Your municipal water treatment facility is bound by the Safe Water Drinking Act (SWDA), a US federal law enacted in 1974 to protect public health by regulating the nation’s public drinking water supply. The SDWA sets national standards for contaminants in public water supplies, including naturally occurring and man-made pollutants such as lead, arsenic, and pesticides. The EPA also sets water treatment and distribution standards and requires public water systems to monitor and test their water regularly to ensure that it meets these standards.
SWDA applies to all public water systems, defined as those that provide water to at least 15 service connections or serve at least 25 people for at least 60 days a year. The law does not apply to private wells or other drinking water sources not regulated by a public water system.
While the SWDA mostly does a good job of keeping our tap water safe, several critical limitations create situations where our tap water isn’t safe.
1) Limited scope: The law only applies to public water systems, which serve a relatively small percentage of the US population. Private wells and other drinking water sources are not regulated by the Safe Drinking Water Act, which means that people who rely on these sources may not have the same protections as those who use public water systems.
2) Limited regulation of emerging contaminants: The law primarily focuses on regulating known contaminants and may not be as effective in addressing emerging pollutants or contaminants for which there is limited scientific data.
3) Limited enforcement: While the law sets national standards for drinking water quality, enforcement is primarily left up to individual states. Some states may have limited resources or expertise to monitor and enforce compliance with the law.
4) Limited funding: The law has not always been fully funded, which has limited its effectiveness in addressing water quality issues in some areas.
As you can see, the SWDA comes up short in identifying new contaminants and setting their safety levels. It also doesn’t protect people who are served by public water systems. The biggest problem, however, is that it leaves enforcement of safety standards up to the states, and each state gets to decide how much money they want to spend on safe, clean water.
The other big problem with the Safe Water Drinking Act is that it still allows for “safe” levels of specific contaminants, like heavy metals or radioactive particles when no exposure level is safe. The same can be said for the chemicals that municipal water treatment facilities add to our drinking, like chlorine, chloramine, and fluoride. None of these chemicals are actually safe to consume.
Our public water companies fail to understand that many of these chemicals damage our bodies over time. It may be difficult to prove that the cancer someone develops is caused by years of drinking chemicals in tap water, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a strong correlation.
This is why it is essential that you use a multistage water filter to remove harmful contaminants, like what’s found in Water for Life USA water ionizers. Alkaline ionized is pure and full of beneficial minerals and antioxidants to make you healthier.
–
