Right around the time we announced that we were expecting there were a number of friends and family members who also revealed that they had a bun in the oven… and people always joked that there must be something in the water. The ironic thing is that ever since that bad joke popped up a few dozen times many months ago I’ve been wondering: what IS in my tap water anyway? Then I recently caught the end of a Dr. Oz show where he was talking about lead in your water- and when he mentioned that pregnant & nursing women need to be careful when drinking from pipes in older homes which could have lead (a very bad neurotoxin for developing babies) I practically spit the water that I was drinking out all over myself. Eeks! It was definitely time to get to the bottom of the whole what’s-in-the-water mystery.
We had thought about the possibility of lead paint during our bathroom reno (you can read about a bunch of protective just-in-case methods that we used here) and even checked an old thrift store chair for lead after we decided to use it for our nursery (read about how we did that simple lead test here) but I can’t believe I never stopped to think that our home’s original plumbing might have more than just water running through it on a daily basis.
The good news is that after further research I learned from the EPA that “the age of your home is a major contributing factor. Older homes with plumbing installed prior to 1930 are likely to have lead pipes. In addition, plumbing with copper pipes installed before 1988 may contain lead solder. Today lead pipes and materials are prohibited from being used in plumbing that leads to drinking water taps.”
That’s comforting to hear since our house is a product of the 50’s and has galvanized steel piping (as opposed to lead or copper ones). But your home’s pipes are only half the battle. Did you know that lead can actually be present in trace amounts in your city’s water? Not the most comforting thought. Doctor Oz actually urged his audience to call their local jurisdiction and request a copy of their annual water quality report. Being the paranoid mother hen that I am, I was on the phone before Dr. Oz finished his sentence. For any locals wondering exactly who I contacted, I called the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Division of Consolidated Laboratory Services at 804.648.4480 and later talked to Gigi Meyers at 804.864.7491 to help me decipher my results.
No matter where you live, a few calls to your city council or any other office (just google around for the main number) should hopefully direct you to the right department (I was bounced around about ten times before getting the right person, so it felt like a mini victory just to find someone who knew what I was talking about in the end). I may have had to work for it a little, but it was well worth the effort and the piece of mind. A few days later my official water analysis arrived in the mail and although I couldn’t understand a smidge of it (lots of greater than and less than symbols with abbreviations like PMCL and SMCL), calling Gigi Meyers at the lab for help interpreting the data finally put my mind at ease. So once you receive your report you might want to call the number on that report to get someone to help you descipher your results.
The fabulous news is that our county’s water met or exceeded all EPA guidelines, so although it may possibly possess trace amounts of a bunch of scary chemicals (arsenic! lead! mercury!) they were all well below the limits that are known to be dangerous (basically Gigi explained that they couldn’t definitively say zero for any category so they select a range like “less than .002 PPM” which is super minute amount and possibly zero). Whew.
Plus we can’t forget that we installed an under-sink water filter a while back, which “reduces sediments, chlorine tastes, and odors” just like a Brita pitcher would (it’s also NSF and ANSI certified to be super safe and free of phthalates and other leeching hazards). I guess we were doing more things right than we realized (although we can hardly take credit for our house being “new” enough to avoid lead piping and our county being lucky enough to have water that exceeds all of the safety standards set in place by the EPA).
The lesson: if you fear that there’s something in the water at your house, there’s lots you can do. There are kits you can buy at any home improvement store to test your water for lead. You can also install a filtration system to further cut down on unwelcome toxins. And of course you can call your county to get information and make a stink if your water doesn’t meet the standards that it should (the county is obligated to send you an honest report, but the shocking thing is that it’s just mandatory that they tell you what’s in the water, and not necessarily mandated that they do anything immediately to rectify any high levels of anything – apparently budget issues and review boards can take years for any clean-up efforts to take effect). So that means if you see anything on your results that don’t sound good it’s definitely worth writing to people and even starting a local petition to educate and empower everyone in the community and hopefully get your tap water cleaned up quickly!
Oh and if you’re looking for more information, the Environmental Working Group recently put together a nationwide database of drinking water test results where you can go to look into the water rankings in your area (the New York Times even asked to use it in a series about what’s wrong with America’s drinking water, so it’s a trusted source for this sort of info). The good news is that they found that “when the Environmental Protection Agency sets mandatory water quality standards, the tests show that local water suppliers meet them 92 percent of the time.” Plus they ranked all the big cities for water safety so you can see where your area falls among the spectrum from best to worst (Richmond actually made the top 11- wahoo!). The bad news? They still think “standards need to be tougher to protect young children and pregnant women.” We’re glad they’re fighting the good fight and providing lots of enlightening info along the way.
We also learned a few more simple “rules of thumb” that should be used in protecting your family from contaminated tap water (as listed here):
- Flush your pipes before use. Prior to using water for cooking or drinking, run the tap water until it becomes as cold as it will get.*
- Use only cold water for drinking & cooking – hot water is likely to contain higher levels of lead.
- Inspect your plumbing system to detect lead. Lead pipes and solder are dull gray, when scratched they will look shiny.
- Test your water with a lead detection product, such as PRO-LAB’s Lead in Water Test Kit, that utilizes U.S. EPA recognized laboratories. If your lead test comes back positive, the best way to handle the problem is to determine the source and remove it.
*The worst part of the tips above was the whole “flush your pipes” since we hate watching wasted water literally go down the drain. We have found that whenever we feel the need to flush our pipes (if we’ve been away on a vacation for a week or so) we use a big basin to catch the water we’re “flushing” and then use it for everything from watering the plants to washing the car and even doing other household cleaning like windows/floors, etc.
So that’s what we learned in our little foray into what I like to call “find out what the heck we’re ingesting on a daily basis.” These days I’m chugging water like nobody’s business (nursing will do that to ya) so you’ll have to excuse me for getting all Erin Brockovich on you. We just thought our witch water hunt might help anyone else out there who squints at their glass and wonders what the heck is in there. And now we know… sort of.
Of course we’d love to know what you guys do to keep your water as pure as possible. Do you use filters or check out your annual water report? Do tell.
Kelli says
My hometown had 4 violations from excess radium in the water!!! Gross! I filter all of my drinking water, but I’m not too sure I like showering in radium!
Krystal says
Thank you for the link to the database! I live in Bloomington, Indiana, but all our utilities come from Indianapolis, which exceeds the legal limit on 11 chemicals! Yikes! I always use a Brita pitcher for my drinking water, but I don’t filter anything for cooking. I’ll be rethinking that for now on! Even scarier, my hometown near Chicago has traces of Radium in the water…
Lauryn says
Living inside the city limits, we get a annual water report. I guess thats another reason our taxes are higher! And our house was built in 1920 and we have copper pipes. But the issue in the city is that even if you have nice pipes, the pipes in the street that go TO your house are probably lead. But, it seems like we are doing okay on the water thing. We will definitely be extra careful when we decide to expande our family though!
Cheri @ I Heart Old Houses says
Thanks for the info! Maybe I’ve been living under a rock, but I didn’t realize lead in tap water was even a possibilty. I usually drink tap because I prefer the taste (strange, I know) but I think I’ll switch to our fridge’s filter, just in case.
Jessica @ How Sweet says
I had NO idea that this was even an issue. We are not planning on a family few a few months, but still – I had no clue!
Amanda says
And, keep in mind that the EPA is a government agency. They have standards, but rarely does anyone know what those standards are based on. Just because drinking water meets standards doesn’t mean it won’t cause harm.
(Not to be a conspiracy theorist or anti-government crazy, but think about prescription drugs and beef from feedlots… those items met standards before they killed people, too.)
Jocelyn Stott says
Great post!
Amanda@The Hand Me Down House says
What a great and interesting topic. I help run our family plumbing company and water quality and safeness is SUCH a huge issue. We tell people to really look at their city’s annual water quality report. We’re in MN, and usually there’s nothing to worry about, but we still recommend an RO (reverse osmosis) filter for drinking and cooking water. This kind of filter gets out any little particles that might get through a whole house filter (which gets out large particles) and anything that gets by the city. It usually takes out any traces of chlorine that might be in the water (which the city puts in to clean the water of bacteria). For something that helps our bodies so much, there sure is a lot to watch for in drinking water. Thanks so much for the wonderful post!! :)
Lyndsey says
I use a reverse osmosis system to filter out dissolved minerals and metals. It also gets rid of several parasites. Of concern to some folks, though not to me, is that it gets rid of fluoride, too.
RT says
We use an RO system that even takes those pesky pharma chemicals out of the water and that is what we cook with and drink. But, I do glance at the annual water report my community sends out. All appears well below limits.
After I found out I was pregnant (12weeks now! :D ), I stopped drinking the tap water at work, even though it is UV filtered. UV doesn’t do anything for physical sediment in the water and I didn’t know what was in that water. (Plus I started noticing a metallic taste thanks so pregnancy super senses). Now I bring filtered water from home.
hi-d says
It is scary to think about what all is in the water. Our tap has tons of chlorine as well, but we use a pur water filter attached to the faucet. It does the trick. Now, I’m concerned over the plastic bottles that I use for my water. We bought tons of Nalgene, but I’m afraid they might be the bad plastic. It’s a number 7. Any suggestions on a good brand of bottle? (I’m pregnant too – 11 weeks)…
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Hi-d,
We think they reformulated the Nalgene containers to be BPA & phthalate free, so you might be ok (maybe check their website for more info?). We use stainless steel water bottles here (made by Klean Kanteen) and we love them. As for baby bottles, Clara likes her glass Lifefactory bottles from amazon.com. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Amanda Sevall says
I don’t know what the rules are in Virginia, but here in California that Annual Water Report is mailed to ALL customers receiving water. I work for the local government here and have actually prepared the Annual Water Quality Report. There are so many rules and restrictions — if there is something wrong with your water, you’d definitely know about it!! :)
Lisa says
Are you guys Henrico, Chesterfield or City of Richmond? Just curious since you mentioned your county had all exceeded all guidelines and it would be nice if that was my county as well! Thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Lisa,
We’re in Chesterfield. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Susan says
Glad to see someone refer to the pharmaceuticals that are in the water, RT! This is the next push, I think. Everything that we excrete goes into the water supply – OTC drugs, antidepressants (a major pollutant), anti-psychotics, birth control pills, cancer meds. . . on and on. It all ends up in our water and hurts us and the environment (transgender fish have been getting lots of press in NoVa).
So minimizing use of ALL chemicals is important.
Justme says
My family only drinks bottle water. My mom told me that tap water had lead in it years ago. She also told me to only cook with cold water.
ErinEvelyn says
I’m blessed to live in an area with superb drinking water, but I recently watched the documentary GasLand by Josh Fox and learned just how bad it can get for some folks in many areas of the U.S. All I gotta say is, if you live on a shale gas basin and an energy company asks to lease some of your land to conduct a type of natural gas drilling called hydraulic fracturing, for the love of god, say no. And if you want to see some truly horrifying tap water, watch the film.
Mary Kate says
So I know this is no laughing matter, but when you talked about obtaining water reports, all I could picture was the skeevy guy in the plaid pants in the movie “Erin Brockovich” who worked at the water board. Hopefully you didn’t have to use any of the moves that she did to get the data you were looking for!
Eric says
Frankly, I’d worry more about all the trace and residual RX drugs in the water supply. RT has it right.
liz @ bon temps beignet says
yikes! I’ve heard of using only cold water to cook with because the hot water sometimes sits in the water heater for long periods of time. We bought a tankless water heater last year and I figured it would be safe to use the hot water from that to cook with. I wonder if that makes a difference.
Kim Smith says
We have a water filter in the kitchen & shower filters in our bathrooms. It’s amazing how much better both my hubby & I could smell our soaps & shampoo after installing the shower filter. Softer skin & hair, too.
Ashley says
You really should consider getting a RO (reverse osmosis). You can get a filter for your entire house so you even bath in pure H2O. Your body soaks up all the chlorine from the shower and chlorine is really bad for you. RO is the only H2O I used in the lab for my water studies in grad school.
It’s the one thing I must have installed before we ever get pregnant.
Linda says
Such great information! We didn’t want to take any chances in our house, so when we moved in last year we installed a water softener that contains a water filter for the whole house! We love it so much and we like knowing that our water is safe. :)
Kristi @ Addicted 2 Decorating says
I always find it interesting to see what chemicals people are concerned about when it comes to drinking water. Sure, we all know that lead is poisonous.
But FLUORIDE, a byproduct of aluminum processing, is actually MORE toxic than lead, and is only slightly less toxic than arsenic. Yet, it is ADDED to well over 60% of the drinking water in America. And some people who purchase bottled water go out of their way to purchase water with fluoride added. It’s a neurotoxin!!! And it causes brittle teeth and leads to bone cancer, as well as a number of other terrible maladies.
So yes, filter your water, and be sure that your filter removes everything…INCLUDING fluoride.
Carol N. says
At our first house the water was so bad! The first time I made ice (no auto ice maker in that fridge) when I pulled the tray out the ice was ‘fuzzy’. We actually bought distilled water to drink and cook with. That particular water service was so bad that it eventually was bought out and the new service is much better there. But we are glad that where we are now the water is soooo much better that you can actually drink it!
Rita says
I have to confess that I am a water snob, as my husband so well puts it (actually, through my influence, he has become a bigger water snob that I am). And I am all over environmental issues and in particular water issues (I even wrote a dissertation on the economics of declining aquifer water tables, but I digress), so FYI, if you receive your water bill in the mail, once a year, the water company sends you the results of their water analysis.
Although the information is a bit technical, it does have an explanation for everything that they use. For example, in the notes, you will find detailed explanations of the critical values for each chemical and sometimes even some information on the type of test used.
And speaking of water snobbery, when we are on a trip and I have to buy bottled water, I always check the labels to see if I am getting water from a spring or filtered tap water. Of course, everyone knows that Evian is spring water but did you know that Dasani, Nestlé Pure Life (in the U.S.) and Aquafina are filtered water? In the EU, bottled water has to have the results of the chemical analysis in the label, so it’s fun to look at pH, solids residue, etc. while you’re sipping on your water. As an economist it bugs me a bit to pay so much for bottled water that comes from a tap, hence my preference is for Evian or Icelandic Glacial (carbon neutral) or Fiji. Right now, I’m all about Icelandic water because I want to help the Icelandic economy.
Melissa says
This is kinda long and I promise this is not spam (I just really love this product), but here I go… It was a huge splurge, but well worth the investment: when I bought my house, I purchased a RainSoft home filtration system. It uses charcoal and salt to remove (nothing is added, no softeners, nuffin) any impurities from the water.
I LOVE IT! no soap scum, my white clothes stay white, no calcification of my pipes, the list goes on. You can turn it off when you are watering the yard, washing the car, what not, so you don’t waste the “clean” water. Plus, when I bought the system I got a year’s supply of shampoo, soap, cleaners, etc.
I do not have to replace parts, buy expensive add on’s anything (other than about $15 of salt pellets once a year), AND whenever I move, I can take it with me!
I drink insane amounts of water and was really scared about drinking the tap in my area (we are not so fortunate in our water reports. It is recommended “elderly, small children, those with weakened immune systems and animals” avoid drinking the tap water in large doses), so I wanted something that would help me cut back on the plastic H2O bottle habit. I’ve been REALLY happy with this. Something to think about… I bought mine through Home Depot!
Johnna says
A VERY interesting article on this in Women’s Health this month too!!! You should check it out also…althougth you are likely now water experts! LOL!
Agent Scully says
While I am concerned about arsenic, lead and mercury presence in my drinking water, I’m more worried about the various pharmaceutical drugs (like hormones) contamination these days. The tests you ordered from your local office, do they contain results focused on pharmaceuticals?
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Agent Scully,
We don’t believe that current water tests contain pharmaceutical readings, but since it’s a growing concern we hope they start to include them in the future!
xo,
s
Katie Pack says
Lifefactory also makes big people glass bottles with covers now too!
Katie Pack says
Do you guys know about Healthy Child Healthy World? I’ve learned a ton from them lately and like getting updates through the Facebook page. http://healthychildhealthyworld.com/
Melanie says
Wow, can I just say you guys are so much better than I am! We use a Brita filter about 50% of the time… and that’s about it. And we most definitely waste water… it never would have occurred to me to save that water for something else. I need to rethink some things!
Karina says
I think the most effective is to distill your water. A distiller runs about 100 bucks and takes about 4-6 hours for a gallon of water. For a small family, you would probably run 2 distillers every day, or one twice a day.
That water is the most delicious I have ever tasted – so pure. I used to run it through the Brita filter as well, but I’ve read that the plastic they are made out of is toxic and also – where is the charcoal from anyway? You never know :)
So for now – I believe distilled water is the most pure and most delicious.
Liz says
Portland (OR) is number 59 on the list (not so good) but sends out a water quality report every year.
Thanks for the tip on using cold water to cook with – I sometimes cheat on boiling water by putting hot tap water into a pot before putting it on the stove. I’ll stop that now!
Liz says
Another note is that tap water is usually better than bottled water, and not just to cut down on plastic waste, but in terms of regulated quality as well.
Ashley says
Great post! Did you change your faucet since your big kitchen renovation? I love this one!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Ashley,
We did! Here’s that post for ya: https://www.younghouselove.com/replacing-a-kitchen-faucet/
xo,
s
amelia says
great post! just an FYI to all your readers that drink bottled water – did you know that bottled water is not regulated! Just because the bottle shows pictures of mountains and glaciers does not mean the water comes from a clean, natural source. Infact, most bottled water is just tap water. Which in some cases is great – at least tap water is regulated – but you are paying through the nose for it!
K (Barking Baby Mama) says
I actually read that you should check your water content for lead in What to Expect When You’re Expecting when I was newly pregnant and had a similar freakout which I wrote a little bit about here:
http://barkingbaby.blogspot.com/2009/07/mommy-bug.html
:)
Laura (youngDCliving) says
This kind of stuff is scary! I hope my water is of similar quality, but at least tap water does contain some GOOD minerals as well, so at least there’s something.
I tend to cheat (although I’m getting better…)with going for the hot water instead of cold water tip when cooking, I can actually really smell the difference between them. Hot water smells like pool water in my area! So much chlorine
Emily @ The Happy Home says
eeeek! i know that LA county just won some sort of award for having clean urban water or some such nonsense, but i know that our rental house hasn’t been taken care of properly in years. i will DEFINITELY be looking into this! (and getting our landlord to fix it pronto if there’s something wrong.)
Kim says
So I’m wondering if I’m crazy or if the website is messed up somehow…I clicked on the link for the EWG (www.ewg.org/tap-water/welcome) and then I clicked the link that says “Continue without signing up” because I try not to sign my email address up onto too many things, and that link brought me back to Young House Love. What’s up with that?? Did that happen to anyone else?
YoungHouseLove says
Anyone else having that issue Kim mentioned?
xo,
s
Jane says
Thanks for the tips, Youngsters! I live in Chicago, where our water comes from Lake Michigan and travels through a super old network of pipes just to get to us (still, we live in a newer building).
Amanda says
Interesting post!
Along the lines of Amelia’s comment- this is the best video about bottled water I’ve seen. It explains production, but also (lack of) regulation. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Se12y9hSOM0
ErinC says
I had the same issue as Kim. I just signed up for the site so I could continue.
Handy Man, Crafty Woman says
We have a well in this house (which was new to me), but we had the water tested and all was fine. when we had city water though, blecccchhhh!! It tasted awful and we wouldn’t drink it! We went to a local spring and filled up large water jugs with it. (Yes, can you imagine, the people who owned the land let everyone just use the spring for free!!)
Kevin M says
Yes, just had the same issue as Kim. Very strange.
marianne says
yep, same happened to me that happened to kim. weird.
Elaine K says
We used to live in a 50’s ranch in Stratford Hills we renovated when my kids were little (they are 17 and 20). I had my son’s lead level checked at 15 months because we had just refinishted a bathroom. It was 12, which is even scarier now that we now more about lead. We had the water tested and used a test kit on the paint and both were fine. Finally there was an article that mini blinds had lead and they tested positive. I used to wash the wood floors with diluted dishwasher gel and that was supposed to help kelate the lead dust. Fotunately, my son turned out OK–he is a student at William and Mary!
YoungHouseLove says
So glad to hear that your son is just fine Elaine! Scary stuff!
xo,
s
Susan says
I had it too. . . something gets wonky. Visit Ewg.org in another window and then search on “water”.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the fix Susan and Kim! So odd that it’s being wonky.
xo,
s
Kim says
Ok, I opened the site in another window and now it’s working fine. I had it opened in another tab in the same window before…maybe that’s what caused the problem. Weird!
Michelle says
You all keep making me find things to freak out about.(Like I made my husband stop using carmex and I can no longer use a plastic container to store food…now I’m paranoid about the water. I just won’t tell my husband where this info is coming from. :P) Thanks!…I think. :P