Drinking Water - Answers To Common Questions

If you have not given your drinking water much thought it is time to do so because there are plenty of chances you are taking each time you take a drink of water. So for your informative pleasure this article will take you through some of the questions you may have about your drinking water. From source to tap this is your one-stop-drinking information.

Is tap water safe?

Your tap water is monitored by your local waste water management facility which in turn is governed by the Environmental Protection Agency. It is completely safe to drink unless a boil order is in effect due to some sort of breakage in the line. Many people complain about the taste of tap water. There is a great solution. Try buying a water purification system that also comes with flavor injectors! You can have your favorite flavored water from home for just pennies a day and you will be saving the environment from an overabundance of plastic water bottles that many people do not recycle.

How does the EPA monitor drinking water?

The EPA has set up analytical tests for local sanitation offices to run in order to ensure that the drinking water is free from a certain level of contaminants such as arsenic, lead and other pollutants. On a random basis they will come in and require a water sample so that their team of scientists can check the water sample for themselves rather than rely on reports mailed in quarterly by the sanitation department.

Is well water safe?

Well water can be just as safe as bottled water or tap water. It will have a different taste though because all of the impurities such as lime that are found naturally occurring in water. Some people actually prefer the taste of well water to that of tap or bottled because of that "hard" water taste. Unfortunately hard water is really rough on sinks, toilets, bathtubs, showers and hot water heaters with the lime scale buildup. The solution is to buy a water purification system and softening system to remove the impurities.

What is the Safe Drinking Water Act?

In 1974 Congress passed the Safe Drinking Water Act as a way to monitor the drinking water standards of all US public drinking water facilities. It does not cover well water but it does cover bottled water facilities. It does cover ground well water sources where public water facilities tap into though and of course rivers, streams and lakes.

What is this backlash about bottled drinking water about?

A few years ago a major bottling company of water was discovered to be using tap water as their "pure mountain spring water" instead of what they advertised. This helped fuel the debate on whether or not bottled water was any better for you than tap water. Conservationists and environmental protection agencies have long argued that this trend towards bottled water is harming the environment. The sheer volumes of plastic water bottles in our landfills are testament to that fact.