Without a home water purification device, you and your loved ones are drinking unsafe tap water. How can I make such a bold statement? In the course of my career as a health researcher, I examined tap water quality, along with the health effects of drinking tap water. I was stunned when I learned the contamination level of the water we drink and use for cooking every day.
Tap water contains all the chemicals we use in our society–in the home, in agriculture, and in industry. Consider our use of cleaning products, lawn chemicals, gasoline, dry-cleaning solvents, pesticides, herbicides, chlorine, and that is just the beginning! We use over 80,000 synthetic chemicals for convenience purposes and to increase productivity. Did you know that municipal water treatment is not effective at removing synthetic organic chemicals (SOCs)? Traces of low level SOCs are found in almost every public water supply anywhere in the world.
You and I must ask what price is being paid for consuming tap water minus an under counter water filter. Dramatic increases in degenerative diseases have plagued our society in modern times. Many illnesses that could not be linked to a probable cause have now been linked to toxins in our drinking water. Synthetic organic chemicals are carcinogens and are believed to be responsible for the majority of human cancers in the United States. Our drinking water contains more than 2,100 toxic chemicals that can cause cancer. In the early 1900s, before the prevalence of the thousands of chemicals we are exposed to every day, the average American had a 1 in 50 chance of getting cancer. Today, 1 out of every 3 people will get cancer.
A whole house water filtration system is mandatory for removal of lead, the number one environmental health threat to our children. Most municipal water flows through lead pipes over 100 years old, and houses built before 1960 may have water supplied through lead pipes. Water can also contain lead naturally. Each year, lead in drinking water contributes to 480,000 cases of learning disabilities in children. Lead ingestion by children can also cause brain damage, stunted growth, and hyperactivity.
We must also consider tap water’s effect on pregnant women and unborn fetuses. A 2001-2003 study of almost 400,000 infants by Birmingham University, U.K., revealed that pregnant women who drink tap water or even shower in it, may double the risk of serious brain and heart abnormalities in their unborn children. The study established a clear link between chemicals formed during chlorination of water and birth defects. The problem chemicals known as trihalomethanes (THMs) can be contained in drinking water, showers, swimming pools, and even the steam from a boiling kettle.
The use of a tap water purifier which removes contaminants and micro organisms is the only way to ensure we won’t hurt our health. I used to think bottled water could be substituted for an in-house water purification device, but it may be even less clean and safe. Public water systems are required to test for chemical water contaminants four times as often as bottled water companies. Also, municipal water systems must test for harmful microbiological content in water several times a day, but bottled water companies are only required to test for these microbes once a week. Bottled water is not a viable alternative to tap water. The only way to assure water cleanliness and safety is to install a home water filter system.
NRDC :: Rob Perks’s Blog :: Restoring Water Quality Protections
Restoring Water Quality Protections Will Save Mountains. Rob Perks: Director, Center for Advocacy Campaigns, Washington, D.C.
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We are working with the Department of Water Resources to ensure the raw water quality from the delta is sufficient to avoid further issues. We will continue to use Lake Hennessey to supply water until the problem is resolved.
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