The public appreciates the importance of water treatment systems. If urban areas did not make use of such systems, millions of people could drink contaminated tap water. Now new evidence shows how any chemical that gets flushed into the wastewater later enters a drinking water source, a source that is downstream of the chemical-laden flush.
Unfortunately, most treatment plants lack the ability to remove drugs from any water source. So if some medication is flushed into the wastewater, then those drugs eventually show up in somebody's tap water. Scientists do not yet know what effect the daily intake of such water could have on the human system. The limitations of our treatment plants could cause some people to drink contaminated tap water.
In 2008, the Associated Press released the first official figures about the number of pharmaceutical products in the public water supply. Those figures showed that pharmaceuticals could be found in 24 of the 28 municipalities with a tested water supply. Moreover, the effect of those pharmaceuticals has yet to be studied.
As unsettling as that information is, it pales in comparison to details on the nature of the drugs that can get into a municipal water supply. Tests have allowed scientists to identify the multiple sources of the various drugs now found in a large percentage of tap water, water coming from faucets in U.S. homes and businesses.
Tests have shown that the ingestion of tap water can result in exposure to anti-seizure medication, to anti-inflammatory drugs, to antibiotics and to disinfectants. Sometimes drugs used on animals get into the water supply, and then those medications enter a human system. In addition, the chemical triclocarban, which is used in antibacterial soaps, has been identified as a component of tap water.
Granted the amount of these "emerging contaminants" remains low. Their concentration in today's tap water remains at the level of only parts per trillion. Still, scientists do not know whether or not such trace contaminants have a health effect. If such an effect can be demonstrated, then those trace contaminants will need to be neutralized.
The chlorine used to kill bacteria also breaks down certain chemicals, but it fails to alter the chemical make-up of any pharmaceuticals in the water supply. So far scientists have found only one way to effectively treat water that contains these "emerging contaminants." That treatment method calls for adding ozone to the water.
Would the ingestion of water containing ozone have any health effects over time? There seems to be no evidence that it would, or proof that it would not. Such uncertainty magnifies the dangers of contaminated tap water.
Faced with the facts concerning contaminated tap water, both homeowners and business owners have reason to search for a way to purify the water that is pumped into homes and work settings. A growing number of homeowners and business owners have chosen to use activated carbon filters. When combined with ion exchange and micron filtration, such filters guarantee the presence of clean, good tasting water at any faucet that is connected to the filtering device.
After installing such a filtration system a homeowner or business owner can sleep soundly. He or she will know that residents, guests and employees enjoy the ability to drink safe, uncontaminated water.
Laurel Tevolitz is a dedicated researcher of critical issues that affect health and well-being. Visit her water purification blog now at
http://www.safewaterpurifier.com to discover which water purification system she recommends after extensive research.
