 |
| Providing Wisdom in Building a Sustainable Future | ||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
Time to Rethink Tap Water? courtesy Jan Coleman and NRDC I have just re-introduced myself to the water running from the faucets in my home. May I invite you to do the same? One more step we can take for the health of our planet!  • One billion people in the world have no reliable water; 3000 children die each day from tainted water • We drink 1 billion bottled waters a week-and transport it from Fiji, Italy, Maine, France, etc. • Moving it = a convoy of 37,800 18-wheelers per week • Fiji (owned by Coca Cola) produces 1 million bottles a day, but more than half of its people don't have reliable drinking water • 24% of bottled water is tap water repackaged by Coke and Pepsi, according to the author's research• We pitch 38 billion water bottles in landfills per year-in excess of $1 billion worth of plastic • If the water we use at home cost what cheap bottled water cost, our monthly water bills would be $9,000 In 1999, NRDC conducted 1,000 separate tests of more than 100 brands of bottled water and concluded that bottled water is not necessarily any purer or any safer than city tap water. Bottled water costs hundreds or thousands of times more per gallon than tap water. If you live in an area with a known tap water contamination problem or if you have serious immune system problems, bottled water may be an interim solution, but its not a long-term one. Instead of relying on bottled water we need to make sure our tap water is clean and safe. If you are thinking about getting a filter for your home, there are several things to consider. First, make sure you get a filter that removes the contaminants of concern in your tap water. (See your city's annual water quality report for information, or NRDC's report if you live in a city they've studied.) Second, be sure the filter is independently certified by NSF (or a similar independent organization) to remove the contaminants of concern in your tap water. Third, maintain the filter at least as often as the manufacturer recommends, or hire a maintenance company to maintain it for you. If you have a weakened immune system, check the CDC website and consult with your health care provider for advice about filters. Also, remember that a "point of use" filter on your sink will not remove all contaminants. For example, you can be exposed to trihalomethanes in the shower. Only a "point of entry" device that cleans all the water in your house will take care of all your water taps. You can support measures to protect your watershed and to improve drinking water protection and treatment in your area. To find groups working on these efforts in your area, check the list of member groups on the Clean Water Network website. |
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Copyright © 2000-2007 GreenSage. All rights reserved.