Reliability of Water Purifiers

A recent news item in Deccan Herald questions the 'tall claims' of safety of the purified water and efficiency of the units sold by different manufacturers

(you may read the full text by clicking on the image).

Most of the ADs on television, on this subject, tend to create an image as if Damocles's sword is hanging above you in the form of contaminated water.The only choice you are left with to protect your family, according to them, is to buy one water purifier; spend rest of your life hale and healthy!

While the author of the above article is concerned about failure of the most of the 'purified' water units to the meet the safety levels, I wish to know, how much of these 'levels' are truly required?
To put in a different way, are we over protecting ourselves, in the process, depriving our body's ability to develop its own defense mechanisms?

Are we allowing ourselves to be brain-washed by the vested market-interest ?

I give you an example from my experience. About twenty years back I had to spend six weeks abroad for a training. The small community had an excellent supply of treated water which was disinfected thoroughly using some permissible germicide. Just after landing back in India at Mumbai, in my brother's place, with the first sip of water I developed severe throat infection. Next two days I had to suffer.

My conclusion was, and is, that the protected water for six weeks had stripped me off my natural defense mechanism. No wonder my body immediately became vulnerable for infection on return.

Do we have protection mechanism against bacteria and virus ? Yes, that's what knowledgeable people say.

Our body produces "macrophages" which keep circulating in our blood.These 'alert cops' have an ability to deactivate a trouble creating virus the moment they are spotted in the blood. By enveloping the virus with a protein the virus is deactivated even before it can find a safe location to settle down and create a problem.

In order to produce many of this macrophages there should be some triggering or signaling situation, like getting exposed to somewhat adverse environment. In a sterile environment our body may not generate right type of macrophages and remains unprepared against any infection in a new environment.

It is similar to a situation when a person who is habituated to walk only with slippers and shoes on road finding it extremely difficult even to walk few meters on barefoot as his soles have become too sensitive. On the other hand we find millions in the world walk bare foot on gravel, on hot tar roads and even in forests! Anatomically we are no different from them, yet we failed to tune our body for a rough & tough situation.

MY BASIC QUESTION REMAINS,

Do we have to really worry about purification of water ?

Can't we manage with simple boiled water ?

Here is a video clip by one of the harassed customer who purchased a Reverse Osmosis purifier. Conclusion is left to you.