What's in Your Water?

Dear Health Conscious Reader,

Do you agree with me when I tell you, you need to filter your tap water? I have found some skepticism when I’ve discussed this before. But just take a look…

A landmark new report from the non-profit Environmental Working Group reveals the sad state of our nation’s tap water.

Even The New York Times has made their findings front-page news.

Turns out there’s no federal law that requires tap water to be safe for long-term consumption.1

Let me say that again. There is nothing that says our tap water has to be safe to drink.

In fact, regulatory health advisors weigh the cost of purification against the risks of cancer, liver, kidney, and nerve damage, birth defects, and worse… and set limits that save money rather than protect people.1

It’s sad to say, many serious contaminants have no limits at all.

Drinking water contaminants come from more than just ground runoff. The very chemicals used to disinfect the water combine with the runoff pollutants to make even deadlier byproducts, known to cause gene mutations and damage to DNA. Yet, only 11 of more than 600 byproducts are regulated by state or federal standards! The rest are not.1

Here is where drinking water contaminants come from… in all cases, the worst offenders are not even regulated by the government:1

This reinforces what I have been saying all along: It is important to filter your water.

You might ask, why not just buy bottled water instead?

First, you have no idea where the water has come from or what contaminants it contains. 25-40% is tap water anyway, with all the same problems and more expense.

1. Over 300 Pollutants in U.S. Tap Water.

2 Second, to make it worse, most bottled water is in plastic containers that

leech even more harmful chemicals into the water.

So what I suggest is, do some investigating first and understand what is in your water. If you have a private well, get it tested. If you have city water, get a report from your local provider or click below to discover just what’s in your water.

And visit the Environmental Working Group’s website to see how your local water measures up.

Then, once you know what you’re dealing with, go out and get a water filter. There are many available in every price range and style. Get what’s best for you and your family and what will remove the contaminants in your water. A carbon filter is inexpensive and will filter many contaminants. Or choose a reverse osmosis system for an even more thorough job.

To Your Good Health,

Al Sears, MD

  1. Over 300 Pollutants in U.S. Tap Water http://www.ewg.org/tap-water/home
  2. Bottled Water Pure Drink or Pure Hype? http://www.nrdc.org/water/drinking/bw/exesum.asp