Tap Water

Many of us have moved from bottled water to reusable water bottles filled with tap water in an effort to keep bottles out of the landfills. Just the other day, when my sister and I went to the gym, she was toting her bottled water and said, "I know I should switch, but bottled water just seems so much cleaner." I know she is not alone in thinking this — in fact it's common to believe that bottle water is cleaner than tap — but is it really?

To find out the answer, just read more

I know a lot of folks who won't go near tap water. They are terrified of dirty water and need to make sure it's filtered. While that's not an unreasonable request, it's sometimes difficult. What if there is no water filter? Or what if you're traveling? This is where the geeky iStraw comes in hand. This compact, portable device purifies water and reduces up to 99.99999% of all waterborne bacteria. It's good for up to 500 liters of water and supposedly leaves no after taste.

I think this is pretty fantastic and can see where it would come in handy. Sure your friends might laugh at how over-cautious you're acting, but who'll be laughing when they get sick from drinking the water and you don't? Available for £19.99 (approximately $40).

Source: TrendHunter

Earlier this week, I posted that NYC was urging residents to drink tap water, and you may unknowingly be doing just that. Yep, although you might have already suspected it, Aquafina bottled water is just tap water.

The news story isn't really that Aquafina, made by Pepsico, and Coca-Cola Co's Dasani are both made from purified water sourced from public reservoirs. Nope the news story is that Aquafina will be more explicit about that the bottled water is made with tap water. Look for the words "Public Water Source" on the bottles.

This is a concession to the growing environmental and political opposition to the bottled water industry. Critics of the bottled water industry argue that all those bottles add plastic to landfills and require a lot of energy to produce and ship. A lot more than just turning on the tap. Plus the industry undermines confidence in the public water supplies, which is ironically where Coke and Pepsi get their water.

And you? Are you trying to reduce the amount of plastic bottles of water you drink? Let me know in the comments section below. I will read them while I sip out of my Nalgene bottle.

Bottled water is getting a bad rap, have you noticed? Well not necessarily the water, but the bottle itself. Those plastic bottles are filling up our landfills. Since bottled water is a convenience beverage that we drink on the go, the bottles are rarely recycled. In fact Americans go through nearly 100 million plastic bottles every day and recycle roughly 25 percent of them. Yikes!!!! A lot of energy is expended making those bottles we only use once and then toss them.

In an effort to make the big apple greener, the city government is urging residents of NYC to drink tap water. The water in NYC is famous for making the best bagels and the best pizza dough, but the New Yorkers are taking some convincing - especially during summer. While the city water might be great, old pipes in old buildings still make residents wary of drinking out of the tap. Look for the "Get Your Fill" ad campaign and free plastic, blue refillable water bottles being handed out around New York this summer.

It looks like "the tap" is making a comeback.

Do you drink tap water? Do you filter it first? Or are you a bottled water only kind of gal? Let me know in the comments section below.

Source

All these years I have been cooking with cold water because I was under the impression (damn you, 5th grade science teacher) that cold water boiled faster than hot water. I have no idea why I was told that, or why I believed it for that matter but I did. The truth is, cold water does not boil faster than warm water, but that is beside the point.

So should we all be cooking with warm water to speed up the process? Think again. Never cook with or consume water from the hot-water tap. This is because hot water dissolves more lead more quickly than cold water, which means you may be consuming more lead than you should be. Houses built before 1986 are the most likely to have lead parts, however even plumbing legally considered lead-free today may contain up to 8 percent lead. While copper pipes replaced lead ones decades ago, fusing pipes with lead was legal until 1991.

Why does it matter? Well, too much lead in the body can cause serious damage to the brain, kidneys, nervous system and red blood cells (it's especially bad for pregnant women and children). So the EPA recommends that you do not use water taken from the hot tap for cooking or drinking, and especially not for making baby formula. If you need hot water, draw water from the cold tap and heat it on the stove. Anytime a faucet hasn't been used for at least six hours, "flush" all the water that has been sitting in the pipes. This could take anywhere from 5 seconds to 2 minutes. When the water stops getting colder, it is "flushed."

Source

I just read some alarming news on Reuters.com, well alarming to me at least. Did you know that 25% of all bottled water is actually just repackaged tap water? I definitely did not know that.

Nor did I know this: Because bottled water is considered a food, it is regulated by the US Food and Drug Administration. Tap water is regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. However, both types of water are subject to testing for contaminates. Furthermore, since 60 to 70 percent of all bottled water in the U.S. is packaged and sold within the same state, it is exempted from the FDA regulation. And 1 in 5 states do not regulate that bottled water. Basically, it's a crapshoot.

22 percent of all the bottled water tested was found to have man-made chemicals, bacteria and arsenic. It doesn't end there, tap water in the 19 U.S. cities tested was found to contain arsenic, lead, and pesticides. Boy let me tell you, nothing says refreshing like arsenic. Luckily for us, most healthy adults' systems can handle the contaminants but this is not always the case for those with weakened immune systems (like children and cancer patients).

So what's the moral of the story? Bottled water is not necessarily better. To get the most out of your water, buy bottled water treated with reverse osmosis and/or drink distilled water or city tap water with a filtering system certified by the National Sanitation Foundation.

The cold is the most common ailment during the winter and more than one billion colds occur in the U.S. each year. The only truly effective way to prevent colds is washing your hands. But recent evidence supports the act of gargling with tap water as another route for preventing colds. I think of it like vigorously cleaning your throat. The throat is a nice dark place where germs and viruses like to hang out and gargling just kind of tells them to "move along, please."

Gargling can reduce the risk of a cold by as much as 36%. Using plain old tap water, you need to gargle and spit three times and repeat the entire action three times throughout the day. You may feel silly gargling but your tonsils will be squeaky clean.