1307: Water Filters | Skeptical Sunday

9:44Jessica Wynn:Okay, if my shampoo commercial reenactments aren't realistic, that's a water hardness problem? Got it. Okay, so how do I know what kind of water I have in my house?

9:54Jordan Harbinger:I mean, the easiest is the suds test. So try lathering up. If you get tons of bubbles, that's soft water. If it takes effort and it feels slippery before it foams, that's hard water.

10:06Jessica Wynn:All right, simple enough. So do you need different filters for hard versus soft water?

10:11Jordan Harbinger:No, filters and softeners do different jobs. So a softener removes minerals to prevent the buildup on your pipes and appliances, but it doesn't clean out pollutants. A filter removes contaminants like chlorine, lead, bacteria, and sediments, stuff that affects your health and the taste of your water. If you have hard water with contaminants, you might need both.

10:36Jessica Wynn:Of course, nothing can ever just be one gadget. How do I figure out which one I need?

10:41Jordan Harbinger:Step one, test your water. You can buy simple test kits or get a report from your local utility company. That'll tell you if you got hard water, lead, bacteria, whatever's in there, they will tell you. If your main concern is scale buildup and appliance protection, a softener is usually enough. But if you've got health-related contaminants, you'll want a filter. And there are combined systems which address both.

11:08Jessica Wynn:So we're softening the hard water, then filtering the softened water, right? This is like therapy for my sink.

11:15Jordan Harbinger:Yeah, pretty much. Yeah.

11:17Jessica Wynn:Everybody I know has something, right? A Brita pitcher, zero water filters or whatever, or the whole home systems that look like NASA freaking installed them.

11:25Jordan Harbinger:Is our water really that bad, though? I mean, actually, no. Most Americans, I'll stress most, have access to water that meets or even exceeds federal safety standards. The problem is those standards were written decades ago, so we're still regulating for the 1970s.

11:46Jessica Wynn:Great. So my tap water might be safe as long as I'm living in taxi driver era New York to grab a glass of water in the first place. Is that why we all distrust tap water now because the regulations are outdated or is water actually more gross now?

12:00Jordan Harbinger:It's a little of both. There have been some big, scary water contamination stories, and that sticks in people's minds. Plus, we taste the difference. We have health concerns. And there's now a convenience to having a personal system, so it just makes sense. It's like a peace of mind.

12:18Jessica Wynn:Yeah, there's a lot of faith in a system that you can't see most parts of. We just trust our water is safe. But when you make it tangible and feel more in control, I don't know, it seems safer, I guess.

12:29Jordan Harbinger:Yeah, right. Right. And to be fair, some of those old pipes and systems don't account for new threats. Things like lead, PFAs, which are the forever chemicals and agricultural runoff. So some of these contaminants weren't even on the radar when most regulations were set. Some contaminants are still emerging. So regulatory standards, they're often lagging what the public is fearing.

12:54Jessica Wynn:That's not comforting that our water is safe by yesterday's definition. Your pipes are living in the past, man. That's like still using my Nokia 3310. Technically, it works, and I can drop it off the third floor, but it's not going to connect to 5G. I guess I can at least play Snake.

13:11Jordan Harbinger:Oh, I would love to play Snake. Remember that? Yeah.

13:14Jessica Wynn:That was awesome. Walk me through how these actually work, though, because I look at my Brita or reverse osmosis filter system, and it's basically magic.

13:22Jordan Harbinger:Yeah, most home filtration systems use activated carbon, which works through adsorption. adsorption.

13:30Jessica Wynn:Okay.

13:30Jordan Harbinger:It's pretty much the opposite of absorption. So contaminants get trapped on the surface. So think of it like a magnet for bad smells and chemicals. The activated carbon is great for removing chlorine. It improves the taste and odor and it reduces some chemicals and lead.

13:48Jessica Wynn:Oh, wow. Okay. So the filter is hanging on to the bad stuff and it's in there.

13:53Jordan Harbinger:Yes. Yeah. And then there's reverse osmosis, as you mentioned, which uses pressure to force water through a semi permeable membrane. It's like a bouncer that keeps almost everyone out. Heavy metals, nitrates, PFAs. But it also keeps out beneficial minerals like calcium, magnesium and fluoride.

14:14Jessica Wynn:So you could be filtering out good stuff, which we agree. Fluoride, part of the good stuff. We discussed this at length in episode 1073.

14:21Jordan Harbinger:Yeah, fluoride's not the enemy, so you want to add that back into your diet somehow if you choose a system that filters it out. But another thing about reverse osmosis is that it wastes a lot of water. So for every gallon purified, you're dumping several more gallons down the drain.

14:38Jessica Wynn:So I'm solving one problem by creating another problem. I have reverse osmosis, and I don't remember why we got it. I think they just said, hey, you're building a new house. You want reverse osmosis to the good kind. And we're like, yeah, sure. I didn't get it for the whole house, though. I have like a separate water faucet for drinking water. That is that they offered a full home system, but it just seemed dumb to me to wash my dishes with reverse osmosis water to shower with reverse osmosis water. Maybe there's a reason. I don't know. I guess we can talk more about that later. But what other types of filtration systems are even out there?

15:12Jessica Wynn:It seems like there's a zillion different kinds.

15:14Jordan Harbinger:Yeah, there's a few main ones. So a distillation system works by boiling water and collecting the steam. It's super effective, but also super energy intensive. You're basically running a tea kettle 24-7.

15:30Jessica Wynn:Yeah, it seems like that would turn my kitchen into a sauna and just give me a giant energy bill.

15:35Jordan Harbinger:Yeah, I mean, more or less. Then there's ion exchange filtration systems, which is what most water softeners use. It swaps out calcium and magnesium, the minerals that make water hard, and it swaps them out for sodium, which softens water.

15:51Jessica Wynn:But that doesn't do anything to purify the water for our health, right?

15:56Jordan Harbinger:Correct. For disinfection, there are UV filters, which use ultraviolet light to kill bacteria and viruses without involving any chemicals. And finally, there are absorption filters and mechanical filters. So think like carbon filters or sediment filters that actually trap particles, chlorine and other contaminants. So some systems use a combo of all these technologies.

16:23Jessica Wynn:So it's like a bunch of specialists. One kills germs, one softens, one traps gunk. Others go full science fair. But if you pick the wrong one, are you just wasting money if you pick the wrong one?

16:33Jordan Harbinger:I mean, potentially, yeah, that can be the case. So the key is knowing what problem you're trying to solve. If it's just chlorine taste, a cheap Ritofutcher works just fine. But if you have lead pipes, cool for you on having an old house, but you need something certified for heavy metal removal. So if you're on well water, you might worry about bacteria, so you'd probably want a UV system or something even stronger.

16:59Jessica Wynn:Yeah, I want the fracking chemicals out of my well water if I'm drinking it.

17:03Jordan Harbinger:Oh God, yeah, please. I know.

17:06Jessica Wynn:Well water's the worst, I think. The following messages are brought to you by the same people who made asbestos safe, so you know it's good. We'll be right back.

17:17Jessica Wynn:This episode is sponsored in part by Momentus. People will spend a ton of time optimizing workouts, dialing in protein, stacking supplements, but one of the biggest blind spots is gut health, and if that's off, everything else you're doing just doesn't land the same. Fiber plays a huge role in energy stability, digestion, recovery, even focus. It's kind of the behind-the-scenes system that makes everything else work better. But not all fiber is made equal. Momentous Fiber Plus is a three-in-one formula with soluble fiber, insoluble fiber, and a prebiotic-resistant starch, so you're supporting your gut from start to finish.

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18:49Jessica Wynn:Marathon, where fun runs on full. Available at participating Marathon locations. Terms and conditions apply. See MarathonRewards.com for details. Don't forget about our newsletter, or wee bit wiser. It comes out just about every Wednesday. Very practical, something you can apply right away that will help you with your psychology, your relationships, your mindset, or something along those lines. And hey, it's a two-minute read. Not going to waste your time. JordanHarbinger.com slash news is where you can find it. Now, back to Skeptical Sunday. I grew up drinking a lot of well water up north, but now I feel like people who drink well water in 2025, you're kind of rolling the dice depending on where you live.

19:25Jordan Harbinger:Yeah, where well water is used has the highest concentrations of people with cancer.

19:33Jessica Wynn:Are we sure about that? That's crazy and scary.

19:36Jordan Harbinger:There's a lot of reports on it. There's nothing definitive that this is the main cause, because a lot of things cause cancer, but there is some, seems to be some kind of correlation.

19:45Jessica Wynn:That is really scary.

19:47Jordan Harbinger:Terrifying.

19:48Jessica Wynn:Yeah. But filters are amazing in what they can remove, eh? Like, they can take out crazy stuff.

19:53Jordan Harbinger:Yeah, I mean, they are. They can remove a lot. Yeah. So water filters can reduce or eliminate a lot of harmful substances. A filter provides a first line defense against toxins. And there are over 120 toxins that have been identified as being able to exist in the water supply.

20:13Jessica Wynn:120 toxins. That seems excessive.

20:16Jordan Harbinger:I know. And some of these are common, including cryptosporidium.

20:20Jessica Wynn:OK, not a crypto, bro. You're going to have to explain what that is.

20:24Jordan Harbinger:Yeah, it's the name for what's really common. It's an extremely nasty parasite that causes severe gastrointestinal discomfort and sickness.

20:35Jessica Wynn:Sounds like my cousin Chris.

20:36Jordan Harbinger:Yeah. Just kidding, Chris. Water utilities invest heavily in systems and technologies to fight these parasites and remove them from the public water supply. But your own water filter system gives you that extra defense at the point where you need it most, the tap.

20:55Jessica Wynn:If it's saving me from waterborne illnesses, I'm all in.

21:00Jordan Harbinger:I'm all in. Yeah, definitely. Filter out the bacteria, the viruses, the parasites, everything you can.

21:06Jessica Wynn:Yeah. What can't home filters remove? Is there anything? Yeah.

21:11Jordan Harbinger:So simpler filters like Brita, they can't remove nitrates or hormones, bacteria, viruses. And performance varies wildly by brand. It's a bummer, but studies show that several of the cheap Amazon filters remove exactly zero contaminants.

21:32Jessica Wynn:Oh, my God. So we're buying expensive plastic cosplay. We are.

21:38Jordan Harbinger:Amazon branding is so frustrating, especially when it comes to wellness and health products. they pretty much say hey this filter identifies as functional but it absolutely doesn't so you need to read the fine print read the real reviews when buying anything on amazon we had our fridge

21:56Jessica Wynn:serviced a zillion years ago i can't remember but he was like i'm gonna change your filter because it's a courtesy we do when we come and fix anything if your filter is old and we're like cool and we were like how much are these they're 90 we're like god that's a lot for an ice filter and he's like, yeah, you can get cheaper ones on Amazon, but let me tell you right now, don't get cheaper ones on Amazon. And I said, why not? And he's like, I service a lot of fridges, as you might imagine, and a lot of times I will open up the ice filter for the water and the ice maker. And he's like, I find empty plastic cartridges.

22:29Jessica Wynn:They never put a filter element in there at all. And not only is there nothing in there that filters anything, but it's just full of disgusting mold because it doesn't have the antibacterial stuff and it's just like a piece of plastic that you get conned into buying because it's cheaper.

22:45Jordan Harbinger:Yeah, it gets wet, it gets dry, yeah.

22:47Jessica Wynn:Yeah, and it gets wet and it gets dry. Or they'll just stuff it with basically cotton and it's just rotting in there with mold and gross stuff growing on it. Because you can't just make a water filter out of anything. It has to be something where bacteria doesn't grow in it generally and mold. So people are getting sick from these things because they wanted to save money by buying a fridge filter on Amazon. It's good advice for all products to read real reviews of the product. and if you're really unsure if you're just like i'm on the fence but i stand to save a lot of money buy a three-pack open one of them up and look inside and see if it actually has a filter in there and if it does then roll the dice but if it's empty plastic return the whole thing and write a one-star review save everybody else some trouble i unfortunately think that's probably

23:31Jordan Harbinger:really common and maintenance really matters and even if you do have a legitimate filter but you don't replace it, that bacteria and mold will still grow inside them. So a neglected filter can make your water dirtier than your tap. So if nothing else comes from this conversation, please go change your water filters. Whatever you use, it doesn't matter. Just go change it because what we can't see is terrifying.

24:00Jessica Wynn:Yeah. Wow. Ridiculously disgusting, actually. So these water pitchers are like small bacterial ecosystems in people's fridges.

24:10Jordan Harbinger:You'd be surprised how often that's true. So modern filtration systems have sensors that tell you when to change the filters. But those old school pitchers rely on you just remembering. So if the water starts tasting bad or a big tell is if it's taking longer to filter through, that filter is overdue for a replacement. And you should never wash those pitchers in hot water because that can degrade the plastic and then it releases microplastics. So you actually want to replace the whole pitcher every couple years too.

24:45Jessica Wynn:Oh yeah, microplastics, the uninvited guest at every meal. So we can't really avoid these, but you can get rid of some of them. So those aren't getting filtered out?

24:56Jordan Harbinger:When we say micro here, we really mean micro. We're talking pieces of plastic smaller than five millimeters. Those can break down to less than one millimeter. These plastics get so tiny. We're breathing microplastic particles that are in the air. So they can be tiny enough to slip through the best filtration systems.

25:19Jessica Wynn:So even the fancy filters can't catch them.

25:23Jordan Harbinger:Reverse osmosis like you have, those systems do the absolute best job at reducing microplastics, but even they aren't perfect. They can be up there like maybe 99 percent, but there's no getting around it. We are ingesting microplastics and researchers are still figuring out what that means for our long term health. And here's some other frustrating news. If your water bottle, your pitcher, whatever you use as a water container, if it's made of plastic or has a plastic cap, you're definitely drinking some plastic.

25:57Jessica Wynn:Great. Cool. Love that for us. I've been told that avoiding microplastics is not even really realistic, but avoiding plastic containers can really reduce the amount of plastic we consume. So maybe we should use a glass for our water whenever we can. I mean, basically don't drink anything out of plastic bottles, right? So if I Skip all that. And I do drink from the tap. How safe is the U.S. water supply? Really?

26:19Jordan Harbinger:The U.S. has one of the safest drinking water supplies in the world. So over 90 percent of Americans receive water from systems regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act. That was passed in 1974. Public water systems must meet EPA standards for many contaminants like bacteria and metals like lead and arsenic. So there's monitoring, there's testing and enforcement. I know we hear the horror stories, but it is pretty close to 100 percent of people in this country who have access to safely managed drinking water. And if you're listening and you don't, I'm so sorry. But for most of us, it's not a problem.

27:01Jessica Wynn:OK, so we're not living in a dystopia.

27:03Jordan Harbinger:No, probably not.

27:05Jessica Wynn:Yet.

27:05Jordan Harbinger:Yet. But there's huge variability. So water quality, it differs by state, by county, whether you have public or private systems and how old your pipes are. And the source water, meaning if you have groundwater versus surface water and what pollution du jour is nearby. So over 15 million American homes get water from private wells that aren't under the same regulations.

27:34Jessica Wynn:So 15 million homes are just like on their own, basically, or what?

27:41Jordan Harbinger:But yeah, and like I said before, I mean, some studies are showing higher cancer rates exist among the people with well water. Other communities test positive for various emerging contaminants. Those forever chemicals, the PFAs, were found in drinking water sources that possibly affected tens of millions of people. So about 25 million Americans drink from a water system that has some violation records. And aging infrastructure means old pipes can leach lead, rust and sediments. But even with these violations, the water still isn't bad enough to cause serious illness.

28:21Jessica Wynn:OK, so overall safe, but with significant asterisks, depending on geography and whether anyone's paying attention.

28:28Jordan Harbinger:Yeah, right. Also, safe doesn't always mean perfect taste or no odor or no risk of emerging contaminants. It really depends where you are.

28:38Jessica Wynn:I see. So it's always surprising to me when I'm in New York City, people drink the tap water. It's famous for being good quality. Everyone drinks it. Detroit is also the same because we have the Great Lakes and everyone's like, hey, the water's actually really good here. It's kind of like, really?

28:51Jordan Harbinger:The water's fine. But it is. I mean, it's about the source and what's added to their water. So New York City gets water from protected watersheds up in the Catskills, which is naturally soft. So minimal treatment is needed. Florida's water comes from limestone aquifers, making it hard and mineral heavy. So most people there don't drink the tap water. The Midwest often has agricultural runoff concerns. I have a friend in Austin, Texas with a pond who says if she uses water from the hose in her pond, it will kill the whole ecosystem all her fish will die so absolutely not using it and if you ever have bought a pet goldfish you can't just plop them in tap water the chlorine will kill them but humans were built differently you know we can handle i think we can handle more than people

29:44Jessica Wynn:realize yeah think about it you drink alcohol and you drink a shitload of it and then you like blow some cocaine up your nose and you just go to bed you're not dead the next day well now for Fentanyl is a different story, but you put all kinds of crap in your body. We're tough. For years on end, Jessica, you know best. You know firsthand. So depending on your zip code, you're either drinking Evian or tap water. Why do we treat clean water like it's optional in some areas?

30:10Jordan Harbinger:Because infrastructure doesn't vote and it is worse some places. We underfund a lot of these systems, especially in poorer communities, until disaster strikes, right? We'll send billionaires to space, but some American towns can't afford to replace century-old pipes.

30:29Jessica Wynn:So where is the cleanest water in the world? Fiji. No, I'm kidding. Poland Spring. I heard that's pretty clean.

30:37Jordan Harbinger:The cleanest municipal water in the world. It's either Norway or Iceland. They're pretty equal. And it's not because they have these magic glaciers. it's because they have functioning governments who ensure their water infrastructure works well, like very well. So clean water isn't luck, it's policy. Inequality is a factor in water supplies all over the world. Big cities tend to have more consistent monitoring, while small towns or tribal communities can really struggle. So Flint, Michigan wasn't an isolated story, right? It highlighted a symptom of neglect. Jackson, Mississippi was another example of out of control water.

31:18Jordan Harbinger:The cleanest water rankings often gloss over these local spots with problems.

31:23Jessica Wynn:Flint, Michigan became the symbol when it switched its water source in 2014 to the Flint River to save money and then unleashed, I believe, lead contaminants to over 100 ,000 residents. The water was horrible. I mean, it was really like brown and disgusting, But it's happening in places that don't make headlines. I mean, there were people who are like, my water light's on fire. I mean, just the stuff like that. It's just and then I think didn't they give bottled water to people in Flint for like years afterwards? They might even still be doing it. I don't know.

31:55Jordan Harbinger:They might still be doing it. Yeah, I think there's so many issues. I think the water that we can set on fire when it comes out of the tap, I think a lot of that is due to being close to fracking. But Flint, it was different. They just started sourcing their water from a contaminated river. And yeah, it was awful. I remember those videos. And there's also equity issues. People in lower income neighborhoods that aren't putting money into the water filtration systems, they need filters the most, but scams often target them the hardest. And that's just one of the scams they have to deal with.

32:33Jessica Wynn:Jeez. Yeah, I've heard some weird stories from people about scammy sales pitches for solar panels, water filters, etc.

32:40Jordan Harbinger:Oh, yeah. Alarm systems, all that stuff. Yeah, they're classic scams. So if a home filtration rep comes to your house, look out. Be really skeptical. This isn't everyone, of course, but some dishonest salespeople will use reagents, which are substances that can cause chemical reactions. Or they'll use outdated tests that make water look contaminated. So they'll show you brown murky water and say, hey, this is what you're drinking. But it's all theater.

33:08Jessica Wynn:It's all. Oh, I see. So they're gaslighting our sinks.

33:12Jordan Harbinger:Yeah, basically. I mean, they prey on fear, especially parents with kids. And then they sell five thousand dollar systems that do less than a thirty dollar pitcher filter.

33:24Jessica Wynn:Right. OK, that's diabolical. Yeah. What are the other red flags people should watch out for?

33:28Jordan Harbinger:There is a trend of impersonators, which I mean, sometimes I just can't believe they're still door to door salesmen, but there are. And these scammers will pretend to be from your local water utility company to gain trust or your home access. And they'll have false or alarming claims using scare tactics like you need to decide to do this today or you're putting your whole family in danger. And they give you inaccurate water quality data or misleading third party data. And they use that to sell their treatment units. So there's high pressure sales for expensive, complex systems that aren't needed.

34:07Jordan Harbinger:And proprietary replacement filters that, quote unquote, expire automatically, and then they force you to buy replacements forever.

34:17Jessica Wynn:This is starting to sound like printer ink cartridges. You know how that's that whole racket constantly have to buy them.

34:23Jordan Harbinger:I mean, it's planned obsolescence, but for hydration. Then there's the pseudoscience angle that throws around terms like structured water or alkaline filters or hexagonal clusters and hexagonal clusters and energy infused water. I mean, the list goes on.

34:44Jessica Wynn:Yeah, I know people that have sworn by, oh, you got to have your water alkalated or whatever. And it's OK. I thought my body handled that. Anyway, the energy infused water filters. That sounds interesting. I'm in. I need that.

34:57Jordan Harbinger:I know. They're selling things called that.

35:00Jessica Wynn:Exactly.

35:01Jordan Harbinger:But it's just a name. And those alkaline water products, that craze right now is huge. You see it on bottled water labels everywhere now. And the claim is that it balances your pH and detoxifies your body.

35:19Jessica Wynn:Yeah. Anything that detoxifies... Let me ask you, that's bullshit, right? This is all bullshit?

35:26Jordan Harbinger:I mean, it's complete bullshit. Your body regulates its own pH incredibly tightly. Like we have this dialed in and it does it through your lungs and your kidneys. So drinking alkaline water does not change your blood pH. And if it did, you would drop dead. So it's marketing pseudoscience to people who want to feel pure in a contaminated world without looking into what the labels actually mean.

35:54Jessica Wynn:I can't believe they're allowed to market that way. They're just selling the emotional comfort of purity, not actual purity. It's so what a scam. It's so irritating.

36:03Jordan Harbinger:I know. But there's a psychological part to this. Anything we eat and drink has some kind of psychology to it. And filtering has just become a ritual of control.

36:13Jessica Wynn:Yeah. Goodness. This is hand sanitizer for the soul. Yeah.

36:18Jordan Harbinger:And companies, they're allowed to use words like pure, natural. And my personal favorite is glacial to sell the emotion. And it's not based on any data. It just taps into this deep psychological need for control in this world that feels increasingly toxic.

36:38Jessica Wynn:Today's episode is a wet blanket on the water filter industry. Let's see what else marketing can ruin. We'll be right back. This episode is sponsored in part by Quilt Mind. You know what most people get wrong about LinkedIn? They think it's about posting for attention, and it's really not. It's about building an opportunity engine, because here's what actually happens. When you consistently show up, people remember you, not in an annoying way. It's more like an, oh, yeah, that person knows their stuff way. And when something comes up, a speaking gig, a partnership, a new role, you're already on their radar.

37:07Jessica Wynn:That's the part people underestimate. It's not about going viral. It's about staying visible. The problem is most busy professionals, they don't have time to sit down and write thoughtful posts every week. You got the ideas, the experience, the stories. You just don't have the bandwidth. That's where Quilt Mind comes in. They take what's already in your head and turn it into sharp, engaging LinkedIn posts that actually sound like you. It's like having a ghostwriter who understands your voice and you can stay consistent without it eating up your time. If you're curious what I'm sharing, add me on LinkedIn.

37:32Jessica Wynn:If you're interested in Quilt Mind for yourself, shoot me an email or reach out to jordanaudience at quiltmind.com. Quick break to tell you about another podcast, The Mental Illness Happy Hour. Since 2011, Paul, so he's one of the OGs. Paul Gilmartin has been having the kinds of conversations most people never say out loud. Fears, addictions, trauma, shame, the messy, deeply human stuff. Some episodes are funny, some are quite heartbreaking, but they're always honest. I've been on that show years ago. And the guests are incredible in the best way. You'll hear from comedians like Tiffany Haddish, Mark Maron, Neil Brennan, along with everyday people kind of like me who show up and share the real story of what they've been through.

38:05Jessica Wynn:I was on the show years ago. Good times. Paul and I go way back. The New York Times calls it a perversely safe place to talk about fears and traumatic childhoods. Esquire called it a vital, compassionate gem. Psychology Today said it normalizes what so many others feel but are too shamed to express. So if you've ever felt alone in what you're carrying or you just want stories that go a layer deeper, listen to the Mental Illness Happy Hour wherever you get your podcasts. Thank you for listening to and supporting the show. All the deals, discounts, and ways to support the podcast are searchable and clickable on the website at jordanharbinger.com slash deals.

38:37Jessica Wynn:Now for the rest of Skeptical Sunday. Okay, so purified water is basically liquid anxiety management. How can people actually protect themselves from getting fleeced by hydro hucksters?

38:50Jordan Harbinger:Test your water independently. Don't rely on someone who's also selling you the cure. Contact your local water utility and request your annual consumer confidence report. It's free and it's required by law. They'll be happy to give it to you, actually. and it shows exactly what's in your local water supply. If you're still concerned, grab an independent lab test, then match your filter to the contaminants you actually have. You make sure it's NSF or WQA certified. You know, this is one of those things where doing your own research actually makes sense.

39:29Jessica Wynn:Yeah, got it. But what do those certifications mean?

39:33Jordan Harbinger:So they mean the product, whichever filtration system that you go with, has been independently tested and verified to remove what it claims. So it's not just manufacturer promises. And don't let strangers into your home for tests. Research companies and products before buying, and be suspicious of any unsolicited contacts. But you can understand your water. Some filters can actually remove beneficial minerals, so you just really need to know what you want your filter to do.

40:06Jessica Wynn:Okay, so actual science, not just vibes. I guess that's always a good rule of thumb.

40:12Jordan Harbinger:If your water has actual vibes, I would probably call a priest, not a plumber. That's a good call.

40:19Jessica Wynn:So you mentioned some labeling on bottled water, but is the water inside better or is it like a billion dollar industry built on not trusting your faucet?

40:29Jordan Harbinger:the fact is those bottles labeled purified are just full of tap water that's packaged branded

40:38Jessica Wynn:and resold that is ridiculous so i'm buying what i already own but it's colder and smugger and probably has way more plastic in it what is purified on what does that even mean on the

40:51Jordan Harbinger:label is that a real term or is that just like it it is the one thing bottled water has to be is processed. And that's what purified means is that it's processed. There's so many brands of bottled water and it's possible that it's been processed by the company. It could be reverse osmosis or distillation or just basic filtration, but the water that comes out of our tap is processed. So half of what you're buying in bottled water is municipal water and it meets regulations because your tax dollars are paying to process that water. So Dasani, that's just Coca-Cola's tap water. Aquafina is Pepsi's tap water.

41:37Jessica Wynn:So we're paying a 10 ,000 % markup for tap water in a plastic bottle that's going to leach microplastics into the water anyway.

41:45Jordan Harbinger:Yes. Okay. There's no gray area there. But we produce around 600 billion, with a B, 600 billion plastic bottles a year. and they leach microplastics and they take centuries to decompose. So plastics from the caps alone are really harmful. You're literally drinking some of the container.

42:08Jessica Wynn:Oh, that's extra gross when you put it that way. Plus, bottled water companies pump from public aquifers. Isn't Poland Spring just like a well drilled somewhere off the Highway 5, probably?

42:20Jordan Harbinger:Yeah, absolutely. They just have a cool name and logo. and Nestle is notoriously the worst. They've been accused of draining local water sources, sometimes in areas experiencing drought, and then they resell it for profit. So they pump from the public water systems, they charge people for their own water, and then they get fined on the reg, but the fines barely make a dent in their profits. So they just pay it off and repeat. It's actually makes business sense for them to do that. Where do people think Poland spring is coming from? It's not some pure magical spring in Poland, I can assure you.

43:01Jordan Harbinger:And those ads that sell us glacial runoff are probably just tap water. A lot of water is technically glacial.

43:10Jessica Wynn:Ah, OK. I kind of didn't really know that. So we give companies our water and they sell it back to us with a mountain on the label. OK. Right. Is bottled water even regulated the same way as tap water or no?

43:23Jordan Harbinger:It's not. I was just thinking we should make some harbinger water.

43:28Jessica Wynn:Yeah, why not? God knows what's in there. I'll let you guys guess.

43:32Jordan Harbinger:Hey, you have reverse osmosis. We'll just fill it up.

43:35Jessica Wynn:Oh, I thought we'll use reverse osmosis. That's a good idea, Jess. That's what I had in mind for sure.

43:40Jordan Harbinger:Sure. But no, there's not the same regulation with bottled water and tap water. So the EPA regulates tap water under the Safe Drinking Water Act. The FDA regulates bottled water, but with completely different standards. So tap water often has stricter testing requirements.

44:00Jessica Wynn:So tap water might actually be safer than bottled water?

44:04Jordan Harbinger:Oh, yeah, pretty often. And the only bottled water I have personally, it's in my earthquake preparedness kit because in an emergency during the apocalypse, I'm not going to be choosy then.

44:17Jessica Wynn:Yeah, that's a good policy. Those purifier tablets are in full stock on my end, too. What about economics? Is filtering cheaper than bottled water? It seems like it would kind of have to be over time.

44:29Jordan Harbinger:Yeah, I mean, let's break it down. A basic Brita pitcher is about$35. The replacement filters are around$10, and you want to replace those every two months or so. So we're talking$50 to$60 a year plus your water bill.

44:44Jessica Wynn:Okay, that is nothing, basically.

44:47Jordan Harbinger:An under-sync system runs about$200 to$400 installed. The water filter replacements are around$50 to$100 annually. If you get a whole house system, that's going to be$1 ,000 to $3 ,000 up front, plus a few hundred a year in maintenance. But meanwhile, if you're buying bottled water, say you only drink two bottles a day at$1.50 each, that's over$1 ,000 a year.

45:17Jessica Wynn:So even the expensive filter pays for itself?

45:20Jordan Harbinger:Absolutely. In the long run, for sure. Plus, you reduce plastic waste. But if you're not replacing your filters on time, or you're just buying five different models that end up in a landfill, then you're not really being any greener.

45:35Jessica Wynn:And you're not saving money if you have 12 different filters that you've trashed. So filters can be greener, but only if you're not an idiot. Okay. Yes. Adds up. So another thing I wonder is why are we so obsessed with filtering the kitchen water, but do people filter their shower water? Like I said, I got offered a full home reverse osmosis system and I was just kind of like, eh, should we be filtering toothbrush water, everything that touches us? How do we make this decision?

46:00Jordan Harbinger:Those products are definitely creeping on the scene, but I'm very skeptical of them. Most water regulations focus on drinking water, things we're actually going to ingest. The risk from things like showering or brushing your teeth is considered much lower.

46:17Jessica Wynn:I'm not chugging shower water, generally. Yeah.

46:21Jordan Harbinger:But when water heats up in the shower and turns to steam, some volatile chemicals like chlorine, chloramine, and disinfection byproducts can evaporate. That means you can inhale small amounts or absorb them through the skin.

46:37Jessica Wynn:So, okay, so I could be inhaling contaminants, like my pores are just little open doors and I'm steeping myself like a human teabag.

46:45Jordan Harbinger:Yeah, potentially.

46:46Jessica Wynn:There's a joke in here about teabagging something, but I'm just not creative enough to handle it. Why don't you take over?

46:54Jordan Harbinger:So just be careful with your sensitive bits. But when the water turns into vapor and you're inhaling it, you know, it can irritate your lungs or your skin. It can contribute over time to respiratory issues. So chlorinated water can also dry out our skin, irritate our scalp, can even damage our hair and the more sensitive of parts of our skin. Small children, people with eczema, asthma or compromised immunity may benefit from shower filters. But I will say, be really careful of what you're buying.

47:28Jessica Wynn:Yeah, I saw an ad for a shower filter that says it removes negative energy from your water. What do you think that means?

47:35Jordan Harbinger:It means there's a market for people who will believe anything. was it called the sucker shower filter?

47:43Jessica Wynn:Is there strong evidence we should be filtering our bathroom water though? Like that's kind of what I was saying earlier. Like, do I need to care about that? I don't know.

47:51Jordan Harbinger:There's not. It's not super strong or consistent evidence that I can find. There are links to feeling cleaner, but there's a lot of unknown factors still. So for most people, no, this is not a major concern. Shower filters can help. Like I said, if you have sensitive skin or if you live somewhere with heavy chlorine or you don't like the smell of your water, then yes, absolutely that works. But you're not really doing any harm. I see.

48:20Jessica Wynn:So it seems like there's a perceived versus actual risk issue here.

48:26Jordan Harbinger:Yeah, definitely.

48:27Jessica Wynn:Why aren't people just filtering everything?

48:29Jordan Harbinger:There's also a regulatory and product gap. So there's just more consumer awareness about drinking filters than about shower or whole house filters. But you don't need to filter every faucet. There are cost and convenience trade-offs here. So installing shower filter adds expense, it adds maintenance, that's other filters you have to replace. Most people don't want to install and replace cartridges or worry about their water pressure and flow, and there's diminishing returns. The extra filtering is perceived as giving small benefits compared to filtering the water we drink. Plus, many shower filters are really poorly tested.

49:12Jordan Harbinger:They have vague claims. So I would just do a ton of research before spending any money on one.

49:20Jessica Wynn:So the whole home quartz infused spa detox system for 10 grand, not essential.

49:25Jordan Harbinger:Yeah, only if you believe in exfoliating your aura, which I've seen on these products' websites, and that is definitely not a thing.

49:37Jessica Wynn:Plus, my aura has been through worse than some chlorinated water. I don't know. Might need a little extra help.

49:42Jordan Harbinger:Yeah, same. I mean, it's possible to overfilter, and that can cause other problems by removing beneficial minerals, creating waste, encouraging over-reliance on consumer tech, rather than solving our systemic issues.

49:57Jessica Wynn:Yeah, there's something to be said for like, oh, I'm filtering all this stuff out, and then, I don't know, maybe we should just not use Flint River water for our home supply. Right, exactly. Yeah, there's got to be a balance. What about restaurants? They serve tap water, don't they?

50:12Jordan Harbinger:Should I care? Do I have to worry about that? If the local water is good, it's fine. If you're in an area with known contamination issues, maybe stick to something in a bottle. But your pasta may have been cooked with tap water. So it's just hard to tell. And restaurants are not required to use filtration.

50:31Jessica Wynn:But we don't think about it because restaurants appear they're so clean. They're official. The ones I tend to eat at more than once anyway.

50:38Jordan Harbinger:Yeah, I mean, that's the hope, right? But we trust the institutions. And the same water from your home faucet may feel suspect. but you go into a restaurant and that glass of water feels fine. Like we said at the beginning here, a lot of this is psychological.

50:54Jessica Wynn:Has anyone studied whether people who filter their water are actually healthier? Is that a thing that anyone's looked into?

51:00Jordan Harbinger:I looked into it. So it's so hard to study because there's just so many variables. Leads to what's their access to health care, baseline water quality at home, work, socioeconomic status can matter, where you eat matters. But we know that removing specific contaminants like lead and bacteria reduces exposure to those specific risks. So whether filtering clean top water provides additional health benefits, the data just isn't there.

51:32Jessica Wynn:Got it. So for many people, this is probably theater. It's wellness theater for your kitchen.

51:37Jordan Harbinger:Yeah, it's for taste and your peace of mind, sure.

51:41Jessica Wynn:For your tea, your bougie tea.

51:44Jordan Harbinger:Your German tea. But if you have lead pipes or well water, it's absolutely essential. The key is matching the solution to your specific problem.

51:55Jessica Wynn:But there are so many problems. I mean, does climate change affect water quality? Seems like it would.

52:01Jordan Harbinger:Yeah, absolutely. Droughts concentrate contaminants. Floods will overwhelm treatment systems. Rising temperatures increase algae blooms that produce toxins, and aging infrastructure will fail in more extreme weather. There's water scarcity that makes the bottled water industry's extraction even more ethically questionable. We just had a huge hurricane that went through the Caribbean and hit Jamaica and Cuba, they're in store for huge water quality issues because it's just messed up the source of where the water comes from.

52:39Jessica Wynn:So we're going to have more water problems in the future.

52:42Jordan Harbinger:Probably. I mean, unless we invest in infrastructure, which brings us back to the central point, water quality isn't just personal. It is political. So filters can help individuals, but they're a band-aid on systemic neglect.

52:58Jessica Wynn:A good filter can clean your water, but it can't clean government corruption.

53:02Jordan Harbinger:Yeah, and real safety comes from testing, transparency, and infrastructure investment, not from individual consumer products. So if you have shitty pipes, it doesn't matter how clean your water source is.

53:15Jessica Wynn:What's the bottom line here? How does the average person navigate this issue of water quality?

53:21Jordan Harbinger:Start with the information, not fear. Test your water to understand what's actually in it. And for simple concerns like taste and odor, those low-cost filter pitchers may be sufficient. If your water is only hard, a water softener may be all you need. If you're concerned about specific contaminants, then just make sure the filter you choose is certified to remove them. Just match the technology to your actual problem.

53:48Jessica Wynn:Turns out we don't have to fear our water. We just need to buy the right filter. The real solution is fixing our water systems, not privatizing purity. I guess at the end of the day, the goal isn't just clean water. It's clean information. This has been oddly refreshing. So here's to clean water, clear thinking, and filters that actually filter something besides our bank accounts. Thanks, Jess. And thank you all for listening. Topic suggestions for future episodes of Skeptical Sunday to Jordan at JordanHarbinger.com. Advertisers, deals, discount codes, ways to support the show are searchable and clickable on the website at jordanharbinger.com slash deals.

54:24Jessica Wynn:I'm at jordanharbinger on Twitter and Instagram. You can also connect with me on LinkedIn. And you can find Jessica on her sub stacks Between the Lines and Where Shadows Linger. We'll link to those in the show notes as well. This show is created in association with Podcast One. My team is Jen Harbinger, Jace Sanderson, Tata Sidlowskis, Robert Fogerty, Ian Baird, and Gabriel Mizrahi. Our advice and opinions are our own. And I'm a lawyer, but I'm not your lawyer. Also, we try to get these as right as we can. Not everything is gospel. even if it is fact-checked. So consult a professional before applying anything you hear on the show, especially if it's about your health and well-being.

54:58Jessica Wynn:Remember, we rise by lifting others. Share the show with those you love. If you found the episode useful, please share it with somebody else who could use a good dose of the skepticism and knowledge that we doled out today. In the meantime, I hope you apply what you hear on the show so you can live what you learn, and we'll see you next time. You're about to hear a preview from Joe Loya, a man who robbed 30 banks across California, but says the real crime scene was his childhood, where his Pentecostal preacher father beat him over a hundred times before he turned 15. For 14 months, I robbed 30 banks, sometimes several in one day.

55:32Jessica Wynn:I lost all sense that my life was going to be long at all. I just wanted to grab the loot and get the hell out of Dodge as fast as possible and go spend it and have fun. That was my ethos. And so I did, because all the crimes I did and all the violence I did, And starting with my dad, when my mother died, we have received a lot of love from her and everything like that. It's just too much for him. And when he gets angry now, he gets brutal. Like, he may have socked me. He may have choked me. He may have done all those things. Bebe with a bat. He wants us dead. He's using the dead language. He could kill us or I could kill myself.

56:06Jessica Wynn:But this is like, it's just a tough time for me to try and process the grief myself. And beyond being brutalized, I don't believe I have a future. So there's nothing inside of me like, oh, I got to protect my future. I better get a job. I better start saving money for the future. None of that. Because the trauma is so intense, you're only looking at surviving the next day in front of you. You know, in fact, I'm not made for society. They have all these moralities, but they're too timid for me. I've seen past the curtain. Like I become in my heart like a little sociopath looking at like, you guys are falling for the okey-doke.

56:41Jessica Wynn:And I'm not the guy who falls for the okey-doke. I'm the guy who stabs the okie doke and says, get the hell out of my way. I'm not buying it, right? Once upon a time, Joe Loya couldn't handle his emotional shit. And so now I'm a criminal. I'm a bad guy. In this episode, Joe unpacks the unsettling rapture he felt in the middle of a robbery and the exact moment seven years in solitary forced him to confront what he'd been running from his whole life. And the turning point that finally redirected everything? It's not what you'd expect. Check out episodes 1264 and 1265 of The Jordan Harbinger Show.

57:16Jessica Wynn:Quick break to tell you about a free podcast app worth checking out, available on both iOS and Android. If you're still using one of the built-in podcast apps, it might be time to upgrade to something better like CastBox. It's got a clean look, easy navigation, features that actually make listening easier. More than 100 ,000 of our listeners already subscribe to the show there on CastBox. So a lot of you might already know how good it is. One thing I really care about in a podcast app is strong search, and CastBox does that really well. It makes it easy to find exactly the shows and episodes you want.

57:43Jessica Wynn:I routinely use it for show prep to find specific episodes. Whether you're searching for a specific guest, a topic you're into, or an episode you want to revisit, you can also personalize your listening experience by creating playlists without downloading the episodes. Organize your subscriptions, save episodes for later. Best of all, it's completely free and ad-free, which makes the whole experience a lot more enjoyable. Download CastBox today. Subscribe to The Jordan Harbinger Show, of course, and leave us a comment while you're there.

58:36Jessica Wynn:We'll see you next time. Anywhere else. Limited time clearance savings only at Mattress Warehouse. Visit mattresswarehouse.com. This episode is sponsored in part by Conspirituality Podcast. You know how I'm always talking about critical thinking and spotting manipulation. Well, there's a podcast that's all about dismantling new age cults, wellness grifters, and conspiracy mad yogis. Basically, the wild overlap of spirituality and misinformation. It's called the Conspirituality Podcast. The hosts, a journalist, cult researcher, and a philosophical skeptic, dive deep into how this stuff spreads, from Project 2025 and the Heritage Foundation's dystopian vision of the future, to how former leftists get pulled into far-right conspiracies.

59:13Jessica Wynn:An interesting episode to check out is called Speaking Truth to Goop, where Jen Gunter breaks down the pseudoscience behind the wellness industry in a way that is super entertaining and eye-opening. It's sharp, funny, and makes you a lot harder to fool, which, if you listen to this show, you know I'm all about that. From exploring cults to analyzing our cultural and political landscape, the Conspirituality Podcast will help you stay informed against misinformation and resist fear tactics. Find Conspirituality on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts.