Do Water Filters Really Purify Your Water? | Talking Point | Full Episode
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 16 พ.ค. 2021
- Water that can give you better digestion, improved hydration, and even help prevent cancer… These are just some of the benefits that water filters promise to give you, but are they everything they claim to be? What exactly do they do to your water, and do you really need one at home?
Through a series of tests, Talking Point host Steven Chia goes in search of answers to find out if filtered water can truly be healthier, cleaner and safer than what we get straight from the tap.
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About the show: Talking Point investigates a current issue or event, offering different perspectives to local stories and revealing how it all affects you.
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This man took an argument with his wife over water filters to the next level...bravo.
That's true
With all the science & fact, one will still lose if the wife starts to shut up & give u blackface everyday
@@mnmldev8636 100% XD
next topic: quality of divorce lawyers and how to pick the right one.
He may won the arguments with scientific facts. But, at what cost? Spending a month sleeping on the second room, or worse, sofa?
I was happy to hear that our tap water is safe to consume, so happy that I started filling a cup of my own. Until I realized I didn't live in Singapore.
Once filtered water from a well, the taste isn't tasty.
.... let me guess, you live in flint.
In Canada our water was so safe, quite a few people died from drinking it. Even today, there are places without clean water.
Hilarious!
@@xeero24 ground water also varies in its quality at the same point on a daily basis. It sucks that we have to soften it and filter it. Had an experience of water suddenly turning bright yellow as I was rinsing a beautiful white t-shirt at a friend's place. They were using the same water for brushing their teeth and bathing. They filtered only cooking and drinking water. They didn't believe me, and I left it at that. No prize for guessing that they started to have health issues a few months afterwards. Lots of pathogens..and a whole laundry list of ailments.
Singapore is an example of a country that really cares about the health needs of its citizens
FGM happens there
Same sex is ilegal there… so they don’t care much bout its citizens
It really is on my "to travel to" list ❤️
So true!! I guess that's why they mandated the genetic bio weapon DNA changing COVID injection on their people
I wish they were so careful in the Netherlands
in the US water quality standards are state-regulated so permissible levels of contaminants vary from state to state. and while filters shouldn't claim to prevent cancer, they can help reduce potential carcinogens such as haloacetic acids (a chlorination disinfection byproduct). i'm not an expert but i do work in a water chemistry lab. 👌🏻
I don’t know which part of America are you living. I don’t believe in tap water because it smell gas and the color is black I the city I live.
Not every city or every state in your country's tap water is safe. Maybe you're just living in a city with a good management on your tap water and your checking them out but this is not the same in every state. Some cities have this dark brown water from time to time
@@jahd5790 yep definitely and i never meant to imply everywhere in the US had great drinking water. just that it's not federally regulated which causes a lot of variance.
So what kind of water purifier should we use ?
I don’t trust anything that has government attach to it.
TBH, I do not think the tap water is the problem but rather, old piping systems.
That's what I think as well. But based from samples they got, it seems that the old piping reason is dismissable.🤷🏻♀️
one of the reasons is because the water is pressurized. So even if there is a crack in the pipe, water goes out, nothing comes in. They say just run the tap for a few seconds and all that stuff will get out
most HDB are 40+ years old and im quite sure the inside of the pipes look like this th-cam.com/video/V1UHPtT6HFU/w-d-xo.html which is kinda disgusting to think the water you drink from passes through that. hence why i have a $250 filter.
Yes, exactly.
@@ainzooalgown7589 That only happens on terrible American plumbing system. PVC piping won't corrode and has practically infinite lifespan.
i wish we had programs like this in usa. casual fun but still important news. instead of your typical sad, politics, or anything messed up news/documentaries.
@@corruptikoo2683 Don't worry, they make money off your views.
Same here in Israel luckily we've CNA TH-cam
they blatantly copied CBC, watch those instead, much higher standards in both quality and journalism
@@derrymd halo.. we are talking about water in singapore. Every country has its own water standard. Dont blatantly apply to your own country water.
@@burung81 I was not talking about water quality, but the quality of the video's content, and the level of journalism involved
I am super happy to watch this video and in my whole life since youtube born, i gave only two likes in total, one is for this video. I love the hard work of the person who did all the research done. salute you man. 10 stars out of 10
The amount of information in this video is itself valuable to the public. The public should know how their basic amenities like water is produced, monitored and used. An informed and educated public is essential in making sure the government is doing its job properly.
As a chemist, Singapore's water is very very clean and all the minerals, the chloride and fluoride are all at safe drinking level. The thing that you might have be concern about is old pipes in older flats where there might be build-up of limescale or simply corroded. Changing out old pipes that have corroded will probably help you more than using a water filter.
"Safe levels" doesn't necessarily means healthy
If you only came for the answer: They are mostly not beneficial at all and can actually be a place for bacteria to grow which is worse than having no filter at all.
Thank you so much!
You saved people so much time. Thank you kind soul.
Very true, you can think of them as bacteria concentraters and mini bacteria farms. Especially if left unattended which is typical of a lot of home systems.
A good filter prevents all living pathogens from entering the water filter (the first layer of filtration, also used by the municipal water purification (which the document forgot to mention)
- I’d trust the old lady who works with real humans - more than a narrator that looks to disprove benefits of purification, - while not having fully experienced the difference/benefits due to ones own disinterests.
Even when he has it already available in his own home.
- I have chosen to purify my water for past 6 years, and know from personal experience the many benefits.
How about cleaning the house without a filter in the vacuum cleaner? Your body is your temple. You can make it pure and simple.
Or just simple - with tap water - fluorides IQ lowering - mind dulling effects are well documented by science - not well understood by this water lab. chemist.
Better water better wellness
Namaste
reverse osmosis maybe... get a berkey.
just what I need. Thank you CNA Insider
Living in Paris (France), I always drank tap water unfiltered, even though my mother would filter hers all the time: Paris's water is very hard. But I think that my taste buds become more sensitive as I age, it's the only explanation I've found for the water to start to taste.... off. So I've been using a water filter, and it's been efficient in extracting most of that extra calcium and making the tap water more palatable. I don't need to descale my kettle as much as before, another bonus.
I don't expect huge health benefits, but for my purposes my Brita does its job.
The filtration systems are not designed to increase the level of minerals relative to tap water. They simply replace the minerals that are stripped out during reverse osmosis.
Not all countries have safe tap water. Congratulations to Singapore for achieving good healthy tap water. In Thailand where I live, we often have brown tap water, and the rivers have water that runs off farm land, with farm chemicals and animal faeces able to enter the water supply. City catchments can have industrial pollutants.
We find our triple filter with Ultraviolet bacteria control gives us clean and normal drinking water. In Australia we used a charcoal filtered water jug to remove the smell of the chlorine but the tap water was quite safe.
Water is often blamed for digestive upsets when the true cause is food handling and food storage.
In thailand i'd suggest an RO-filtration unit that filters out heavy metals and harmful chemicals like pesticides and fertilzers. One also needs a good-sized 3-tube pre-filters 1.Polypropylene PP to catch rust, mud, particulates in brown water 2.Carbon-block to remove smell and some toxic chemicals 3.Ion-exchange resin to remove hardwater and limestone.
Three-stage filtration is not enough to remove the toxic pesticides without reverse-osmosis filter. River water can be dangerous, causing blindness from worms like in Africa. UV is not sufficient to kill germs unless it's 35-40 watts up.
Here in San Francisco, the water smells like straight up bleach. It literally makes you very nauseous and sick. Really unbearable quite frankly. The activated charcoal filters makes the tap water taste so much better and saves a ton of money.
@@pramuanchutham7355 UV is the very last step in water filtration (well can do multiple UV lights) because contaminates can cast a shadow onto the bacteria, rendering it useless. UV wattage depends on waterflow (UV-C is better than UVA/B too). Also it's the wattage of UV-output not what an inefficient lamp consumes.
@@jameskarrie298 on household-unit, the uv-lamp is rated 6-9 watts which is to small to effectively kill bacteria. I prefer an ozonization unit to disinfect the germs. With chlorinated tab-water, removing chlorine prior to resin-stage is sufficient to avoid bacteria, except build-up in the waste-water line of the RO-membrane. This line needs to be flushed thoroughly every 3-6 months.
Chlorinated tab water is the most effective disinfection. Chlorine just needs to be removed prior to drinking, by carbon block, to avoid cancer and thyroid problems. I don't dare to filter brown, unchlorinated water, even with reverse-osmosis, without boiling before drinking. Bacteria and virus are very dangerous to take into your body. At least start filtering with chlorinated tab water...
When you want to tell your wife she’s wrong without telling her she’s wrong...
And probably get that thousand dollars back, 😂
AHahahha
🤣🤣😂
@@chloe9714 "this is the story where i proved my wife wrong and science backed me up" 🤣😂
good luck steve
I have used a Brit filter (pitcher) for years. I am pretty reliable about changing filters but after watching this, will be much more vigilant and timely!
23:21 the answer you’re looking for.
You're a gem
Hahahahaha thank u
Always wondered why people buy such products.
Yea boi!
God bless you
Straight from the tap, no wastages of gas, plastic bottles, carbon footprint.
Thank you PUB
Wouldn't you still eave a carbon footprint by buying the faucet in the first place? Drinking straight from the spring is the way to go!
@@CLOPACIOUZZZ yeah okay let's go back to the stone age.
@@edstar83 keep drinking that fluoride makes you smart
I’m thinking of buying a $2500 water filter machine . After seeing this video. I can save my money 😂
Me too!
Same not necessary a 2500 sgd one but a filter guess it's not needed, in tekong water got weird taste also never die hahaha
less than 100 Singapore dollar is price in India
tekong water is definitely some hardass water.
@@dongster529 😂😂😂more weird taste than our home tap water
I live in California, and the lime scale is absolutely horrible over here. If I use the water in things like humidifiers and my hot water pot, the lime scale builds up really quickly. A water filter will greatly cut down on the lime scale.
I agree with the video, and the video is fantastic. Filters remove minerals, not add them. In fact, if it adds minerals, I'd be nervous. If my tap water was better, I would just drink tap water.
I also live in California and the tap water where I live is absolutely horrible, I personally believe a water filter is always needed.
This was a very informative and thoughtful video. I’ve always wondered about if water filters actually works and this video helped to answer that question. Glad to know that most tap water is safe to drink!
That all depends where you live. Some communities have great tap water and others have terrible tap water containing high levels of lead, arsenic, and uranium.
Don't tell that to the people of Flint, Michigan. How clean your tap water is is highly dependent on where you live. Unless you live in Singapore, this video is largely useless.
Another great programme from CNA and Steve Chia.
Great video! Always very well done! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
The old lady who oversees the nursing home at the beginning of the clip is quite respectable, knowledgeable on how magnesium helps relax muscles and improve sleep. And she's willing to pay for good filtration, rather than casting doubts on anything with pseuso-science. Buy a TDS-meter, man
This is how review of a product / products should be done. It is really open your eyes about what is right or wrong. Good job!
Imagine if they did these tests in India. They'd probably recommend double filtration.
Many indian city municipal water are high in quality, needs only UV and UF filter to ensure Pathogen free.
Nehi
maybe you need triple
@@Gouravkumar-xq2cl have these statement of quality been tested, if so, any link to that?
Just as if they tested the water in Mexico 😂😂😂
Love all these informative content! Please continue to keep up the good work
Love this episode Steven however even thou PUB has treated the water it does travel thru various pipelines and water tanks before it reaches the home. That being said, the water quality varies from home to home. I do have a faucet filter and the filter does turn a rusty brown within 2 months of usage for supposedly clean Singapore water. As for the bacteria - boiling is still a must.
i would love to see this program take place in different parts of the world where i think a filtered system is indeed safer to consume, take for example in Thailand :)
chlorien is not safe anyway, this program isnt promoting truth,
you cant find any proof of safety for chlorine,
spring water is healthy, but its owned by the people that want you drinking chlorine.
Yes, like here in Flint Michigan. We need filters
12:08 Alkaline water does not do anything for us. Our gastric acid is highly acidic at around pH 2. You can see from the litmus test at 11:58 that the water is only slightly alkaline. When the water goes into your stomach, it mixes with the highly acidic gastric juices, and the overall pH will still be highly acidic. No point.
Besides, our body regulates our blood pH at 7.4 strictly with pH buffers. We can't change our blood pH however we want by eating acidic/alkaline foods
Edit: ok i saw the later part of the video where Dr Leong debunks all these myths hahaha thumbs up! that's right our stomach juices are supposed to be acidic to digest food
Because of alkalinewater i always having uti
@TC G scam xD, just eat fruit and veggies with antioxidant
Right?! the same with cold water, people seem to think our body is not an extremely strict machine.
Our body strictly keeps our equilibrium of our inside, the moment something enters our body, our body immediately tries its bestest to change it to its strict standards.
Cold water entering your body? The moment it hits your stomach, your body automatically uses energy to change the water's temperature to 37 C which is the same as our inner temperature.
Alkaline water to keep your blood from getting acidic? Bullshit, the moment the "alkaline water" enters your stomach it gets instantly annihilated by the stomach acids bringing it to the regular pH of the stomach acid. and EVEN IF the alkaline water gets into the intestines, our body keeps a very strict blood pH levels, no matter how alkaline you inject your ass with, the body will use everything in its power to stabilize the blood pH level back to 7.4
@@randovid1 true, since our body normalizes the pH and temperature to its optimum condition for enzymes, cells, etc to work.
Current through water just created 2 hydrogen atoms and 1 oxygen atom. That doesn’t create anything but two gasses.
This video constantly reminding us to stay hydrate.
One thing they only touched on briefly was the taste. I live rural, my drinking water comes from the roof of my house and large garage.
I would never drink this without the 3 stage filters I run, one at 5 microns is small enough to trap giardia.
When I go to work in town I can smell and taste the chlorine in the water supply.
I run a filter to get rid of that smell and taste.
After watching this video I will certainly change my filters more often though.
It all depends on where you live. Our county water system is well within safety limits, and I don't fear drinking it... but it tastes a bit 'off' for whatever reason. (It's most noticeable in things like ice, tea, coffee, etc...) Most any simple faucet filter takes care of it... so while we don't technically 'need' one... it's a definite quality of life improvement for us.
Great little documentary, please do more in relation to water.
I see that information centered mainly around activated carbon filters and yes great to have the informative scientific studies. So long as you replace these filters within their specified time frames you should be fine.
What about the anti bacterial Water filters with the KDF 55 media that helps prevent bacterial growth.
Thousands of people enjoy the taste of filtered water in comparison to tap water. There is actually a taste difference with tap, filtered and boiled water. It can be a personal preference.
Again nice episode 👍
I agree, but I wander if any of these carbon filters can be cleaned by back flushing with clean filtered water to extend the life of the filter and if so , have there been any lab testing how efficient this method is in renewing a carbon filter ? And is there a possible method and cleaning solutions that could be used to periodically clean carbon filters?
@@williamgrimberg2510 great question bc they are all encased in plastic, which adds to pollution issues, and they're not cheap to replace
I only use ceramic filter to filter rust from our condo metal water tank storage and clean regulary. It true don't remove the chorine which when boil will remove it. Also when water cut happen, a lot of rust and sediment are filter when water is restore. Good video will share it to my family and friend.
Thank you Steve and CNA for this program.
Here in Israel the water is very hard. In fact, without a filter, when you boil water the minerals are deposoted on the pot after one boil. Electric "hot pots" are particularly vulnerable and must be cleansed of mineral scaling quite often. Since I started using filtered water, my office and home hot pots have not had to be de-scaled in years. Yes, YEARS! When my husband developed kidney stones, I asked the doctor if the hard water could be responsible and he said yes. So, filtered water is a good thing.
Thr is no country Israel in world
Wait,I Know This Is Off Topic,But,Israel Has Trained Singapore's Armed Forces Right? Did Singapore Help Israel For The Water Crisis That Has Happened In Israel?
based on you statement, regular water filter is not enough, it's water filter that can "soften " the water!
You might be using a reverse osmosis system, or a water softener. Both of those work for hard water. Activated carbon filters not so much.
Filters won't do a thing for hard water. What you have is probably an ionic resin water softener. Maybe an RO system.
If it demands you occasionally pour salt into a hole somewhere, it's a resin water softener. If it needs a new cartridge from time to time, it's RO.
Definitely need more of such videos.
Excellent content!
One of our greatest gifts in life is to be able to learn from each other. You guys are awesome
I use a water filter for drinking water for a couple of weeks each spring and fall. During those times the municipal water has an odd odor and stronger chlorine smell than normal. That is due to our water being sourced from a river and the turbidity (basically the amount of dirt mixed into it) is higher during those times. The filter reduces the odors.
My wife and I had an apartment (in Boracay, Philippines) that came with a water filtration system. The owner assured us the filters were brand new... My wife and I both starting having bad diarrhea. When we realized we were both sick, we switched to tap water. We both got better right away. I would not trust a filter system unless I install and maintain it myself. 😎
Hi Tito Tim Travels. I have the same problem with the drinking water here in Pasig, Philippines. I found an UV water purifier I install and maintain myself. I can help you with this.
Uy kabayan! (Hey there fellow Filipino!) So its still better to buy in big plastic containers than in water filters installed in home water lines?
@@jeffjularbal9404 I am not sure how good the blue jug water is either... I know a few store owners that use store bought bottled water for their annual testing. But then they have also had the store bought water fail the lab tests. Bad water? Lying test centers? Welcome to the Philippines. 😎
@@jeffjularbal9404 it's a matter of maintenance that makes all the difference. Get yourself a cheap TDS-meter($2-3). If the reading of the filtered water is higher (more contaminants) than the incoming water, that indicates bacteria build-up in the filtration unit. If the numbers are very close, it means your filtration does almost nothing except taking out the chlorine with charcoal filter-stage. Only when the filtered water's reading is much less than that of the incoming water, like that of a new or well-maintained RO-system, is the filtered wafer safe for consumption.
That's right don't rely on others to take care of you do 4👍😀😊 self
I still boils tap water before drinking... simple anti-bacteria approach that just works.
I filled a 5 gallon white bucket and the water was light brown. Checked our local city and there was no contaminated water warning. In a regular glass I would never have noticed the odd color. Been using a simple Berkey counter top filter ever since here in the suburbs of a major city in Canada.
What an in-depth and comprehensive investigation!! I love this video bro. Keep up the good work.
It would be better if they showed us the results for impurities among the 5 samples as well, as having only 1 sample doesn’t look very fair. So we know that water filters can in fact increase bacteria growth, but were they able to do it’s basic job of removing contaminants at the very least?
LEAD CHLORINE & FLOURIDE ESPECIALLY
Filters only get the bacteria growth if installed improperly
Yea this kind of sucked for not showing all the results
Its Singapore with some of the best tap water and highest life expectancy in the world. There likely are no significant contaminents. Their biggest concern is taste from excess healthy minerals in their water while in the states we are dealing with high levels of Arsenic, Lead, Chromium 6 and other things in our tap water that are proven carcinogens. The life expectancy of people in the USA vs. Singapore is a joke to compare.
When I see Steven, I click XD. Good to see your car back!
love watching talking point. i always see it on tv. this is especially important to know. glad that i could install fancy taps without getting filters.
hopefully i could convince my parents that cloth filters is not needed..
I thank you for your in depth look into my desire to know if I am doing anything beneficial in using water filters. I have always filters my water thinking it is better SO NOW I KNOW it is about personal choice. So it is about how much time and money spent on HOW one feeling.
Dallas, Texas have horrible tap water…my 87 yo mother have a habit of boiling a full kettle of water first thing every morning since she was a child. She’s healthy and never really get sick, no emergency hospital visit ever. And don’t need any medication for any health for her age.
That's combination of healthy lifestyle and genetics.... Not because of the water
Your mother is right boiling the water will kill away all kinds of bad bacteria and pathogens. Do remember , the French doctor teaching , Louise Pasteur .
I use a filter to filter out any remaining traces of dirt or any brownish substance from the tap then always boil the water before drinking till today .
Hi Sylver, most of asian only drink water after boiling. First time knowing your mum in Texas doing the same thing 😀😍
This was one of the most informative and unbiased videos on tap water and water filtration systems that I have ever seen. Thank you so much for keeping it real.
I'm not so sure. For one thing it will result in people with filters more frequently buying new ones. That would be the perfect result for the filter industry when, mostly, no filters are needed.
Although informative on some subjects, It left a lot of important information out of the tests, that could have drastically changed the view on the overall performance of the filters.
There are sometimes issues with old water pipes in some older areas of cities that can affect quality of water coming from municipal water pipes through old pipes from the street into individual dwellings.
love the effort put into this video!
I believe household #5 results are reversed. Either he had mislabeled the water to be tested or the tester did. Because most household filter remove chlorine using activated charcoal, it's easy for bacteria to grow inside the tank. Remove the active carbon filter prior to the membrane and only have it at the last stage which is right after the water tank or/and add a UV(Ultra Violet) filter will help with this issue. A water filter system will taste way better than not having one.
Would like to see more comparisons with in-market spring water or evian water as oppose to filtered water
I wanna live in Singapore! It's great how the city takes care of their water. Bravo!!
Thanks a lot Sir for curiosity and effort you make, you help us know about those things, God bless you more always.
This was so insightful and reassuring..... thanks and well done CNA!
It wasn't reassuring to me, they hardly tested for anything.
Thanks Steven
I enjoy your programmes
Educational and entertaining!
thank you!
Steven is a really good host. Cna should keep him permanently for this kinda prgs.
I'm in the US. My experience over two decades in two far-apart states is exactly the same. Without my filter, the water has a rusty taste and irritates my throat. With the filter, I enjoy it completely.
Water pipes?
What kind of filter do you have ?
in the US, each state sets permissible levels of contaminants so unfortunately there's a LOT of variation in quality depending where you live. 😩
@@saucysialaris9131 Pur.
You don't wanna drink the tap water in San Francisco. You might as well be drinking bleach.
Lovin these videos
Why wasn't the lab tested for heavy metals concentration in comparison to tap water? Also, the many different type of water filters out there.
Hey this video is useful thanks for posting. I’m gonna get me a different kind of a water filter now that I have some good understanding of what that stuff is all about
I live in an area of the us that has been farmed for over 200 years. Use well water and must filter the water. I have been looking to filter a second time at the sink. City is one thing, out in the country hold different situation.
I never worried about public water quality until I was warned that there had been a chemical spill that had leached into the water system. After that I've only used filtered water but then I heard that commercial, filtered water wasn't really any safer than tap water. So I got my own water filter, which I found just removed the chlorine taste, and finally I purchased a Berkey water filter. I hope it really does clean my water as it is an moderately- expensive system plus it takes up counter space. But the water does taste better so I pay the price as I'm more willing to drink plain filtered water than plain tap water.
until you realize. public water have some traces of cocaine, heroine, birth control, drug etc in them. you know things that they don't talk about, so it doesn't cause panic.
That means boiling is the best option to eliminate those issues
There's company i believe in Omaha that makes water distillers. But one can figure if it takes 4-6 hours to make one quart water, plus the energy used. Maybe better off just to buy refill jugs ?
I use water filter mainly to remove rusts and debris. Then I will boil the water for consumption. I have been drinking boiled water for at least 20 years now.
I'm in the process of buying a new home and was considering putting a water filtration system in your video educated me thank you so much
I do have a number of digestion issues *BEFORE* I used a filter system. I mainly got a RO system to remove fluoride. I also use less fluoride toothpaste and I stopped getting soars in my mouth and I appear to have better digestion. I will still use my RO system and just stay regular with filters. Good to know you can't just install them and forget about it ...
Not all tap water is the same. It depends entirely upon where you live and where the supplier sources the water from and how they process it. I recently moved to a country town and almost immediately noticed problems I had never encountered when living 50 km away. I would leave a washed glass to drain and it was all dull and caked. I use a waster distiller for drinking and for my CPAP machine and iron, and the sediment in my distiller was disgusting - it literally stank, and I had to clean the distiller after each 4 litre cycle. My hair felt horrible and there was no way I could wash my car or windows - even my cat and dog wouldn't drink it. Everything that came into contact with water had a dull scum, so you can imagine what it was doing to washing machine, dishwasher, taps, shower roses etc. Most residents have rainwater tanks installed, and even plumb their solar hot water systems to rainwater because mains water chews through appliances in no time. My water heater had massive chunks of calcium attached to the element - some that dislodged were bigger than a matchbox. After I had a big blue whole of house water filter system (three 4" x 20" filters) installed, everything changed. Yes, it cost almost $2k, but it is worth every cent. It remains to be seen how long before the filters need changing - but the increased life span of appliances alone - let alone time spent cleaning (and my skin and hair feeling awful) - is worth it.
This is CNA tho, this is Singapore's local news channel... I'm not sure why US and other countries are watching this, because this definitely doesn't apply to them, I know for a fact that your water is way harder than ours, hard enough to kill delicate plants.
Part of our water supply comes from recycled water and are treated with high tech like ozone treatment before getting distributed. As far as I know, we have some of the most advanced water treatment tech IN THE WORLD and we even sell a water treatment service to our neighbouring country. So our tapwater is super clean, it's nothing like the US system. This report is meant for us, the Singaporeans, because I know some friends who definitely use expensive filters... and apparently that's pretty much pointless since our water supply's pretty good most of the time (though we still get hiccups like once every 15 years where the supply belches yellow water, then yes filters are temporarily needed, but the problem always gets fixed).
Agreed. I live in rural Ontario, and my water is hard and full of iron. I need a water softener to protect my pipes and an RO filter to remove the hardness from the drinking water. All those minerals can cause serious health problems. In Toronto I just drank tap water, it did not have those problems.
Maybe the labels for the samples in household 5 were accidentally switched.
possibly, given the research study incompetence of the show's producers. however, i'd like to at least give them that benefit of the doubt because really, this anomalous result just raised more questions than answers, not helping their skewed documentary's cause. swapping the samples would be literally shooting themselves in the foot.
I would like to know the brand of water filter from household #5 I'd like to buy one
I have the same strong suspicion that the samples were wrongly labelled. How can the results be the exact opposite of the results from the other households?
True. I want to know if they made replicates of the tests (at least three) and did another sampling to confirm the results. It is very suspicious since the bacterial count from the tap water increased dramatically when in fact water sources are regularly checked by PUB as stated on the first half of the documentary.
@@gjsoriano1 this wasn't meant to be a scientific study. it lacked the proper controls, including the necessary "B" sample to ensure consistent replication of the results.
Appreciate these content. It's tangible daily living topics that affects our lives which we are concerned about too. Thanks!
Its a excellent video, lots of people like myself feel safer and it have an placebo effect.
Although i know my water is safe because i am older i want to be on the safe side, i have a well myself so i need it. tha thanks it was a very good lesson for me to change the filters once a month. I live in Indonesia
Household 5: We sure they didn't just accidently mis-label their bottles?
Right??? I was suspecting the same!
Thinking the same too.
Actually they should test it again to confirm
I agree it is the most obvious explanation.
The water i used to drink had a pH about 6 (mineral water), but since my parents moved to a another place, the filtered well water (that has been boiled) has a pH around 8.
And it just so happen i felt like my stomach hurt alot more than it usually does when i eat late.
Cause its a scam and so is this video, they said not enough fluoride to be a problem lol, fluoride is extremely toxic and shouldn't be in the water at all, these people are sheep
Thanks for this Exposé.
I went to Uni in Adelaide, South Australia, lived there for 6 years. It is one of the driest state in Australia, the diest continet on earth. Yet the water supplied to the household are safe to be drunk from the tap and its free (for normal household use).
I noe live in KL Malaysia. My elder brother was influenced by some savvy marketing, and bought the expnsive alkaline water filter system, and he recommends it, his body weight came down significantly over the years.
I reserved my comment on the system.
In 2019 he was hospitalised for gastro problem, then diagnosed with nancer stage 4, and died the nxt day the biopsy results was confirmed.
My house tap water has a filter at the incoming due to old GI piping system that may have rusted. Otherwise I drink off the tap, but my wife insisting on boiling them.
This is amazing. Thank u!
I live in Pasir Ris, and my simple water filter attached to my water tap is dirty and cloudy as ever after a while. Maybe the piping is the issue.
Steven doing a healthy episode. yaay!
my rule of thumb has always been 'if you can not see clearly through the water do not drink it'. i tend to drink both where I live. the quality changes depending on where you get your water from. home tap, restaurant, business, etc .. in a country as large as mine it also changes dramatically as you travel. I try to buy bottled water that is bottled from volcanic or granite acquifers. I try to stay away from sandstone and limestone acquifers, and especially surface or municipally bottled water.
Unfortunately water can be very clear but be full of contaminants...acetone is clear.....no?
Thank you for this.
Hell yeah, another Talking Point episode. I'm loving this investigative journalism series.
Edit after I finished the episode. Awesome episode as always, I wish Steven look into the claim that Chlorine can cause cancer for long-term consumption though.
Oh no.... Don't suggest this.
I can imagine him experimenting by drinking pure chlorine for 1 month.
There has been a link between a mystery child illness and Alkaline Water!
hey, glad you liked the show. I did hear of that and while it's not part of the show, I did ask the scientist about it. I was told there is no evidence to prove this as the levels are very low and the purpose is to prevent things like bacteria, viruses...from growing in our water.
@@Steven.Chia.Singapore Thank you for all your work. Informative video. May I know the kind of filter (or name) used in household 5?
Chlorine will dissapear through aeration. Just don't use high chlorine water for Water heater without aeration.
Do test on pot boiled water and filter water.
I wonder why didn't include boiled water 🤔
@@dapdap8781 I think boiling water sanitizes it but doesn't remove impurities. It's like if you had dirt in your pot and you boiled water with the dirt - the dirt is still there.
boil water do evaporate the clorine if you boil it long enough, the bacteria count probably wouldn't improve because there no guarantee 100 degree water could kill all bacteria, probably from 5 to 1, it almost like wasting power for no reason, because you need a lot most bacteria to get into your gut to get sick
Steven has replied in another comment about boiling water:
Steven Chia: hey guys...we looked at this too but ran out of time in the show. Boiling does kill bacteria in the water but it does not remove any of the minerals. Those can only be removed through reverse osmosis. In fact, the concentration of minerals to water is higher because some of the water has evaporated during the boiling process!
@@silverbomb I’m new to this subject..why would you want to remove the minerals?
Thanks for the info
Very informative. Easy to grasp. Thank you
love this series!
Singapore's water is very safe to drink off the tap. Interestingly Singapore doesn't have enough water for consumption but imports water from Malaysia.
Water with high calcium and magnesium content are not so nice to drink but they are actually healthier and better for your body.
As long as your water is clean, you need not add any minerals to it. You get minerals from the food you eat. You cannot live by drinking water alone.
BTW: There is no such thing as 'activated carbon', there is such a thing as 'activated charcoal'.
Activated charcoal is 'ordinary' charcoal that has been manufactured and processed to create a much larger surface area via its porous structure. Ordinary charcoal can be used as a filter but will not be as effective.
Also, I would guess that Household 5 tests came about because they mixed up the tap and filtered water samples.
This video makes it clear that you need to regularly change your filter cartridge.
However, it doesn't mention the two primary issues in our water supplies around the world:
1. heavy metals from corroding / damaged pipes and fixtures, eg. lead, cadmium, mercury, arsenic
2. Disinfection byproducts (Halogenated trihalomethanes (THMs) and haloacetic acids (HAAs) are two major classes of disinfection byproducts (DBPs) found in waters disinfected with chlorine), which are linked to birth defects such as, low birth weight, intrauterine growth retardation, gestational age and preterm delivery, as well as being mutagenic and carcinogenic;
These are excellent reasons to always use a decent water filter, for most people.
Also, bear in mind that all plastic-bottled water has many of the same risks of bacterial growth and carinogenic BPM/BPS contamination.
This is CNA tho, this is Singapore's local news channel... I'm not sure why US and other countries are watching this, because this definitely doesn't apply to them, I know for a fact that US water is way harder than ours, hard enough to kill delicate plants like sundews.
FYI Singapore's tap water is potable, we can drink directly from the tap and some of us do with no detriment, but most of us like to play safe and get filters and water ionising machines or at least boil it first to get rid of chlorine. The water supply has already been filtered and treated before distribution and from the looks of it trihalomethanes in Singapore's water are below levels set by WHO Drinking Water Quality standards, according to official reports from the Public Utilities Board ( the official governmental body in charge of clean water supply)
You can use TDS-meter to sort of tell if there's bacterial growth inside your unit. If TDS-meter gives higher values(dissolved impurities) in the filtered water than the incoming tab-water, that's the junk the bacteria produce in your unit. Changing filters and thoroughly washing the inside of your unit well will bring the numbers down to equal. A bit different for RO, say tab-water measures 180ppm and filtered water initially measures 10-20ppm (residual sodium chloride that leaks through the membrane). After a while, if filtered water measures 40-50ppm+, it's time to change filters and take out your RO-membrane for a total scrub (slimy, slippery is the feel of mucus the accumulated bacteria built on horizontally-placed drain-water. Vertically-placed RO-membrane has a lot less problem since drain-water doesn't back up in the RO-housing.
TDS measures dissolved ions (minerality, it does not measure organic matter, so the measurement will not tell you about "junk" the bacteria produce, since bacteria cannot produce minerals at all. It can however give you guidance of your filter's effectiveness and that tells you if it may be time to switch it earlier. I would switch a filter early based on TDS measurment but I would not keep the same filter past the time recommended based on TDS as it is not an effective measurement of organic growth.
@@MrRicmeme stick TDS into urine produced by organic human, the numbers will go into the thousands due to salts ionized in water.
In any case even when TDS-numbers are low, filters should be changed at least once a year, or pulled out to remove the slime accumulated on them due to organic matters produced by the bacteria. Drain outlet should also be 'backwashed', i.e. operate the pump and RO-membrane without the flow-limiter on the drain, for a few monutes. RO-membrane should be pulled from housing and washed out the slime on it.
I am a older American used to using the imperial system. It would be useful and a mind comparison if more shows used both imperial and metric systems when giving measurements. You show is very informative, thank you .
What an entitled mindset. American shows and content don't have any such consideration and keep using obsolete imperial measurements which does not cater for the rest of the world. Why should a Singaporean show adjust to you?
I live in Germany and our tap water is one of the cleanest as well^^ We have very high standards for hygiene.
We don't need water filters in our homes, unless a SHTF situation happens and the water filtration companies stop working (our government actually wants us to store drinking water for about 10 days (thats 20 Liters per person per week) and an unspecified amount of service water for flushing the toilet, personal hygiene, watering plants, washing clothes, cleaning dishes and the apartment)
My guess is that Household 5 had their internal water filter hoses connected wrongly i.e. the "filtered water" outlet is connected directly to the PUB source while the "tap water" outlet is connected to the filter output
that would be very sad..household 5 been drinking tap water while thinking it is filtered water
Lol. You don't know what you are talking about. It doesn't work that way.
Thank you for the great watch again steven! Just hoped this episode covered 1 more thing: the need for boiling water. I read once somewhere that if you boil water in singapore, it's essentially a waste of energy. But no worries!
Agreed, and does boiling water destroy the minerals in the water as well? Would love for it to be covered in a follow up!
Basically I boil water for taste rather than any implication about the portability of the water. I have sensitive taste buds and can tell the difference between boiled and tap water. HDB water tanks often affect the taste of the water due to the cleaning/disinfection maintenance process.
Wondering too
Like to know this too
hey guys...we looked at this too but ran out of time in the show. Boiling does kill bacteria in the water but it does not remove any of the minerals. Those can only be removed through reverse osmosis. In fact, the concentration of minerals to water is higher because some of the water has evaporated during the boiling process!
Great video, great research, thank you!
The filter in my house is just to remove contaminants, the water is generally a bit rough. But i have been boiling water since i was a toddler or my parents did. Its a bit weird but i always knew that drinking filtered water was an additional risk to the user but as soon as you boil water its safe again.
The first auntie called you steve haha 😂
Hello
i live in a neighboring country for quite some time and sometimes i gets alittle annoyed i have to boil the water. looking back i do cherish and kinda take for granted that singapore has ready to drink water just by turning on the faucet
Its a small country here where the pipes are shorter and replaced more regularly.
My water filter has the activated carbon upstream of the final filter which is fine enough to filter out bacteria and most viruses, so even if there is regrown bacteria, it will get filtered out.
Also tap water can be contaminated when the city pipe has to be repaired or the water tank at the rooftop has its regular cleaning, etc. The water filter serves as the last line of defence.
It’s imprudent to draw such across the board conclusions ignoring variations of filter designs and realistic situations.
Bacterial overgrowth is something that never really crossed my mind. Thanks for the info.
For me, it's all about the taste, when it's bad I change the filter.