The highly-intelligent (and attractive) people over at the Water Testing Blog have posted some great resources to use if you're trying to find out exactly what's in your water:

Recently we have come across several useful web sites which feature water quality testing information, links to highly accurate home drinking water test kits from several reputable manufacturers, high quality water filter systems, and replacement filters for a wide range of drinking water filter systems. The links below will take you to their main pages:
Your Water Test
Quick Water Test
Water Test Blog
Air and Water Filters

Choosing a Water Filter

I finally found a pretty good analysis of how to rid your water of all these contaminants I've been talking about. This chart compares activated carbon filters, cation-exchange softeners, distillers, reverse osmosis filtration, and ultraviolet disinfection. :

Arsenic and Insulin

From prescription drugs in our drinking water to the tap water that travels miles through city pipes before it is put into our bodies, there are a number of worries when considering drinking water. The bad news continues as the papers are now raging about how low levels of arsenic in drinking water can be linked to Type 2 diabetes in that they may affect the pancreas which makes your body’s supply of insulin.
Doing my reading, I know that high levels of arsenic in water have been related to diabetes for years, but I would think that high levels of arsenic are also linked with death…so I’ve been avoiding my arsenic altogether, or so I thought. I can’t even imagine the sorts of physical ailments Danny Devito’s mom had in Throw Momma From The Train.

A United States report “examined 788 adults, found a fourfold increase in diabetes in people with low arsenic concentrations in their urine, most likely from water. This means even low levels in water may pose a risk”. Now I usually love any quote that includes the word “fourfold”, but I seem to have found my exception.

The arsenic hops aboard the flume ride to your pancreas by entering water supplies from deposits in the ground or from pollution. Which means it’s partially our fault. Sweet.
I’ve learned from my inside sources, which consist of a series of news articles and my hyper-intelligent, imaginary friend Dwayne, that the government knows about the reports, but no specific action has been taken yet.
Lastly, one article was actually helpful (sorry Dwayne) and says that we can lower our risk with any NSF certified filtering system. There are home tests kits you can purchase, or I’m sure local water experts would be happy to test the water as well, but you’ll have to Google that yourself.

What the Heck am I Drinking?

Just read this article:

http://watertech111.blogspot.com/2008/08/whole-house-water-filters-make-world-of.html

The piece goes into how homes may have lead in their water if built before 1986. That, I knew. But then the following paragraphs use a whole bunch of nasty words like parasites, bacteria, rust, and illness. In addition, there may also be sediment in my water. For some reason that doesn’t scare me as much…as long as it sinks to the bottom of my water glass.

My water smells and tastes bad, which others complain about, but I tend to ignore. The thought of bacteria-filled Kool Aid and a rusty bladder seem to stick around in my head, though. I don’t know what kind of filter is best to get this junk out of my water and out of ME, but I’ll do some research and post that next.

Oh, and if for some reason the author of that article doesn’t want me to use it, just let me know. I’d look up the rules, but I’m too busy willing my immune system to fight off the parasites I’ve been drinking.

Interesting Water Video

Do you have enough pharmaceuticals in your water?

Here’s a scary thought from a local water treatment company’s ad that recently caught my eye: All water contains impurities and contaminants.

Well, that’s just great.

Even though the public water system is required to treat all water before it‘s routed to our faucets, most people aren’t accounting for the miles of piping that water has to travel through before you can drink it. I just find it hard to believe that a pipe running underground and parallel to a sewage pipe is the picture of cleanliness. Frankly, I’d prefer knowing that the water rushing out of my tap has just emerged from a tube as sterile as a NASA “clean room”.

Even after tap water is chlorinated to prevent any disease-causing bugs the opportunity to grow, the EPA still says that what is left in your water poses a “minimal risk”. Well you know what sounds better to me than a minimal risk? No risk at all.

Chloramines, lead, arsenic, bugs – I don’t care what it is, I’d rather not be drinking it.

Associated Press published a story and here is the line that sums it up:
A vast array of pharmaceuticals -- including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones -- have been found in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans, an Associated Press investigation shows…
Not convulsing: Good. Sex hormones: Could go either way.
…Water providers rarely disclose results of pharmaceutical screenings, unless pressed, the AP found.
My next question, how is all this stuff getting into my water? AP answers this one too…
People take pills. Their bodies absorb some of the medication, but the rest of it passes through and is flushed down the toilet. Then, some of the water is cleansed again at drinking water treatment plants and piped to consumers. But most treatments do not remove all drug residue.
And while researchers do not yet understand the exact risks from decades of persistent exposure to random combinations of low levels of pharmaceuticals, recent studies have found alarming effects on human cells and wildlife.
Once again, they don’t know, so I want it filtered out. Enough, for me, is any at all.

The Aguaman rides again!

Yo, H20!