Drinking Water In America

Bottled water manufacturers’ marketing campaigns capitalize on isolated instances of contaminated public drinking water supplies by encouraging the perception that their products are purer and safer than tap water. But the reality is that tap water is held to

Seventy percent of the human body is comprised of water. This makes drinking water quality vital. The EPA estimates the average adult consumes 1.2 liters daily or 115 gallons of community (tap) water daily while the average consumption of bottled water per capita in the U.S. is in excess of 30.8 gallons per year and is expected to continue to increase according to the International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) and the Beverage Marketing Association’s 2013 report. Bottled water costs anywhere from 240 to 10,000 times more per gallon than the average cost of tap, but people’s perception that bottled water is purer, safer or healthier is driven, in part, by strong bottled water marketing campaigns that focus on news reports about crises that involve municipal water supplies. (NRDC, “Bottled Water Pure Drink or Pure Hype”) The sources for both tap and bottled waters as well as additives to either enrich or neutralize contents of water determine the mineral and chemical composition of drinking water. Is bottled water really any purer or healthier than local tap water?

Did you know that tap water that is supposed to be safe these days actually may contain many contaminants? People typically do not ask because most of them already think it is okay to drink because they always drink it. However, the truth is that it contains multiple contaminants. They can soon build up and hurt your body. Only good filters can prevent this from happening. Water in water fountains will stay contaminated unless people learn about the effects of contaminated water and try to put an end to it.

The very chemicals that are used to treat our water to kills deadly toxins are the same chemicals that can pose health problems when digested for a period of time (EPA 2013). For instance, excessive consumption of fluoride over a lifetime may lead to increased likelihood of bone fractures in adults, and tooth enamel pits in young children. Lead consumption leads to physical and mental development in children and mercury consumption leads to kidney damage. (Birmingham Water Works).

According to a four-year, detailed investigation to evaluate the quality and safety of bottled water conducted by an environmental advocacy group, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), traces of various chemicals (THMs such as chloroform and BDCM, both probable human carcinogens) and arsenic were discovered in high levels. Another chemical found in PET plastic bottles is antimony that is harmless in small doses but in larger doses can cause nausea, vomiting, and death. (Ban the Bottle, 2014) A senior scientist at the NRDC, Dr. Gina Solomon told The New York Times that “there is no reason to believe that bottled water is safer than tap water.” (Ban the Bottle, 2014) Public water in the U.S. is heavily regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) because they require numerous tests for bacteria daily which are available to the public. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates bottled water and only require tests on a weekly basis and does not share their discoveries with neither the public nor EPA. (Ban the Bottle,

In summation, it is apparent that First Nations communities in Canada are deprived of their basic human right to clean water. Canada has failed to effectively address the issue as its policies tend to disregard Aboriginal People’s right to safe drinking water. A significant portion of the responsibility falls on the Crown as it is the responsibility of the Canadian government to ensure that all its citizens have equal opportunities and resources. The literature reviews examined in this paper demonstrates that the problem of the water crisis in First Nations communities is rooted from the systematic discrimination that transpired post-colonialism. Consequently, this paper advanced that there is a need to design and implement a new federal policy

Everyday, billions of people use water all over the world. They use water in drinks and food. They use water for bathing and hygiene. They use water in agriculture and industry. They use water for so many things. However, there are many problems with the usage of water around the world. In his editorial, “Our Water System: What a Waste”, Michael E. Webber explains how America has a water problem, and how that problem can be solved.

Contaminated water poses health risks on humans, pets, wild animals, and farm animals. (Mcdermott-Levy 2013)

The problems with the water caused death and disease. The problems with the water affected the colonists by causing drought, disease,and death. It states (Blanton 55) , “Filth introduced into the river tended to fester than flush away.” That means that they put their filth in the water and it just stayed there and floated around in the water. That would definitely cause disease and death(Blanton 55). It also states (Blanton 55), “ Rivers and creeks became brackish as water levels rose.” This means that the rivers started to rise and the water became salty and undrinkable. They also dug shallow wells, but these didn't last very long because these were in danger of drought(Blanton 55). This is why so many colonists died because of water problems.

If residents and corporations throughout the United States continue to frivolously waste water and refuse to make painless changes and upgrades around their homes, it will continue to increase in cost to people across the United States. For example, as a result of the water shortage crisis currently afflicting the southwestern United States, the city of San Diego, California, is currently constructing a desalination plant, located in Carlsbad, California. The idea of a desalination plant is to collect undrinkable saltwater from the ocean and, using reverse osmosis and other filtering techniques, remove the salt to produce clean, potable water (Barnett). However, there are many downsides to relying on desalination practices to provide for a city the size of San Diego. First and foremost, it is considerably more expensive to produce clean drinking water from saltwater as opposed to using regular surface water or groundwater. The act of filtering the water alone can be twice as expensive as traditional filtration methods. In addition, desalination plants consume much more energy than traditional treatment plants, mostly due to the fact that the filtration methods are much more involved. Desalination consumes twice as much power as recycled plants, and four times as much as pumping groundwater (Newell, Roohk and Reardon). For example, the Carlsbad plant alone will require the same amount of electricity as is used to power 125,000 homes in California. However, the biggest

In the online article, “How does Pollution Affect Humans” by The World Counts, “Breathing polluted air puts you at a higher risk for asthma and other respiratory diseases. When exposed to ground ozone for 6 to 7 hours, scientific evidence shows that healthy people’s lungs function decreased and they suffered from respiratory inflammation” (The World Counts par. 4 ). THose are just some of the health problems that pollution causes This information matters to me because it shows that bottled water not only affects the Earth by causing pollution, but that pollution also causes health problems. Not only does it affect the Earth by causing pollution, but bottled water can directly affect you. According to the online article “Bottled Water vs. Tap Water: Rethink What You Drink” by Priscilla Torres, “The EPA regulates tap water, while the FDA oversees bottled. Yet FDA oversight doesn’t apply to water packaged and sold within the same state, leaving some 60 to 70 percent of bottled water, including the contents of watercooler jugs, free of FDA regulation” (Torres pg. 2 par.5). This matters to me because it means if every student in the Natomas district drank from bottled water, some of their water might contain chemicals because it wasn’t checked. Chemicals are definitely a threat because Torres continues to say, “Scientists in Germany found that the longer a bottle of water sits around (in a store, in your home), the more antimony it develops. High concentrations of antimony can cause nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea”(Torres pg. 3 par. 7). This information is important because it shows that just keeping water bottles for a long period of time can cause many health problems. If every student had to drink bottled water, they would constantly be getting sick and spreading their sickness to other students. So, bottled water causes many health problems, through pollution, and because there may be

any countries in the world are short of precious water. Given that water is so essential to everyday activities, such as cooking,washing, and growing crops, without the quality of water can affect our nation, even causing economic or social instability. The cdc estimates 780 million people around the world,more than 1 in 10, do not have access to an improved water source one that is protected from outside contaminants.

While it is important that these harmful toxins are being filtered out of our water, they are still allowed in the water in very small quantities. The toxins that are watched for vary from state to state, which means that a contaminant in one state may be allowed in the water in unregulated amounts in another. If something is toxic to the people of California, it will be just as toxic to the people of Wisconsin. I believe that the best way to combat this problem is to add any toxins that are found to be toxic when ingested to the list in the federal Safe Drinking Water

Growing up as a middle class American, I never fully understood the significance of having clean water to drink, access to healthcare, and education. Many undeveloped countries do not have the resources to provide a regulated standard of living. In countries like Guatemala, up to 75 percent of the population live below the poverty line. Most of these residents live in rural, mountainous areas.

Although the state of America’s water infrastructure is of great concern, the types of chemicals found in America’s tap water are equally as frightening. The passage of the Water Act in 1972 prevents the direct dumping of hazardous chemicals directly into waterways, and helps regulate quality standards of water. However, the Clean Water Act is has no jurisdiction on regulating indirect dumping of chemicals that integrates into water supplies. Pesticides and prescription drugs are the greatest cause for concern of indirect containments in America’s water supply (Olsen). An abundance of the harmful chemicals found in liquefied animals feces, used in large dairy states, have percolated into drinking wells that have caused serious infections (Duhigg). However, more harmful containments are infiltrating water supplies. Such containments include