Is public drinking water safe?

[tx2sturgis]

Oh I see we got nudged into another room...ok...cool...now we can cut loose on water!

I think anyone who is drinking or cooking with municipal water should at least take a look at things from a broader perspective.

For example here is a report for the town where I live:

https://www.tapsafe.org/is-tulia-texas-tap-water-safe-to-drink/
A sample of cities in AZ:

https://www.tapsafe.org/is-yuma-tap-water-safe-to-drink/
https://www.tapsafe.org/is-kingman-tap-water-safe-to-drink/
https://www.tapsafe.org/is-flagstaff-tap-water-safe-to-drink/

'generally safe to drink' is not very comforting to me. It's not the same thing as saying 'you can consume this water no matter your level of health, so you can do this for 50 years with no risk.'

And if you scroll down the pages you will see years and years of reports and violations, listed toxins, and test failures.


Here is a sample from Flagstaff, from just one report about 9 years ago:

"From Jan. 1, 2013 to Dec. 31, 2013, Flagstaff had 42 non-health based Safe Drinking Water Act violations with the violation category being Monitoring and Reporting, more specifically, the violation code was Monitoring, Regular which falls into the Chemicals rule code group, and the Volatile Organic Chemicals rule code family for the following contaminant codes: cis-1,2-Dichloroethylene, DICHLOROMETHANE, Vinyl chloride, 1,1-Dichloroethylene, trans-1,2-Dichloroethylene, 1,2-Dichloroethane, 1,1,1-Trichloroethane, Carbon tetrachloride, 1,2-Dichloropropane, 1,1,2-Trichloroethane, Tetrachloroethylene, CHLOROBENZENE, Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene, Styrene, 1,2,4-Trichlorobenzene, Xylenes, Total, DICHLOROMETHANE, p-Dichlorobenzene, Vinyl chloride, trans-1,2-Dichloroethylene, 1,2-Dichloroethane, 1,1,1-Trichloroethane, Carbon tetrachloride, 1,2-Dichloropropane, Trichloroethylene, 1,1,2-Trichloroethane, Tetrachloroethylene, CHLOROBENZENE, Toluene, Ethylbenzene, Styrene, o-Dichlorobenzene, p-Dichlorobenzene, 1,1-Dichloroethylene, Trichloroethylene, o-Dichlorobenzene, 1,2,4-Trichlorobenzene, Xylenes, Total, cis-1,2-Dichloroethylene, Benzene."


Makes me really not thirsty at all. You can have my share.

The water in this town, Tulia, is considered 'generally safe to drink' but look what it is doing to my brand new evaporative cooler, purchased at the end of April. I'm on the third set of pads and the second blower motor. The pump is still running...for now. Whenever I change the pads out, I also scrub and rinse the sediment off the panels. They start out clean, and a few weeks later, I'm back to square one.

This is about 2 weeks accumulation of salt, calcium, lime, whatever it is:










And...in case your wondering? Yes I do use small amounts of this water for coffee and making ice cubes, but I have installed an under-counter filter to trap at least MOST of the elements suspended in this water.

When I drink just regular ol' water, it's always from a bottle of drinking water.

 

[user 423]

I didn't know that about Brita filters. I bought one about three weeks ago for my truck cap. Mine is for a countertop, too (I keep it in a milk crate so it doesn't break). I wonder if Zero Water has same issue in hot weather.

I didn't know that either until recently. Previous summers I used that dispenser without a filter as it was handier plus the extra capacity but I did use it with a filter this year.

I'm planning on going full-time in a couple of months so did some extra research on water filtration and ran across that info. I plan to eventually get a Berkey.

 

[user 423]

.....'generally safe to drink' is not very comforting to me. It's not the same thing as saying 'you can consume this water no matter your level of health, so you can do this for 50 years with no risk.'

The water in this town, Tulia, is considered 'generally safe to drink' but look what it is doing to my brand new evaporative cooler, purchased at the end of April. I'm on the third set of pads and the second blower motor. The pump is still running...for now. Whenever I change the pads out, I also scrub and rinse the sediment off the panels. They start out clean, and a few weeks later, I'm back to square one.

This is about 2 weeks accumulation of salt, calcium, lime, whatever it is:


View attachment 32203

You have to wonder if drinking water that is full of all those minerals contributes to the formation of kidney stones. I had one 25 years ago after drinking hard water for decades.

I switched to drinking mostly purified water at that time and haven't had one since. I know that doesn't really prove much but I do wonder.

Where I live now in S.E. AZ has well water that is full of minerals,too and the landlord has the same problem with the swamp cooler that you have.

 

[vanmannorm]

I have no major concerns about the safety of the majority of public drinking water. I have a buddy who I served in the military. When he retired he became the Superintendent of a cities water treatment plant in Ohio. I won't give the name out of respect for my buddy. I once asked him about the safety of most municipalities water supplies. Federal law requires that every city, township, municipalities, etc. test the water supply from various locations within that area. They will test water from reservoirs, storage tanks, water treatment facilities, etc. These samples are sent to a federal testing laboratory to check the water for any impurities that would put citizens health at risk. If there is an issue it is addressed in a timely manner until the issue is resolved. If the water supply passes all the required tests they are required to publish the results of the water test in the media. This is on accordance with state and federal law. This is why I have no problem drinking tap water. That is all I drink! I'm not into paying for "flavored" water. JMHO

I too only drink tap water, no matter where I am in the USA. I'm not falling for the Bottled Water Boondoggle.

 

[Carla618]

I didn't know that either until recently. Previous summers I used that dispenser without a filter as it was handier plus the extra capacity but I did use it with a filter this year.

I'm planning on going full-time in a couple of months so did some extra research on water filtration and ran across that info. I plan to eventually get a Berkey.

I posted several links to articles about Berkley filters. I wanted one, too, until I researched them. I'll try to find the links when I get on my PC. They don't do much of anything. One New York Times article said they are basically a scam.

 

[Carla618]

Berkey*

 

[user 423]

I too only drink tap water, no matter where I am in the USA. I'm not falling for the Bottled Water Boondoggle.

Refilling gallon jugs isn't 'bottled water'. Agree completely about billions of throw-away plastic bottles not being a good thing.

 

[Carla618]

Slow:

https://vanlivingforum.com/threads/experience-with-a-berkey-water-filter-system.44822/post-565853

 

[mbrasseau]

It really depends on your location, the minerals present in your water, and the honesty/corruption level of your local community leaders.

I lived for many years in a town that regularly tested it's water and publicly and transparently posted the results. It has a moderate (average) cancer rate.

I now live in a community with a extremely high cancer rate, and consequently are also lax on testing, and current results are not easy to obtain. My mother and 3 other relatives recently died/diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

I freely drank tap water at the other place. Now... I filter it.

 

[VanSkulk]

I recently read an article that said all the water in Colorado may contain PFAs. Also known as forever chemicals. This seems to be relatively new information and I don't claim to know much about it. But I think it warrants investigation.

 

[tx2sturgis]

I freely drank tap water at the other place. Now... I filter it.

IF there are dissolved solvents, carcinogens, petrochemicals, herbicides, pesticides, and other dissolved chemicals, filtering probably wont remove them.

 

[LargeMarge]

re -- Brita, and similar filters
.
Consumer Reports evaluated several of these style water filters.
The staff and cow-orkers used them as-directed at the shop and at home.
.
The final stage of the eval involved cutting the element housing to inspect the innerds.
They quickly realized:
* water followed the easiest channel through the media (usually, a type of 'activated-carbon')
* the early attempts at filtration furnished higher quality water
* as water flowed past the media through one channel, the media was immediately coated with crud
* any later water through the crud-channel was segregated from the media by that layer (or 'those layers') of crud, and were effectively non-filtered
* after the first batches, anticipate greater turbidity and increased exposure to the stuff you are trying to avoid.
.
It gets worse.
Any temperature -- including below freezing -- can be a home for cooties.
Sheltered within the cozy filter housing, they have a comfy welcoming home.
Close to the ceiling in a warm kitchen, bacteria and fungi inherent to any water will do their reproducing shenanigans enthusiastically, requiring frequent cleaning.
.
And the 24/7/360° growth can sneak up on a person:
I visit elderly shut-ins.
One old gal had a 'Brita-style' counter-setter filter for the tap water...
... except the clear plastic receptacle-tub was a primordial stew of green waving fronds and beautiful flashes of our finny friends as they frolicked in the dappling sunlight.
.
As in 'no way, no how'.

 

[Carla618]

I recently read an article that said all the water in Colorado may contain PFAs. Also known as forever chemicals. This seems to be relatively new information and I don't claim to know much about it. But I think it warrants investigation.

They are everywhere.

From Environmental Working Group:

https://www.ewg.org/research/national-pfas-testing
From Illinois Department of Public Health (what PFAs do to us and removal tools):

https://dph.illinois.gov/topics-ser...te-water/fact-sheets/pfas-drinking-water.html
And, the EPA says there are at home systems that can remove 90% of PFAs, but they are very expensive (reverse osmosis, for example):

https://www.epa.gov/sciencematters/reducing-pfas-drinking-water-treatment-technologies <<< dated 2018

EPA's PFAs section:

https://www.epa.gov/pfas

 

[Carla618]

re -- Brita, and similar filters

So we have to buy something like reverse osmosis systems?

 

[peteg59]

/\...Isn't that what an "uncertified" Berkey is supposed to be?

 

[user 423]

A mini-RO. Not a bad idea.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

/\...Isn't that what an "uncertified" Berkey is supposed to be?

No. Reverse osmosis is an ion exchange system. Berkey is a multi stage filter similar to a backpacking filter. It is probably a step up from a Zero Water filter. But I have not found any independent tests verifying Berkey's claims.

Reverse osmosis is probably the best one can do at reasonable cost. The problem with any method of water purification is verifying that you are removing sufficient contaminants.
https://www.fda.gov/inspections-com...s/inspection-technical-guides/reverse-osmosis

 

[Frood]

No. Reverse osmosis is an ion exchange system. Berkey is a multi stage filter similar to a backpacking filter. It is probably a step up from a Zero Water filter. But I have not found any independent tests verifying Berkey's claims.

Reverse osmosis is probably the best one can do at reasonable cost. The problem with any method of water purification is verifying that you are removing sufficient contaminants.
https://www.fda.gov/inspections-com...s/inspection-technical-guides/reverse-osmosis

And even if you are removing sufficient contaminants, for a DIY system there is a question of HOW LONG will your system remain a viable solution...

I read about an area in one of the Carolinas where the watershed was so contaminated from a chemical plant that the article said that the kids playing in the ocean were actually playing in toxic foam... Think it was a paint plant or something?

I'm going to have to reconsider my filter system. I use a Berkey now but mostly for tap water...

 

[VernContra]

I think we all have our comfort zones & it's good to gather others thoughts and information. My experience is I will drink just about any water that comes from a city spigot, as long as the color, clarity & taste isn't too "off". If you hang around me long enough you will find that if a Reese's Cup is involved, it's definitely longer than a 5 second rule. LoL As long as I witnessed it falling out of the package. Wiped off the debris and down the hatch it goes.

 

[user 423]

My experience is I will drink just about any water that comes from a city spigot, as long as the color, clarity & taste isn't too "off". If you hang around me long enough you will find that if a Reese's Cup is involved, it's definitely longer than a 5 second rule.

^They should make a movie with that theme. "Like water for chocolate", for the title maybe?