While the debate continues about the benefits of
bottled water vs. tap water, I received a news release on how you can learn
more about your local drinking water.
Most public and private water
utilities are required to release a Consumer Confidence Report about this time every
year. These water quality reports
provide customers with information regarding the source of their local
community’s drinking water supply and the treatment methods used, as well as
the quality of the finished drinking water supply that is provided to the
community during the previous calendar year.
However, as with most
government reports, the information is technical and can be difficult for most
of us to understand. So NSF International, a nonprofit organization that
certifies products in the food and water markets, has decided to help us out
and decipher the techno-speak for us.
NSF now has a
special section
on its site that includes a brief intro to CCRs; explanations of the units of measurement
and common abbreviations used; how to interpret the results; and FAQs.
Promoting Tap Water
Minneapolis
created an entire campaign —
Tap Minneapolis — to
promote its tap water, spending about $200K of taxpayer money.
And just this spring, the
National Rural Water Association held its
Great American Water Taste Test — Elberta, Ala., took first-place honors. (NRWA also has a “Quality on
Tap” campaign.)
What I found most interesting
was that Manton, Mich. — just a stone’s throw from my hometown of Cadillac —
won third place. There were 29,696 original entries from across the country,
narrowed down to about 50. Three tasting judges then chose the five finalists.
Congrats, Manton!
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