Is Your Drinking Water Safe?
Should you be worried about pesticides and chemicals in your drinking water?
Is Your Drinking Water Safe?
Melanie writes:
My husband and I have switched to eating organically, but now we’re wondering about what we drink. Should we be concerned about pesticides and other chemicals in our water supply? Is it necessary to get a water filter? If so, what kind?
Melanie, you may very well have something to be concerned about. Modern living involves a lot of chemicals and far too many of them are ending up in the water we drink. Many people assume that government regulations are in place to protect the quality and safety of the water supply. But the regulations may not be as strict as you think and there are enforcement issues.
The New York Times has done some great investigative journalism on this topic, publishing a series of articles on the safety of the water supply. I’ll put a link to the series, which is ongoing, in the show notes for today’s episode. If you read it, you may well decide that it’s time to look into a water purification system.
But first, it’s important to know what, if anything, you’re dealing with in your local water supply—because this may determine what type of system you need. If you live in an agricultural area, for example, pesticides and fertilizer runoff is a concern. If you live in an area where there is mining, there could be heavy metals in the water. If there is a lot of manufacturing or other industry close by, solvents may be a bigger problem.
How to Find Out What’s in Your Water
If you are on a public water system, you are supposed to get a report every summer with details about your water quality and any contaminants that have been found in it. It’s often included with your water bill. If you’re a renter, you probably never see these reports. But many are posted online on the Environmental Protection Agency’s website. I’ve got a link in the show notes to the EPA’s section on Local Water Quality.
But in the New York Times series I mentioned earlier, they describe a situation affecting a community in Indiana. The average levels of atrazine, a chemical herbicide, are within legal limits. But in the summer, when weed-killers are being applied to lawns and golf courses, the levels of atrazine in the water spike to ten times that amount—and this doesn’t show up on the annual report.
Another alternative is to have your water tested by an independent laboratory. You’ll want to choose a state-certified laboratory. You can find one in your area by calling the Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 800-426-4791 or visiting www.epa.gov/safewater/labs.
How to Choose a Water Purification System
Once you know what, if anything, you need to be concerned about, you’ll want to be sure that the water filtration or purification system that you’re considering is effective in dealing with those contaminants.
For example, those popular Brita water-filter pitchers are certified to remove mercury and copper, which may or may not be in your water. However, they are not certified to remove pesticide residues or organic solvents. Honestly, Brita pitchers are great for removing chlorine and making tap water taste better. But if you have harmful chemicals or heavy metals in your water, you may need something a little more heavy duty.
And there are a lot of options to consider. There are units that mount on your faucet, systems that sit on the counter or under the sink, and whole-house systems that purify the water as it comes into your house. You can spend anywhere from a couple of hundred dollars to several thousand.
Which Water Purification Technology Should You Choose?
There are also many different technologies. There’s multi-media filtration, distillation, reverse osmosis, and UV disinfection systems. Each has its pros and cons. For example, distillation systems do a great job removing bacteria and heavy metals but they’re not so great at removing chemicals found in pesticides and herbicides. Distilled water also tastes sort of flat and is more acidic than regular tap water, because harmless trace minerals are also removed.
The multi-media filtration systems do a good job removing chemicals, heavy metals, and micro-organisms but it can take a long time for the water to go through the filters, which can a hassle if you’re trying to filter all the water you use. On the plus side, filtration systems usually don’t use any electricity.
I’ve got another link below to a site that gives a good overview of the different technologies, and the pros and cons of each. I should note that this site is actually affiliated with a site that sells a high-tech filtration system, but the information is good. I’ll also post a link to the National Resource Defense Council’s Consumer Guide to Water Filtration Devices. They’re not associated with any products.
Check out the different options and see which one seems to be the best fit for your household and your budget. And, most importantly, make sure that the system you choose is certified to handle the particular contaminants you are concerned about.
Also, if your system involves any sort of filters, it’s very important to change them as directed. Whether it’s in a pitcher, in your fridge or icemaker, or in a point-of-entry system, passing water through a dirty filter may be worse than no filter at all. So, note the replacement dates for all filters on your calendar and be sure to keep up with that.
Administrative
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Have a great day and eat something good for me!
RESOURCES:
Toxic Waters (New York Times Series)
Local Drinking Water Information (EPA)
Tap Water image courtesy of Shutterstock