How clean is your tap water?

The quality of the water we use in our homes is a concern to many. Tap water has changed over hte years, with trace amounts of recreational and pharmaceutical drugs, agricultural and industrial chemicals, and of more recent concern, microplastics.

There have been a multitude of different chemicals and toxins found in drinking water in Europe, the UK and the USA. Drugs of abuse (opioid, amphetamine, cocaine and cannabanoid groups) have been found at concentrations from 0.3-340ng/L in 60.5% of water samples taken in EU countries https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0160412022002082-gr1_lrg.jpg. Drugs from the cocaine group were most frequently detected, with the amphetamine group second. Inadvertent cocaine ingestion through drinking water has been calculated at 510ng/day – small but not insignificant when considered over a lifetime of exposure.

Agricultural chemicals are our major source of Nitrate pollution in water. Any detectable amount of nitrate within drinking water is associated with a 73% increased risk of cancer, with risk increasing 69% of each 10x concentration increase. For every 10mg/L increase in Nitrate levels, the risk of gastric cancer doubled. Those exposed to higher nitrate levels do show an increased risk of bowel, bladder, ovarian, thyroid, kidney and stomach cancer. Current levels also do lead to risk of harm to developing babies too. These levels are way lower than those established as safety limits to protect infants against ‘blue baby syndrome, where babies appeared blue due to lack of oxygen in their blood. in the USA 50% of samples had detectable nitrates averaging 0.77mg/L. the safety limit is 10mg/L. European water levels can be seen here: http://www.wassertips.de. Bottled water generally has much lower nitrate levels, however the issue with most of them is microplastics and endochrine disrupting chemicals from the plastic bottles they are sold in https://www.bartmaes.eu/en/water/nitrate-in-drinking-water/. The EU limit is 50mg/L. Water is not the only contributor, processed/ cured meats containing nitrates also increase cancer risk.

To make sure the water that we drink, cook with and wash in, a whole house water filtration device placed at the point water enters the property is very helpful. The one picured above is a carbon based water filter with an additional filter added for fluoride filtration. It will last 3 years before the cylinder needs replacing. 3 Year Whole House Filter BT65. Whilst it is excellent for the vast majority of toxins that we want to remove, it is not capable of removing microplastics. For that we have a tabletop reverse osmosis unit (R/O) with remineralisation. AquaTru Classic – Alkaline Complete Set | Enjoy pure mineral water – AquaTru UK. They do have an undercounter unit, if you have the room for it, which sadly we did not. AquaTru Under Sink – Alkaline Complete Set | Water on demand – AquaTru UK. The cylinders last about 6 months before needing to be changed. A 2 year filter pack costs £260.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0033350624000131