Aluminium Fun

 

I’ve recently been learning about the dangers of aluminium to the body, and am especially interested in avoiding anything that may play a role in the development of dementia, or Alzheimer’s. It has been found that people with those two diseases have high levels of aluminium in their brains. Aluminium has also been linked to other disorders, so I’ve decided to take this information seriously and have started to reduce the amount of contact I have with aluminium. For example, I no longer use aluminium cookware, and have learned to use parchment paper instead of foil to line my pans. I use plastic wrap or wax paper for food storage. I tossed out my anti-perspirant, and now take care to use aluminium-free deoderant.

I learned that aluminium is typically used in municipal water treatment and purification facilities. I was curious to see just how much this affects my drinking and bathing water, so I ordered a few test kits (here), and this past weekend I amused myself by scrutinising the levels of aluminium in my water.

Besides tap water, I tested bottled water, filtered water, and boiled kettle water. Here’s the line-up:

The bottled water I drink is Highland Spring. The kettle is the Breville Spectra Aluminium Brita Kettle (of all things!), and for regular drinking water, I use an everyday Brita jug, nothing special.

It is interesting to note that both the kettle and the jug use the same filter – the Brita Maxtra. The only difference between the two for this test is the container itself.

Before testing the kettle water, I boiled it in the kettle, and then let the water sit overnight in the kettle to cool down.

The test is a bit subjective, as you have to look at the colour of the final solution (after adding chemicals from this and that vial), and compare the colour to a chart. But, according to my own judgment, here is how they scored:

 

Bottled Water: 0.03 ppm (parts per million)

Filtered Water: 0.04 ppm

Tap Water: 0.1 ppm

Kettle Water: 0.12 ppm

 

Here are some photos – the colour is very difficult to photograph, but it’s interesting to see the comparisons. The instructions recommend the view from the top for a more accurate analysis, but it’s easier to photograph from the front:

As you can see above, the bottled and filtered water samples are almost the same, and close to clear yellow. The more orange/red there is in the colour, the more aluminium there is in the sample.

I was very happy about this, because I like to try to avoid drinking bottled water as much as possible around the house. I use it when I’m out on a run, but otherwise I think it’s better on the environment to avoid having to truck/fly my water in from all parts of the world to my local supermarket.

Here is a comparison between the filtered water and kettle water:

I have learned my lesson from this, and have already purchased a new non-aluminium kettle. Goodbye old aluminium! I will be able to enjoy my Tulsi Tea even more now, knowing that I’ve reduced the intake of this heavy metal one more little bit from my body!