Is It Safe to Drink the Water?

If you are living in the United States, you probably have never had to ask that question in any restaurant, private home, or business setting. Most Americans believe that the water pouring from their faucets is a reliable source of safe drinking water. Almost no American has ever had to ask, is it safe to drink the water?

Clean, safe public drinking water was not always so available. Public water systems began to be established in the 1800’s, yet the first standards for drinking water were not developed until 1914, and even then the standards only applied to interstate common carriers such as trains, buses, and ships.  A comprehensive article by Professor James Salzman and published by Slate.com states, “In historic terms, the assumption of safe drinking water is a very recent development.” What we now consider safe, uniform drinking water standards weren’t actually put into place until the Clean Water Act of 1972, and with the passage of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) of 1974.

However, while these measures certainly deserve recognition, there are still significant challenges ahead for public drinking water delivery systems. The Environmental Protection Agency has estimated $384 billion in infrastructure needs ahead to replace aging water mains, which date back to the 1860’s. The SDWA is also faced with “emerging contaminants,” by-products of our modern lifestyle. Newly recognized contaminants from medications, personal care products, and components that act like hormones were unimaginable when our water treatment systems were designed.  Even new contaminants introduced by hydraulic #fracking have not yet been addressed. Therefore, these polluted fluids and #contaminants are not now being addressed by municipal treatment plants.

These infrastructure changes will take incredible amounts of effort, time and money.  Don’t wait for the public infrastructure to “catch up” to what is happening today. Get ahead of these potential health hazards and filter your own water at the point of use.  #Water2Drink recommends industry-leader Multipure International as the high-quality, reasonable-cost manufacturer.  As these newly emerging contaminants affect our water supply, Multipure is constantly pursuing improvements to their solid carbon block filter to address these concerns. Water2Drink.com is here to help you decide which filter will provide the protection you need.