No I'm not talking about your beer preference!  Can you tell the difference between tap water and bottled water?  Most claim to, but in a blind study, those very people were not able to determine the difference between the two on taste alone.  Is one superior than the other?  You may be surprised to find out which one is better than the others.  A lot can happen to water on its way to the tap or bottle.  Water can pick up healthy minerals like magnesium and calcium as it travels through rock formations.  It can become laced with pesticides that are washed into rivers and streams.  The chlorine that's used to kill microorganisms can have a reaction with decaying leaves to form toxic byproducts.  And even the purest water can become contaminated with lead from the pipes in your home.  Who knew that filling a glass of water can be so complicated!

The majority of the contaminants found in our drinking water is linked to improper or excessive use of ordinary compounds like lawn chemicals, gasoline, cleaning products and even prescription drugs.  Everything that goes down the drain, on our lawns, on our agricultural fields or into the environment by any means. eventually winds up in the water we drink!

Our municipal water treatment facilities are not designed or effective for removing these synthetic chemicals.  For the most part today's water treatment facilities are much the same as they were more than 70 years ago.  The use of pesticides and herbicides has become so extreme that millions of Americans are exposed to one or more pesticides in a single glass of tap water everyday!  The World Health Organization and the National Cancer Institute both suggest that most human cancers, perhaps as many as 90% are caused by chemical carcinogens in the environment.  That includes drinking water! 

The Safe Drinking Water Act requires tap water to be tested at every stage of treatment.  Tap water usually comes from reservoirs and other surface water sources where it is tested daily.  It is then pumped to filter beds where layers of graded sand or carbon filters remove all particles and microbes, and it is tested again.  At this stage the water is checked in laboratories against 57 parameters which can detect 80-90 different chemicals and substances.  After this the water is chlorinated to kill any remaining bacteria.  If any unwanted substances manage to get through all these tests and into the public supply, they will be in such small quantities as to be quite harmless.  These testing methods sound good in theory but how does tap water really measure up?

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requires water utilities to keep the levels of 80 potential contaminants below legal limits.  On the whole, Americans have good clean drinking water.  You can travel all over the country and drink water at every stop and have a slim chance of becoming ill.  Almost 90 percent of public water systems in the U.S. report no violations of the EPA's limits for contaminants in drinking water.  But that's no guarantee that the water won't make you sick.  Is your drinking water safe?  You may need to do some research; here is what you need to know about potential contaminants in your water.

·                                Chlorinating water is a method used to destroy disease-causing bacteria.  But adding chlorine to water can cause some problems too.  Decaying leaves and other naturally occurring organic matter can react with chlorine to form compounds called disinfection byproducts (DBPs).  These byproducts surprisingly are the most widely distributed contaminant in the U.S. water supply.  In some parts of the country, these DBP have been linked to bladder cancer, colon cancer and an increased incidence of miscarriages in those who drank at least 5 glasses of water a day.
 

·                                If your tap water is cloudy, that is a sign of turbidity.  Turbidity happens when particles of clay, silt, decaying plants, parasites, are suspended in the water.  The turbidity can affect the look and taste of your tap water, and often times, these particles can be in the water, yet the water can still look crystal clear!  Microorganisms can cling to the particles and survive the chlorination process and could potentially cause gastrointestinal illness.  Public water utilities are supposed to remove the particles when turbidity becomes excessive, but sometimes that's not always good enough.

·                                Water can pick up lead almost anywhere along the way to the tap including holding tanks, underground pipes, or lead pipes inside old buildings or homes.  Too much lead in the body over the course of many years can cause damage to the brain, kidneys, and red blood cells. 

·                                The EPA currently permits up to 50 ppb of arsenic in drinking water.  But that standard was set 70 years ago.  Since then, researchers have discovered that arsenic is a cancer causing agent.  Arsenic-tainted water is most common in the Southwest and West.  Some arsenic occurs naturally in soil, while some comes from industrial waste.  While the EPA has set its limit at 50 ppb, the World Health Organization recommends no more than 10 ppb!  Wouldn't it make sense to maintain a consistent low level in drinking water?  What would be the harm?

·                                Cryptosporidium is a parasite that lives in the intestines of humans and animals.  When sewage or animal waste containing Cryptosporidium contaminates public water supplies.  Symptoms of drinking contaminated water include diarrhea, stomach cramps, and fever.  For those with weakened immune systems who drink tainted water with Cryptosporidium death can result.  Cryptosporidium is found in more than half of the nation's surface waters (rivers, lakes, and streams).  

Ththerefore, those who drink water from those sources are more likely to be exposed to the parasite than people whose tap water comes from underground rivers and streams.  Cryptosporidium is difficult to control because it is small enough to pass through most filters and the parasite's hard outer shell protects it from the chlorine.  Drinking-water regulations are designed to reduce Cryptosporidium, but may not get rid of it completely. 

While all of these are important factors to consider the next time you pour a glass of water from the tap, don't panic. there are ways to get quality water the next time its time to hydrate:

contact your water provider to find out if it measures up to EPA standards

invest in a water filter

consider switching to bottled water

The place to start is your local public water utility.  Request a "Consumer Confidence Report."  This report will tell you where your water comes from; ask for a complete printout of the levels of all 80 contaminants.  If you get your water from a well, you'll need to get it tested yourself.  The EPA Safe Drinking Water Hotline can provide you with information on how to obtain a list of certified labs.  Once you've got your results, here's what to look for:

Total trihalomethanes (TTHMs) below 80 ppb. These are the most common disinfection byproducts that were mentioned earlier.

Turbidity below 0.5 NTU (nephelometric turbidity units).  Keep in mind that outbreaks of gastrointestinal illness have occurred at levels as low as 0.2 NTU, which aren't enough to make the water look cloudy.  So double check your levels.
 

Lead below 15 ppb. Since any lead will probably come from the pipes inside your home, low levels of lead from the water utility won't tell you if your pipes are adding lead to your drinking water.  If you want to know how much lead is in your water, you have to test it yourself.
 

Arsenic below 10 ppb. The EPA sets its limits at 50 ppb.  Personally, I would stick with The World Health Organization's limit - 10 ppb.

Parasites. Water utilities and labs don't routinely test for Cryptosporidium, Giardia, or other parasites because the analysis takes days to complete and can't distinguish live from dead parasites. So if your water comes from surface water, this may be of concern for you.

Suppose your water comes back with undesirable results or lets just day that your water analysis comes back with an A+!  You may still want to take extra precaution regarding the quality of your water and opt for a water filter.  Filters vary widely in what they can remove, how much they cost, and how expensive they are to maintain. From pitchers to units that are mounted on your faucet can run anywhere from $75, to $500.  These home filtration systems can improve the taste or appearance of tap water at a minimal cost.  However, consumers need to be careful about maintaining these filters.  Without proper maintenance, it is possible that bacteria or other contaminants can build up in the filter itself.

Here are some tips on how to choose a filter:

1. Check to see if the filter has been tested and certified by NSF International, a non-profit independent testing organization. A statement in the product information should list which contaminants the filter is certified to remove under which Standards.  If a manufacturer hasn't paid an independent authority to test its filters, why take a chance on it?

2. Pick a Standard. NSF's tests use several "ANSI/NSF Standards" Here are the most common standards.

• Standard 42 removes things that may affect the waters taste, odor or color, but that are not considered harmful.
  
• Standard 53 reduces Cryptosporidium, lead, turbidity, organic chemicals like herbicides/ pesticides and other contaminants that can be a health risk if present in high concentrations. 
  
• Other standards include: ultraviolet treatment (Standard 55), reverse osmosis (Standard 58), and distillation (Standard 62).  These treatments help to further purify the tap water

3. Check the contaminants. A filter is only certified to remove the contaminants that are listed on the box.  If a contaminant is not listed, either the company didn't' pay to have the filter tested or the filter doesn't remove those particular contaminants. 

Finally, you can trade in your water filter for bottled water.  The question is are they better than tap water?  We just don't know.  Before you take a trip to the grocery store, understand that not all bottles of water are created equal!

·        Sparkling water- is spring water that contains carbon dioxide gas.

·        Drinking water - is water that is drawn from a municipal system.  If the water comes right out from the tap, the company must disclose where the water came from.  If the water undergoes treatment, then it is not necessary to disclose the source of the water.

·        Purified water- is water that is produced by distillation, deionization or reverse osmosis.  These are all treatments that are used to further "clean" water.

·        Distilled water- water that comes from the stream of municipal water that has been boiled.  This process leaves water free of dissolved minerals and rids most contaminants.

The FDA also classifies some bottled water according to its origin.

• Artesian well water. Water from a well that taps layers of porous rock, sand and earth that contain water that is under pressure.  When tapped, the pressure in the aquifer, pushes the water to the surface.  The EPA suggests that water from artesian aquifers is more pure because the confining layers of rock and clay impede the movement of contamination. Though, there is no guarantee that artesian waters are any cleaner than ground water.
  
• Mineral water. Water from an underground source that contains at least 250 parts per million total dissolved solids. Minerals and trace elements like magnesium, sodium and calcium must come from the source of the underground water, not added in later.  Unfortunately, mineral waters are only required to test for only 13 chemicals and bacteria.  That's less than one quarter as many substances as are tested for in tap water!  There are also no requirements that mineral water be tested daily or even weekly.  Even if the tests are performed, the results of tests of mineral waters are not available to the public.
  
• Spring water. Derived from an underground formation from which water flows naturally to the earth's surface. Spring water must be collected only at the spring or through a borehole in the underground formation feeding the spring.  Spring water makes up about 75 percent of the bottled water sold in the U.S. (Yes, that means that the other 25 percent comes from basic municipal water supplies).  The regulations on spring waters are even more relaxed than those of mineral waters.  In fact, there is no specific legislation at all!  Anyone can go to any water source, bottle the water and call it natural spring water.  They can then sell it in shops without doing any analyses at all!  What is the likelihood those waters are contaminated?
  
•  Well water. Water from a hole bored or drilled into the ground, which taps into an aquifer.

The major problem with bottled water is that we just don't know what is in it.  Tap-water regulations make it mandatory that the public water supply is tested daily and that findings are freely available for scrutiny.  There are no similar regulations for bottled water to be disinfected or tested for parasites.  While most bottled waters are safe, some are not as safe as tap water. (scary thought!)
 

We have a situation where different regulations apply to what is essentially the same product, simply packaged in a different way. Bottled waters should be subject at least to the same regulations as tap water.  It could be argued, that if their advertising is going to claim an inherent purity, and if they cost so much more, perhaps their regulations should be even stricter.  I'm sure that if tap water regulations were applied to bottled waters, we may see a few less brands on supermarket shelves!