A recent report by the Environmental Working Group, often abbreviated as EWG, stated that after reviewing millions of records from state water officials across the country they believe nearly 54 million Americans have ‘polluted’ drinking water coming from their taps.

After examining the water quality in a selection of 100 cities, each containing more than 250k residents, the EWG put together a list of the Best and Worst Water Systems. Below you will find the highlights and low points from that list:

Cities w/ 3 Best Water Systems:

• Arlington Water Utilities in Arlington, Texas
• Providence Water in Providence, Rhode Island
• Fort Worth Water Department in Fort Worth, Texas

Cities w/ 3 Worst Water Systems:

• Emerald Coast Water Utility in Pensacola, Florida
• City of Riverside Public Utilities in Riverside, California
• Las Vegas Valley Water District in Las Vegas, NV

Didn’t see your city’s water system on the list? Don’t worry. You can view the full list of citeies surveyed here.

The EWG published another handy tool for determining the relative safety and purity of your drinking water:

• EWG Drinking Water Quality Database

In that document you will find the EWG’s findings on the quality of drinking water in more than 45,000 communities across the country.

Why Should You Test Your Own Water?

Even if your local water department makes the top of EWG’s or any other organization’s list the possibility still exists that human error, human negligence, or pure chance could result in the accidental contamination of your drinking water.

Events such as water mains developing leaks and/or breaking, someone performing water testing at the water treatment facility with outdated reagents, and someone simply ‘fudging’ test reports because of laziness, budget cuts, or maybe because that person has a massive hangover, could all very easily result in unwanted contaminants getting into your drinking water.

We suggest that people test their tap water periodically for chlorine levels (free & total), pH, metals (lead, copper, etc.), and coliform bacteria — just in case.

Craig wrote in and asked…

Do you have a lead test kit or can recommend a company that I can valid results in less than a week? We have used a service before, but it took nearly two weeks.

We do know of home drinking water test kits that you can use to detect the presence of dissolved lead, yes, but we feel obligated to inform you that even the most accurate home drinking water test kit should never take the place of professional water analysis by a certified water testing laboratory.

With that said, you have a few options when it comes to testing for lead in drinking water. Both WaterSafe and WaterWorks manufacture lead in water test kits and both, from what we can tell, contain the same type of test… just one has a bit less flashy packaging.

We threw the third product, SenSafe Water Metals Check in there for people who want to know if they have ANY heavy meatals present in their drinking water. SenSafe Water Metals Check has adetection range of 10ppb up to 400ppb.

Spencer wrote in and asked…

Hello,

I am looking for an all-in-one home test kit that will show ppm levels. I thought I saw a product that was around $30 but now I can’t find the web-site.

Do you have any suggestions?

Thanks,

Spencer

Thank you for your question, Spencer. For the most part all drinking water test kits (worth buying) should the majority of their results in parts per million, with the exception of some tests for metals which report their results in parts per billion. Example: Heavy Metals Check.

Getting to the rest of your question, a brand of home water test kits called WaterSafe manufactures a test kit called the All-in-One and it tests drinking water for the following: Bacteria, Lead, Pesticides (atrazine & Simazine), Iron, Total Chlorine, Total Hardness, pH, and Nitrates/Nitrites.

In our experience the average consumer can pick up the WaterSafe All-in-One Water Test Kit for around $20 from several online vendors including, but not limited to, the following:

• Filters Fast (www.filtersfast.com) — WaterSafe All-in-One Test Kit

• Filter Water (www.filterwater.com) — WaterSafe All-in-One Test Kit

Hopefully we have given you the information you asked for. In the event that you did not mean the WaterSafe All-in-One Water Test Kit specifically, and instead used the term ‘all-in-one’ in a more general manner, you may want to take a look at another brand of home water test kits: SenSafe.

Under the SenSafe brand you will find test kits such as the Drinking Water Quality Test Kit which typically costs a little bit more than the WaterSafe All-in-One Water Test Kit, but tests for additional parameters: Copper, Free Chlorine, Sulfate, Chloride and Hydrogen Sulfide (rotten egg smell).

You can usually find the Drinking Water Quality Test Kit by SenSafe selling online for around $32 to $36 depending upon where you look.

Feel free to contact us again, Spencer, if you have any other water quality testing questions!

Many people believe that the passage of the Safe Drinking Water Act by Congress a while back guarantees the safety and purity of drinking water for everyone in the United States. WRONG!

• The Safe Drinking Water Act contains regulations governing the levels of specific contaminants in drinking water but not ALL of the potential contaminants that could find their way into drinking water.

• The Safe Drinking Water Act contains rules and regulations which municipalities should follow if some municipalities cannot afford the equipment to bring their water into compliance with those rules and regulations then they get fined… and the out-of-compliance water continues to flow to customers’ faucets.

• Water can leave a drinking water treatment facility in full compliance with all the guidelines specified in the Safe Drinking Water Act and pick up contaminants between the facility and your faucet because of water line breaks, old plumbing, etc.

So what does all of that mean? Simply put, while the Safe Drinking Water Act does give municipalities incentive to ‘do the right thing’ when it comes to making sure the water they distribute does not contain harmful contaminants, a definite possibility still exists that the water coming out of your faucet may not comply with the provisions set forth by the Safe Drinking Water Act.

Just as in the case of well owners, individuals on a public water systems should perform periodic checks on the quality of their drinking water, too. Having a certified water testing laboratory check the quality of your water every once in a while and performing occasional water tests for critical parameters (i.e. metals, bacteria, chlorine, nitrate/nitrites, etc.) between laboratory tests yourself using an at-home drinking water test kit will provide you with peace of mind when it comes to the quality of your drinking water.

Although we cannot and will not ever say whether we prefer the WaterSafe brand of home water testing kits or the SenSafe brand of home water testing kits, we can tell you that we have used both extensively over the years and gotten excellent field testing results pretty much every time.

Having said all that, it pleases us to announce the launch of a brand new web site: WaterSafe-Test-Kits.Com. There you will find product details on all of WaterSafe’s most popular water testing kits. You can also access the product pages on the site using the links below!

Coming Soon: The official release of a web site dedicated to providing information on the SenSafe, WaterWorks, Quick and eXact brands of water testing strips, water testing kits and water testing meters!

Whether testing for chlorine in drinking water, pool water, or water about to go into an a aquarium, the fact remains that a person needs to have fast, accurate chlorine testing methods readily available. www.Chlorine-Test-Kit.com provides links to chlorine testing meters, liquid kits for chlorine testing, replacement reagents for chlorine testing, and test strips for chlorine testing.

We talk all the time about the importance of having safe, clean drinking water available for consumption but we seldom address another point: Drinking ENOUGH safe, clean water.

Water: indeed you are what you drink and should take care of your body of water. A baby is almost 90% water but this % reduces continuously to almost 60% and even less as we truly age. Our blood is 92% and our brain is 75% water just to name these. So avoid dehydration at any moment of the day and of your life. Good health is determined by the cells’ ability to receive water. When the cells walls are no longer flexible – aging begins. The amount of water you retain has nothing to do with the amount of water you drink. When the body is forced to retain water, as it is getting less than needed, it will do this at all costs. If the fluid intake is insufficient to provide all the water required, the body withholds water from the kidneys and the urine becomes scanty and highly concentrated, imposing a certain strain on the kidneys. If that is insufficient, excessive water will be with-drawn from the intestinal tract, with the result that the feces become hard and dry. On the other hand if you drink more than your body requires, the surplus is promptly and easily eliminated. Trying to prevent the body from retaining water by drinking less is therefore not only futile but even harmful and will provoke among many other troubles and diseases edema formation, cellulites and obesity. Drink daily enough pure water! For details consult our ‘Enjoyvity, your full spectrum of life’. ( source )

Athletes and athletically inclined people drink water all the time while exercising and many of them drink water all the time when not exercising, too. Why? Because they realize how heavily their bodies rely upon water to function properly not just in time of stress, but also in everyday life.

One could wager that people who drink a lot of water for their health also make sure the water they drink gets filtered properly at some point before it touches their lips. Whether drinking water at home that has gone through a whole house water purification system, undersink water filtration system or countertop filtration system… or at work drinking water that comes from a bottled water cooler of some sort, those people want to make sure the water they drink does not contain harmful contaminants like lead, bacteria, copper, pesticides, or other substances known to harm the human body.

Ever wonder about the quality of the water in the stream running on the edge of your property where the kids play? How about the water in the pond or lake where you go swimming in the Summer?

If you have not, then you probably don’t know that those bodies of water can sometimes contain high levels of nitrates, nitrites, bacteria, and other natural ‘things’ which can, in the right concentrations, cause illness in animals and humans.

• Health officials closely monitor water conditions at public beaches for a reason: High levels of the aforementioned naturally occurring compounds, and others, can make swimmers ill.

• Pond owners monitor the conditions of the water in their ponds for a reason: Too much of the aforementioned naturally occurring compounds makes the water in their ponds toxic to fish… and it costs money to replace fish.

• Environmentalists pay close attention to nitrate, nitrite and bacteria levels in surface water for a reason: Too much or too little of any may signal the growth or lack of growth of plant and animal-life critical to the ecosystem.

So whether you want to take a dip in the lake, wade out into the river, play in the stream, or raise healthy coy in your pond, chances are you will want to keep tabs on water quality.

Cindy from Wisconsin asked…

Newspapers and television keep mentioning the risks associated with E Coli poisoning from water and food. I know we can test our well for E Coli, but what about food? Can we test the food we buy for E Coli? What steps can we take at home to prevent E Coli food poisoning?

You’ve asked an excellent question, Cindy. Many people associate E. Coli poisoning only with food or only with drinking water when, in fact, a person can get sick from E. Coli poisoning from both.

You mentioned testing your well water for the presence of E. Coli bacteria and that definitely makes sense. While not all E. Coli bacteria pose a threat to humans, the presence of E. Coli at all signals the need for a more through analysis of the water and/or a sanitizing of the well.

Little known fact: Not all strands of Coliform Bacteria harm humans

We do not know of any simple ways to test food for the the presence of E. Coli bacteria, though one COULD test the water used to wash produce and meats before cooking for bacteria…

The Mayo Clinic had this to say regarding ways to prevent the possible spread of E. Coli at home:

“No vaccine or medication can protect you from E. coli-based illness, though researchers are investigating potential vaccines. To reduce your chance of being exposed to E. coli, avoid risky foods and avoid cross-contamination.

Risky foods

Avoid pink hamburger. Hamburgers should be well-done. Meat, especially if grilled, is likely to brown before it is completely cooked, so use a meat thermometer to ensure that meat is heated to at least 160 F (71 C) at its thickest point. If you don’t have a thermometer, cook ground meat until no pink shows in the center.

* Drink pasteurized milk, juice and cider. Any boxed or bottled juice kept at room temperature is likely to be pasteurized, even if the label doesn’t say so.

* Wash raw produce thoroughly. Although washing produce won’t necessarily eliminate all E. coli – especially in leafy greens, which provide many spots for the bacteria to attach themselves – careful rinsing can remove dirt and reduce the amount of bacteria that may be clinging to the produce.

Avoid cross-contamination

* Wash utensils. Use hot, soapy water on knives, counter tops and cutting boards before and after they come into contact with fresh produce or raw meat.

* Keep raw foods separate. This includes using separate cutting boards forraw meat and foods, such as vegetables and fruits. Never put cooked hamburgers on the same plate you used for raw patties.

* Wash your hands. Wash your hands after preparing or eating food, using the bathroom or changing diapers. Make sure that children also wash their hands before eating, after using the bathroom and after contact with animals.”

Source: www.mayoclinic.com

For those interested in testing their water for bacteria, the following two tests work well for drinking water applications:

For those interested in performing field testing for additional parameters in their water, kits such as the WaterSafe Well Water Test Kit include a test for coliform bacteria as well as tests for other critical water parameters such as Copper, Lead, Nitrites, Nitrates, Pesticides and more.

Kris has a question for us…

My son lives in Indiana and has well water. He has heard that there might be high levels of mercury in his water-who would he call or what can he do to get this tested? Is there usually someone in the county or state you live in that offers free testing, such as the EPA? Thank you.

Thank you for your question, Kris. We first suggest you take a look at the EPA web page dedicated to listing the contact information for State Agencies in Indiana responsible for drinking water, ground water, etc.

• http://www.epa.gov/safewater/dwinfo/in.htm

If you cannot find the information you seek by contact one of those agencies, try having your son contact the Board of Health in his area. They will often know of current government-funded water testing programs if they exist.

Note that we said government-funded. Use caution when dealing with water testing programs sponsored by a company that coincidentally has an interest in selling water treatment systems. Snake oil salesmen still exist in this world…

In the event your son’s local officials cannot provide him with a free water testing option and the links on the EPA’s web page also prove ineffective, you may want to consider using a simple test strip designed to detect levels of dissolved mercury in water as low as .002 ppm (parts per million).

EPA Maximum Contaminant Level for Mercury in Drinking Water: 0.002 ppm

While test strips such as Boris’ Mercury Check from Industrial Test Systems, Inc. work well as screening tools, they should serve only as screening tools.

Positive or questionable results obtained from at-home drinking water test kits (test strips, liquid kits, meters, etc.) give users an indication that they may want to have their water tested by a certified water testing laboratory in their area.

• List of State Certified Laboratories

When it comes to your water, remember this: It’s your water, your health… and your life