What’s in Your Tap Water?

A friend of mine once said, “Whoever invented water was a genius!”

He had just taken a deep drink of H2O and now had a satisfied look on his face. Admittedly, he was dehydrated after a night on the town. But his point was well taken.

Water tastes great when you’re thirsty. It’s also good for your skin, teeth, kidneys, and brain. It helps your circulation. It helps digest your food. It helps maintain body temperature. And it moves nutrients to where they should be.  

But only when it’s not contaminated. When there are too many pathogenic bacteria, heavy metals, or other contaminants in your drinking water, it can make your life miserable. Including stomach cramps, diarrhea, and more serious health problems. 

Bottled Water No Guarantee

Some people concerned about contaminants in tap water believe they’re safe by drinking bottled water. But there’s no guarantee where that water came from. Plus it’s more expensive. Not to mention the plastic is an environmental concern.

These days, there are home tests for COVID-19. And for pregnancy, blood pressure, blood sugar, and much more. But there’s no reliable and inexpensive way to test your tap water.

There is, however, an easy way to eliminate a large percentage of contaminants from your tap water. I’ll discuss that in a moment.

Considering how many factors can jeopardize water you use every day for drinking, cooking, bathing, and cleaning, it’s crucial to ensure your water is as pure as possible.

Not Just in Flint and Newark

More than 300 contaminants in water supplied to some 250 million Americans have been found. And no standards have been established for more than 60 percent of them. That’s according to the Environmental Working Group (EWG).

The World Health Organization tells us that some 785 million people around the world lack clean drinking water.

We’ve all heard about high-profile cases of water contamination. Including disturbing levels of lead found in the tap water in Flint, Michigan, and Newark, New Jersey.

But water contamination exists across the country. Yet it’s been a quarter of a century since the EPA added a new drinking water contaminant to the Safe Drinking Water Act. 

‘A Community Health Hazard’

The increased usage of pesticides, herbicides, and other environmental pollution has been a factor in drinking water contamination.

If you’re not filtering your water, you’re consuming those pollutants. And perhaps bacteria, mercury, lead, and volatile organic compounds.

This is not the kind of “cocktail” any of us would like to sit back and enjoy after a long day. Considering how many times we turn on our taps through a day, it’s scary. 

The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Iowa put out a water report. It said, “our aging water infrastructure… represents a community health hazard of enduring significance.”

PFCs Linked to Health Issues

A contaminant causing much concern over the past few years is perfluorochemicals (PFCs).

A recent report revealed approximately 15 million Americans in 27 states were drinking water contaminated with these toxic chemicals.

PFCs are used in many consumer products. Including cookware, waterproof clothing, firefighting foam, and food packaging. They’ve been linked to many serious health issues.

Bill Walker is managing editor of EWG. He says, “It’s remarkable that the richest country on Earth can’t guarantee its citizens that their drinking water is completely safe.” 

What’s Safe and What Isn’t?

Here’s another water contamination issue. What levels of contaminants are considered “safe?” For example, the EPA says .04 parts per billion of PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid) is safe.

But researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health and the University of Massachusetts-Lowell say the standard should be as low as .001 parts per billion.

That’s a significant difference. And even when tap water is safe or relatively safe, it can change in an instant following an extreme weather event.

Especially when it involves flooding. The surge of extra water increases contamination by pushing sizeable amounts of toxins from the earth into the water supply.

A Few Tips

The single most effective thing you can do for your tap water is filter it. But here are a few additional tips: 

• Wash your reusable water bottle with hot, soapy water every day. Otherwise, bacteria can form. 

• Don’t drink from shower heads. Bacteria forms here as well.

• Don’t drink too much water. Excessive amounts of water can lower sodium levels so much that your cells will begin to swell.

• Avoid caffeinated water. Depending on your body chemistry, this can cause problems when you drink too much of it.

Patriot Pure Pitcher

There are several things you can do to determine if your water contains lead. Including having it tested. But even if a test determines there is no lead in your tap water, other contaminants are likely present.

And the biggest problem is we often don’t learn how bad the situation is until it becomes a major news story. By then it’s too late. The key is to filter the water you drink from your faucets.

My recommendation is the Patriot Pure Pitcher. It can clean 99 percent of lead and manganese from your tap water. It even filters over 99 percent of radiological contaminant threats such as gross beta, radon 222, and alpha radium 226. 

You owe it to your peace of mind to ensure you always have clean, pure water to drink.