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:
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as water mains developing leaks and/or breaking, someone performing water testing at the water treatment facility with outdated reagents, and someone simply ‘fudging’ test reports because of laziness, budget cuts, or maybe because that person has a massive hangover, could all very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.
