| Most of us fail to understand what a wonderful thing | | | | rural parts of the country started having access to |
| it is that we can turn on our faucets and have an | | | | public water resources. Before that time they were |
| unending supply of clean water flow out. This luxury, | | | | responsible for their own wells and drinking water, |
| which we take for granted, is something that most | | | | and the result was a product filled with metals and |
| of the world lives without. In the United States we | | | | particulates that treatment plants would filter out. It |
| never have to worry about getting sick because of | | | | was a great day when rural people finally could hook |
| the water we drink, because the Federal government | | | | up to the rural water systems that were established |
| has strict filtration requirements regarding water | | | | based on the Safe Water Act of 1974. |
| treatment. One of the ways treatment plants make | | | | Diatomaceous earth (DE) filtration systems are |
| it possible for both urban and rural dwellers to access | | | | employed at treatment facilities all over the country. |
| clean water instantly is by using | | | | DE is a naturally-occurring material made from the |
| environmentally-friendly diatomaceous earth filtration. | | | | eco-skeletons of diatoms. By nature it is a porous |
| In recent years people have gotten the wrong idea | | | | substance which is easy to use in filtration. Although |
| that bottled water is cleaner and healthier than that | | | | there are other uses for the substance, 68% of it is |
| from the tap. This rumor has possibly been circulated | | | | used in drinking water filtration. It is able to remove |
| by bottling companies who are anxious to sell their | | | | smaller particles from the water than most other |
| products. Our government, however, isn't going to let | | | | types of filters, it doesn't require the use of |
| that happen. They conduct inspections to determine | | | | chemicals which are hazardous to the environment, |
| whether treatment plants are measuring up to their | | | | and it is a renewable resource which means we aren't |
| guidelines, and the majority are doing a better job of | | | | going to run out any time soon. |
| cleaning up the water than is done to the kind found | | | | Even though we don't think about it often, water |
| in the bottles. In fact, a lot of the water that comes | | | | treatment and the unending supply of fresh drinking |
| in a bottle came right out of a municipal source | | | | water are two things that make our society great |
| wherever the plant is located. | | | | and keep our population healthy. |
| It wasn't until the 1980s when people who lived in | | | | |