It would be fair to say that that information about the quality of municipal drinking water in the U.S. has almost never made for very encouraging reading. From arsenic contamination in the southwestern states to the millions of homes still fitted with dangerous lead plumbing, America has simply always had a drinking water problem. This is one of the main reasons why alternative water sources, either in the form of products such as mineral and filtered water, or home installations systems such as filter systems and wells have, for a long time, found an eager market.
Unfortunately, the situation has got worse, not better. The two main reasons for this are climate change and decaying infrastructure across the country, both factors that have become more severe in recent years. Water sources running out or becoming polluted are typical environmental problems which affect the quality of drinking water. Where decaying infrastructure is concerned, the problems can be even worse, with heavy metals such as copper contaminating water supplies and the aforementioned lead poisoning, which still effects millions of American households.
A “Boil Water Advisory Notice”
However, we shouldn’t be too harsh on the people responsible for regulating our water supplies. They can only work with the infrastructure they have, and the problems besetting America’s water supply go far beyond what water authorities or treatment plants are doing on a daily basis.
Water treatment plants, for example, do a lot of good in removing the majority of harmful contaminants from water. And remember, contamination is not necessarily a bad thing, any mineral-related health benefits you derive from water are precisely because of “good contaminants”.
Water authorities will also frequently issue what is known as a “boil water advisory”. As you might expect, a boil water advisory is the local water authority advising you to boil drinking water before consuming it. This means that the water you are boiling is not drinking water at all. That is why you are boiling it – to make it safe to drink.
And things do not stay static where water quality is concerned. You just need to think of the millions of gallons in constant motion through the nation’s water systems to get an idea of how things can change very quickly. As we have already seen, the situation is getting worse on longer timescales, but it can vary day-to-day as well. Moreover, as you might expect, it is when the water falls short of strict quality standards that a boil water advisory notice is issued.
We should be grateful that we are least told when our drinking water becomes unsafe and boiling it does indeed kill bacteria effectively. However, we should also see these boil water advisories as a clear sign that something is very wrong. Such a state of affairs is why, according to Synergy Science – an alternative water products company supplying things such as filtered and hydrogen water – that there is such great interest in their products. And the situation doesn’t seem to be changing any time soon.
What to Do
So, what should you do when a boil water advisory is issued in your local area? Obviously, you should boil your water before any kind of consumption – which includes water for brushing your teeth, gargling, or washing food. For other uses (mainly washing), you should still be careful, though adding one teaspoon of unscented liquid bleach to every gallon you use should make the water safe enough for these uses.
Of course, this is terribly in convenient all the same. Until more fundamental changes are made to improve America’s water, it seems that millions will continue to get their water from elsewhere.