 | Ed Martin is owner of Healthy Choices, Inc. of Wichita. Ed has been involved in the energy and health fields for over 30 years, focusing on pioneering new technologies and bringing cutting-edge products and services to the marketplace. You can reach Ed at; 316-207-7343, or by e-mail at healthychoices1@cox.net |
Health & Wellness
2008-05-01 13:20:00
How safe is our drinking water?
Answer: After answering questions about weight loss and the appetite control patch for the past several months, this question caught my attention. Water is certainly an important health topic since it is one of the few things that we cannot live long without. And, as the question states, water problems have certainly been in the news lately.
I want to begin my answer by saying that municipal water supplies in the United States set the standard for the rest of the world. No country does a better job than ours in assuring that the water coming from your tap is safe. Still, as others will point out, no system is perfect, and problems can develop. The cases you refer from news stories are examples of that.
Municipal water supplies typically come from two sources, either deep wells or surface water. The deep wells normally provide water that needs the least purification because it has been filtered through the earth. Water that is drawn from lakes and rivers requires more purification because of the chemicals and organic material that comes from surface runoff. Some cities, like Wichita, utilize a combination of the two.
There are areas in our country where the water is safe, but because of various minerals in the water or because of the process that must be used by the municipality to make the water meet safety standards, people find it unpleasant to drink. Others have personal fears regarding the safety of their water supply and don’t want to drink it. Still others are looking for an alternative to drinking tap water for convenience. The bottled water industry has capitalized on these concerns and changed the way many people think of their tap water.
Here are some amazing statistics. The bottled water industry is now the second largest commercial beverage category by volume in the United States. In 2007, 8.8 billion gallons of bottled water were sold in this country with revenues of $11.7 billion, and about 7% growth is expected for 2008. The 2007 numbers represent over 29 gallons of bottled water for every person in the U.S. While those sound like huge numbers, our annual average of 29 gallons per person is only good enough for a tie for 8th place in the world.
Personally, I am not a big fan of bottled water for several reasons, although I buy it just like everyone else. The typical convenience size bottled water is more expensive than gasoline, and it is counter to the culture of being environmentally responsible. For example, the 70 million bottles of water consumed daily in the U.S. require over 1.5 million barrels of oil just to make the year’s supply of bottles. Then think of all the energy used in the bottling plants and of the fuel used by all the trucks that are used to transport the cases of water from the bottling plants to the stores. Then after we pay our money and drink the water, most of the bottles end up in the trash. Over 22 billion plastic water bottles went into landfills in our country last year where they will last for thousands of years.
The National Geographic Society’s Green Guide quotes Victoria Kaplan with the nonprofit Food and Water Watch, “The bottled water industry spends millions of dollars a year to convince us that their product is somehow safer or healthier than tap water, when in fact, that’s just not true. As much as 40 percent of bottled water started out as the same tap water that we get at home.” A 1999 Natural Resources Defense Council study found that, with required quarterly testing, tap water may even be of a higher quality than bottled, which is only tested annually.
Technology will soon be providing an alternative to bottled water for people who still, for whatever reason, want something other than tap water to drink. Imagine a relatively small appliance for homes or offices that simply plugs into an electrical outlet and supplies unlimited drinking water for about 10 cents per gallon, but has no connection to water pipes. Instead, it quietly harvests the humidity from the air, purifies it, stores it and keeps it cold until you turn the tap and fill your glass. It appears to be a great idea.
I searched the internet and found 3 or 4 companies that are showing similar appliances, all of which are known as Atmospheric Water Generators. However, I am not sure that all of the companies have products that are currently market ready. I have spoken with one of the companies who plan to begin marketing their water machine sometime soon. I am going to order one for my own use. I will let you know how it works out.
