A fellow steward of the environment and Twitter follower @ProStarMechanical was reading some of my posts about the caveats of home water purification technology, and posed a very good question to me. He essentially asked, “If home water systems have so many potential weaknesses, why mess with them at all?”

This goes back to several of my posts about the technical nature of water, and the need to understand it much better. Understand however, it is not the water system manufacturers lack of proper or complete design that is the challenge, but rather our continued desire to find that one single water answer that eases our mind forever and lets us put water forever into the back of our mind. This “doing things by rote” process is most likely why the horror in Flint happened in the first place. Make no mistake, whether you drink municipal water, bottled water or water filtered by a home system, unless you have a grasp on the science of water, you will remain vulnerable.

However, let’s get to the question; “Why should I bother with a home drinking water system?” In no particular order, here are my thoughts:

1. A properly designed system can isolate you from changes and problems in the local water supply
2. A properly designed system can improve the taste and chemistry of your tap water
3. In the event of a catastrophe or emergency, a good home water system can turn rain water, even toilet water into safe drinking water
4. In the event of high silt and/or hardness, the proper system will protect your plumbing and lead to greatly extended life and efficiency of your dishwasher, clothes washer, and hot water tank

I read recently about an attempted terrorist attack designed to make one municipalities drinking water hazardous to the residents. Fortunately, this is much easier said than done successfully and the water authority reacted far in advance of any danger.

If you throw into this mix the effects of Climate-Change, and ever-growing water legislation, having at least a back-up home water system in the case of emergencies seems to be a good idea.