Take Back the Tap and Keep Supporting Municipal Water Systems

By Robin Madel, Green Fork Blog. Posted September 17, 2009.

Noting the problems associated with large scale consumption of bottled water, the Take Back the Tap campaign asks people to choose tap water over bottled water, but a recent New York Times article by Charles Duhigg,  Toxic Waters: Clean Water Laws Are Neglected, at a Cost in Suffering, might give some people the impression that tap water is not always safe. Before consumers rush to fill their pantries with bottle water, however, there are a few important points to consider.

Does it make sense to drink tap water over bottled water? Absolutely. The Times article primarily focuses on problems arising from Clean Water Act (CWA) violations that contaminate groundwater, and communities that rely on contaminated wells but, according to Food & Water Watch, 86 percent of Americans get their household water from a public utility.

Municipal water treatment systems, when properly built and maintained, provide safe, clean tap water to their communities. In fact, if you read far enough into Duhigg's piece you learn that between 2006 and 2008 "92 percent of the population served by community water systems received water that had no reported health-based violations." Our municipal water and wastewater treatment systems aren't without problems, though. That's why Food and Water Watch is working to build support for a Clean Water Trust Fund, which would provide a sustained stream of federal revenue to protect this vital resource. Nevertheless, if you receive your water from a municipal system and you have concerns, the EPA recommends getting a copy of your annual water quality report before you have your water tested.

People who rely on well water don't have that safety net provided by municipal systems. They have no choice but to rely on government agencies to protect their water. As illustrated by Duhigg's article, this protection doesn't always happen, and that's really scary, especially given the sometimes obscure effects of corporate polluters on our water.

See more stories tagged with: water, bottled water, water pollution

Robin Madel is a research associate at GRACE.

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