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What's In Your Drinking Water by Yisroel Goodman

Did you ever ask yourself what is in the water that you drink? If you ever found out, it could make you sick. Maintaining your ignorance could make you sicker. We always assumed our drinking water is safe. We were wrong.

The following sites contain articles about the safety of drinking water:

Lead levels in water misrepresented across the U.S. (from the Washington Post)

Water information NRDC.org Water Information

from NRDC Unlike people in many parts of the world, Americans take clean, safe drinking water for granted. We shouldn't. Scientists estimate that each year up to 7 million Americans become sick from contaminated tap water, which can also be lethal.

from U.S. News and Health Report:

The coming water crisis Across the country, long-neglected mains and pipes, many more than a century old, are reaching the end of their life span. When pipes fail, pressure drops and sucks dirt, debris, and often bacteria and other pathogens into the huge underground arteries that deliver water......

While pregnancy-risk research {on chlorine byproducts} is hotly debated, the EPA decided that cancer risk from chlorine by-products is high enough that it ordered water system reductions earlier this year......

Most bottled water is clean. But in 1999, a Natural Resources Defense Council study showed that four of 103 tested brands of bottled water violated federal standards for chemicals or coliform bacteria, while one quarter fell short of stricter California standards for other contaminants

National Public Radio report on drinking water contaminants:

Weak Drinking Water Laws Blamed in D.C. Lead Scare - April 19, 2004 News of dangerous levels of lead in Washington D.C.'s drinking water sparks an outcry from the community -- especially because city water officials knew about the problem and did little to warn the public. In the first of two reports, NPR's Daniel Zwerdling explains that weak federal laws regulating drinking water are to blame.

Aging Water Systems Plague Cities - April 20, 2004 Lead in drinking water in Washington, D.C., is just part of a larger, more profound problem that affects cities across the country. In his second report about contaminated drinking water, NPR's Daniel Zwerdling reveals that many cities are still getting their drinking water from systems that date back to the 19th and early 20th centuries.

What could be in YOUR drinking water?

lead, chlorine, disinfection byproducts, cryptosporidia, giardia, bacteria, endocrine disrupters, pesticides, etc.

The answer - water filtration

New York plans to have water filtration in seven to eight years. But even that won't help much. It will not filter the water that passes through old, corroded pipes into your home. The only real answer is a filter at the point where the water reaches you. There are several methods:

Full Home Filter

These typically cost about $500 and must be installed by a professional. The advantage is that ALL the water going into your home is filtered. The cartridge is changed about once a year. However, this won't protect against contaminants caused by old plumbing in your house situated beyond the filter.

Undersink Filter

These filter ALL the COLD water that comes through that specific sink. It requires installation but can be done by anyone who is handy. They typically cost $100 and the cartridges have to be changed about once a year.

Countertop Filter

These filter COLD water WHEN YOU CHOOSE. You pull a little lever and the water is diverted through the filter. Installation requires no tools and takes under a minute. Depending on the use and the amount of impurities in your water, the cartridges have to be changed every 8-12 months. They typically cost $30-$70

On Tap Filter

These are devices that you attach directly to your faucet. They do a good job of removing sediment but because of their small size, are nowhere near as good as the other devices (which have several filtering stages) at removing chemical contaminants. They are generally useless against lead and chlorine. They also clog easily and need to be replaced every few months. A serious problem is that if they are not changed on time, at some point they start putting the contaminants they removed back into the water! They tend to get in the way when washing pots and often cause water to splash in unintended directions. They generally cost around $20. For not much more you can get a countertop 5-stage filter.