As public awareness grows about lead in toys and precautions are being taken to reduce exposure to lead… the same effort is needed as it relates to water.
If you live in a home with running water, your water most likely contains lead. How much lead? I don’t know but there are ways to test, filter, and significantly reduce the amount of lead in your water (which we’ll get to later).
A few years back an artists wrote a compelling song about water. It wasn’t one of those songs you hear on the radio…at least it never made rotation on any of the stations I listened too.
The recent oil spill in San Francisco made me think about the song because there’s a line in it in which the artist says:
Used to be free now it cost you a fee
Cause oil tankers spill they load as they roam cross the sea
Today I had to play the song a few times (its always been a favorite you can listen to it by clicking on the video below) but now I’m feeling the lyrics even more.
We just paid our water bill the other day and today I find myself pondering what exactly are we paying for? What the hell is in that water that we get the pleasure of paying for every month?
What am I paying for when I buy a bottle of Aquafina and whats the difference between what comes out of my sink or shower head and bottled water?
For as long as I can remember my grandmother has always boiled her water. It didn’t really make sense to me as a kid but I certainly get it now! Am I just a housewife with too much time on her hands?Â
Read this before you answer that rhetorical question:
“New World Water” by Mos Def
New World Water make the tide rise high
Come inland and make your house go “Bye” (My house!)
Fools done upset the Old Man River
Made him carry slave ships and fed him dead nigga
Now his belly full and he about to flood somethin
So I’ma throw a rope that ain’t tied to nothin
Tell your crew use the H2 in wise amounts since
it’s the New World Water; and every drop counts
You can laugh and take it as a joke if you wanna
But it don’t rain for four weeks some summers
And it’s about to get real wild in the half
You be buying Evian just to take a fuckin bath
Heads is acting wild, sippin poor, puffin dank
Competin with the next man for higher playin rank
See I ain’t got time try to be Big Hank,
Fuck a bank; I need a twenty-year water tank
Cause while these knuckleheads is out here sweatin they goods
The sun is sitting in the treetops burnin the woods
And as the flames from the blaze get higher and higher
They say, “Don’t drink the water! We need it for the fire!”
New York is drinkin it (New World Water)
Now all of California is drinkin it (New World Water)
Way up north and down south is drinkin it (New World Water)
Used to have minerals and zinc in it (New World Water)
Now they say it got lead and stink in it (New World Water)
Fluorocarbons and monoxide
Push the water table lopside
Used to be free now it cost you a fee
Cause oil tankers spill they load as they roam cross the sea
Man, you gotta cook with it, bathe and clean with it (That’s right)
When it’s hot, summertime you fiend for it (Let em know)
You gotta put it in the iron you steamin with (That’s right)
It’s what they dress wounds and treat diseases with (Shout it out)
The rich and poor, black and white got need for it (That’s right)
And everybody in the world can agree with this (Let em know)
Consumption promotes health and easiness (That’s right)
Go too long without it on this earth and you leavin it (Shout it out)
Americans wastin it on some leisure shit (Say word?)
And other nations be desperately seekin it (Let em know)
Bacteria washing up on they beaches (Say word?)
Don’t drink the water, son they can’t wash they feet with it (Let em know)
Young babies in perpetual neediness (Say word?)
Epidemics hopppin up off the petri dish (Let em know)
Control centers try to play it all secretive (Say word?)
To avoid public panic and freakiness (Let em know)
There are places where TB is common as TV
Cause foreign-based companies go and get greedy
The type of cats who pollute the whole shore line
Have it purified, sell it for a dollar twenty-five
Now the world is drinkin it
Your moms, wife, and baby girl is drinkin it
Up north and down south is drinkin it
You should just have to go to your sink for it
The cash registers is goin “cha-chink!” for it
Fluorocarbons and monoxide
Got the fish lookin cockeyed
Used to be free now it cost you a fee
Cause it’s all about gettin that cash (Money)Said it’s all about gettin that cash (Money) [x9]
Johny cash (Money)
Roseland cash (Money)
Give me cash (Money)
Cold cash (Money)
[Repeat to fade]Cash rules everything around me,
Move!
Here are some tips for improving the quality of your water.
Flush Your Pipes Before Drinking
Anytime the water in a particular faucet has not been used for six hours or longer, “flush” your cold-water pipes by running the water until it becomes as cold as it will get. (This could take as little as five to thirty seconds if there has been recent heavy water use such as showering or toilet flushing. Otherwise, it could take two minutes or longer.) The more time water has been sitting in your home’s pipes, the more lead it may contain.
Only Use Cold Water for Consumption
Use only water from the cold-water tap for drinking, cooking, and especially for making baby formula. Hot water is likely to contain higher levels of lead.The two actions recommended above are very important to the health of your family. They will probably be effective in reducing lead levels because most of the lead in household water usually comes from the plumbing in your house, not from the local water supply.
Have Your Water Tested
After you have taken the two precautions above for reducing the lead in water used for drinking or cooking, have your water tested. The only way to be sure of the amount of lead in your household water is to have it tested by a competent laboratory. Your water supplier may be able to offer information or assistance with testing. Testing is especially important for apartment dwellers, because flushing may not be effective in high-rise buildings with lead-soldered central piping.
Water purification
There are two primary ways to treat water: boiling and adding bleach. If tap water is unsafe because of water contamination (from floods, streams or lakes), boiling is the best method. Cloudy water should be filtered before boiling or adding bleach. Filter water using coffee filters, paper towels, cheese cloth or a cotton plug in a funnel.
Boiling
Boiling is the safest way to purify water. Bring the water to a rolling boil for 3-5 minutes. Let the water cool before drinking.
Purifying by adding liquid chlorine bleach
If boiling is not possible, treat water by adding liquid household bleach, such as Clorox or Purex. Household bleach is typically between 5 percent and 6 percent chlorine. Avoid using bleaches that contain perfumes, dyes and other additives. Be sure to read the label. Place the water (filtered, if necessary) in a clean container. Add the amount of bleach according to the table below. Mix thoroughly and allow to stand for at least 30 minutes before using (60 minutes if the water is cloudy or very cold).
Insightful post. I posted about the dangers of flouride (found in many US water supplies) recently. Check it out: http://www.massagemindandbody.com/blog/the-dangers-of-fluoride/
is good to boil water. protect your body from sick
I only drink tap water from a Britta, and I make a point of cleaning the filter when it starts to work more slowly. I even give my cat filtered water. Any idea how well this compares to boiling to treat water?
I knew it's wise to always 'flush' the pipes, let them run for half a minute before using the water … but not using hot water is new to me. As a kid, my parents would urge me to use hot water because it boils faster, saves energy. I guess I'll have to break an old habit…
I love the Mos Def song, by the way!
I drink Nestle Mineral water only, as the place where I live there are lot of dirty water infections.
very interesting article on water. I noticed that the water that comes out of our bathtub always starts coming out brown/orange-ish. I think we might need to change our pipes. It is an old house. Very interesting topic. I also noticed that you use Associated Content. I’m guessing your wrote this article for them. I write/video for them too, also I have found a lot of other sites that you might be interested in to make some money online. check out my blog at http://www.lanevids.com … also if you want to talk to me live i am at http://www.justin.tv/lanevids
take care
lane
My girlfriend likes to boil water. Doing so makes it taste _worse_ because the kettle has lime-scaling in it. She can’t taste it, but I can.
She got a filter; same effect. The water tasted worse because of the chemicals in the filter.
You only need to filter or boil water if you _know_ it’s contaminated, or it’s dirty.
I live in London; the tap water doesn’t taste of anything, and it’s not chlorinated, thank god.
actually water plays important role in our life.if your water in note clean than it may cause many disease like stone, flues and many more.
Your previous posts were real rubbish, but this is good. This one is brilliant. Your blog is getting really better.
No freaking way. I
Very well! Are you dudes agree with me? When I read it I was like: oh man!Sounds great! This is just what I was searching for! All is true, and checked, I’m sure.
it is sad to know that water is no longer that safe to drink and it is all because of mankind.
currently what i do is to make sure that our drinking water is properly filtered, undergone to the process of reverse osmosis.
I’m not storing water to plastic bottles.
I always use mineral water for my family, whenever I go out.
At home, I use boiled water. I have heard that after boiling, some essential minearls also get out from water. Is this true?
Great information to know. My grandmother lives in a 90 year old house and boils her water. The pipes are old so who knows what is in that water. She is healthy for the most part though at least.
Well I think is fair to pay a fee because what we are paying is not for the water but for the people and hardware that makes possible to have water in our shower, and if we wouldn't pay for it we would be more unconscious.
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you can drink water out of the cold tap , but dont fill the kettle or drink from the hot tap as there is a lot of sludge in the hot water tank
Bad tap water is killing you, bottled water is killing the planet, tough choice!
Hi
It is good article.
It is important that we care our health
It should be necessary that we check our water. is it safe or not.
boilo ouynwater is a good idea
Completely. This is what I've been telling everyone I know about… We just don't know what's in our water! This page has more info – Alkaline Water.
Great Content…
Very insightful and informational article with some great tips. A subject I have recently been introduced to and am now looking into having a whole house water filtration system installed. Thank you for posting this article.
Great tips. It is a sad reality that we can't trust that the water available to the public through the utilities is not safe but full of toxins, carcinogens and contaminates. Water filtration is a necessity today.
I live in Jersey so I don't drink municipal water at all. I prefer spring water but some water filtration units make the water taste really good
Water purification is always a problem at hand.Even the bottled water is not healthy.My mother boils the water before drinking.It keeps healthy to some degree.
wow, very provocative. I think your paying for filtration and things like that. But i definetly agree with you, water should be free. But as we all well know nothing is free in this world, maybe you should use some of your grandmas tips and boil your water hehe.
Your post is very informative and touching.Most of us take water for granted meanwhile its the key to life.We dont ever ponder on how clean or how healthy our water is.This is a very good read. But can boiling remove lead? Because I think boiling only helps in killing bacterias but not lead which is a heavy metal and very toxic.
If this can be utilized I believe we can save many lives that are lost because of taking contaminated water.
Good article. Thank you for posting this article.
nice post