Some indisputable facts: We need water to live. The tissues in our body are made up of mostly water. It takes part in all our bodily functions - from regulating body temperature to helping to remove waste. We should be drinking about half our weight in ounces and our urine should be pale yellow (if it’s not, you might be dehydrated). We also need to make sure that the water we put in our bodies is as clean as possible.
Yet, over 1 billion pounds of toxic chemicals are released into the water and air in the U.S. each year. Thousands of known contaminants appear in tap water: disinfectants and their by-products, microbes, heavy metals, drug residues, pesticides, herbicides, and volatile organic compounds. Many of these go unregulated. The 1974 Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) has guidelines for about 100 of these substances that appear in tap water and many of the SDWA violations go unremediated. The SDWA has not been updated since 1996, and an average of 700 chemicals per year are added into use, leaving many questions about the safety of our water supply.
So how do we know if our water is safe and what do we do it about it? To start, look at your local water report. It’ll tell you what’s being measured and the levels of these compounds. It’s important to keep in mind that health goal guidelines (what I’m concerned with) and legal guidelines can differ tremendously. Also, many common contaminants are not federally regulated or even monitored. Finally, local officials cannot always be trusted to submit violations or may manipulate the samples (South Orange PERC disaster: https://www.nj.gov/dep/newsrel/2014/14_0137.htm)
Take, for example, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS)--two chemicals that have gotten a lot of attention in the past few years. They make products more resistant to stains, grease and water; think Teflon, Gortex, Scotchguard, Glide floss, non-stick pans, the lining of popcorn bags. They are associated with testicular and kidney cancer, thyroid disease, fertility issues, immune system dysregulation, lower vaccine effectiveness, and have recently been associated with pancreatic cancer. Dupont has dumped massive amounts of PFOAs into the soil, air and water in New Jersey, among other states, and is entangled in several law suits. The EPA does not federally regulate these compounds, meaning there is no enforceable maximum contaminant level and monitoring cannot be required. The EPA has a health advisory level, which although dropping significantly over the years, is well above the suggested safety limit. New Jersey has proposed to decrease this significantly--a step in the right direction--but still likely too high to be safe.
Hexavalent chromium, another toxic culprit, was made famous by Erin Brokovitch who brought to public awareness the dangers of this substance in drinking water. In addition to natural sources, drinking water has been contaminated via leaching from hazardous waste sites, as well as dye, paint and wood preservative discharges. It is a carcinogen and a reproductive toxin. The EPA set a maximum contaminant level goal of 100 ppb, over 5000 times the level of California’s health goal.
Besides looking at your water report, testing your own water at the tap is also a good idea. One place this can be done is through National Testing Laboratory. Getting a water filter is highly recommended. Choosing the right filter depends on what you want to filter out. Your best best is a carbon filter, preferably a catalytic carbon block, paired with a Reverse Osmosis filtration system to remove more substances. The Environmental Working Group has an excellent guide to water filtration. (An interesting note is that Dupont has recently acquired a water filter company and now is profiting from the mess it has made.)
Bottled water is not a good option. It may not be cleaner or safer than tap water, and it is usually stored in plastic, which can leach chemicals into the water that we are trying to avoid.
Bottom line: don’t assume your water is safe, but don’t panic either. Armed with the right information about your water and a great filter, you can drink to your health. Bottoms up!