Where Can You Get Safe, Really Safe Drinking Water?

Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA)

The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) is the main federal law that ensures the quality of Americans’ drinking water.Under SDWA, EPA sets standards for drinking water quality and oversees the states, localities, and water suppliers who implement those standards.

SDWA was originally passed by Congress in 1974 to protect public health by regulating the nation’s public drinking water supply. The law was amended in 1986 and 1996 and requires many actions to protect drinking water and its sources: rivers, lakes, reservoirs, springs, and ground water wells.

Government scientists now generally agree, however, that many chemicals commonly found in drinking water pose serious risks at low concentrations.

And independent studies in such journals as Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology; Environmental Health Perspectives; American Journal of Public Health; and Archives of Environmental and Occupational Health, as well as reports published by the National Academy of Sciences, suggest that millions of Americans become sick each year from drinking contaminated water, with maladies from upset stomachs to cancer and birth defects.

Those studies have tracked hospital admissions and disease patterns after chemicals were detected in water supplies. They found that various contaminants were often associated with increased incidents of disease. That research — like all large-scale studies of human illnesses — sometimes cannot definitively say that chemicals in drinking water were the sole cause of disease.

But even the E.P.A., which has ultimate responsibility for the Safe Drinking Water

Act, has concluded that millions of Americans have been exposed to drinking water that fails to meet a federal health benchmark, according to records analyzed by The Times. (Studies and E.P.A. summaries can be found in the Resources section of nytimes.com/water.)

Safe Drinking Water for Traveling

Nothing ruins a good trip like getting sick — and we’re not talking about a few extra bathroom stops. Contaminated drinking water is one of the leading sources of health problems for travelers, and can cause anything from mild gastrointestinal distress to serious bacterial diseases.

The most common cause of water-borne illness is bacteria, such as E. coli, cholera

and salmonella, but illness can also be caused by protozoa (including giardia and cryptosporidium), viruses (like hepatitis A, polio and rotavirus) and chemical pollutants.

In many cases, travelers become ill simply because the pathogens in the water are foreign to their immune systems, while locals have adapted to the water supply and can drink it without problems.

The best way to protect yourself is to avoid local tap water and instead seek out bottled water; when that’s not available, boiling tap water generally kills most micro-organisms, and there are a number of good water filters and purification tablets that can easily be stowed in your carry-on.

Water Purification Tactics

Boiling water is generally the most effective way to remove parasite

contamination. Maintain a rolling boil for at least one minute (longer at higher altitudes, where the boiling point may be lower). Let the water cool itself slowly without adding ice. Allow any sediments and particles to settle before drinking, and then decant the water from the top into another container.

Commercially available iodine or chlorine tablets kill bacteria and viruses, but are ineffective against some protozoa (like cryptosporidium). Iodine is the more effective of the two solutions, but is not recommended for long-term use, especially by pregnant women or travelers with a history of thyroid problems. Potable Aqua, composed of the iodine compound tetraglycine hydroperiodide, is the most popular brand of water purification tablet. The company also offers chlorine dioxide tablets, which are effective against cryptosporidium as well as the other organisms killed by iodine. Read directions on all tablets systems for tablet-water ratios and dissolving times; 20 minutes or more may be required for the tablets to dissolve completely, especially in colder water.

If you do not have tablets, two drops of common chlorine bleach in a quart of water will help as a last resort.water filter filtration camp camping drink Outdoor stores like Cabela’s carry water filters and purification systems. It is essential that the filter system you choose is suited to your needs. A filter with an insufficiently small pore size, or one that is not designed to filter viruses, may permit some contaminants to get through. The most effective strategy is to buy a system that combines filtering with chemical purification — or make one yourself by using both a filter and an iodine treatment.

At Last, a Safe, Inexpensive and Trusted Way to Ensure Great Drinking Water Without Toxicity

Imagine, you and your family can have safe drinking water wherever you are for just pennies and without the need to boil water or use harsh chemicals or drugs. There are many ways to purify water that use harmful chemicals (chlorine) or boiling, but they are either harmful to your health or cumbersome when camping or hiking. NutraSilver weighs 1 ounce and can be carried where ever you go.

NutraSilver is a natural mineral and it is inexpensive (one 30ml bottle contains enough drops to purify approximately 1,200 liters of the most germ-laden water drinking water on earth). NutraSilver is easily supplied and is the favored colloidal silver of millions of people around the world today. Third-world countries use it to purify their drinking water and to wash their fruits and vegetables without fear of microbial infection.

Used as a water purifier, NutraSilver is portable and is now being used by backpackers, international travelers, soldiers and anyone who must have drinking water that is completely safe to drink. Sold globally for over 15 years, not one person has ever been harmed in any way and countries like Mexico use NutraSilver routinely in every aspect of their daily lives.