Sunday, February 17, 2008

About the Water for that Tea...Is it Safe to Drink?

Water - essential for life, the source of 70% of our cell structure, a key ingredient for a good cup of tea or coffee - is it safe to use? I am not a big fan of bottled water for many reasons, so that leaves me and many others, to get water straight from the faucet or tap. There are many questions about the safety of that tap water - about contamination from farm and factory originated chemicals and toxins, contamination from drugs being disposed of via dumping or human waste into the water systems or intentional bio-terrorist inspired poisoning. There are many water filtering systems on the market and lots of information available about the effectiveness of one over the other. It can be overwhelming to research and decipher the information about each of these systems. I have provided an outline below as a possible approach to take in making your drinking water safer and cleaner:

  • Determine the health of your community's drinking water by evaluating public reports
  • Test the water of your home (Plumbing materials can impact water content)
  • Using this information, refer to the National Sanitation Foundation's website to select a system that works best for your water profile
  • Refer to your national consumer reporting publication for product reviews on the type of system you will be using
  • Advocate for the most thorough treatment processes to be used by your local water treatment facility.

No comments: