine.   It's not hard to read:  Is fluoride listed as present?  And is chlorine or chloramine listed?  That's what you need to know to get the right filters.  All our kitchen filters and whole house filters are designed to filter the rest of what might be in your water.  But fluoride and chloramine require specific filter material you don't otherwise need.

You can bring a filtering water bottle to the restaurant.  It might not be as elegant, but it will preserve your health.

Updated Online Store

After 8 years in business, friendsofwater.com has moved to a new and improved platform for our online store. As we have always had, we continue to have the main informational site, www.friendsofwater.com.  Www.shop.friendsofwater.com has been upgraded for an easier customer experience.

Given the large number of great products we offer to save, filter and celebrate water, we have simplified the site in a number of ways.  For example, instead of listing each of six different variants of bath ball as individual products, we have listed just one bath ball, and offered the bath ball options within that.  This approach means fewer products to navigate through, making everything easier to find.

The changes include a number of upgrades that will make it easier for our customers to navigate the site using mobile devices too.

We thank our thousands of customers over 8 years, and we look forward to continuing to serve you and many other for a long time to come.

Happy New Year!