Bluebird Hill Farm

and the

Stefani Water

Filter

The place to get the American version of the Stefani Cristal water filter .

"Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink" Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner

"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." Genesis 1.1. From the time of the creation there has been a certain stability in the form of the earth and there has certainly been a closing of the "new" items created. The water created in the first 6 days has been stabilized in the quantity available to all future generations. That which Adam and Eve drank is the same that is available today! There is a natural filtering process that has been more than sufficient for the purification of this limited quantity of water, until you consider the types of pollutants we are faced with today that did not exist in times previous to the industrial revolution of the 1800's. The synthesis and/or production of chemicals in large quantities is an event that has only covered the last 200 years of our history on earth.

The increase in population has put a "strain" on our ability to return water into the system that is not contaminated by human waste! There are many towns and cities that are adjacent to the Sabine River in our locality. Most of these towns/cities get their potable water supply from this water source, but they also return to the river, on the downstream side, that which has been used! Not too bad for the towns closest to the head waters, but what about the ones farthest downstream? One of the main causes for disease, even in the early 1900's, was having the water well on the way (read, too close!) to the outhouse. Typhoid and diphtheria killed many because of the neglect of basic sanitary practices! Consider, if the municipal water supply is so pure, why do they have to put chlorine in it?

But, you say, I have a private water well that I use, so I don't have to worry about all of this. If you look at the Dead Sea or the Great Salt Lake and recognize that the salt content gets greater all the time, you will also recognize that a closed system concentrates the impurities in it. Our water is a closed system (remember there isn't any more being made) and the pollutants are concentrating because we don't have the natural ability to rid ourselves of that which does not occur in nature or because of an overload on the system. That means that ALL of our water is polluted and you dare not drink, even from the very source, of that crystal clear stream in the mountains anymore!

Distillation will remove most forms of pollutants, but will have difficulty in removing compounds that have a boiling point close to that of water, like ethyl alcohol. The expense of obtaining "pure" alcohol, without water, is prohibitive and usually laboratories are the only places that can afford it.

The closest that I can come to for a solution to the problem is the use of a water filter, but not just any water filter! A pleated paper filter is effective for removal of turbidity (cloudiness or dirt), but it does nothing for the main causes for concern. A ceramic filter does a good job of removing bacteria (if the pore size is small enough) but does nothing for the organic chemical pollutants (like industrial waste and pesticides from farms). An activated charcoal (carbon) filter does great for reducing chlorine and other bad tasting things, but nothing for heavy metals, like lead, or other organic chemicals.

I use a water filter every day for potable/drinking water that has four different parts in the filter "candle". There is a ceramic outside portion that removes cysts, bacteria and suspended particles followed by an activated carbon portion that removes taste and odors and some chemicals. Mixed with the activated carbon is elemental silver that is effective as a bacteria stat and then there is a special formulation of activated carbon that removes organic chemicals and heavy metals. Is it perfect? No, but it does a better job than anything else that is available and at a price that is affordable (the Stefani Cristal I use does all I have described at a cost of $95.63 including tax and the four 9" candle Berkefeld costs $279 including tax). Durability is great on the Stefani Cristal, because thousands of gallons of water can be filtered for about the same cost as 225 gallons of bottled water (at $0.40 a gallon) and you don't have to store more than what you consume on a daily basis. I have several of these Stefani Cristal filter units on hand if you or a friend are interested.