Terre Haute resident Brenna Deal graduated from Indiana State University with her Masters in Criminology. She spends her days educating folks about the power of water. Jilly Torrez with Kangen Water is Brenna’s mentor. Jilly studied psychology in college and has worked with water for nine years. “We have a whole water community. We are focused on educating people about water.  Our saying is, ‘wake up to water; wake up to yourself.’ 

Brenna finds herself an advocate for water because water surrounds every portion of her life. From the oceans to our bodies. “When I started to wake up to water, it changed every aspect of my life, and I just want to share this gift of what I've learned about myself and my health,” Deal said. Jilly found herself with ovarian cysts when she was 21 and found water to be a way that helped to heal her body. “One of the biggest reasons I’m passionate about my mission to share about water is because we are water. We are 75% if not 99.9% water and our bodies, when dehydrated, experience so many issues, and the water seems to be the missing link,” Torrez explained. Jilly paints the picture that humans can look at the waters of the world, like the rivers and the oceans and the lakes, as the veins of the body; we are water. When we educate ourselves on water, we start taking our power back and becoming more sovereign.

Brenna’s journey with water started during the pandemic in 2020. “I was terrified of my health. I looked around at my family and realized my partner's dad had been in the hospital on his deathbed, and I started to look at what I was consuming,” Deal explained. Through her journey, she found water and started to take more substantial control of her health. Brenna explains that the most powerful message that keeps coming back to her is that you can control your health. Once people start drinking more water, they start noticing how their body is acting differently, and they find their energy increasing and sleep issues diminishing. 

Read Part I here

All water is not equal. “I like to say that water can't ever actually die. When we talk about dead water, we mean stagnant water. We run voltage and chemical tests to learn what has happened to the water,” explained Jilly Torrez with Kangen Water.  Another one of Jilly’s phrases is ‘what happened to the water happened to us.’ Jilly says the more you learn about how the water was taken from its source and put through all the pipes leading to the water processing plants, you start seeing how the water became domesticated.  Through processing, water loses its minerals and structure, and comes out stagnant.

What’s the Tea on Tap Water?

Every tap water is different. Jilly recommends starting with obtaining a water quality report. She explained how one zip code could have contaminants in the tap water, and a nearby zip code has completely different pollutants. Contaminants range a lot, with most cities having more than nine contaminants over the EPA guidelines. 

Jilly wants to educate consumers on what is happening with tap water. In many towns and cities, the water is on a closed-loop system. Cities are recycling the water, and it's coming back out of the tap. Cities process the same water about once a month. Chemicals are added to the water to prevent the water from rusting the pipes. “One contaminant treatment facilities add is lye. Lye makes the tap water slightly alkaline. When water is slightly alkaline, it helps keep the pipes from rusting. In addition, many cities have a lot of heavy pharmaceuticals in the tap water that their systems can’t filter out,” Torrez explained.  

People are not only drinking tap water, but they're also showering in it, and our skin is one of our biggest organs. Water may be part of the culprit for weak hair, eczema, or psoriasis. To learn more about what is coming out of your shower, visit ewg.org/tapwater. Five chemicals exceeded the guidelines in Terre Haute, Indiana, and 11 contaminants were found. Many of the chemicals that exceed guidelines have the potential to lead to cancer.

“I'm a busy mom. I have two kids, and because I have two kids is why it matters. Many people turn to supplements, pharmaceuticals, or healthier food for a solution. What if changing the water you drink can help?” stated Brenna Deal, a water educator in the greater Terre Haute area.