Going With the Flow In your July 12 feature “Back to the Tap,” you ask, “But is the stuff that comes out of the faucet actually safe to drink?” In light of studies released this month, the more penetrating questions are “Is what’s in the bottle safer than what you can get from the faucet?” and “What will be needed to guarantee water safety?” The Government Accounting Office recently testified to Congress that FDA safety and consumer protections are often less stringent than comparable EPA protections for tap water.
To guarantee water safety, our elected leaders need to look for longer-term solutions than bulk bottled-water purchases. Nationally, we’re facing a shortfall in investment in public water systems. Correcting this shortfall means investing in expanding water systems, fixing old pipes, and upgrading filtration systems to deal with new contaminants.
Jeremy Martin / Stratham, New Hampshire
On behalf of waterworks professionals throughout New England, I’d like to commend The Boston Globe for its timely and informative articles on protecting and conserving public water supplies published in the Green Issue (July 12). Consumers can drink from virtually any public water tap in the country without fear of contracting waterborne diseases that kill millions of people annually in other parts of the world. A safe, sustainable water supply is fundamental to successful economic growth and prosperity, which, in turn, creates jobs and an expanding local tax base. As a number of articles in this issue point out, the public can make a major difference in maintaining the high quality and availability of drinking water supplies. Small changes in our daily routine -- from picking up after pets to capturing rainwater to ?use on lawns and gardens -- can collectively go a long way in safeguarding our country’s critical but limited water resources. For more information on how to support this important environmental mission, contact your local water department or go to http://newwa.org.
Raymond J. Raposa
Executive Director, New England Water Works Association, Holliston
In your July 12 issue, the chart titled “Has Your Town Had a Water Problem?” left out a major issue affecting the towns of Ayer and Littleton, which have been trying to protect the Spectacle Pond Aquifer (Zone 2 and Zone 3) from being paved over into a large auto-unloading facility by Pan Am Railways. The Green Issue failed to note threats of this nature to aquifers, and it definitely warrants mention. For more of the details and history of this ongoing struggle, you can read the excellent blog http://cleanwaterwarrior.com.
Sherry Swezey / Littleton
I loved your article about water conservation (“The Water Savers,” July 12). We have a summer cottage in an island community north of Boston, and we practice many conservation techniques, since we are totally off the grid (and 5 miles offshore, to boot). We don’t have any city water or sewer, telephone or electric. Our power comes from solar panels on our roofs, we collect rainwater in cisterns and use it for showers, washing clothes, and flushing toilets. Some of our neighbors have composting toilets. There is nothing better than using an outdoor shower with rainwater gathered in cisterns!
Julie Conroy / Amesbury
I wonder, can Elizabeth Gehrman, who provided tips for saving the ocean in your Green Issue (“Deep Thoughts,” July 12), tell me where to recycle Styrofoam? I have a bag of the Styrofoam trays that hold meat and fish bought at the supermarket and don’t want to toss them in the trash.
Alice Bouvrie / Arlington
Elizabeth Gehrman responds: The website http://earth911.com lets you indicate a material and your city and state and then tells you where you can find nearby recycling centers for that material. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any recycling center for Styrofoam in the Boston area. (A call to City Hall confirmed this.) As for other types of Styrofoam, most Mailboxes Etc. do accept packaging peanuts for reuse. When it comes to coffee cups, the best answer seems to be not to use them; carry your own refillable cup.
The Green Issue comments continued online. Readers shared their thoughts on tap vs. bottled on boston.com. lifeiscurious wrote: Tap water quality will vary by community; it’s worth checking with your city/town to ask how they purify the water supply and what they treat it with. At home, using a filter may reduce any lingering contaminants, but you need to invest in a high quality filter, preferably one that removes chlorine *and* fluoride. Ingesting fluoride is a health risk. I’m baffled why so many communities still add fluoride to their water supply when the ?negative effects are well-documented.
ChatterN wrote: Pharmaceuticals will be a tough issue for people using wells or downstream river water. Those molecules are custom-keyed to work on your body, so even small amounts will do something. Not an issue if you’re hooked into MWRA.
Rollingpassion wrote: If it stinks, don’t drink
jthibeau wrote: We don’t have water fountains in New England, we have bubblers.
