You might think that just because you live in a municipality in a first world nation like the U.S., the water supply is safe to drink. And you might be shocked to learn the truth.
Most of us are familiar with the very public case of contaminated water in Flint, Michigan. Residents are on record having noticed a brown color and foul smell and taste to their drinking water as early as the summer of 2014 when the city turned to the Flint River as a water source. Despite boil water orders that were given, residents continued to report problems. They were told repeatedly by government and public health officials, not to worry, “the water is fine.”
But things were NOT “fine” and the city was forced to begin a cleanup campaign. Unfortunately, the cleanup itself added insult to injury. On January 2, 2015, the city warned its residents that the water now contained byproducts of disinfectants that could increase the risk of cancer. It took years for the truth to be told.
Not only had residents been poisoned with dangerous lead levels, bacteria, and other contaminants, the cleanup was in many ways as bad as the contaminants themselves.
The Cancer Connection
A study by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) published in 2019 found that carcinogens are present in the drinking water that millions of Americans consume… not just those unfortunate residents of the City of Flint. Researchers also concluded that the contamination is likely responsible for 100,000+ cases of cancer annually here in the U.S.
The National Cancer Institute admits that water contaminants may be directly related to cancer risk. It’s been proven that not only do the disinfectants often used by municipalities (like Flint, Michigan) contribute to the risk of cancer, but fertilizer by-products (think glyphosate), arsenic, and other substances present in the groundwater are also extremely dangerous to our health.
We often don’t think of the heartland of America — the farms that sustain us in Kansas, Iowa, and Nebraska, for example — as being dangerous to our health. But we need to take a long, hard look at what is happening. Pesticide-induced diseases are on the rise.
In the State of Iowa, a DCEG (Division of Cancer Epidemiology & Genetics) study of six cancer sites found associations of cancers with long-term exposure to drinking water with high amounts of carcinogenic byproducts:
“Population-based case-control studies in Iowa and Nebraska evaluated community-supplied drinking water nitrate levels and cancers of the stomach, esophagus, bladder, brain, colon, rectum, pancreas, and kidney. Increased risks of colon, kidney, and stomach cancer were observed among those with higher ingestion of water nitrate and higher meat intake compared with low intakes of both, a dietary pattern that results in increased NOC formation.” (The Iowa Women’s Health Study).”
Bottled Water Is Not the Answer
On average, each American drank a little over 45 gallons of bottled water in 2020. While bottled water has its place, it’s not the solution to our drinking water problem. Those conveniently packaged plastic bottles of water do not always contain better quality water (surprise!), and the plastic containers themselves cost more than the water they contain and can leach toxic chemicals, particularly when heated or re-used (plastic leaches upwards of 55-60 different chemicals when heated).
There is good news, however, for those who are interested in improving their water quality, no matter where you live.
Meet The Expert on Water Quality
I’ve had the good fortune of knowing Dr. Roy M. Speiser, D.C., certified master water-quality specialist and Director of Research for CWR Environmental Products, for years.
Let me introduce him to you.
Dr. Speiser holds degrees in bacteriology, biochemistry, biology, and biomechanical engineering. In addition to keeping up to date with the constant influx of scientific environmental studies, Speiser writes and lectures on the issues of water and air quality, environmental impact studies and related health issues. You won’t find a better authority on water and air quality.
Speiser’s passion for studying and maintaining water quality began many years ago when he was a healthcare practitioner in New York. The unusual increase of cancer in his patients led to his involvement in a regional task force tasked with investigating the causal relationship between groundwater pollution and cancer.
The grim findings by the task force of the carcinogenic effect in the drinking water were indisputable, and it was determined that illegal dumping of industrial chemical waste was the culprit behind the growing number of cancer cases they reviewed. As a result, Speiser felt compelled to find a way to purify this contaminated water.
And that’s exactly what he did.
Using specialized multi-stage filtration equipment, Speiser was able to purify the water as it came out of the tap… a solution for every household as well as the elimination of the need for expensive, and environmentally wasteful bottled water.
His patented water filtration systems include both over- and under-the-counter solutions. The ceramic filters used are effective in removing fluoride, lead, heavy metals, pharmaceutical compounds, chloramines, chlorine (Class 1), THM’s and volatile organic compounds.
If you have cancer, and even if you don’t… I urge you to protect yourself and your family with the basics of pure, clean water. There may be no better gift you could give than this basic requirement of good health.
Check out CWR at this link. And tell him I sent you.
Learn More:
Know the Nastiest Truths About the Water Bottling Industry
The Myth of Clean Water (podcast interview by Ann Louise Gittleman with Dr. Roy Speiser)
Why Toxins in Tap Water are Damaging Our Health
Resources:
Evans S, Campbell C, Naidenko OV. Cumulative risk analysis of carcinogenic contaminants in United States drinking water. Heliyon. 2019 Sep 19;5(9):e02314. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2019.e02314. PMID: 31687532; PMCID: PMC6819845.
Weyer PJ, Cerhan JR, Kross BC, Hallberg GR, Kantamneni J, Breuer G, Jones MP, Zheng W, Lynch CF. Municipal drinking water nitrate level and cancer risk in older women: the Iowa Women’s Health Study. Epidemiology. 2001 May;12(3):327-38. doi: 10.1097/00001648-200105000-00013. PMID: 11338313.
Luke Coutinho, “World Cancer Day: Here’s why you should stop drinking water from plastic bottles,” The Economic Times (Last Updated: Feb 03, 2018, 12:56 PM IST).
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/panache/world-cancer-day-heres-why-you-should-stop-drinking-water-from-plastic-bottles/articleshow/62759194.cms?from=mdr
Pesticide-Induced Diseases Database, https://www.beyondpesticides.org/resources/pesticide-induced-diseases-database/cancer