There has been much talk lately about bottles water and how wasteful it is to drink it so I wanted to research ways to be more responsible in our water consumption. While I was on the subject I found this great article on The Green Guide by National Geographic on the subject of water and it was so thourough that I decided to include it in my post. The article covers the environmental factors behind “dirty water” and the causes of many pollutants as well as what to look for when buying a water filtration system.
Many of us rely on our state and local officials to ensure that the water coming out of our taps is clean and safe. And with daily, mandatory testing, municipal water is actually more regulated than bottled water, which is only tested annually. Nevertheless, a few localized problems with municipal supplies cast doubt on the entire nation’s tap, leading consumers to opt for bottled water. Popular also because it’s more convenient and is thought to taste better, bottled water still costs 1,000 times more per gallon than tap and consumes 1.5 million barrels of oil annually in the production of single-use plastic bottles, 60 million of which are incinerated or tossed in landfills each day. At the same time, water filters, often housed in plastic casings, aren’t recycled either, making it that much more important to test your water before investing in plastic filters that will ultimately get tossed in a landfill.
Personal Health Issues
Water filters do help remove common contaminants in city water supplies, ranging from the minor (taste and odor problems) to the serious (cancer-causing pesticides and pharmaceuticals). Here are some of the most common found in city supplies:
8 Common Water Contaminants
Trihalomethanes (THMs), a byproduct of chlorine treatment, are linked to cancer, miscarriages and birth defects.
Arsenic, a poison that can also cause cancer, is found in all 50 states but with higher levels in the Southwest.
Perchlorate is a contaminant from rocket fuel that harms the thyroid and may cause cancer. Currently, there is no EPA standard for perchlorate, which has shown up in California lettuce, but its risks are being assessed.
Lead, a heavy metal, can cause brain damage and developmental problems in children and adversely affect blood pressure, kidneys and red blood cells.
Atrazine, a widely used pesticide, may cause hormone disruption, cancer, weight loss, muscular degeneration and cardiovascular damage. Found in all 50 states, it is most common in the Mississippi River Basin during spring runoff.
Nitrate, from animal waste in dairies, on cattle farms and on feedlots, can cause “blue baby syndrome,” which prevents blood from holding oxygen. It is more common in rural areas.
Pathogens such as Cryptosporidium, E. coli and Giardia, carried by animal and human waste, are linked to gastrointestinal illness. Crypto infection can be life-threatening for individuals with weakened immune systems.
Methyl Tertiary-Butyl Ether (MTBE), a gasoline additive, leaks into groundwater from underground fuel storage, spills and storm-water runoff and may cause cancer.
In many U.S. cities, the drinking water is perfectly safe, and across the country, municipal supplies are tested daily for some contaminants, weekly and monthly for others. But after hearing reports of pesticides, pharmaceuticals and other industrial contaminants in water supplies, people often turn to water filters for added peace of mind.
The best way to ensure clean and safe drinking water is to protect our watersheds, which act as natural filters absorbing chemicals, pollutants and sediments. In the meantime, a temporary solution is to filter the water in your home.
Always select filters certified by the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF), which tests products to ensure that they remove what the manufacturers say they do. NSF has an extensive searchable database on their website, www.nsf.org/Certified/dwtu/.
No filter will remove every contaminant of concern, but here are the most common types and the major contaminants they can handle.
Carbon-filtermodels include carafes (pitchers), faucet-mounted models, undersink models (usually require a permanent connection to an existing pipe) and whole-house or point-of-entry systems (usually installed in the basement or outside). Carbon, a porous material, absorbs impurities as the water passes through.
What they remove: lead, PCBs, chlorine byproducts (chloramines and trihalomethanes), certain parasites, radon, pesticides and herbicides, the gasoline additive MTBE, the dry-cleaning solvent trichloroethylene, some volatile organic compounds, some levels of bacteria (such as Cryptosporidium and Giardia) and a small number of pharmaceuticals.
Reverse-osmosis systems push water through a semi-permeable membrane, which acts as an extremely fine filter, and they’re often used in conjunction with carbon filters. However, they waste four to nine gallons of water for every gallon filtered.
What they remove: perchlorate, sulfates, fluoride, industrial chemicals, heavy metals (including lead), chlorine byproducts, chlorides (which make water taste salty) and pharmaceuticals.
Ultraviolet lightdisinfects water, killing bacteria. Countertop units can be found for under $100, but most whole-house units cost $700 and up for NSF-certified models.
What they remove: bacteria; use with carbon filter to remove other contaminants.
Distillers, probably the least practical home method, boil and condense water. While countertop units are available, distillers use lots of electricity, generate excess heat and require regular cleaning. Explore filters or other alternatives to remove your contaminant, or, in a pinch, buy distilled water.
What they remove: heavy metals (including lead), particles, total dissolved solids, microbes, fluoride, lead and mercury.
Usage Tips
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Change the filter cartridge as recommended by the manufacturer. Improper maintenance allows bacteria and other contaminants to build up.
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Lead can enter your water through old pipes. Pregnant women and parents of young children should have their water tested for lead. Tests run from free to $15. For a list of state-certified lead-testing labs, see www.epa.gov/safewater/faq/sco.html or contact your county health department.
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If your water comes from a private well, the EPA recommends that you have it tested annually by a state-certified lab for nitrate and coliform bacteria, more often if you live near farms or factories. For more information, see www.wellcarehotline.org or call your local health department.
Use chlorine-free dishwasher detergent. The chlorine in conventional detergents is easily vaporized by hot dishwasher water and then released into your home’s air.
