For most of us in first world countries, water is an under contemplated topic. Outside of choosing which brand of bottled water we want to buy at the store or choosing between flat, sparkling or tap at a fancy restaurant, we just accept what we are given.
It’s one of the benefits of living in the first world. We can blissfully go about life with rarely contemplating things that for 99.9% of human history were life or death matters.
Still, the first-world doesn’t equal the perfect world. In truth, when it comes to water, the United States has stealthily permitted the spread of the same problems that plague third world countries.
(click below to read more)
It’s one of the benefits of living in the first world. We can blissfully go about life with rarely contemplating things that for 99.9% of human history were life or death matters.
Still, the first-world doesn’t equal the perfect world. In truth, when it comes to water, the United States has stealthily permitted the spread of the same problems that plague third world countries.
(click below to read more)
According to the UN 783 million people, mostly in the developing world, do not have access to clean drinking water. The problems run the gamut, including dangerous micro-organisms and industrial pollution.
The same problems could be lurking in your tap water or even the overpriced bottled water we buy when we are trying to up our water game. Lead was recently found in the water in Flint, Michigan. The dangers of lead have been known about and legislated against for for years. In New York, where I live, lead has not been used in service lines since 1961 and lead solder for plumbing was banned in 1987.
But, legislation alone doesn’t fix problems over night. Like many of you, I have been guilty of assuming that the lead problem was a thing of the past. Banning the use of lead has probably made the proliferation of lead in our water supply stop but we need to remember that much of the lead installed prior to bans is still in use.
But, this isn’t a discussion of lead in water. The list of things regularly detected in municipal water supplies is long. We can replace the term lead with arsenic, fracking chemicals, pesticides, industrial runoff, agricultural runoff or pharmaceutical drug residues and the end result is the same: water that doesn’t properly support life.
This is a call for each of us to put more thought into our personal relationship(s) with the water we use. Those of us lucky enough to live in the developed first world shouldn’t be complacent. We must refuse to tolerate dangerous water in our midst. And, even if your water isn’t outright dangerous, chances are that it can still be improved.
Below are some thoughts to guide you as you ponder your first world water.
Before I dive into the list, I want to emphasize that I am not advocating panic over the state of our public and private water. I am advocating that we can treat ourselves more humanely by improving our relationship with water.
While some guidelines for safe healthy water have been legislated in the Clean Water Act (1972) and the Safe Drinking Water Act(1996), they are only a start. At their best they are outdated and have not taken into account the proliferation of new threats to our water or the mountains of scientific research that help us understand the voracity of those threats. At their worst, they may be failing to give us the protection we deserve.
Add in the problem of constant attempts from industry and even some in government to weaken the already malnourished acts that protect our water and we have a situation that requires constant monitoring on the individual level.
Rather than wait to be taken care of, let’s take more control over what we ingest and set the standard for what is acceptable.
Below are a few facts about the two most popular sources of drinking water in the United States, tap water and bottled water. It turns out that, often, they are one in the same.
Please don’t take these as an incitement to live in fear of water. Use the knowledge as a starting point to improve your relationship with the water you drink.
Also, remember that all of your water is treated before it gets to you. The amount and quality of that testing may vary. Still, nobody sets out to give us unhealthy water. At the same time, providing enough water is a ginormous task that is at time complicated by weather, demand, natural and man-made disasters, shoddy oversight and financial incentive or lack of.
The water quality reports for you tap water are open public records. Consider taking a look at them and also consider filtering your water to make the water you drink is of a quality that you are comfortable with.
For the record, in order to get my tap water up to what I consider a first world standard, I filter my water in a Berkey water filter with carbon filters and additional filters for fluoride and arsenic. I’m okay with the chlorine used to keep the critters out of the water during delivery but I prefer to filter it out before I indulge. I also filter out the fluoride. My water bottles are stainless steel and I have dreams of switching to glass. I am working on developing an iron clad habit of bringing my own filtered water when I venture out. It remains a work in porogress.
Here’s some stuff to urge you into thinking more deeply about your water. Please, do not become to scared to drink water. It is one of the few things we cannot live without.
Bottled Water
Bottled water is so convenient. It’s pricey too. I don’t mind paying for quality but the truth is that most bottled water is just tap water. Sometimes it has the benefit of extra filtration.
Sometimes it doesn’t.
If it hasn’t been filtered, it is prone to the same problems listed in the section below on tap water. Sometimes it is even less tested than tap water. What we gain by drinking bottled water is probably not safety and quality but false peace of mind.
That being said, rarely a week goes by that I don’t have at least one bottled water. Bodies need water and bottled water is convenient. Sometimes the need for water outweighs the source (to a point. You won’t see me lapping up water from a NYC puddle). Be knowledgeable and make the choices that support you. Toward those ends, here are a few not so fun facts.
Tap Water (The following applies to most bottled water as well)
Unless you have a well in your back yard, the water that a comes out of your tap makes a long and arduous journey from it’s source to your tummy. Along the way (or before the journey even starts) there are many opportunities for the water to loose some of it’s pristine appeal.
Contamination on the journey to you:
Some causes contamination at the source.
These are the things that we hope get filtered out before the get to us. Sometimes they don’t.
The next step is to take some action to make sure that your water is worthy of the designation “first world”. You can make the quality that suits your needs and comfort level. Maybe you already have. As always, feel free to ask questions in the comments or email me.
These are some of the sources I looked at in fact checking this post. There is good info here. Take a look if you want to go deeper.
Some info on the differences between bottled and tap water. Includes info on water testing frequency between tap and bottled water.
http://www.waterbenefitshealth.com/bottled-water-versus-tap-water.html
A nice concise, mostly economic argument for tap water over bottled water.
https://www.banthebottle.net/bottled-water-facts/
Good info on what kinds of water filters are available and what each type can filter out. A good starting place if you are interested in water filtration.
http://www.cancerdefeated.com/newsletters/Best-ways-to-purify-your-drinking-water.html
Information about pipe corrosion and tap water.
http://twon.tamu.edu/media/385808/drinking%20water%20problems-corrosion.pdf
A discussion of the Halifax Project. I didn’t mention the project but it is looking at the effects of contaminants in relation to other contaminants. Until recently, toxins were considered individually. This project is looking at what happens when contaminants react with each other. Scary stuff.
http://www.ewg.org/research/rethinking-carcinogens/halifax-project-complete-vs-partial-carcinogens
California may be a leader in environmental crusades but even there dumb things are considered. What person, let alone government official, would think it’s a good idea to allow wastewater from oil and gas drilling to be dumped into aquifers used for drinking water.
http://www.desmogblog.com/2016/06/12/california-officials-want-aquifers-exempted-so-oil-industry-can-dump-toxic-waste
The same problems could be lurking in your tap water or even the overpriced bottled water we buy when we are trying to up our water game. Lead was recently found in the water in Flint, Michigan. The dangers of lead have been known about and legislated against for for years. In New York, where I live, lead has not been used in service lines since 1961 and lead solder for plumbing was banned in 1987.
But, legislation alone doesn’t fix problems over night. Like many of you, I have been guilty of assuming that the lead problem was a thing of the past. Banning the use of lead has probably made the proliferation of lead in our water supply stop but we need to remember that much of the lead installed prior to bans is still in use.
But, this isn’t a discussion of lead in water. The list of things regularly detected in municipal water supplies is long. We can replace the term lead with arsenic, fracking chemicals, pesticides, industrial runoff, agricultural runoff or pharmaceutical drug residues and the end result is the same: water that doesn’t properly support life.
This is a call for each of us to put more thought into our personal relationship(s) with the water we use. Those of us lucky enough to live in the developed first world shouldn’t be complacent. We must refuse to tolerate dangerous water in our midst. And, even if your water isn’t outright dangerous, chances are that it can still be improved.
Below are some thoughts to guide you as you ponder your first world water.
Before I dive into the list, I want to emphasize that I am not advocating panic over the state of our public and private water. I am advocating that we can treat ourselves more humanely by improving our relationship with water.
While some guidelines for safe healthy water have been legislated in the Clean Water Act (1972) and the Safe Drinking Water Act(1996), they are only a start. At their best they are outdated and have not taken into account the proliferation of new threats to our water or the mountains of scientific research that help us understand the voracity of those threats. At their worst, they may be failing to give us the protection we deserve.
Add in the problem of constant attempts from industry and even some in government to weaken the already malnourished acts that protect our water and we have a situation that requires constant monitoring on the individual level.
Rather than wait to be taken care of, let’s take more control over what we ingest and set the standard for what is acceptable.
Below are a few facts about the two most popular sources of drinking water in the United States, tap water and bottled water. It turns out that, often, they are one in the same.
Please don’t take these as an incitement to live in fear of water. Use the knowledge as a starting point to improve your relationship with the water you drink.
Also, remember that all of your water is treated before it gets to you. The amount and quality of that testing may vary. Still, nobody sets out to give us unhealthy water. At the same time, providing enough water is a ginormous task that is at time complicated by weather, demand, natural and man-made disasters, shoddy oversight and financial incentive or lack of.
The water quality reports for you tap water are open public records. Consider taking a look at them and also consider filtering your water to make the water you drink is of a quality that you are comfortable with.
For the record, in order to get my tap water up to what I consider a first world standard, I filter my water in a Berkey water filter with carbon filters and additional filters for fluoride and arsenic. I’m okay with the chlorine used to keep the critters out of the water during delivery but I prefer to filter it out before I indulge. I also filter out the fluoride. My water bottles are stainless steel and I have dreams of switching to glass. I am working on developing an iron clad habit of bringing my own filtered water when I venture out. It remains a work in porogress.
Here’s some stuff to urge you into thinking more deeply about your water. Please, do not become to scared to drink water. It is one of the few things we cannot live without.
Bottled Water
Bottled water is so convenient. It’s pricey too. I don’t mind paying for quality but the truth is that most bottled water is just tap water. Sometimes it has the benefit of extra filtration.
Sometimes it doesn’t.
If it hasn’t been filtered, it is prone to the same problems listed in the section below on tap water. Sometimes it is even less tested than tap water. What we gain by drinking bottled water is probably not safety and quality but false peace of mind.
That being said, rarely a week goes by that I don’t have at least one bottled water. Bodies need water and bottled water is convenient. Sometimes the need for water outweighs the source (to a point. You won’t see me lapping up water from a NYC puddle). Be knowledgeable and make the choices that support you. Toward those ends, here are a few not so fun facts.
- The FDA regulates the quality of bottled water and the EPA is in charge of tap water. The end result is that tap water is tested much more rigorously and often. The differences in testing frequency between the two are staggering. I provide link below.
- Federal Regulations only require bottled water to be “as good as tap water.”
- Plastic bottles also become a significant source of external pollution. According to Ban the Bottle, only 23% of plastic is recycled in the US. The website claims that 38 billion water bottles are NOT recycled every year. That’s a lot of garbage.
- Plastic bottles are a source of internal pollution as well. BPA (bisphenol-A) is used plastic water bottled production and has been linked to breast cancer, early puberty and other not so nice problems. Most likely, your disposable water bottle is leeching BPA into your water. FYI, BPA is also on most of the receipts your get. If the receipt is shiny, there a good chance it has BPA.
- The plastic in water bottles degrades over time, especially in sunlight. It’s possible that your bottled water is actually becoming bottled plastic tea as it waits for you to purchase it.
- This is my own personal worry. We freak out about BPA but I find it hard to believe that BPA is the be all end all of badness in plastic. Skip it when you can. Something else from plastic may be just as bad or worse.
Tap Water (The following applies to most bottled water as well)
Unless you have a well in your back yard, the water that a comes out of your tap makes a long and arduous journey from it’s source to your tummy. Along the way (or before the journey even starts) there are many opportunities for the water to loose some of it’s pristine appeal.
Contamination on the journey to you:
- Chlorine. There is debate about addition of chlorine to municipal water supplies. Chlorine is added to kill virus, bacteria and other pathogens. That’s a good thing. Actually ingesting the tap water with the chlorine in it has been linked to bad stuff including colon cancer. Personally, I’ll take the chlorine as a necessary element of the delivery system. Filtering out the chlorine before you drink it is your best bet.
- Fluoride. Another source of heated debate. Some people say it makes for strong teeth. Some say it’s bad for us. I challenge you to research it. If you don’t like it, filter it.
- Some lead pipes and lead solder in pipes still exist. You may live in a house that was built without lead pipes but how sure are you about the pipes carrying the water to your home. Lead has been known to cause physical and mental development issues in children. It has also been linked to high blood pressure and kidney problems in adults. Flint Michigan is exhibit A for the reality of lead in drinking water.
- Corroded pipes. Pipes get old and deteriorate. Acidity in water or the soil surrounding the pipes can speed up the process. When this happens, copper (or lead) can be dissolved into the water. Gastrointestinal problems and, in the long term, liver and kidney damage has been reported.
Some causes contamination at the source.
These are the things that we hope get filtered out before the get to us. Sometimes they don’t.
- Sewage, sludge partially and treated waste water can find its way into drinking water. This is more likely to happen when large flows of storm water overrun drainage systems.
- Leakage from underground storage tanks.
- Urban runoff. All of that trash lying around ends up somewhere and it’s possible that it finds its way into a drinking water source.
- Industrial and agricultural runoff.
- Landfills and dumps.
The next step is to take some action to make sure that your water is worthy of the designation “first world”. You can make the quality that suits your needs and comfort level. Maybe you already have. As always, feel free to ask questions in the comments or email me.
These are some of the sources I looked at in fact checking this post. There is good info here. Take a look if you want to go deeper.
Some info on the differences between bottled and tap water. Includes info on water testing frequency between tap and bottled water.
http://www.waterbenefitshealth.com/bottled-water-versus-tap-water.html
A nice concise, mostly economic argument for tap water over bottled water.
https://www.banthebottle.net/bottled-water-facts/
Good info on what kinds of water filters are available and what each type can filter out. A good starting place if you are interested in water filtration.
http://www.cancerdefeated.com/newsletters/Best-ways-to-purify-your-drinking-water.html
Information about pipe corrosion and tap water.
http://twon.tamu.edu/media/385808/drinking%20water%20problems-corrosion.pdf
A discussion of the Halifax Project. I didn’t mention the project but it is looking at the effects of contaminants in relation to other contaminants. Until recently, toxins were considered individually. This project is looking at what happens when contaminants react with each other. Scary stuff.
http://www.ewg.org/research/rethinking-carcinogens/halifax-project-complete-vs-partial-carcinogens
California may be a leader in environmental crusades but even there dumb things are considered. What person, let alone government official, would think it’s a good idea to allow wastewater from oil and gas drilling to be dumped into aquifers used for drinking water.
http://www.desmogblog.com/2016/06/12/california-officials-want-aquifers-exempted-so-oil-industry-can-dump-toxic-waste
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