Getting Safe Drinking Water
You all know how we try to kick out the chemicals in our house with moves like making our own cleaners and using plant-based detergent. In early June, we started wondering about a topic we never really thought about much in the city: the quality of our drinking water.
According to the EPA, public drinking water systems have experts regularly checking the water quality and its source in the United States. What if you’re on a private well like our house and 15% of the American population? Well you have to take extra precautions to ensure the safety of your water.
We make a conscious effort to make water our primary beverage at home. After finding ourselves really exhausted all the time, Martin and I started thinking what culprits might be affecting our health. When he mentioned our water quality, I had my doubts… an attitude that I now realize was rather foolish. I had been claiming that our water tasted a little funny or smelled strange, so I wasn’t drinking much. Red flag. I know.
Martin started researching. While standards for septic system and well locations are pretty strict, the county has no regulations for pesticide use. All the open land around us is constantly being sprayed for weeds. We have some friendly neighbors that quickly offer to spray weeds around the house for us, so we pull weeds around the house like maniacs and kindly turn down their offers. I don’t mean to imply that everyone around us sprays weeds more than anywhere else in the United States. The chemicals are just scary to think about when they seep into your water system.
The water table is low here. Getting our drinking water tested would cost $400. (The well hasn’t been tested in at least 10 years.) That kind of expense just doesn’t make sense for our summer stay. So for the last six weeks, we’ve been reaching for the bottle.
Our 5-gallon jug only set us back $20, and water costs less than a quarter a gallon in town. $2.50 a week is a drop in the bucket compared to what might have happened if we kept drinking our well water. We’ll never know.
Anyone else have experiences with water risks or a preference for bottled water? What would you do?
July 30th, 2009 at 5:35 am
My in-laws live in a farming area, with LOTS of pesticides (crop dusting and ground spraying). There is a distinct taste and smell to their water that even gets into their sweet tea. They think their water is great, even bottling it up to take with them on trips. But the smell and taste of the water scares me, so baby and I bring our own water down there. Fortunately, my in-laws aren’t offended by this; they just make fun of this “city slicker.”
July 30th, 2009 at 5:52 am
Nope, not me personally. But I try to drink a lot of water too…even though I sneak in the occasional diet pepsi because I’m so addicted. hehe.
July 30th, 2009 at 6:09 am
That’s scary that you could have been drinking pesticide-ridden water. It sounds like a good solution.
Water must be the topic of the day. Just as I stumbled across your safe-drinking article, I read another article about how they’re bottling NYC tap water with the tagline: “No Glaciers were harmed in the making of this water.” Here’s the link:
http://articles.latimes.com/2009/feb/25/nation/na-tapwater25
Bottled water — especially spring water — can be really bad for the environment. That’s because water law is bad at constraining people from taking too much water out of acquifers. As a result, the springs that have all the good water get sapped dry — especially with people’s mild preference for bottled water. If you want to read an interesting book on the subject, “Water Follies” by Robert Glennon is a good read.
July 30th, 2009 at 6:23 am
I live in Orlando,Fl and though the government has deemed our water safe, a worker from our water company told me there is no way he would drink it. I don’t either as it was making our entire family sick. My Dr recommends a North Carolina bottled water company to all her patients, as its the purest she has found, and since water our primary beverage, its what I drink.
July 30th, 2009 at 8:01 am
Heather, it’s entirely possible the taste/smell is just from minerals, not pesticides. All well water tastes a little different, depending on where it comes from. My grandmother across town has great tasting water, straight out of the hole, but ours is utterly undrinkable without a heavy-duty softening and filtering system. My mom is a lot more picky about water than I, and filters *everything*, she doesn’t like my grandmother’s, she doesn’t like her chlorinated city water, nothing. Ironically, she will drink our nasty stuff, since the last stage of the processing is a reverse osmosis filter.
Not saying pesticides can’t be a problem, just that there are a lot of other possible causes for strange tastes and smells.
July 30th, 2009 at 8:26 am
Thanks for sharing, everyone. I think it’s funny how we prefer water from certain places, and it’s amazing how unique it tastes in different areas.
Thanks for the link, Tony.
Since we buy our water at the grocery store, we’re just buying town water that’s been super filtered by the store. It’s been great for building my arm strength. When I can’t lift our 5 gallon bottle, I get soaked. Ugh!
Katie
July 30th, 2009 at 11:50 am
I’m shocked that it’s so expensive to have your water tested! We have our own well also, and have had our local health dept test it several times–all for free! I think there is a small fee now, such as $10 or so, but it’s too bad that everyone doesn’t have access to services like that! Makes me feel thankful and fortunate! We were actually more concerned about the pipes from our well to the house–our house is over 100 years old, but everything checked out just fine. I actually went to the health dept myself, and had blood taken for a free lead screening. We’re not usually this neurotic, it was all in preparation for getting pregnant with our ds! ;)
July 30th, 2009 at 12:15 pm
I am a fan of tap water – it’s all I drink. However, I am on a municipal system which is tested regularly.
If I had any doubts, especially with 2 little kids, I would opt for the bottle though. Especially if it were just a summer home. If it were the place I lived full-time I would opt for the testing, and address any issues. Although I’m not sure what you could do if they spray everywhere.
July 31st, 2009 at 3:04 am
We have city water and sewer and we STILL filter our water. You guys are comprehensive!
August 7th, 2009 at 10:22 pm
My moms house has well water and we drink this – while I feel it’s better than the city water (with fluoride added) I wonder what the quality is. It’s been 3 years since it was checked…might be worth looking into. But it tastes so good! It’s the only tap water I actually like. We have filters and the such before it hits the house taps, but you never know what is sneaking inside. Luckily we have wonderful aquifers in the area, nice and deep and not much pesticide spraying in our immediate area…lots of refuge around us, but who knows what trickles in from other areas. But because of the volcanics, we have some nice natural water filtration, too! Still, i’m curious!