About this page: The opinions here are my own, in regards to drinking water in either the form of tap water or bottled water, and yours may vary, but, I try to keep to the facts as much as I can.
My motivation for creating this Web page about drinking water is essentially the same as it is for the majority of the other Web pages on this site, which is to help and inform people. But, something as important as having safe drinking water can't be ignored, and change needs to come, and fast!
Some of the information on this Web page was heard on the Fresh Air show entitled War On Tap: America's Obsession With Bottled Water which was broadcast on NPR on May 17th, 2010 at noon, Eastern Time zone, here in the United States, where Peter Gleick, author of the book Bottled and Sold: The Story Behind Our Obsession with Bottled Water was interviewed.
For the most part, this is a page about tap water versus bottled water, or bottled water versus tap water, whichever way you prefer to see it, but, it also includes facts about the regulation and testing of each.
Table of Contents:
What's needed to change drinking water in the United States
What's needed to change in drinking water in the USA:
More accurate testing. There's a lot of chemicals that've been dumped into the water since many water treatment plants have opened up, and there's no testing for them, and they're not filtered out of the drinking water. Trust me on this, you don't want to know exactly what chemicals, their effects on the body, and how many there are . . .
Better regulation for bottled water. Currently, this is done by the FDA, who seems to be doing a lousy job of it. For starters, most of the companies who produce the drinking water do their own testing, instead of the testing being done by independents. And, that testing is from once a week to once a year, as opposed to tap water, which is usually tested several times a day. Even then, the results of the bottled water tests sometimes aren't published for months afterwards, much too late for anybody who's already drank the bottled water. If there's a problem with the local tap water, the public has to be informed within a single day. Some of the bottled water recalls included problems such as pieces of crickets in the bottled water, mold, algae, yeast, glass particles, kerosene, fecal coliforms, et cetera. If that wasn't worrisome enough, the FDA has absolutely no control over bottled water that isn't shipped across state lines.
On top of all this, there's the additional problem of the fact that 75-80 percent of all those millions of plastic water bottles aren't being recycled. If plastic water bottles aren't recycled, they go to the landfill, and the PET (Poly-Ethylene Terephthalate) is stable, and lasts virtually forever. If you're not certain which kind of plastic your water bottle is, look for the number 1 on it.
The small percentage of the plastic water bottles that are recycled usually go to China, where they get converted into things like rugs, polyester clothing, toys, and carpets.
Bottled water companies aren't even required to list their sources by federal law. Dasani, Pure Life, and Aquafina, according to my sources, get their water from the municipal water supply, which is to say, from tap water.
The FDA needs to accurately report all recalls on food and water on their Web site, instead of only a few things, and, of those, they're reported months after the bottled water has hit the store shelves, and, more than likely, after it's been sold and drank. The FDA only lists a few recalls, and not the hundred or so bottled water recalls that there has been. Peter Gleick had to file a Freedom of Information Act form (AKA FOIA) to get the information from them, and then, he only got it after months of back and forth with the FDA. It leads people to wonder who's getting bribed for not telling the people of the United States of America who have a right to know these things, and how much they're getting, who's paying them, and how they can sleep at night.
No more water fluoridation! They've been adding fluoride to the water since the 1940's in some states in the United States, and claim that it's to promote better teeth, yet there's several Nobel Prize winners who say it's absurd, and even if it was true, it would only work as applied directly to the teeth, not ingested. The EPA itself declared it to be a toxic substance, yet, people are drinking fluoride on a daily basis as a type of compulsory mass medication with no way to determine the amount each individual is getting.
Water fluoridation is currently only being used in about ten countries, now. There were several more before who were, but have since stopped doing so after exposing their citizens to it for a period of 20-30 years.
A few other reasons why water fluoridation is a bad idea:
It violates the individual's right to informed consent to medication.
The city can't track the response it'll have on each citizen that they force medicate.
It violates the Nuremberg code for human experimentation. If you don't know why the Nuremberg code was established, I invite you to look it up. But, some of the details might be a trifle grisly for some . . .
Although I'm certain you can find thousands of quotes on-line about why water fluoridation is wrong, many of them by experts in various fields of research, I'll only give you a few.
No physician in his right senses would prescribe for a person he has never met, whose medical history he does not know, a substance which is intended to create bodily change, with the advice: 'Take as much as you like, but you will take it for the rest of your life because some children suffer from tooth decay. ' It is a preposterous notion. - Dr. Peter Mansfield, a physician from the UK and advisory board member of the recent government review of fluoridation (McDonagh et al 2000)
The American Medical Association is NOT prepared to state that no harm will be done to any person by water fluoridation. The AMA has not carried out any research work, either long-term or short-term, regarding the possibility of any side effects. - Dr. Flanagan, Assistant Director of Environmental Health, American Medical Association
Based on data from the National Academy of Sciences, current levels of fluoride exposure in drinking water may cause arthritis in a substantial portion of the population long before they reach old age - Dr. Robert Carton, former EPA Scientist.
Segments of the population are unusually susceptible to the toxic effects of fluoride. They include "postmenopausal women and elderly men, pregnant woman and their fetuses, people with deficiencies of calcium, magnesium and/or vitamin C, and people with cardiovascular and kidney problems. - United States Public Health Service Report (ATSDR TP-91/17, pg. 112, Sec.2.7, April 1993)
It is now clear that fluoride is a potentially harmful substance when present in the drinking water in any amount. - Dr. Simon Beisler, Chief of Urlogy, Roosevelt Hospital and Past President of the American Urological Association.
The plain fact that fluorine is an insidious poison harmful, toxic and cumulative in its effects, even when ingested in minimal amounts, will remain unchanged no matter how many times it will be repeated in print that fluoridation of the water supply is 'safe. - Dr. Ludgwig Grosse, Chief of Cancer Research, U.S. Veterans Administration.
I am appalled at the prospect of using water as a vehicle for drugs. Fluoride is a corrosive poison that will produce serious effects on a long range basis. Any attempt to use water this way is deplorable - Dr. Charles Gordon Heyd, Past President of the American Medical Association.
fluoridation ... it is the greatest fraud that has ever been perpetrated and it has been perpetrated on more people than any other fraud has. - Dr. Professor Albert Schatz, (Microbiology), co-discoverer of Streptomycin, the cure for tuberculosis and numerous other bacterial infections.
This record is barren of any credible and reputable scientific epidemiological studies and/or analysis of statistical data which would support the Illinois Legislatures determination that fluoridation of the water supplies is both a safe and effective means of promoting public health. - Illinois Judge Ronald Niemann (presided over litigation involving fluoridation)
Hundreds of millions of dollars may be wasted annually on children's fluoride treatments by dentists. Typically given once or twice a year at routine checkups, the treatments do nothing to reduce cavities in kids, says a study of insurance records. - Journal of Public Health Dentistry
E.P.A. should act immediately to protect the public, not just on the cancer data, but on the evidence of bone fractures, arthritis, mutagenicity and other effects. - Dr. William Marcus, Senior Toxicologist at E.P.A.
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