Residents in areas ravaged by Hurricane Katrina not only had to deal with the loss of their homes and a federal government that was slow to respond, but they also had to cope with an unstable, unhealthy drinking water system brought on by the devastating storm. Many New Orleans inhabitants were faced with asking “what is in our drinking water, now?”

There’s no doubt that Hurricane Katrina destroyed thousands of homes, but the influx of sea water brought on by the tropical storm, also caused the breakdown of the city’s drinking water system and sewer lines. So, to add insult to injury, citizens were left with a contaminated drinking water system most likely caused by raw sewage.

As we all saw in the news, many of the systems put in place to protect the city failed, because of power outages, mechanical failures and the storm that continued to hit the city for days on end. This caused raw sewage and other pollutants to contaminate water supplies. This extreme example of systems failure should cause everyone to ask “is our drinking water system going to survive, if we are hit with a devastating storm or some other natural event?”

The Environmental Protection Agency tries to control what is in our drinking water. During normal, non-emergency times our public water supply system is pretty safe. But, during a disaster it’s tough for cities to comply with government regulations. They are supposed to make public announcements when safety is in doubt, but it all depends on the contaminants.

According to investigative reporters at the Washington Post, when it comes to lead and other dangerous elements, some public water authorities exclude certain test results in order to pass the EPA standard. They also neglect to inform us about what is in our drinking water, if it might mean that they won’t pass.

Another problem is that the EPA only provides guidance for 90 pollutants. Shockingly, studies have shown that the national drinking water system contains over 2,100 chemicals and pharmaceuticals. That means that approximately 2000 contaminants are completely unregulated.

By understanding fully what is in our drinking water, you can take a number of steps to educate yourself and protect your spouse, children and pets from dangerous pollutants in normal, non-emergency times as well as during emergency situations.

If you find yourself living in an area with a questionable drinking water system, and that could be anywhere these days, you should definitely look into alternatives for providing clean, pollutant-free H2O in your own home. Because of our in-home filter, we never have to worry about what is in our drinking water.

During a disaster, you will most likely turn to bottled water or boiling. Bottled is okay, as long as you are aware of the source and know that it is not the same as what is coming out of your faucet.

While it is true that storms that contaminate the public drinking water system are a rare occurrence, it is only sensible to be prepared for an emergency. There is a way way that you can safeguard your supply of safe drinking water and that is to fit an efficient water filter in your home.

Hugh Harris-Evans is a writer and researcher on water purification issues. Visit his site now at http://www.brightwaterfilter.com to get the facts on how to choose the best water purification system.