The Truth Behind Your Everyday Drinking Water

Tap water is believed to be clean and safe since it is treated before it gets to households. Water treatment plants have made a lot of progress in removing pollutants, but researchers continue to find new toxins that may not be totally eliminated by conventional treatment methods. Among the most worrisome are “forever chemicals,” which can stay in the environment for years and are hard to detect without special testing. Their persistence and possible effects on water quality have become an increasingly relevant public health and environmental issue.

One of the most troubling kinds of toxins is PFAS in our drinking water. Sometimes called the “forever chemicals,” they’re resistant to degradation in the environment. Recently, scientists and health care professionals performed a study surprised by the existence of forever chemicals in no less than 45% of the tap water safety in the U.S. These substances have been shown to increase the risk of reproductive problems, affect the function of the immune system and cause numerous cancers, including kidney and thyroid cancers. As the science around “forever chemicals” is becoming clearer, so too is the importance of these compounds.

Another point to note is that many of the contaminants in the tap water are not regulated. Thus, these contaminants have not been monitored or removed from the water by conventional water treatment techniques. Testing the water will provide useful information as to what possible contaminants are present in the water in question and help one to decide whether or not a water filter or water filtration system is needed. This knowledge may be very helpful in attempting to safeguard one’s immune system.

When it comes to health, decisions about treatment should be based on science, not personal experience or theory. It’s true even for the quality of the drinking water. These choices are based on scientific tests, findings and statistics. Making choices based on the advice of the physician and the evidence based medicine framework means that Being aware of the water that comes into your home helps you to know what problems you might have. Water quality data provide a simple way to make an educated judgement on what your water quality demands are.