Doesnt chlorine kill the germs in the water supply?
Chlorine kills a lot of the bacteria, but it cannot kill the parasites cryptosporidium and giardia–these spores are resistant to chlorination. The only way to filter them is through mechanical, not chemical means (a filter with an extremely small pore size). Also, the chlorine that is initially used to disinfect our water actually poses one of the biggest potential health hazards. Scientists learned only in the 1970’s that while chlorine kills bacteria, it alsointeracts with organic materials from toilet waste to leaves, and creates hundreds of toxic new compounds called “chlorination by-products.” Studies have shown that drinking chlorinated water contributes to around 10,000 cases of rectal and bladder cancers every year.
