WHY CARE ABOUT THE PURITY OF YOUR DRINKING WATER?

“Mercy, mercy me, Ah, things ain’t what they used to be, no, no. Oil wasted on the ocean and upon our seas fish full of mercury.”

        Since Marvin Gaye sang “Mercy Mercy Me” in 1971, our drinking water has become much more polluted. The EPA says that a large percentage of our lakes, rivers, and ground water is polluted.

        Millions of Americans have already concluded that it is worth paying a little money for pure drinking water rather than consume the junk our government sends through the water pipes. We are located in San Diego which, like most of Southern California, gets most of its water from the Colorado River or from rainfall filled reservoirs. If you took a sip of San Diego’s water, your taste buds would be trying to tell you something. It’s no wonder it tastes bad considering what’s in it. (If you would like to know what’s in our water, go to our “Dangers from Unpure Water” web page.)

        Most water districts add chlorine which kills most creatures living in the water. But then they leave in the chlorine when they pump it to you. If you want to bleach your sink, then it’s an added benefit. If not, do you really want such a powerful chemical melting a pathway through your mouth, throat, intestines, and vital organs? Many water districts also add other chemicals like fluoride. If fluoride has any beneficial effect – which is hotly disputed among scientists -- you receive more than enough in your toothpaste.

        My number one concern with having the government in charge of my drinking water has nothing to do with their putting chemicals in the water. No, my concern is that something will go wrong and then hundreds of thousands of people will become seriously ill -- as happened in Milwaukee in 1993. (A meat packing company was accused of negligently dumping animal waste contaminated with the parasite cryptosporidium into a public storm sewer. A resulting outbreak was blamed for about 100 deaths, and an estimated 400,000 people became ill.) The Environmental Protection Agency website reports that; “In 1994, more than 45 million people (19 percent of the population) were served by community drinking water systems that violated health-based requirements at least once during the year.” (See http://www.epa.gov/OWOW/indic/fs1.html)

        So, I insist on a system such as reverse osmosis for two reasons: (a) I want a backup system in case the government fails to kill the bacteria and viruses and (b) I want to minimize the dirt, chemicals, and harmful minerals in my water.