Shouldn't water be cleaned for free?

We will never have clean water....

http://current.com/items/90765112_ptt-may-need-50-days-to-plug-oil-gas-leak-at-t...
and
http://current.com/items/90756767_tva-says-ash-spill-cleanup-could-take-3-years....

I don't ask for perfection. Smartwater, Penta water have come up with methods that clean our water ten times better as it is and is getting outrageously more and more contaminated.

We could save so much by not selling these plastic bottled water anymore when we could get the same results from tap.

"American consumers are drinking more bottled water every year. They collectively spend hundreds or thousands of dollars more per gallon for water in a plastic bottle than they would for the H20 flowing from their taps.
Plastic bottle production in the United States annually requires about 17.6 million barrels of oil, enough to fuel more than one million cars.
About 86 percent of empty plastic water bottles in the United States land in the garbage instead of being recycled. That amounts to about two million tons of plastic bottles piling up in U.S. landfills each year.

To solve this, action must be taken from the federal, state, and local governments must protect the quality and integrity of our water resources.
Again investing in the maintenance and renewal of municipal water and sewage treatment plants, storage, and distribution. Our water pipes and sewer lines in the United States were built in the late 1800s, the 1920s.

Old, corroded water lines can break are not only wasting water but also opening avenues for contamination. Worn out or overburdened sewage systems can overflow into our streams, rivers, lakes, and oceans, creating serious health concerns. The National Research Council recently warned of more water-borne disease outbreaks unless we make "substantial investments" in improving our drinking water and sewage storage and distribution systems.

Every year, Congress debates proposals for funding clean drinking water. A 2007 bill provided $14 billion in federal loan guarantees over four years for water and sewer improvements. While the bill passed the House of Representatives, it has not yet passed the Senate. Unfortunately, even if it were to become law, it would still be insufficient in meeting our nation's water infrastructure needs.

Collectively, our communities fall about $22 billion short annually of what they need to maintain and improve public drinking water and sewage systems. Federal dollars are the only way to address this clean water infrastructure funding gap estimated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Government Accountability Office, and the non-profit Water Infrastructure Network at between $300 and $500 billion over 20 years. Much of the funding gap stems from government cuts to clean water programs."
From sustainabletable.org

This would be a great step in safeguarding the population and saving our natural resources as well our financial ones.

Water scarcity is now taking a toll on our world and that is not the focus of this post but certainly top priority.
May be both problems could be linked in one miracle solution.

i am always worried about the quality of my water. But lucky for me, in Ukraine they have alot of wells, so for the most part i get my water from those.

Tap water, i dont understand
how it could be clean ever? It has to go through a crap load of pipes that rust and deteriorate. I dont know anyone here in Ukraine that drinks it on tap, thats just gross.

Here you complain about the bad quality fo your water in the USA, while in India they have water shortages, and here in Ukraine we get our water shut off for sometimes weeks. Most places around the world would be happy to have running water, on top of that, have a choice between Hot and Cold.

Its very admirable that you care about one of the most precious things that humans have, but at this point i see worrying about having water for 7 billion people on the planet as much more important.

If you want clean water, buy a filter or go to a well like the rest of the world. Your asking for perfection in a world that is far from perfect, and also over populated.

i have been saying that there will be an up and comeing water crisis in the future for some time now unless some thing is done now,,,and in the future it is not unreasonable to think that we will be fighting wars over this,,unless we start fighting for a clean water act worldwide,,,,,,,,,,,,,,i hope it never comes to this,,,,,but who knows,,,,,,,,,,

All I can say is

Watch Kevin Costner's WATERWORLD, some of it is goofy, and all but the movie had a point.

And do the matrix ones to remind yourself that we are all in their 'controlled illusion'.

And if we boycott zionista based products which was started in uk, (and BTW is growing!) we can be able to fix these water issues.

A berkey filter is good; (as britas don't get rid of fluoride).

later be well and happy and safe.

good Idea... why ARE we paying for water treatment? when it's the companies and corporations that are making our waters unpalatable... maybe THEY should have to pay for water treatment.

"Why people needs to pay for clean water? Are you insane? Business is here!!! We pay for chemicals to make a clean water to drink... we pay for those people who maintain the cleanliness of the sources of water....we also pay to the taxes and other bills to secure the pureness of water... we needs to accept that in this era, we need to pay to have oxygen even in air to gain clean air like water....no more free water except you have your own spring with a clean environment like a paradise."-Donabell C. De Apera

There is a good point to this article. I remember when bottled water first came out. We would laugh and couldn't believe that companies wanted us to pay for water.

Reverse Osmosis is an EXTREMELY energy intensive, and typically unnecessary to make potable water.

As far as the ethics of utilities cost goes: everyone should be allotted free water, heat, electricity quota. Use more than your quota (determined on where you live) pay money. This could be done in a number of ways. But I would think the easiest would be using the current system we have, but by sending a check to everyone. That would give even MORE incentive to everyone, including consumers and utility companies, to save.

"Shouldn't water be clean and safe for free? Isn'it our right?"

hummm no its not a right its a perk and a luxury. who told you it was a right?

It's not good feeling to admit that the water I use for flushing away the toilet I fill into the kettle after.. Anyway, "no" to your idea for making a clean and safe water available for free to everyone. Therefore the government doesn't make it as you say because they WANT to make the people sick of it. Otherwise it would be very reasonable what you are saying. But what I say is the horrible truth.

This winter has been a little colder, so to help my furnace keep us warmer, I have been running a portable humidifier. I use to put tap water in the humidifier, and occasionally I must take the humidifier apart and scrape the mineral deposits out of the equipment. Its like scraping rocks out of that thing. I used a bottled distilled water but that was a little too expensive, but it left no mineral deposits. Then I started taking my jugs to walmart and the grocery store and fill them with that pretty good water that is filter and back filtered. IT is leaving no mineral deposits. That water cost 33 cents a gallon.

It doesn't do any good to say, "it shouldn't cost money for good water." But, you guys who are saying it's all good and it's all the same, are simply delusional.

Bottled water and tap water are practically the same quality. The same impurities(chemicals, perscription drugs, even rocket fuel(?)) can be found in both sources.

Clean water is not something for profit. It's something we as human beings all deserve. All those bottled water companies should be ashamed and donate some actually and truly purified (not just filtered) water to some 3rd world countries.

Next thing you know you will be paying for clean air

I don't buy bottled water for this reason, it's water.

Profit first, people second.

It's fun when conflicting reports surface!

My first reaction was...uh...water is free. Stupid people buy it. Stupid Fiji water people. Anyone seen Lewis Black's diatribe on bottled water. He calls Aquafina "the end of water as we know it."

I live in Anaheim and I get information 1-2 times a year with statistics and details about Anaheims water sources, which are mostly controlled by our city itself.

I'd like to believe Anaheim and Maisry (earlier poster), but where did the AP get their stats? I don't think they're lying either. So...is it because we have so many water districts and a few of them are bound to be managed by inept or corrupt people?

Why do you think that is?

to answer the question above, yes

In a word, no. I don't believe that water should be cleaned for free, since there are people involved in the process and they all deserve to be paid for their work. If we don't pay for the water directly, we will be paying through taxes; either way we pay for our water.
Guess that makes it a moot point.

is this a real question?!?

But yet, you just did.

As I got to the second paragraph, I realized that reading this article was a waste of time. I guess commenting on it is, too.

Lots of republicons think that nothing should be free and that government should be so small it can be drowned in the bathtub and thus made inadequate as happend in lBush's stewardship of Katrina and the economy.

But I think certain parts of our society, like water, utilities and medical care should be a joint effort and all of us should share in the cost but also get the benefits.

If the Cons could every road would be a tole road and only those who could afford to drive n those roads would.

Maisry I am very glad to speak to you, a certified (by the state of California) water treatment operator.
I believe you are monitored by the Dept. of health indeed I would like to ask you a few questions.
Do you treat water and clean it from pharmaceutical traces?
A vast array of pharmaceuticals including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones have been found in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans, an Associated Press investigation shows.
In the course of a five-month inquiry, the AP discovered that drugs have been detected in the drinking water supplies of 24 major metropolitan areas—from Southern California to Northern New Jersey, from Detroit to Louisville, Ky.

“We recognize it is a growing concern and we’re taking it very seriously,” said Benjamin H. Grumbles, assistant administrator for water at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Members of the AP National Investigative Team reviewed hundreds of scientific reports, analyzed federal drinking water databases, visited environmental study sites and treatment plants and interviewed more than 230 officials, academics and scientists. They also surveyed the nation’s 50 largest cities and a dozen other major water providers, as well as smaller community water providers in all 50 states.

Here are some of the key test results obtained by the AP:

Officials in Philadelphia said testing there discovered 56 pharmaceuticals or byproducts in treated drinking water, including medicines for pain, infection, high cholesterol, asthma, epilepsy, mental illness and heart problems. Sixty-three pharmaceuticals or byproducts were found in the city’s watersheds.

Anti-epileptic and anti-anxiety medications were detected in a portion of the treated drinking water for 18.5 million people in Southern California.

Researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey analyzed a Passaic Valley Water Commission drinking water treatment plant, which serves 850,000 people in Northern New Jersey, and found a metabolized angina medicine and the mood-stabilizing carbamazepine in drinking water.

A sex hormone was detected in San Francisco’s drinking water.

The drinking water for Washington, D.C., and surrounding areas tested positive for six pharmaceuticals.

Some providers screen only for one or two pharmaceuticals, leaving open the possibility that others are present.
Are you aware of all of this?

Here is an excerpt of the standards for drinking water:
"Setting drinking water standards is an imperfect process, rarely based on conclusive human evidence. Data relating human health effects to chemicals in drinking water are limited, and scientists have difficulty predicting the effects of drinking small amounts of chemicals for many years. In addition, regulatory decisions frequently incorporate economic, political and social considerations.

Therefore, it is important to understand that Primary Standards for drinking water contaminants do not guarantee that water with a contaminant level below the standard is risk-free, nor do they mean that water with a higher level is unsafe. The standards also do not take into account the possible presence of other chemicals, which may increase or decrease the toxicity of the contaminant."

Again what kind of tests do you perform to clean the water from all kinds of pharmaceutical traces?

I am now looking for alternative methods or new ones that could treat our water properly as much as we could, RO, distillation and ?

Please answer these questions as I yet don't see from the info above where my countless fallacies are.
Thank you

I believe two (among other things but two are my top 2) things in this world should be free water and the internet. I hate paying for water so I decided to not pay over a dollar for bottle water. Other times I just drink tap water.

So what then do you think about this stimulus bill actually cutting funds for water infrastructure? And I will agree with you that municipal water supplies are better regulated than companies that pump water for their own profit, or privitized systems that do tend to be more expensive. The point of this post however, is that it should be free for all people. I don't see what's wrong with that. Who will be the first one to then in time come out and charge us to breathe what they will call "pure air" in a container when our air is so polluted they can make a profit from that as well? And yes, I absolutely think that is a possibility in this world and that people would buy it.

And my water is tested as well, but let's face it there are still contaminants. I have a filter on my faucet that I change regularly and if I am not sure about how it looks I boil it and then refrigerate it. The point is however, I shouldn't have to do that.

I also think the poster has a point regarding bottled water in as much as the mental impression people have that it is somehow more pure than the water you provide. We need to break the mental stigma placed on tap water so we can then move from this bottled water sham that would in turn move us to a more sustainable future. Does your water dept have a plan to counter their propaganda?

Good Point. Free Clean Water for all.

I can't begin to address all of the fallacies in your post! I am a certified (by the state of California) Water Treatment Operator, and I can tell you that my job is to provide safe water for you to drink. Yes, from the tap; you don't have to be low-income to trust the quality of the water I provide. The water is continually tested and treated (yes, with chemicals, but with the minimum amount to keep your water bacteria-free at your tap.) We are monitored by the Dept. of Health. They will shut down a water source that cannot meet their maximum contaminant levels for the chemicals you named.

There is such a thing as large-scale reverse osmosis treatment, but it is hugely expensive compared to conventional filtration. Even the water from an RO plant has to have chemicals added in order, as sesml201 pointed out, to keep pipe contaminants from leaching into the newly cleaned water.

Cost? Personnel to monitor and test the water 24 hours a day; facilities such as treatment plant, reservoirs, pipelines, pump stations, etc.; purchase of the untreated water from the agency that pumps it 100 miles from the river to us, among other factors.

Here's some advice about how to enjoy tap water. Drink it cold. This keeps the unpleasant odor that some people experience to a minimum. Second, don't stand at the sink to drink. Some of the odor you sense is coming up from your drain! Third, if you must filter your water, don't store it. You have removed the little bit of chlorine residule that keeps bacteria from growing and it will flourish without the chlorine. Finally, clean and/or replace filters at your tap/under your sink as the manufacturer recommends. Overloaded filters harbor bacteria.

Why don't you check with your community's water department to see if they offer tours of the filtration plant. You may be impressed.

We need to institute HEAVY FINES on industry that pollutes in the first place and actually enforce those fines to begin with. We need to give water back to the people as the public trust it is and take it out of the hands of privateers simply looking for profit who don't care about quality. We need to shore up the water infrastructure in this country, but I notice that the current stimulus bill actually cut funds for that in half. WHY?

We need to declare water a GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHT in order to then be able to institute regulations against corporations like Nestle and Coca Cola taking it from those poor people to put it in little plastic bottles that make these rich Ahs lots of money while those poor people get sick and die from drinking polluted water because they cannot afford those little plastic (made from oil) bottles.

Water like air should be free, but as with anything else some humans think they are simply ENTITLED to take it and hold other people hostage to it ( And T. Boone Pickens, I'm looking at you.). Mark my words, it will not be long before we see at least one major war over water... look to the Middle East already and you will see the Israeli/Palestinian conflict as the start of it.

And while you bring up a good point, it is going to take more than a reverse osmosis filter to bring clean water equality to this world. It may take a revolution.

You don't have to drink bottled water. You can put a filter on your faucet, hooked up to your water line or crazy thought you can drink straight from the tap. If that doesn't satisfy you, you drink it out of a stream or river. We pollute it, so now we have to clean it.
But to say it's our right to have water cleaned for free because it's our right is crazy. Who exactly is going to pay for cleaning our water?
If you choose to drink it straight from the tap (like most low-income families do) and just pay your city water bill, it shouldn't cost you more than $2-$5 a day.
People in other countries have drinking water that is much worse. Can't we get them clean water first?

Very good concept. The one problem that comes to mind is that reverse osmosis filter at a central point would not treat the water for all the things that the water would pick up as it traveled through the pipes to our homes. We would need to have reverse osmosis filter at source for each home.