Perhaps one of the biggest controversies and concerns now facing America is the issue of potable drinking water. The issues seem to fall into several main categories; that of pollution of our rivers and lakes, the purity and hygiene of drinking either tap water or well water, along with the many issues in the largely uncontrolled industry of bottled water.

Above all, the drinking of sufficient amounts of water is essential to human health, with the generally accepted standards that we need at least one quart per day for every 50 pounds of body weight per day. This means that if you weigh 150 pounds, then your body needs a minimum of three quarts of water – per day. Another common yardstick is the consumption of at least eight glasses of water per day, all of which means that our exclusive beverage should be water.

It is also best if we sip water throughout the day, rather than consuming large quantities all at once. This allows the body to better hydrate instead of having water passing through your body before being able to absorb t. Likewise it always best to drink water at room temperature; ice cold water does not allow for food to digest as easily and can be a trauma to the delicate lining of your stomach.

All of this information is widely known however the real dilemma begins when we begin to determine just exactly how that water is going to be consumed.

Although promoted as pure and healthy, bottled water may not be any cleaner than tap water. In fact according to Dr. Joseph Mercola, at least 40 percent of bottled water is simply tap water that may or may not have received additional treatment. Bottled water can also be quite misleading with depictions of mountains and streams, while the actual water may have come from a well in the middle of an industrial manufacturing complex – the main difference being that the water is being distributed through bottles rather than pipes.

According to the watchdog group, the Environmental Working Group (EWG), there is no requirement within the bottled water industry that companies have to test their water or reveal the results if they do. They are not even required to tell consumers where the water came from or how it has been treated.

EWG also reports that bottled water costs an average of $3.48 per gallon, compared to $ .002 cents for a gallon of tap water. Within the United States, it requires at least 15 billion barrels of oil per year to manufacture enough plastic bottles, while only about one fifth (20 percent) are even recycled. No mention was made of the tremendous drain of energy costs in shipping all those bottles full of water.

Further support for the belief that bottled water cannot be trusted, is a comprehensive test at the renowned University of Iowa Hygienic Laboratory. Their study examined the ten (10) leading bottled water brands, purchased in nine different states and the District of Columbia. A total of 38 toxic pollutants were detected, with each brand containing an average of eight pollutants. According to author David Gutierrez, the chemicals detected were fluoride, pharmaceutical drugs, fertilizer residue, plasticizes, solvents, fuel propellants, arsenic, and radioactive isotopes, with four brands containing bacteria.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) completed an independent study on the merits of drinking tap water, pointing out that bottled water may be no safer, or healthier than tap water in many countries while selling for up to 1000 times the price.

Although the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates the quality of public water supplies, neither they nor any other governmental body has any authority over bottled water.

And that brings us to the dilemma of drinking unfiltered tap water which in addition to containing a multitude of possible bacteria and sediment, is normally full of both chlorine and fluoride that has been added by the local municipal water utility. Although added in small quantities, both chlorine and particularly fluoride are highly toxic and should not be consumed regularly or in large amounts since they remain and accumulate in our body’s system.  As written in my earlier article “The Daily Poisoning Scam of America” – see Health Articles at www.HealthWantedNow.com , the accumulation of fluoride, causes a multitude of major health issues over time.
It is the reverse osmosis filters that eliminate fluoride along with chlorine, however these machines are quite expensive as well as they require considerable space that might not be available. They are also known to filter out too much, leaving the drinking water void of all minerals and increasing free radical production – - even causing an increased rate of cancer.

The bottom line to solving the dilemma of drinking sufficient quantities of healthy, non-toxic water is simply this. Your good health dictates that now more than ever, the majority of all water should be consumed through the use of commercial filters.

There are simple filters which deliver water at approximately 24 cents per gallon and then there are more expensive filters which bring costs down to .001 cents per gallon. The selection and variety of filters is quite wide-ranging, which certainly should cause careful consideration for both the continued expense and vagaries of drinking bottled water.

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