water, do you know where it comes from?

Now its a given that water comes from the sky. but on the trip up there its got a lot of chances to pick up pollutants. so when the water falls and hits the ground and hopefully finds its way into the water table it still probably has a lot of pollutants in it. so when it finally finds its way into your tap how clean is it really? now i remember growing up and drinking right from the tap, and when im really thirsty i still do. However ever since we moved into town when i was a kid my mom never let us drink the water. i am not sure if this was paranoia or just common sense. I would go to other kids houses and see them drinking water from the tap and would take part in that mainly because i was too young to understand. Now with numerous water scandals taking place not only in Canada but also the United States i am not so sure about the water.

Now i have done some checking on where i live and where my water comes from. It travels nearly 300 miles before it gets to my tap. since i live in a desert it does not really make sense to stick around should something happen to the dam. It travels along aqueducts from there to here. but the big test is whether or not it is potable water. most locales offer a breakdown of recent water tests. however if you have made a diligent search for this information and have come up short you should talk to district representatives staff in order to find out this information. all of this of course could be a dead question if you are familiar enough with science to test the water yourself at your point of consumption. Its actually quite interesting, i spoke before about questionable happenings with regards to water. The link to the 2008 water tests on the imperial irrigation districts website is broken. more investigation is definitely needed. If you think just because you do not drink tap water that you would be immune to these concerns you would be mistaken. When you drink pop (soda, soft drinks) from a fountain system at say a McDonalds, or even a classier establishment, they more than likely do not put Culligan in the fountain. So what goes in there? The tap. Another thing to consider.

So be informed. A lot of dangerous health conditions can arise from drinking contaminated water depending on what is doing the contamination.

So some of the things to consider:

1. Live near a well or source of clean water, or water that can be cleaned by boiling. (i am guilty)

2. Get a copy of your water tests for your city or district and if possible test your water yourself.

3. If you can not get a copy of those water tests, annoy the hell out of your district or senate representative.

4. Remember if your water is not safe now, how safe is it going to be when water plants become ineffective because of the cost of solvents and other oil based cleaning agents. Or the energy needed to sustain them is too expensive. Many things can go wrong at big complex plants.

I remember once at the science fair where i went to elementary school there was a little girl who did her project on how to make water clean. i wish i had paid more attention. But i think i was taken in by how smart and cute she was. Damn the hormones of childhood.

Ryan Williams