In most areas, public treatment involves the use of chlorine for disinfection purposes. Home water purifiers protect us from the dangers of that chemical along with many others.

Before chlorination, there were outbreaks of waterborne illnesses all over the country. Today, they are rare in this country. The last serious one occurred in Milwaukee in the nineties. The population relied on the water purification system in use in their town and many people got sick. About 100 died. The plant was finally closed.

If they had used a water purifier at home with a micron filter to remove microscopic cryptosporidium cysts, they would have been safe. But, water purifiers are only so popular.

Many people just assume that the government would not allow water purification plants to send out anything that could be harmful to their health. They believe in the testing. They believe in the results. They believe that the tests are always accurate.

Personally, I am sure that it is safer to use a water purifier in my home. If someone got sick because I was too cheap to buy good quality water purifiers, I would have no one to blame but myself.

The Washington Post reported that many water purification utilities in many areas around the country modify the testing procedure in order to pass the standards set down by the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA's standards are not even that great. Even if the system passes, you would still need a home water purifier, if you weigh less than 175 pounds, because that's the weight that the "safe" standards are based on.

Environmental groups complain that the system needs to be fixed. I think we just need the public to buy water purifiers. We blame the government for everything. They are responsible for the chlorine and they probably should have cracked down on industrial dumping before they did, but that's past history.

All of us are in some way responsible for the prescription drugs and hormones that have been found flowing out of our taps. Part of the point of water purification is to "recycle". So, what we flush down the drain eventually ends up coming back through the faucet.

Of course not just any water purifier will do. You need one with carbon and multi-media blocks. Ion exchange is also important. Water purifiers that combine these three steps will remove just about anything that you can think of, while balancing the mineral content and the pH level. The result is a great tasting healthy beverage that you supplied for your family.

With all of the advancements that have been made in water purification technology, there is no reason that anyone's health should be at risk. Home units are small and affordable. They are not an unnecessary expense.