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By
Published: Mar 17, 2010
Category: Home [4]
You really can’t drink the water.
In December, The New York Times dropped a water bomb on Americans: Tap Water Is Legal but May Be Unhealthy [5]. “The 35-year-old federal law regulating tap water is so out of date,” the paper reported, “that the water Americans drink can pose what scientists say are serious health risks --- and still be legal.”
Why? Because the Safe Drinking Water Act only regulates 91 contaminants --- and there are 60,000 chemicals in use today. Even small amounts of those contaminants may lead to cancer and other diseases. But since 2000, that list of chemicals to be regulated has held steady at 91.
Worse News: The Times [6] has recently reported that saving our water and sewer systems would be “costly.” Thousands of water and sewer systems, we learn, “may be too old to function properly.” And does anyone seriously think clean water is any politician’s first priority?
Then there’s what should be the Best News [7] but may, given these gloomy national stories, be the worst: Americans bought 3.5% fewer bottles of water in 2009 than we did in 2008. Sure, the skidding economy had something to do with that. But so did the growing perception that bottled water --- which still takes in more money than Hollywood --- is bad for the planet and maybe not all that beneficial for your health. True...but it's probably better for you than tap water.
The disconnect continues: The smarties among us don't want to drink tap water. According to a 2009 Gallup poll, we civilians see pollution of drinking water as our most serious environmental concern. Politicians may choose to snooze until an Erin Brockovich kicks up a fuss. Consumers don’t want to wait.
The solution: As in so many things, take matters into your own hands --- purify your own drinking water.
You won’t be alone. The experts predict sales of home water-filtration products will grow about 18% between this year and 2013.
Need one last flogging to get you on your way? Try these stats: Only 10% of plastic water bottles are recycled. Ninety percent of water bottles are simply.... thrown away. That's a lot of bottles: Water is a $16 billion a year business in this country. Americans drank 28.3 gallons of bottled water a year. (That’s each American. The poor drink less. You drink more.) Grand total: 50 billion plastic water bottles. Or --- to make it personal --- you pitched 167 bottles. Maybe 17 got recycled. And shall we talk energy expenditure? A good estimate of a year's consumption in the United States: about 1.5 million barrels of oil. You could fuel 100,000 cars for a year on that. [It also takes water to make bottles for water. Don't ask.]
So….which water filter are you going to buy?
The gifted Reiki master --- and mistress of purity --- Pamela Miles [8]urged us to buy the Multipure. I've looked at the Multipure CBVOCSC Countertop Water Filter. [9] It seems to be a quality device. And easy to maintain --- you just need to change the filter every 750 gallons. But it is a device, and $379.95.
Of the containers that you store in your refrigerator, the most popular brand is Brita. My research [10] shows PUR is a better choice. Not only does the PUR filter out more impurities, it's cheaper --- 20 cents a gallon of water to 25 cents with a Brita. Yes, the PUR filters cost three times as the Brita; they also last three times as long.
Four years ago, we bought a PUR 2-stage dispenser [11], largely for its 2-gallon capacity. Last year, we had to replace it --- after heavy use, the spring on the spout finally wilted. So the thing is durable. Taste? As good as the spring waters we used to cherish. And the taste of virtue? Even better.
To buy the PUR 2-Stage Dispenser from Amazon.com, click here. [11]
To buy a 3-pack of PUR Water Pitcher Filters from Amazon.com, click here. [12]
To buy the Multipure CBVOCSC Countertop Water Filter from Amazon.com, click here. [13]