| 60-70% of your body is made up of water, and | | | | small traces of certain substances found in water can |
| around 60% of your body weight consists of water. | | | | lead to liver damage, cancer, typhoid, diarrhea, and |
| We can live just a few days without water. Besides | | | | other serious ailments. |
| oxygen, water is the most immediate resource that | | | | How Can I Tell What Is In My Water? |
| your body requires. And yet, while water is one of | | | | One of the quickest ways to see what is in your |
| the most common resources on earth, clean, healthy | | | | water is to visit the EPA's website and find your |
| water is becoming a thing of the past. And even | | | | drinking water quality report. Any community water |
| worse, the water that you rely on each day to keep | | | | system that supplies water for more than 100,000 |
| you living could be slowly but surely killing you. | | | | people is required to make such a report accessible. |
| Isn't My Water Safe? | | | | Some water suppliers put this report on the EPA's |
| The drinking water that the majority of us drink | | | | website. Others do not. But you should be able to |
| comes from large pools maintained by public and | | | | contact your local water supplier to find this |
| private companies. The Environmental Protection | | | | information. |
| Agency (EPA) is responsible for overseeing our | | | | There are also home water testing kits you can buy |
| drinking water. There are maximum levels of | | | | relatively inexpensively. These may not show |
| contaminants that tap water must not exceed to | | | | everything that is in your water, but it is a start. |
| meet regulations. While these safety regulations help | | | | EPA-certified laboratories exists where you can send |
| keep our water healthy, inside each glass of water | | | | water samples to be tested. Again, you can find a list |
| are unhealthy and extremely dangerous organisms | | | | of these laboratories on the EPA's website. |
| that we drink. Your water may contains traces of | | | | Summary |
| human and animal waste, bacteria, fluoride, pesticides, | | | | While water is completely necessary to the body, |
| lead, and now even levels of illegal drugs. | | | | you may be drinking more than you think when you |
| What Will These Harmful Elements Do To Me? | | | | down that 8oz glass from the tap. Many pollutants |
| It has been estimated that over 7 million people each | | | | can make their way into the water supply and |
| year get sick from their tap water. And yet, when | | | | directly into your body. To see what all your water |
| people do become ill, they rarely attribute the cause | | | | contains, you can read your water quality report, buy |
| to contaminated tap water. While the levels of these | | | | a water test kit, or send a sample of your water to |
| pollutants are so small that they rarely cause | | | | a lab for testing. |
| immediate problems, it is proven that over time even | | | | |