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10 Ways to Protect Groundwater

April Fools Day is wrapping up and I hope you were all able to enjoy a good joke or prank today, hopefully not at your own expense either. Even on a fun day like April 1st it is important to think about some serious topics too. I found a great bulletin from Groundwater.org that lists their top ten ways to protect groundwater. I have copied the list into the post for you to check it out.

I think the thing that surprises me the most is how simple it can be to make a difference. Things like taking shorter showers and only running the washing machine or dishwasher when they have a full load are easy and actually will save you money too. My favorite point on the list has to be keeping a pitcher of water in your fridge. One of the big attractions to bottled water is how easy it is to just open the fridge and grab some water to drink. I know because I feel the same draw towards convenience, but bottled water is really bad for the environment and carries a higher price tag as well. Try filling a pitcher with water and storing that in the fridge so that when you need a quick sip you can quickly poor into a glass or a re-usable bottle instead. If your refrigerator has a water filter just fill the glass or bottle from your dispenser. If you don't have a water filter you can get a pitcher that has a built-in filter. When you refill from that pitcher you will be getting cool, clean, and delicious water straight from your fridge and you will be saving money too.

Here is the full list from groundwater.org of how we can all help protect and conserve groundwater. Each day we can make good choices, like using less water and saying no to single-use plastic bottles.

1. Reduce household chemical use and dispose of remaining chemicals by taking them to a hazardous waste collection site.
2. Take used motor oil to a recycling center.
3. Limit the amount of fertilizer used on plants.
4. Take short showers.
5. Shut water off while brushing teeth and shaving.
6. Run full loads of dishes and laundry.
7. Check for leaky faucets and have them fixed.
8. Water plants only when necessary.
9. Keep a pitcher of drinking water in the refrigerator.
10. Get involved in water education.

Vermont says "No" to bottled water

A bit of news from a Businessweek article I read today (special thanks to @MyWaterOurWater for sharing it, follow him on twitter!), the state of Vermont is putting a stop to the purchase of bottled water in state buildings. State employees will have access to clean tap water, which the state government feels is a better use of their budget. Every year the state invests in public water so why spend extra on bottled water?

Even more important is the acknowledgment by Deb Markowitz of the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources that bottled water has a negative environmental impact on the state ecology. New York, Colorado and Illinois have also taken steps to reduce waste by switching from bottled water to tap water.

It just does not make sense to buy bottled water when we should be investing in public water infrastructure. Tap water is readily available and can be dispensed into re-usable bottles. A simple water filter can reduce chlorine taste and odor to make your tap water taste much better. If you live in an area with poor water quality you should have your water tested. Odds are you can probably get a water filter set up in your home that will remove most of the contaminants in your tap water.

The Incident at Tower 37

A lot has been happening this week as we celebrate World Water Day 2011. Over at TakePart.com they featured this exclusive video and interview with Chris Perry, the director of Wall-E about his new animated short "The Incident at Tower 37". The entire video is only about 10 minutes long and presents the story of a community threatened by the loss of their water supply. In the short film a large corporation is taking the water and leaving the community without enough water to support their own livelihood.

Perry is trying to raise awareness of a very real issue that faces many small communities, both human and those found in nature. While his animated vision may seem too sci-fi or distopian for some viewers, the process depicted in his work is taking place all over the world. Bottled water companies take groundwater and package it in single-use plastic containers to be resold at a huge profit for the company. In many cases the water sources that they are harvesting are an essential life line for local communities and ecosystems.

In Perry's short and bittersweet tale the little guys triumph over big business through a guerrilla effort that sabotages the extractor, but in real life we do not have to do anything that drastic. Bottled water companies rely on basic business principles of supply and demand to profit off their industry, and business has been booming for most of the 21st Century. The best way to strike back at bottled water is to STOP BUYING IT! It is time that we stopped letting bottled water be the trendy way to drink up on the go. Switch to a re-usable bottle and fill it from your own home tap. You have the ability to be responsible and take control of your water. It is cheaper and safer for you and the environment, which means that in the end we can all win.

More plastic than plankton

We use plastic for a variety of functions because it is cheap and easy to use. The problem is how much of that plastic that we use every day is not handled responsibly and recycled. We have reached the point where pollution from plastics waste is having a severe effect on the environment. I am not talking about landfills, though there is definitely an argument to be made for the work we have to do there. What I wanted to talk about today is the accumulation of plastic in the ocean. Researchers, like Captain Charles Moore and his team, have discovered that plastic are polluting our oceans in a big way.

Ever take a trip down to the beach? Did it look like this image? Let’s hope it did not, but more and more beaches are becoming receptacles for plastic water bottles and other trash that are thrown into lakes and rivers and eventually find their way into the ocean. What many people do not realize is that plastic is forever. It cannot be dissolved or used up and instead is merely broken down into smaller pieces. While plastic waste on beaches is certainly not something we want to see the issue that Captain Moore and the researchers at the Algalita Marine Foundation are focusing on is the pollution found in the oceanic gyres.

Have you heard of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch? You can take a tour and get out there to see it for yourself, but it is not a popular destination. Located in the Pacific gyre, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is an area where oceanic tides have created a gathering point for much of the plastic waste that has found its way out to sea. Samples drawn from the gyre have revealed that there is more plastic than plankton in the water. After being buffeted around and stirred up in the ocean water much of the plastic that has made it to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch has been broken down into small colorful pellets. With the number of these little plastic pieces floating in the water having exceeded the amount of plankton there many fish are starting to eat the plastic. Instead of eating their natural food source, plankton, the fish are eating our trashed plastics.

The garbage patch in the Pacific Ocean is not unique. Researchers have found trash build up in gyres in the North and South Atlantic, Indian, North and South Pacific oceans. Some of the most commonly discarded items are plastic water bottles. With only a small percentage of water bottles actually recycled in the U.S. there is plenty of room for each individual to make a difference. Try to drink from re-usable containers whenever possible and if you do buy a plastic bottle or other container make sure to recycle when you are finished. These are small steps, but together it can make a big difference.

Your link to safer water

I have talked in great detail about the various contaminants that end up in bottled water and the tap water that comes from your local water utility. The best way to reduce your exposure to impurities in your water is by using a home water filter system. Many homeowners already have a water filter system for their refrigerator's ice and water dispenser. A refrigerator water filter is the easiest way to filter water and should be replaced about every 6 months to maintain optimal filtration. If you do not have a filter system in place already, a great place to start is by finding out what is in your water.

The Environmental Working Group has compiled reports from water utilities across the country to give you easy access to your water quality report. Once you know what contaminants are present in your water you can make a better decision about what type of water filter to use in your home. I have attached my own water report as an example. As you can see the water is tested regularly and certain chemicals are consistently tested higher than health guidelines, but are not considered to be over the legal limit. So my water utility is not breaking the law, but my water is still unsafe to drink.

Because of this I do not drink any water from the tap in my apartment unless it has been filtered first. I use a Brita faucet filter that was easily attached to the kitchen sink to filter water for drinks and cooking. It works great and took about 5 minutes to set up.

There are many ways to filter the water that enters your home and reduce the contaminants in it. Whatever kind of water filter you choose just make sure that it has been certified by the NSF, an independent organization that tests filters to make sure their filtration claims are accurate. Once you have a water filter that reduces impurities in your water you will probably notice that it tastes better too! A sweet bonus.

Water cooler talk may be bad for your health

No, not the actual conversation, but the water you drink from the cooler. What many socially minded employees may not know is that the plastic water jug on top of the cooler increases their exposure to a chemical known as Bisphenol A (BPA). BPA is a synthetic estrogen compound used as a hardening agent to manufacture polycarbonate plastics, the more durable plastic used to make 5 gallon water jugs. BPA has been in use in plastics for decades and was long thought to be safe for human consumption because it is metabolized quickly. More recently independent toxicology studies have shown that not only is Bisphenol A a potential health risk to humans, but that it can leach into water and food stored in plastic containers. BPA has been found to disrupt the endocrine system resulting in a variety of symptoms including reproductive abnormalities and impaired neurological functions.



A 2003 study by the CDC found BPA in 93% of the participants. While it is virtually impossible to avoid contact with BPA, you can reduce your exposure by avoiding using containers where the chemical may have leached into food or drinks.



The US Department of Health and Human Services has a helpful page that provides a number of ways to reduce exposure to BPA. Many companies now offer BPA free plastics that are much safer to use to store water and other beverages as well. So you can still plan on taking a bottle of water with you to the gym, just make sure to take along a re-usable bottle that is BPA free.

Getting down and dirty with bottled water

In the United States it is estimated that only 10% of plastic bottles are recycled. Meanwhile the bottled water industry has grown into an $8 billion dollar behemoth by selling us something we already have access to, drinking water.

You might think that this would have caused some public uproar by now, after all, the evidence points to a bit of foul play on the part of many companies that sell bottled water. Bottled water has become the wolf in sheep's clothing purporting itself to be a helpful part of a healthy lifestyle. Pepsi famously created this 60 second add spot to promote their Aquafina brand in which drinking bottled water fills an entire bar with physical health and good feelings. It is true that drinking water is good for your body, but what is not true is the implication that bottled water is any better for you than tap water. Studies have shown that there is no guarantee that bottled water is any safer than tap water. Yet the marketing engines of corporations like Coke and Pepsi have made bottled water synonymous with purity and safety. The end result is that people now believe that tap water is unsafe or impure.

What is even more disturbing is that 40% of bottled water is taken from municipal water sources. Sometimes this water is filtered before being put in bottles, but many companies simply bottle tap water and sell it back to the same community.

And that is just the tip of the iceberg. Nearly every aspect of the bottled water industry has a negative impact on the environment. The softer plastics that make up the majority of bottled water are made from the raw material PET, which comes from petrochemical plants that pollute local groundwater and air supplies.

Not all bottled water comes from municipal sources. Some companies like to hype up the source of their natural spring water to convince us that it is pure and refreshing just the way nature intended it. The problem is that nature did not intend for spring water to be harvested from local groundwater supplies and shipped all over world. This method of water re-distribution has a harmful effect on the local ecology. The Fiji brand of bottled water claims to be bottled at the source, which means if you buy it off your local grocery store shelf it most likely had to travel hundreds or even thousands of miles to get there. Does Fiji water really taste that much better than tap water?

The EPA regulates public water utilities to verify the water that comes from your tap is safe to drink. These regulations are much more strict than the regulation of bottled water performed by the FDA. A common complaint is that tap water has an unusual taste or odor and that it is better to buy bottled water, which presumably tastes better. Public water treatment often involves the use of chlorine or chloramine to remove bacteria so that the water is safe to drink. Many people dislike the aftertaste that chlorine adds to their drinking water. Trace levels of other contaminants can find their way into public drinking water, but this is true of bottled water as well. At least with tap water you know it has been tested and that chemical levels meet federal safety guidelines. Bottled water is not held to the same standards and contaminant testing is performed by the company that sells the water bottles, and they are not required to disclose the results to the public. In this report from the Environmental Working Group you can read more about the lack of contaminant regulation in the bottled water industry.

Filters for drinking water are gaining popularity as the backlash against the bottled water industry gains momentum. The laws of supply and demand tell us that if we stop buying bottled water then companies like Coke, Pepsi, and others will stop producing bottled water in massive quantities. A water filter is an inexpensive solution to remove the poor taste from tap water caused by chlorine treatment. The contaminant reduction claims of most filters have been independently tested so you can be confident that you are drinking water with fewer impurities.

Another great way you can help out the environment is by filling a reusable water bottle for on-the-go use at the gym or around town. I recommend either a plastic bottle that is BPA free, or a stainless steel bottle. Disposable water bottles need to become a thing of the past. If you have not seen it yet, the documentary film Tapped provides an in depth view of the risk that continued bottled water use poses to one of our most basic natural resources, water. I highly recommend it and the film is only an hour or so in length and is available as an instant view on Netflix.

Tapped: a documentary film

If you have not already checked out Tapped, the 2009 multiple award winner for best documentary film, I highly recommend it. The film does a great job of taking the viewer inside one of the most socially relevant and controversial issues facing the public: access to safe drinking water.

The bottled water boom of the past two decades has changed the way we view water. Bottled water manufacturer's have managed to turn clean drinking water into a commodity to be bought and sold at a high price to the consumer. Due to a lack of regulation bottled water is often subject to less testing than tap water and in some cases is just bottled tap water.

According to the film Americans will consume 29,000,000 single serve water bottles every year. The cost to the environment is fairly drastic; from the plastic bottles themselves to the fuel used to transport them and the petrochemical plants where they are manufactured. That's a lot of pollution and contamination.

There is a simple solution to the problem of bottled water waste. We can change our habits and start using reusable bottles, ones that don't have BPA and other harmful chemicals that can leach into our drinking water, and use filtered tap water instead. In most cases using a water filter is safer and cheaper than buying bottled water while still tasting just as good if not better.

Presidential Cancer Panel recommends filtered water

Drinking filtered water may help reduce the risk of cancer. A report released by the President's Cancer Panel highlights how the risk from carcinogens and endocrine-disrupting chemicals can be reduced by filtering your drinking water. The report also advises that unless there is a known chemical contamination present in your water, it is actually better to drink filtered tap water than to purchase and drink bottled water.

Filtered tap water is also the only form of drinking water that receives an "A" grade from the Environmental Working Group (EWG). The EWG conducted an 18 month study of water quality comparing bottled and filtered water and found that filtered tap water is much better than bottled water and unfiltered tap water.

The EWG concluded that filtered tap water is better for 3 reasons:
1. It saves money
2. It is purer than tap water
3. It helps solve the overuse of plastic water bottles

Water filters are a cheaper and more environmentally conscious alternative to bottled water and more and more evidence is being found that links drinking filtered water to a healthier life.

 

Hexavalent Chromium found in US Tap Water

Recent testing of 35 cities across the country has revealed that at least 31 of those cities could have elevated levels of the contaminant hexavalent chromium, also known as Chromium-6. More information on the report can be found in this CNN article.

Reports have indicated that simply drinking bottled water will not safeguard against ingesting chromium-6 as many bottled water companies use municipal water supplies to fill their bottles. Filtering tap water is also not guaranteed to reduce chromium-6 unless you are using a system that is certified to reduce chromium. Many reverse osmosis systems can reduce chromium-6 as well as a variety of other contaminants from drinking water.

Home Depot currently sells the GE reverse osmosis systems PXRQ15F and GXRM10RBL that reduce chromium-6. Replacement filters for both systems can be found at Fridgefilters.com