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Do you filter your tapwater? Should you?
Which (usually) begets this obvious follow-up question: "How can I find out what contaminants are in my tap water?"
At which point we say: Easy! Use our national drinking water database & filter buying guide.
Both are easily searchable online and - here's a really important detail that might seem trivial: they're in the same place. Meaning, of course, that you can find out what contaminates the tapwater in your house, then right then and there find the right filter to improve its quality. No more excuses!
What did we find out about the nation's tapwater?
EWG spent three years analyzing the results of almost 20 million drinking water tests from water utilities. We detected 316 pollutants in water supplied to Americans since 2004. More than half are completely unregulated, and more than 130 turned up in amounts exceeding official health-based guidelines.
We also rated big city water systems based on three factors: the total number of chemicals detected since 2004; the percentage of chemicals found of those tested; and the highest average level for an individual pollutant, relative to legal limits or national average amounts, including for the most common pollutants (disinfection byproducts, nitrate and arsenic).
Check how your city ranks - and see the 10 best (and worst) water utilities.
Good news and bad news
When the Environmental Protection Agency sets mandatory water quality standards, the tests show that local water suppliers meet them 92 percent of the time. But. The standards need to be much tougher to protect children and pregnant women, and the EPA hasn't set a single new drinking water standard since 2001.
Use the guide to understand and improve your tapwater
Our online guide is designed to help you make safe, science-based choices for environmental health at home. Water quality varies considerably across the country, so we're providing local information for you to make smart decisions about the drinking water in your home.
With our 2009 online drinking water guide, you can:
- Find out what's in your drinking water.
- Choose the right water filter for your home.
- See the 10 highest and lowest-ranked water suppliers.
- Read and download tips for safe drinking water.
Read EWG's National Drinking Water Quality Analysis report to learn more about drinking water pollution -- what contaminants we face, where they come from, what the government is and isn't doing about them -- and what EWG recommends to policy makers.
We had an RO system in our home in Northern California because we didn't want contaminants or fluoride. Now that we live in London - and they don't fluoridate the water here - we have a high quality carbon filter so we can keep the good minerals that an RO system takes out. Tap water with water filters are the way to go. There is no need for bottled water, that is unregulated and bad for the environment on so many levels. Thanks for posting so many water filter options for people!
When I tried to obtain information from your database on tap water pollutants I received the following message:
"National Drinking Water Database - Chemical Contaminants
SELECT command denied to user 'ewgselect'@'192.168.42.31' for table 'score07_categories'
SELECT * FROM skindeep2006.score07_categories"
Please help.
Thanks.
Armando, Thank you for letting us know that you got this error. We can only look into & fix it, though, if we know what page it occurred on. Might you be able to share here the link to the page you were searching from? Many thanks for the help!
All tap water has something in it that should be removed prior to drinking it, even if it's just chlorine.
Definitely a good water filter vs bottled. You can bottle your own in non-toxic bottles, that are reusable and don't pollute our planet, for around 10-12 cents a gallon. It's better water and costs 1/10 as much as bottled.
Lots of good product comparison sites online, search "compare water filters" or similar. Consumer Reports says "Best Buy" is only $100.
Seldom do we see things that help us and help the planet, are more convenient and save hundreds of dollars a year... dropping bottled water and using a good home filter does just that.
Charles