Brita water jugs are acidic!

sfirmin

I accidentally came across this site.

I noticed the site recommends people to use a water filter and the Brita filter is mentioned. The last time I tested the water from a Brita jug, it was sooooooooooooooo acidic, just like distilled or reverse osmosis filters! Surely it can't be good for you. I thought acidity promotes cancer!

Would the moderator please inform the website people about this? They can test the Brita themselves.  

SF 

leggo

I don't know anything about Brita filters, but do use a reverse osmosis system. IMO, any filter is better than regular tap water. I won't even use it for cooking. I don't want chlorine and flouride in my water.

peggy_j

sfirmin wrote:
I thought acidity promotes cancer!

Do you have more information on this? I've love to read more, esp. any research papers you've found.

dlb823

Interesting post, SF.  I'd never thought to test the PH of the water from our undersink water filter (which happens to be by Aquasana) or our refrigerator filter.  I think I'll do that today.   We also used a Brita filter pitcher for many years, and although I very much doubt it had anything significant to do with my bc, I agree with you that acidic bodies are less healthy than alkaline bodies.  It's ironic that some of us are probably overly concerned about using non-toxic water bottles, yet have never given any thought to the ph content of our filtered water.  Thanks for the heads up!   Deanna

otter

Gosh... I don't think the Moderators need to inform the "website people" that Brita filters might be making our water unsafe.  That's just MHO, of course, and I actually don't use a water filtration system because our well water is just fine.  But, FWIW, here's some background about water pH:

Water purification systems that remove "impurities" from tap water often leave the water slightly acidic.  That's because the "purified" water no longer contains the compounds that would have buffered against changes in pH due to the addition of acids or bases.  That's the case for deionized water, and distilled water, and possibly other types of purification systems.

Distilled water is nearly always acidic.  (Re:  http://www.lenntech.com/applications/process/demineralised/deionised-demineralised-water.htm , admittedly a biased source).  That's because, once evaporated and condensed, distilled water has no buffering capacity anymore.  At the very instant the water molecules condense in the cooling coil, the pH of distilled water is neutral (pH 7.0)... but that doesn't last long.

When it comes in contact with air, distilled water rapidly absorbs CO2.  The dissolved CO2 reacts with water molecules to form carbonic acid... and, the pH of the water becomes acidic (typically 5.6 to slightly less than 7.0). The only way to keep that from happening is to keep the distilled water in an air-free container, away from any sources of CO2.  (Hint:  don't breathe on it.)

FWIW, that slightly acidic pH of distilled water is harmless.  It only takes a very tiny amount of CO2 to drop that pH from neutral, because there is no buffering capacity in the water.  Normal tapwater has more buffering power, so it won't respond as readily to tiny additions of acid or base.  Also, as soon as that "acidic" distilled water enters the body (if you're thinking distilled water is healthy to drink), the pH will be neutralized by the body's natural acid/base buffering capability.

sfirmin, I see you're a new member of BCO -- as of today, as a matter of fact; and the opening post of this thread is your only post on these Boards so far.  I'm impressed that you would be so concerned about our welfare as to join us just to post that warning.  I'm curious:  what's your interest in breast cancer?  Is it personal experience, or a research job, or medical background?  Do you have family members affected?  Just wondering.

otter

Moderators

Although it's from an older Breastcancer.org Ask-the-Expert conference, this Q&A about acidity is interesting.

Here's more about Exposure to Chemicals in Water from the main Breastcancer.org site.

The Mods

peggy_j

 Moderators, thanks for the link to the short article on acidity.

ibcmets

I've read info on alkaline water 3 years ago when I was diagnosed stage IV.  Due to being stage IV, I thought it could not hurt to drink alkaline water and bought a filter.  I still drink the water.  It tastes better and I don't get that chlorine taste of my regular tap water.  I know the filter was expensive ($1800) but I feel it was worth it.  I researched more about things we drink and eat everyday that could cause someone to be sick.  I am no healthnut and I do like my sweets, but try to taper off & buy milk & meat products without hormones added.

This is not an advertising for alkaline filters; just my thoughts.  I love the internet because you can do a lot of research on any topic.  You do have to be careful for scams, however.

Terri

JanCarol

I used Brita for more than ten years to which I developed acid reflux. A friend introduced me to Kangen Water and I did a 'test run'. 2 weeks later I bought my own Kangen Water machine and has been using it for two years now. Oh, by the way my acid reflux went away in just a week, and my friend's testing kit found Brita to be acidic - somewhere around 5pH, whilst Kangen Water is 8-5-9.5pH.

I would recommend it to anyone serious about hydration and health as a whole. I have friends who suffer from chronic constipation, eczema and psoriasis, gastric cancer and hypertension - all of them benefitted from drinking alkalzed Kangen Water. So do feel free to contact me so I could proide you with more info. I'm more than happy to help. Thank you and God bless everyone.

Moderators

Hi JanCarol,

Welcome to the BCO forums, we're glad that you found us!

Just so you know, this thread has been inactive since 2012 so you may not receive any or many responses here.

You may like to create your own new topic in this forum again to get a discussion going.

Hoping to hear more of your tips and resources in the future.

The Moderators.