If you’ve been following this blog, you know we preach to ditch soft drinks in favor of plain old water. But not the expensive bottled water. From the faucet – tap water. Water is healthy because it has no extra calories, no artificial colorings, and no preservatives or additives. And it takes a weight off of your wallet – the savings for an average American family of 4 that quits soft drinks are over $500 a year.

And for most western world locations, tap water is absolutely safe, we reported in the past. That’s why we were so upset to read The New York Times story about toxicity in American tap water:

• The Safe Drinking Water Act was passed in 1974 and required monitoring of 20 dangerous chemicals.
• The list of toxins grew to 91 by the late 1990’s.
• It is still miserably short when one considers the SIXTY THOUSAND chemicals that are used in this country, hundreds of which are known carcinogens and many of which have found their way into our water systems.
• Tens of millions of people could be affected by multiple contaminants in their drinking water.
• The EPA says that very long studies are needed to verify the effects, but even then it’s hard to determine causality because pollution is also in the air we breath, food we eat, our clothes, toys, homes, and pretty much everywhere.

The Times article is part of a series called Toxic Waters, a frightening and interesting read.

What you need to know:

So we must drink bottled water, right?

Not so fast.

Where do you think all the bottled water comes from? Many bottlers take their water from the same sources as municipal tap. True, they filter it, but do you think they do more testing for toxins than the minimum they should by law? Not!

Large public water supplies are tested for contaminants up to several times a day. But the FDA requires bottlers to test their water just once a month or year.

And bottled water is stored in plastics that leach out PET, or polyethylene terephthalate, another carcinogen. Not to mention the huge environmental impact of billions of plastic bottles polluting our planet.

What to do at the supermarket:

If you’re debating between tap and bottled water, you’re already in a good place, not drinking soft drinks. Many people choose bottled water because they have gotten used to the taste. Before you commit yourself one way or the other, check out your local water supply safety reports. You can also opt for home purifying and filtering systems.

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