In some areas the toxic substances in tap water pose an obvious and serious health threat. In other areas, where the tap water is better, the health threat still exists but is harder to pin down. However, all drinking water that is consumed straight from the tap does pose a health threat to some degree.

If tap water is unsafe for drinking, why does the government allow it? BECAUSE it would cost a lot of money to make it safe!

Most people assume that when they turn on the kitchen tap, they are getting clean, safe, healthy drinking water. Unfortunately, this often is not the case. Regardless of the original source of tap water, it is vulnerable to a number of different types of impurities, and may be full of harmful chemicals and inorganic minerals that the body cannot use. Some undesirable substances found in water, including radon, fluoride, and arsenic, as well as iron, lead, copper, and other heavy metals, can occur naturally. Other contaminants, such as fertilizers, asbestos, cyanides, herbicides, pesticides, and industrial chemicals, may leach into the ground water through the soil, or into any tap water from plumbing pipes. Many of these chemicals have been linked to cancer and other disorders. Water can also contain biological contaminants, including viruses, bacteria, and parasites. Still other substances, including chlorine, carbon, lime, phosphates, soda ash, and aluminum sulfate, are intentionally added to public water supplies to kill bacteria, adjust pH, and eliminate cloudiness, among other things.

A study conducted by the Natural Resources Defense Council found that 18,500 of the nation’s water systems (serving some 45 million Americans) violated safe drinking water laws at some point during 1994 or 1995. The council’s report blamed contaminated water for some 900,000 illnesses a year, including 100 deaths. Even if the levels of individual substances in water are well within “allowable” limits, the total of all contaminants present may still be harmful to your health.

The greatest concerns about water quality today focus on chlorine, pesticides and parasites. Chlorine has long been added to public water supplies to kill disease-causing bacteria. However, the levels of chlorine in drinking water today can be quite high, and some byproducts of chlorine are known carcinogens.

Pesticides pose a risk in any area where the tap water is extracted from an underground source. These chemicals are suspected of causing or at least contributing to, an increased incidence of cancer, especially breast cancer. Some scientists believe this may be because certain pesticides can mimic the action of the sex hormone estrogen in the body. Others point to the fact that toxins in the body tend to accumulate in fatty tissues, and the human breast is composed largely of fatty tissue.

The pesticide problem is a particular concern in areas where agriculture is (or was) a major part of the economy. These chemicals are persistent. Residues from pesticides used decades ago may still be present in water coming out of the tap today, and may pose as a risk to health.

WHAT ARE MY OPTIONS??

The first thing to do is to stop drinking tap water as soon as possible.

You have three basic choices:

1. buy bottled water,
2. buy water from a vending machine or
3. install a water purifier at home.

Even if you decide to install a water purifier, start drinking bottled water until it is in place.

Do not buy “spring water, natural spa water, and natural mountain water” or any other label that indicates that the water is from a natural source.

THM’s are known carcinogen-substances that increase the risk of getting cancer and they are present at varying levels in all tap water.