Decades later, concerns about U.S. drinking water still exist

In 1974, Consumer Reports published a three-part series titled "Is the Water Safe to Drink?" The first installment was an indictment of the country's many contaminated water supplies; parts two and three discussed potential remedies. At the community level, Consumer Reports called for a rapid improvement of water-processing facilities. For individual households, the investigation identified two potential solutions: bottled water and home filters. (Download the three PDFs at the bottom of this post to read the series.)

Thirty-four years later, cleaning up the nation's water supplies remains a work in progress. In many states, at least 10 percent of the community water systems reported health-based violations last year, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Drinking Water and Ground Water Statistics for 2007. (Nebraska had the highest level of systems with violations: 24 percent.)

Another hot-button issue related to drinking water is bottled water. Bottled water has become hugely popular among U.S. consumers in recent years and is a cash cow for its purveyors. But there's been a backlash against the consumption of bottled water because of the billions of plastic and glass containers created annually by this trend (see our Buzzword on precycling), not to mention questions about the quality and sources of the water in all those bottles.

Manufacturers of home-use water filters likely see an opportunity in the debate, hoping that consumers will abandon bottled water and use water filters instead. Indeed, during the last week of September, I attended a press event in New York City hosted by Zero Technologies, maker of the Z-Pitcher and Z-Bottle (shown). We haven't tested these products, which use five-stage ion-exchange filters and are designed not to clog, claims the manufacturer. (November 21 update: Brita, maker of water pitchers with filters, has announced its own filter-recycling program. Starting in early January 2009, you can drop of spent Brita filters at Whole Foods Market stores or mail them directly to Preserve, which makes products made from recycled materials. Go to www.brita.com in January for more details.)

For the "(How) Can We Go Back to Tap?" event, Zero Technologies assembled a panel that included Andrea Beaman, a holistic-health counselor and natural-foods chef; Laura Jana, M.D., a pediatrician who advocates against soda—and, hence, for water; Alex Matthiessen, president of Riverkeeper, an environmental group that works to protect the Hudson River; and Elizabeth Royte, author of Bottlemania: How Water Went on Sale and Why We Bought It.

The consensus among panel members was that tap water is better than bottled water for the environment, noting that your tap water could be contaminated, so you should filter it. (Recognizing the potential negative environmental impact of spent filters, Zero Technologies has implemented a recycling program in which consumers who return their used filters to the company will get a discount on replacements.)

In our latest test of water-filtration systems, we reviewed  carafe, faucet-mounted, countertop, undersink, reverse-osmosis, and whole-house models. Read our report for all the details, including buying advice and ratings of more than two dozen models (available to subscribers).—Daniel DiClerico

Essential information: If you're concerned about the quality of the water in your area, check out your Consumer Confidence Report, or CCR. Learn how to obtain your CCR and understand the information in it by reading "Deciphering Your Water Report."

Download Is_the_water_safe_to_drink_part_1.pdf

Download Is_the_water_safe_to_drink_part_2.pdf

Download Is_the_water_safe_to_drink_part_3.pdf

Comments

[Jesse M.]

I do some work with the American Chemistry Council and I think that drinking water in the U.S. is extremely safe thanks to the chlorination process that kills the bacteria and organic material. It's something we take for granted but it's relatively cheap and extremely effective process that has been used by most municipalities since Jersey City first started in 1908. If you want to see a read a quick blog post about it and see an interesting video, check it out here: http://mblog.lib.umich.edu/PHLI/archives/2008/10/100_years_of_cl.html

[Bob Rinehuls]

The two stage Culligan undersink system I purchased 10 years ago came with filters rated 1 year/1000 gallons. The only replacemnt filters available now are 6 month/500 gallon. Since they look identical I wonder if the 6 month filters would last one year as originally claimed, or is there really a health issue, taste issue, or are they just trying to sell more filters? AT $40 a set for the two stage sysstem, and $54 for the refrigerator filter, that's alot of money to spend twice a year.