Water
The one element you need the most and suspect the least. If this shocks you, do not be surprised, as millions of Americans are still unaware of this "aging process", and indulge in it freely. Multitudes suffer from all the diseases, and unknowingly contribute to this case daily. Somehow the shots, pills, vitamin capsules and balanced diets add only brief spurts of well-being.

All Water Is Not The Same
There are at least nine different kinds of water. Some kinds can harden your arteries, form gall stones and kidney stones, bring on early senility. Other kinds of water carries into the system, the other carries out. Let me classify these nine kinds of water. They are -- hard water, raw water, boiled water, soft water, rain water, snow water, filtered water, deionized water and distilled water. Hard water is water containing excessive lime salts, that is, carbonates and sulfates of calcium and magnesium. Sodium, iron, copper, silicon, nitrates, chlorides, viruses, bacteria, chemicals and many other harmful inorganic minerals and chemicals may also be present. Most all the water we drink comes from public water systems or wells. Any water that has run through, or over ground is hard water to some degree. The longer it filters through the soil, the harder it gets and the more harmful it may become for you. Some cities take water from rivers and lakes or mountain reservoirs. They cal it soft water. But soft water from such sources is soft only in comparison to water which is harder. I recall that each year the earth's rivers carry to the sea five billion tons of dissolved minerals and other unnumbered millions of tons of carbon compounds and factory pollutants. " And ocean life is on the decrease, "according to Jacques Cousteau.

A False Type of Water
There are also the hard waters which are called "mineral waters" -- that is, waters from certain mineral springs-- well known for their effects. Practically, all kinds of "bottled "water is hard water. The reason mineral waters have this so-called medicinal effect is because the body tries to throw off the excess minerals which invade it as intruding foreign deposits. Actually, a form of dysentery exists, as the organism tries to eliminate and expel this unusual condition. To subsist on this type of water could be detrimental. Raw water is water which has not been treated in any way. Raw water contains millions of viruses and bacteria and is densely inhabited in every drop. True, properly chlorinated water kills most germs and viruses, but it can also kill cells in our bodies.

Boiled Water Is Not The Answer
Boiled water is advised by some health authorities. Boiling removes none of the inorganic minerals, although it does kill the bacteria in raw water if boiled at least 20 minutes. But the dead bodies of these germs are carried into the system when the boiled water is used. Such dead materials furnish a fertilized soil for rapid and lusty propagation of germs already in the body. By drinking boiled water, one may avoid live disease germs, but still takes on bacterial soil for the growth of other bacteria. While raw water is an aquarium filled with deadly microorganisms, boiled water is a graveyard of dead germs.

The Impurity of Rain Water
Rain water, which has been distilled by the heat of the sun, should contain no mineral matter and no germs. But when it falls from the clouds as rain, it falls through air filled with bacteria, dust, smoke, chemicals, mud and minerals. By the time it reaches the earth as rain water, it is so saturated with decaying matter, dirt and chemicals that its color becomes a yellowish-white. If rain water is allowed to stand, it becomes filthy because of the rotting animal matter in it. I discuss it only because some "nature faddists "are so ignorant that they advise the use of rain water on the basis that it is "natural".

Snow Is Unclean
Snow water is melted snow. It, too, picks up minerals, chemicals and radioactive fallout such as Strontium 90. Snow is frozen rain. Freezing does not destroy bacteria. Snow looks white and clean, but it contains as many germs, minerals and pollutants as rain water. Remember the dirt left from melting snow in the spring? How the dirt of what has melted! Try melting the cleanest snow, then note the filth in the water. Each snowflake contains some form of air pollution. 
                                                                                   By: Dr. Allen E. Banik

The Hazards of Chlorine
Today, water is becoming even more precious of a commodity than ever before, that's why you must drink the highest quality of water. Water treatment facilities use Chlorine as a way to keep water free of bacteria and harmful organisms, but too much Chlorine in the water supply can also be hazardous if not removed before coming out of your tap. (Different forms of water treatment municipal plants and community well systems, have different forms of treatment depending on the EPA's regulations for the community well system or municipal plant of your area). Trihalomethane's (THMs) a  carcinogenic, Trihalomethane are formed as a by-product predominantly when chlorine is used to disinfect water for drinking.

How Safe is Your Tap Water?
 There are three considerations in the water that you should be aware of: Fluoride, metals that leach from plumbing and the added chlorine and sometimes ammonia. Health wise, you don't want to drink that stuff when it gets to your tap. You want to filter it out!! When you shower in hot water, the steam has these chemicals in a gas form that can be inhaled into your lungs and readily can elevate the chlorine / ammonia (chloramines) in your blood stream. Chlorine is used as a disinfectant for drinking water and in swimming pools to help eliminate bacteria and odors. In water, the chlorine reacts to form hypochlorite acid and hypochlorite, and could potentially be harmful if consumed.
The main health effect that comes from drinking too much chlorinated water is bladder cancer. If you drink chlorinated water for 20 years or more, it can increase your chances of having bladder cancer.
"The possibility of bladder cancer for people who drink well water that has not been chlorinated verses city people who drink chlorinated water has been documented cautiously (over the years) There are clear statistics that show city water and community well with chlorinated water increases the chance of bladder cancer."

Drinking chlorinated water over a long period of time may cause a person to develop asthmatic conditions. Trihalomethanes(THMs) are one of the more dangerous by-products of chlorine that have been proven to have a negative effect when coming into contact with humans. Inhaling THMs can affect the body's central nervous system and cause abnormalities to the liver and kidneys.