TAPPED OUT TAP WATER
Water flows in a cycle from rivers into the ocean where it evaporates into the sky and falls as rain and snow to supply our rivers.
Following decades of poorly enforced or non-existent regulations on water pollution our water supply is full of chemicals and waste from factories, businesses and homes. Our water processing plants aren’t equipped to fully remove many of these chemicals. This condition is commonly referred to as “Greywater”, or water deemed potable, but not pure.
The U.S. Government analyzed our water supply and the results were startling. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=88062858 Chemicals like perflourinated compounds (Teflon cookware non-stick chemical), ricin (a toxic cancer treatment drug), seritonin (a common compound in anti-depressants) and organophosphates (principally found in pesticides) surfaced in the water tests. What are the health effects of exposure to these chemicals in the long run? At what rate are the amounts of such chemicals in our water supply growing?
Want to see where your city ranks among the safest in water supplies? Check out this article: http://realestate.msn.com/Buying/Green/Article_forbes.aspx?cp-documentid=6841525>1=35000
Update: A new study has been released regarding mercury and Teflon concentrations found in household pets. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89726772&ps=bb1
Audio: Study Finds Drugs Seeping Into Drinking Water ›
April 25th, 2008 at 12:26 pm
I have been working on a project up here in NY thanks to that times article about all the chemicals in our water supply. http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hGsoyElv4ZL879LW6z2aZS0Pix7AD8VA14500
Apparently, this has been circling about in the news for a while now. The AP referenced that all the drugs we put in ourselves and in our food are ending up in our water. We’re currently engaged trying to get cities to publicly release the data they have about all the chemicals and that are currently in our water supply.
Down in Philadelphia, they supposedly have over 56 different chemicals, ranging from growth hormones to anti-depressants to liquid cleaners that are building up slowly but surely in the water supply. Chicago reports only 5 chemicals in their water and New York less than 10. A lot of people have a hard time believing that is accurate if another city has so many.
With all this information floating around, it sounds like people are thinking that these chemicals may be affecting children and pregnancies, not to mention fear over what happens if something lethal like mercury builds up to dangerous levels. Hopefully we will either get more accurate data from the water companies or they will put in proper water testing systems so they can track this stuff better. I, for one, would like to know what’s in my water.