How to Quickly Find Out if YOUR Water is Safe
I’m often asked why I bring my own water everywhere I go. If you’ve ever seen me running errands, speaking at an event, or hanging out at a social gathering, you know that I’m always toting a glass jar filled with water from my house. I never consume water from public drinking fountains or order water from restaurants. The only water I drink comes from my house, which is tripled filtered using a whole-house water filtration system. In fact, last month my family went on a trip for 3 days. I brought all of the water my family needed in mason jars. I may sound paranoid, unless you know about the chemicals lurking in most water supplies.
You may have heard reports about prescription drugs, birth control pills, pesticides, lead, and arsenic lurking in the water supply of certain counties. But now, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) has put together an extensive database where you can learn about contaminants in YOUR drinking water. The EWG collected data from nearly 50,000 water utilities across all 50 states. They catalogued more than 270 contaminants. You can simply type in your zip code to find out how many contaminants are in your water, along with the level of contaminants.
Some of the chemicals that were catalogued are associated with cancer, brain damage, nervous system problems, fertility issues, and hormone disruption. And, many of those chemicals have not been assigned standards, such as an upper limit, even though some of the levels are high enough to cause concern. Specifically, more than 160 contaminants in our water supply are unregulated, according to the EWG.
Conveniently, if there’s no established standard by the government, there’s no government violation. So, your county can legally declare that the water meets all government safety standards and is “safe” to drink. But, without standards, the county is merely passing the government regulations by DEFAULT!
Because we have a broken regulatory system in the U.S., the EWG created their own safety standards for the water supply. Unlike the government, the EWG based their standards on the most up-to-date, independent scientific studies available. They have also provided a Water Filter Guide to help you find the filter that is needed to remove the specific contaminants in your drinking water. It is the most comprehensive resource available when it comes to the water quality in America. And, it’s available to you at no cost!
To look up the contaminants in your area and access the Water Filter Guide, follow this link EWG WATER DATABASE.
References:
http://www.ewg.org/tapwater/state-of-american-drinking-water.php
http://www.ewg.org/tapwater/
http://www.ewg.org/release/more-40-percent-us-schools-fail-test-lead-drinking-water
http://www.ewg.org/interactive-maps/2019_pfas_contamination/?_ga=2.169493985.1945849746.1571919599-1885176742.1569233958
http://www.ewg.org/research/introducing-ewg-standards-benchmarks-protect-public-health
http://www.ewg.org/tapwater/farming-and-tap-water.php
http://www.ewg.org/tapwater/water-filter-guide.php
