If you live in a city, you probably take your water quality for granted. After all, it is monitored regularly by law. However, this summer I was washing my car and I realized that if I didn’t wipe the windows, the evaporated water would leave white stains on the glass. “If this is pure water, why would it stain the window?” I asked myself. Well, this didn't mean I had contaminated drinking water, but it motivated me to do some additional research into my what i was drinking. In doing so, I quickly learned that while we consider well and city water to be inherently safe to drink, this many times is far from the case.

It began with me returning to the water quality report that I recently received. Though our city of 64,000 is located on a major river, the city does not get it's water from that river. Instead fifteen wells provide on average 9.25 million gallons of water per day. They did not state why the water utility does not use river water but I assume that, in the past, it was too easy to contaminate an open source, especially with manufacturing plants located on the banks.

However, just because the water comes from wells does not mean it is ready for use. This can apply to all wells especially since we are seeing a large increase in the amount of underground karsts and aquifers that are being contaminated by humans. The report goes on, “The treatment plant then filters the water to remove iron and manganese before it is pumped into the water distribution system. These minerals are not a health concern and are removed because they can discolor the water and create a slight taste of iron.”

At the treatment plant the water is cleansed of the following:

• Microbial contaminants, such as viruses and bacteria, which may come from sewage treatment plants, septic systems, agricultural livestock operations, and wildlife
• Inorganic contaminants, such as salts and metals, which can be naturally-occurring or result from urban storm water runoff, industrial or domestic wastewater discharges, oil and gas production, mining or farming
• Pesticides and herbicides, which may come from a variety of sources such as agriculture, urban storm water runoff, and residential uses
• Organic chemical contaminants, including synthetic and volatile organic chemicals, which are by-products of industrial processes and petroleum production, and can also come from gas stations, urban stormwater runoff, and septic systems
• Radioactive contaminants, which can be naturally occurring or be the result of oil and gas production and mining activities.

What I learned is that all of these are not atypical of what can be found in well water. Our city not only removes these unwanted chemicals and contaminants, but also makes their own chemical additions to the water; “The water is also chlorinated for disinfection and fluoride is added for dental purposes before it is pumped into the water pipe system.” From there the water goes to water towers for pressure, and then to homes, schools, businesses, and the like.

Two lessons emerge from this study. First, if you are served by a private well, it is wise to have it tested regularly as water quality changes as the surrounding environment changes. The city must have theirs tested for EPA regulated contaminants every year, and larger cities have to run tests on their water daily. Second, even if you live on tested city water, it would be wise to take precaution and filter your drinking water with a high quality purifier like the black berkey, found in all our Berkey water filters. This will guarantee that your water is safe, even if something unhealthy sneaks in unnoticed.