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.
@@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.
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.
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. 👌🏻
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.
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.
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
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 ua-cam.com/video/V1UHPtT6HFU/v-deo.html which is kinda disgusting to think the water you drink from passes through that. hence why i have a $250 filter.
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.
Back in the '70s I read a report done for the government. The final recommendation was it would be too costly to fix the US water systems and end user filtration/purification was offered as a solution. This video hand picks a few contaminants and tests low end filter systems. Water treatment is like a car... buy a Yugo, you get a Yugo. Buy a Bentley and you've invested in your future.
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!
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.
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.
@James Karrie 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...
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 have been drinking unfiltered water from the day I was born. I am 70 now and still kicking. Even using tap water to make ice cubes from the freezer. No problems in Singapore.
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.
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
There is a lot more to know than what this fellow addresses. Look into environmental medicine and research to get a deeper look at how we are affected by the widespread use of things not tested in this presentation.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
In a Country like Singapore I don’t think filtered water is important due to the good sanitation infrastructure but in developing countries it is a necessity. The government funded water is simply just not treated properly.
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.
@@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.
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.
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 .
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.
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.
Good timing! Our country increased the levels of fluoride in tap water to 1mg per litre which is enough to make your head spin and your teeth rot. Remember, fluoride does not evaporate like chlorine- it concentrates the more you boil it and it stores in human body. So, I will be getting a water filter for this reason only (I don't believe in gimmicks like alkaline water or anti-cancer properties).
I recently got an alkaline filter. I set it up and drank a glassfull. I immediately felt like a veil peeled off of my body from head to toe. I also got a bottle from the store the other day. Delicious! I don't think it's a gimmick at all. All water tastes the same yet all different. Today you can be a water connoisseur. One day restaurants will have water sommeliers.
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.
I would like the experts to provide results that our piping system all over the island generally and statistically does or does not affect the quality of tap water. These filters are used essentially because tap water could be contaminated by the old rusty pipe and hence the filter are there to remove these unwanted and dirty add on to the tap water. The test should collect sufficient data with tap water taken from various locations to be able to generate meaningful conclusion.
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.
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?
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.
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..
Water produced from water plant but where does all this water Travel Through? All the pipes . What is the Age of all these pipes and can someone Guarantee there is nothing contaminating from these pipes by the time water comes out of the water spouts in flats? The video says the filter does remove some fluoride. And the pre-filtered water contains fluoride thats considered safe. Now, this brings to our mind the question : if something is "safe" should not be made "safer"?
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?
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
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
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.
8:00 Decrease in Calcium in filtered water is actually good. It is the calcium in tap water that leads to scaling in kettles, steamer, nespresso machine, fridge with water dispenser, dishwasher, and anything that stores water. For this alone, filtered water is worth it.
@@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!
Ultraviolet rays kill germs, UV filter I always use for safety. RO not really advisable unless water may have many unwanted elements dissolved, RO takes out the useful minerals too.
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'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.
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.
I live in South Dakota and we change the filter on the main water line every six months. We flush the main line by letting the water run into a bucket until the green color goes away. I have an extra filter in the fridge for drinking water. Yes we are on a large municipal system.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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!
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
I don't care about drinking tap water or not, it's mainly just filtered water removes the chlorine taste in tap water. I also want a filter in my shower, as APPARENTLY it can help prevent your skin getting super dry - again, from the chlorine in it. My skin always feels painfully tight after a shower from dryness - it could be the soap I'm using for sure, but hoping to see if filters make any difference on a shower for skin or if that's just woo woo.
Although the bacteria level might be high on filtered water, what he failed to disclose is that the impurities of other chemicals including heavy metals from corroded pipes could be harmful as such.
Currently living in Vietnam and I will say the water filter works. If I just boil the water, I will still get a weird feeling in my stomach. But after using a Brita to filter the boiled water, no more weird stomach.
@Mike See Actually the water sold from Malaysia to Singapore is untreated. Singapore treats the water at a cost of about MYR 2.40 for every 1,000 gallons but sells back to Malaysia at a subsidised price of MYR 0.50 per 1,000 gallons. So in Johor, the water treated by Singapore is safe to drink but because there are also other sources of water in Johor, and the maintenance of pipes, water tanks and infrastructure may not be that reliable, the water may not be drinkable straight from the tap.
@Mike See ya sg sell treated water back to Malaysia but don't take offence. Few years back my friend shower halfway the water came out of brown at desaru but I guess now it's better
Singaporeans pay RM4.50/m³ tap water. Malaysians only pay RM0.50/m³ tap water, which is 9x less. There's a lot that can be improved if Malaysians are willing to pay more, but more than likely the people will revolt because cheap water has become the norm and seen as an entitlement.
@@TubersAndPotatoes that's true. Malaysian residential water tariff is definitely very cheap, thus people in general took it for granted thus not very efficient use of water. IMO, the water tariff definitely needs revision. Since you mention revolt in Malaysia. Rest assured, there won't be any revolt anytime soon in Malaysia. Since 2018 there has been twice change in the federal government, and it has been very peaceful. Can't say same thing will happen if it happens to Singapore though.
I tested my tap water and found out its TDS less than 50ppm which is equivalent to RO, this is East Malaysia by the way. We actually need more minerals (-/+300ppm) in our water because pure demineralized water is also not good to humans according to WHO.
@@BurN368 This is based from discussions in a water sustainability course that I attended recently. Discussions with professionals and professors in the field. So yes, the logic from very educated and and very well informed Malaysians. Even paying RM150 per month for "luxury" brands like Coway is very costly, you're paying for what mostly goes to the "brand" name.
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 ...
this is kinda true because when I was having tap water to drink since it is said to be safe in Singapore, I also faced some digestive issues, and I think it has an increased level of fluoride. Then I started boiling water and I felt the difference after that and going to buy a faucet filter and heard that the Xiaomi one is better.
The chlorine could slowly be released during sampling and transportation. While you should consider testing the samples at real time instead of keep it in a bottle waiting for long time for testing. Or the chlorine escaped alr. Like we cannot directly use tap water for our pet fish, must keep fresh tap water in container for at least 24hours before putting fish in it.
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)
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 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.
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
I believe water filter works. I have been using a portable jug water filter cartridge for years. Before I bought the jug water filter cartridge, I noticed there were lots of strange looking particles in my electric kettle. Lime scale and calcium build up on the heating element can be seen coated on it. After using the jug water cartridge filter, the water is clean looking and without that chlorine smell. Also, my electric kettle is super clean without any particles floating and no more lime scale and calcium build up.
@Travel Explorer How is it placebo when I actually see no particles nor calcium build up? Even till this day, there's no particle and calcium as I write. Absolutely no chlorine taste or smell in my filtered water. Well, I understand that you like vaping. Do you feel good?
Where are you from? The video here talks about the system used in Singapore. The waste water gets treated using RO system and is mostly use for industry, only during dry season then some are added into the reservoirs before getting the "standard" water treatment. You have any scientific data/proof to show that there are hormones/medicines/chemicals found in the water after it is treated? www.pub.gov.sg/watersupply/fournationaltaps/newater
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)
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.
🙂 Bore water is the worst tasting water in the world. I had to drink it straight from the tap in outback Australian desert areas a few times and it was almost undrinkable. Hard water in the USA and UK is horrible too. Best water I ever drank was soft Scottish water.
Very interesting presentation.👍👍👍 I live at the foot of a forest mountain and I get my water directly from water collected upstream. No treatment. Just boil and consume. The contaminants may come from the iron pipes. So far no health issues from water🎉🎉🎉.
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.
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 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 UA-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
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.
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
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.
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 ua-cam.com/video/V1UHPtT6HFU/v-deo.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.
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
One of our greatest gifts in life is to be able to learn from each other. You guys are awesome
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
Fluoride and chlorine have NO place in our tap water! There is NO safe level for harmful chemicals! ALL chemicals are harmful to the living body!
Back in the '70s I read a report done for the government. The final recommendation was it would be too costly to fix the US water systems and end user filtration/purification was offered as a solution. This video hand picks a few contaminants and tests low end filter systems. Water treatment is like a car... buy a Yugo, you get a Yugo. Buy a Bentley and you've invested in your future.
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!
Thank you Steve and CNA for this program.
just what I need. Thank you CNA Insider
These videos are a real public service. Thanks for spreading health information to millions of people around the world. Greetings from Europe.
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.
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.
@James Karrie 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...
@@jeschr3462 oh... I love the smell of swimming pool chlorinated water from kitchen tap in the morning 🤣
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.
I have been drinking unfiltered water from the day I was born. I am 70 now and still kicking. Even using tap water to make ice cubes from the freezer. No problems in Singapore.
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.
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
There is a lot more to know than what this fellow addresses. Look into environmental medicine and research to get a deeper look at how we are affected by the widespread use of things not tested in this presentation.
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.
I still boils tap water before drinking... simple anti-bacteria approach that just works.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 😂😂😂
Another great programme from CNA and Steve Chia.
In a Country like Singapore I don’t think filtered water is important due to the good sanitation infrastructure but in developing countries it is a necessity. The government funded water is simply just not treated properly.
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
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 😀😍
Your English is very bad for someone who has lived in Texas for all your life.
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.
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.
Good timing! Our country increased the levels of fluoride in tap water to 1mg per litre which is enough to make your head spin and your teeth rot. Remember, fluoride does not evaporate like chlorine- it concentrates the more you boil it and it stores in human body. So, I will be getting a water filter for this reason only (I don't believe in gimmicks like alkaline water or anti-cancer properties).
I recently got an alkaline filter. I set it up and drank a glassfull. I immediately felt like a veil peeled off of my body from head to toe. I also got a bottle from the store the other day. Delicious! I don't think it's a gimmick at all. All water tastes the same yet all different. Today you can be a water connoisseur. One day restaurants will have water sommeliers.
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
I would like the experts to provide results that our piping system all over the island generally and statistically does or does not affect the quality of tap water. These filters are used essentially because tap water could be contaminated by the old rusty pipe and hence the filter are there to remove these unwanted and dirty add on to the tap water. The test should collect sufficient data with tap water taken from various locations to be able to generate meaningful conclusion.
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 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.
I wanna live in Singapore! It's great how the city takes care of their water. Bravo!!
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!
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.
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.
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..
Water produced from water plant but where does all this water Travel Through? All the pipes . What is the Age of all these pipes and can someone Guarantee there is nothing contaminating from these pipes by the time water comes out of the water spouts in flats?
The video says the filter does remove some fluoride. And the pre-filtered water contains fluoride thats considered safe. Now, this brings to our mind the question : if something is "safe" should not be made "safer"?
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
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.
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
This is my second time viewing this video because it is simply professionally made and the quality is top notch! Thanks.
8:00 Decrease in Calcium in filtered water is actually good. It is the calcium in tap water that leads to scaling in kettles, steamer, nespresso machine, fridge with water dispenser, dishwasher, and anything that stores water. For this alone, filtered water is worth it.
HAHA so in order to save money you spend money, please go and show the +/- so that this can be quantified instead of just "is actually good".
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?
Definitely need more of such videos.
Ultraviolet rays kill germs, UV filter I always use for safety. RO not really advisable unless water may have many unwanted elements dissolved, RO takes out the useful minerals too.
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’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'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.
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.
Yes we do.need the water filter. The taste is very different once you use the water filter . Fresh
I live in South Dakota and we change the filter on the main water line every six months. We flush the main line by letting the water run into a bucket until the green color goes away. I have an extra filter in the fridge for drinking water.
Yes we are on a large municipal system.
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.
Where are you located?
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.
My refrigerator has a water filter. The water is clean and tastes good. I replace the filter every few months.
I love my filter because it saves me money and I don’t have to keep buying bottles and having to deal with all the plastic.
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.
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.
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!
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.
I was thinking this question yesterday and UA-cam recommends this video today
I don't care about drinking tap water or not, it's mainly just filtered water removes the chlorine taste in tap water. I also want a filter in my shower, as APPARENTLY it can help prevent your skin getting super dry - again, from the chlorine in it. My skin always feels painfully tight after a shower from dryness - it could be the soap I'm using for sure, but hoping to see if filters make any difference on a shower for skin or if that's just woo woo.
CNA has been putting out great content lately.
thank you!
Yes, i really like watching Steven's segments
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.
This video constantly reminding us to stay hydrate.
Although the bacteria level might be high on filtered water, what he failed to disclose is that the impurities of other chemicals including heavy metals from corroded pipes could be harmful as such.
Currently living in Vietnam and I will say the water filter works. If I just boil the water, I will still get a weird feeling in my stomach. But after using a Brita to filter the boiled water, no more weird stomach.
This is great. I wish Malaysia had clean drinkable water straight from the tap.
@Mike See the water is "safe" to drink but nobody does that for various reasons. Do you?
Agree!!
@Mike See Actually the water sold from Malaysia to Singapore is untreated. Singapore treats the water at a cost of about MYR 2.40 for every 1,000 gallons but sells back to Malaysia at a subsidised price of MYR 0.50 per 1,000 gallons.
So in Johor, the water treated by Singapore is safe to drink but because there are also other sources of water in Johor, and the maintenance of pipes, water tanks and infrastructure may not be that reliable, the water may not be drinkable straight from the tap.
@Mike See ya sg sell treated water back to Malaysia but don't take offence. Few years back my friend shower halfway the water came out of brown at desaru but I guess now it's better
It is drinkable. According to SPAN(national water service commisison). Been doing so all my life
I love this video. It's just an example of how the market is using consumers and how consumers are just blindly being led by these marketer's gurus.
Hats off to Singapore Public Utility Board. Malaysian water provider in various state have a lot to learn from Singapore. Cheers
Singaporeans pay RM4.50/m³ tap water. Malaysians only pay RM0.50/m³ tap water, which is 9x less.
There's a lot that can be improved if Malaysians are willing to pay more, but more than likely the people will revolt because cheap water has become the norm and seen as an entitlement.
@@TubersAndPotatoes that's true. Malaysian residential water tariff is definitely very cheap, thus people in general took it for granted thus not very efficient use of water. IMO, the water tariff definitely needs revision.
Since you mention revolt in Malaysia. Rest assured, there won't be any revolt anytime soon in Malaysia. Since 2018 there has been twice change in the federal government, and it has been very peaceful. Can't say same thing will happen if it happens to Singapore though.
I tested my tap water and found out its TDS less than 50ppm which is equivalent to RO, this is East Malaysia by the way.
We actually need more minerals (-/+300ppm) in our water because pure demineralized water is also not good to humans according to WHO.
@@TubersAndPotatoes malaysian logic :
Pay higher water bills for better water supply ❌
Pay rm 150 ++ every month for coway and cuckoo ✅
@@BurN368 This is based from discussions in a water sustainability course that I attended recently. Discussions with professionals and professors in the field.
So yes, the logic from very educated and and very well informed Malaysians.
Even paying RM150 per month for "luxury" brands like Coway is very costly, you're paying for what mostly goes to the "brand" name.
amazing, please make more shows like this.
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 ...
this is kinda true because when I was having tap water to drink since it is said to be safe in Singapore, I also faced some digestive issues, and I think it has an increased level of fluoride. Then I started boiling water and I felt the difference after that and going to buy a faucet filter and heard that the Xiaomi one is better.
_From far….far away I sincerely thank you for your work. It benefited us all._
Great video! Always very well done! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
When I see Steven, I click XD. Good to see your car back!
The chlorine could slowly be released during sampling and transportation. While you should consider testing the samples at real time instead of keep it in a bottle waiting for long time for testing. Or the chlorine escaped alr. Like we cannot directly use tap water for our pet fish, must keep fresh tap water in container for at least 24hours before putting fish in it.
So true. 👍🏼 I even use that method when I sprinkle water to my plants.🪴🌷🌻🌼
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)
CNA, thank you for this educational video about water filters. It is a good recommendation to change our water filters, sooner than replacement date.
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.
This was so insightful and reassuring..... thanks and well done CNA!
It wasn't reassuring to me, they hardly tested for anything.
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.
That water tank they viewed above the building looked really clean!
Guys,thanks for the amazing explanation , Excellent! Thank you very much indeed.
I believe water filter works. I have been using a portable jug water filter cartridge for years. Before I bought the jug water filter cartridge, I noticed there were lots of strange looking particles in my electric kettle. Lime scale and calcium build up on the heating element can be seen coated on it. After using the jug water cartridge filter, the water is clean looking and without that chlorine smell. Also, my electric kettle is super clean without any particles floating and no more lime scale and calcium build up.
This was a very informative and thoughtful video.
@Travel Explorer How is it placebo when I actually see no particles nor calcium build up? Even till this day, there's no particle and calcium as I write. Absolutely no chlorine taste or smell in my filtered water.
Well, I understand that you like vaping. Do you feel good?
Zero mention about the hormones and medicines & chemicals left behind in waste water that is passed out and then back into the water system..
Where are you from? The video here talks about the system used in Singapore. The waste water gets treated using RO system and is mostly use for industry, only during dry season then some are added into the reservoirs before getting the "standard" water treatment. You have any scientific data/proof to show that there are hormones/medicines/chemicals found in the water after it is treated?
www.pub.gov.sg/watersupply/fournationaltaps/newater
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)
Impressive effort on pushing through to reach level 2000 in 'The Room's -great determination and engaging content!
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.
I see Steven, I click Like even before start watching LOL
Agree, all his investigations are amazing insightfulness
Me too the only local show I watched.
thank you for your support! Am so glad to hear that!
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.
In US they need filters because their water is usually hard
Not here in Singapore
We can drink straight from the tap
Yes and no. It depends on where you live in the US. NY is known to have one of the best tasting water, while Flint will kill you
🙂 Bore water is the worst tasting water in the world. I had to drink it straight from the tap in outback Australian desert areas a few times and it was almost undrinkable. Hard water in the USA and UK is horrible too. Best water I ever drank was soft Scottish water.
This guy covers everything that's important I swear
Very interesting presentation.👍👍👍
I live at the foot of a forest mountain and I get my water directly from water collected upstream. No treatment. Just boil and consume. The contaminants may come from the iron pipes. So far no health issues from water🎉🎉🎉.
13:44 pls take note that activated carbon doesn’t absorb, rather it adsorbs. Take note with the "D" there.
Good catch! I bet most people who see your comment would assume you're trolling.
@@beno94 they will if they lack knowledge.