Water - Source of Life... or Sickness??? from Ni Zain, Ni Lah and Otto Vlach

I got a friend, she lives down in Seminyak with her family, close to Sunset Road. She lives there for quite a long time. When she moved there it was all very natural. No Sunset Road, no industry, only a few buildings. Her water comes from two wells. For the last year she is not feeling well; The water coming out of her pipes had a strange smell. She called Otto Vlach - a water specialist - he came and tested her water. What he found was not fun anymore. Otto has a TDS-meter tester for pollution in water. He just puts it in and it tells him how high the pollution is. I want to show you the numbers they put down for me:

There was a smell like rotten eggs in one of the bathrooms, that comes from “Hydrogen Sulfide”, which is a dissolved form of Sulfur – not bad for the skin, but not good to drink. The meter put down a number around 750 ppm (part per million or mg/liter) in some places of the house. - “Rule of the thumb” is that “good” water should have no more than 200-250 ppm – water cleaned by a Reverse Osmosis filter has around 10 to 20 ppm. Good tap water has between 100 and 200 ppm.

Otto Vlach: I proposed to install a “Stainless Steel Filter” which contains 50Kg of “Activated Granular Carbon” which is a kind of charcoal but specially treated – it has the capacity of removing a good list of chemical contaminants – that’s the most important issue! This filter cannot remove calcium – this is the hardest part to remove from water and the only way is to use a “Water Softener”. - After another check with the owner of the house and the high pollution of the water I will install now a “3-Stage-Cartridge Filter” there with carbon cartridges – the cartridges have to be replaced every 3 month or so. The “Stainless Steel Filter” is very durable – does not rust – and the 50Kg Carbon in it removes much more pollutants than the cartridges – the filter Media lasts app 12-18 month before it needs exchange."

My friend got her water cleaned now. Pollution from the water is a slow process. In reverse, to get toxic out of our body needs time. Time to recover from years of toxification. We always believe once we made a change instantly something has to happening. Just a small example: If Bali would have from tomorrow on a clean waste water system, it would take the soil and the ground water 10 years to recover. 10 years until all the chemicals are washed away! This is proven already. 20 years ago German rivers and lakes were so polluted, no fish could survive in them anymore. Tons of fish and eel died - not just after chemical accidents in pharmacy factories. Finally the German government decided to stop the massive pollution of water. All waste water is now collected and filtered before released into the rivers. Nobody is allowed to wash a car anymore in private properties. You need to go to a special washing place where the waste water would be collected and cannot enter ground waters anymore. Petrol stations needed to put a special ground water protection under their whole building and parking areas. Used oil from cars need to be returned to the companies who producing them, so they can be recycled. Many actions were taken and finally after more than 10 years Germany could announce that some of the rivers have drink water quality again. 10 years and very hard regulations!

Just briefly at the World Health Organization (WHO) meeting, it was announced that clean water will be the biggest issue over the next years. Ask some Australians right now how they feel about having no rain in some areas for over 10 years now.

So why are we polluting the water we still have? Are we all blind? If I see the little or big "Benkels" around Bali were used oil is just dumped in the river next to it or the whole place is covered with oil and the next rain washes it down in the next rice field... Why does nobody care? In general problems in Bali's water are: Bacteria, big time. Most of them Coli Bacteria. They are causing the "Bali Belly". If your water for dishwashing is contaminated with them you get the Coli Bacteria in with each use of your dishes. Also a high count of calcium – that comes from the ground underneath the soil – probably coral calcium from the white stuff they put under the new build houses or roads... – not really dangerous but you should not get too much of it either because you could develop “Kidney Stones”! In homeopathy there is actually a condition which reveres to hard water. It causes stiff neck, cough and general weakness. We all know that our skin absorbs substances as much as our intestines. Swimming in the sea provides you with many minerals. Putting additives in your bath tub can change your condition immediately. So logically the bad stuff enters your body just the same way. Means polluted water toxins your body even if you just wash your hands in it...

Other chemicals found in Bali waters and rather dangerous are Nitrate and Nitrite – probably stemming from years of use of chemical fertilizers on paddy fields. Just look what's happening to the fish in the waters around Bali after the onset of the rainy season. El Nina? I don't believe so. Why only in a bay where the waste water of fields, house hold and factories nearly from half of the island goes? Unfortunately the professional laboratories Otto Vlach is using for water tests cannot test for heavy metals like lead, cadmium and mercury – because their equipment cannot measure this small amounts but this pollutants are very dangerous even in tiniest amounts like micrograms - Otto Vlach and I a pretty sure they are present and in some places not just in tiny amounts!

Otto Vlach: Usually most companies selling drinking water here in Bali pump the water from ground water – filter it a bit and run it through a “Ultraviolet Filter” to kill or deactivate bacteria. I have tested bottled waters and find them high in “TDS” – total dissolved solids – what exactly it is I cannot say - my TDS-meter gives me only a number of how many but cannot test for “what”!

Means: You need to buy your drinking water from companies which are using Reverse Osmosis. I even hear people telling they drink distilled water. Distilled water contains nothing anymore, only water. But I have not found out yet if this is really such a good idea for your body. Doing the research for this article I found very controversial points of view. Some say even Reverse Osmosis is not filtering out all. I know from a case where the tap water is so polluted that even the Reverse Osmosis filter cannot deal with it anymore. Drinking water has to be as clean as possible. The cleaner and purer the water you drinking the healthier you are. Clean and pure water washes out all toxins from your body. Asthma, skin diseases, rheumatism, arthritis and many for can be reduced big time in just drinking 2 - 4 liter of clean water each day!

Otto Vlach: For drinking water I only recommend the use of a “Reverse Osmosis Filter” because these filters remove literally all contaminates – also heavy metals, bacteria, virus and cysts and also all the chemicals – you get really clean drinking water! My well water here in Ubud has 125 ppm (parts per million) of TDS -total dissolved solids - my RO-filter produces water containing 005-007 ppm which is nearly as good as distilled water. But it uses much less energy than a distiller. For distillation the water has to be heated to produce steam. The steam has to be cooled to make it water again. Compare the facts: I compare "Waterwise Distiller 9000" - it's capacity is 5 Gallons in 24 hours. To distill this 5 Gallons it uses 750 watt/hour x 24 = 18.000 watt or 18 Kw = Kilowatt - and you have to pay for that. And the thing costs 489 USD. A small RO-Filter has a capacity of 50 GPD (Gallons per Day) = 10 times as much as the distiller. But to make 5 Gallons of cleanest water like the distiller, the pump of the RO-Filter only runs 2,5 hours and uses 75 watts of electricity which is 1/240 of the energy the distiller uses for the same quantity! And the RO-Filter costs only app 300 USD. Because of that I prefer the RO-Filter!

There is an interesting web site for those interested in more detail info: The wikipedia explanation can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_osmosis

Another reason to use in your home an RO Filter is the high pollution we have today from water bottles. The Worldwatch Institute in Washington just released news how high pollution through water bottles are:

160 Billion Water Bottles getting sold world wide! What a waist!

The production of such an amount of water bottles is using an tremendous amount of energy for production, storage, transport, selling, advertising!

Recycled bottles are in some countries less than 24%!

Very often tap water is cleaner than the bottled water! Your really wasting your money!

But sure, it is much cooler to buy a bottle of water, than having a refill bottle. I often get faces when people see me drinking out of a refill bottle. Drinking water became such a business - if you drink the wrong water brand you not trendy! Even in areas where tap water is clean enough to drink! If restaurants and warungs in Bali can offer clean drinking water - out of RO Filters for their customers served in carafes - it would help so much in keep Bali clean! I believe their would be a great business opportunity for some people. Why not setting up little water shops with RO Filters where people can buy a glass of water out of a clean water glass? Cost per glass 500Rp. Bali get creative! Schools should install RO Filters where their students can get clean water for free. We just have to make a change in our thinking! And a move... Soon!

There will be more water articles coming up over the next months. With more info on the water facts...

Our goal is to set up this page as a page where people can get info about water in Bali. But also to give at least a small solution to house holds with polluted water. Bali for Kids.com and Cempaka Teknik have worked together over months to develop an affordable water cleaning system for your house. Check out for your house water solution www.baliforkids.com/cempaka_teknik.htm.

Reality is that we really have to do something about the way we treating our water. 56 cases of children with cancer in Sanglah Hospital. The children are the ones who have to pay the bill for our mistakes. For our misunderstanding. An increase of birth defects. 300 children in Bali die each year during birth, 90000 each year in Indonesia! No wonder if private households, warungs and restaurants are using highly polluted tap water. But many families in Bali cannot afford to buy clean water. About a year ago I had the idea to mobilize the banjars in Bali to buy water cleaning systems, so everybody in the village can pick up free cooking and drinking water. A system costs around 10 - 20 Million Rupiah. I know many Banjars can afford to buy a filter, but they not doing it. Than I met someone from Candidasa who told me there is actually a village that has a water filter system already for many years! Kupu-Kupu Village. They installed a water filter system for the whole water supply in the village. Why? They had lots of people getting sick. Many kids had birth defects, so they got a water cleaning system. And everybody in the village recovered.

Another issue of polluted water is a problem here and in any other place in the world. Many water supply companies add chlorine to the tap water. Something terrible to do. Having shower or baths with chlorine water can cause major health problems. Many people have allergies to chlorine. It can cause hyperactivity in children. Asthma, Eczema, Skin Rushes and many more. In my place just briefly they started to chlorine the water. Unfortunately it is so much that even hours after a shower I would still smell the chlorine. So I installed a water filter as soon as Cempaka Teknik had them ready. Now my water is okay. Filtering your water is a very good solution to get the chlorine out. Also many pools have to high levels of chlorine. I talked with a pool specialist from Canada and he told me that 95% of the swimming pool worldwide have too high chlorine levels. It is not the solution to throw regular a big spoon of chlorine in your pool. You need to fine tune your pool water to the right level and this is an art which have to be learned. Pool water should only have a slight smell of chlorine. Pools should not have any green stuff in them, nor black. Both ways the chlorine level is not okay. Swimming in the pool not recommended. Cempaka Teknik also worked out an solution for the pools. A pool mineralizer which cuts down use of chlorine 80-90%! Means, less chlorine on your body, less pollution for our water sources!

Another word about drinking. Drinking water out of plastic bottle - one way or washable can cause problems. If you refill the normal water bottles the plastic can release certain chemicals which can trigger your health. Refilling your water bottle means also you have a breading ground for bacteria. Normal water bottles can also cause health problems if they are exposed to the sun. Many of these bottles have closing systems which are not possible to clean manual, means with a brush. These areas can collect the dirt. In these sediments anything can bread. Bacteria, fungal etc. When you buy a water bottle, buy one which is made from Aluminum with a copper inlay. The lid should be simple and every corner should be able to clean. Clean the bottle with little detergent and a special bottle brush each day. Never keep a rest of water in the bottle! Make sure you rinse it well and get it dry inside. If not possible to dry than rinse with little drinking water or put it in the sun. Teach your child not to share the water bottle or a water glass. Many sicknesses are transmitted just via a shared glass of water. Herpes is a very easy transmitted bacteria.

You can do so much just in your own house. Do it! Salamat Minum! Prost! Cheers!

Ni Lah - Editor Bali for Kids.com

Ni Zain - Bule Balian Bali for Kids.com

Otto Vlach - Water Specialist for Bali for Kids.com

Note: If you have a drink water company based on Reverse Osmosis, or you can install water filters or you can offer people a waist water solution - please contact us! Your company can be a part of this web page. If you also running a project for clean drink water or you want to set up a project please sent us pictures or an article. If you need more detailed information please contact:

info@baliforkids.com

Ni Lah - Editor Bali for Kids.com

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