They say that ignorance is bliss. Gone are the days when you could just grab a glass, fill it up at the kitchen sink, and quench your thirst. In today’s age, we know how much our tap water is heavily contaminated with stuff that has absolutely no business being ingested. Here’s a list of 11 terrifying things that could be lurking in your tap water and that will immediately make you want to shop for a water filter.
1. Mercury
A few ways in which mercury can get into your tap water is through the erosion of natural deposits, landfill runoff, and discarded waste from factories. Ingesting high levels of mercury over time could lead to major kidney damage.
2. Manganese
This mineral may be noticeable in tap water through its slightly brownish color and strange odor. If consumed in high levels, manganese poisoning causes forgetfulness, nerve damage, and in extreme cases, hallucinations.
3. Fluoride
It is common to have fluoride added to tap water. However, most don’t know that extremely-high levels can cause fluorosis, a condition that affects your teeth and bones. Over time, this condition could lead to severe skeletal problems, and has even been linked to brain development issues in children.
4. Nitrate
Nitrate in your drinking water affects the hemoglobin in your blood making it unable to carry oxygen. This can lead to a variety of issues such as “blue baby disease” where an infant’s skin can take on a bluish color due to lack of oxygen. It has also been known to cause fatigue, high heart rate, thyroid, cancer, and other acute disorders.
5. Perchlorate
This chemical compound is often used to make fireworks and missiles, which is reason enough to be worried! The biggest concern with this compound is that it interferes with the normal functioning of one’s thyroid gland.
6. PFOA
According to Erin Brockovich who is a clean-water advocate, PFOA also known as perfluorooctanoic acid is the chemical in tap water that concerns her the most. PFOA can accumulate in our blood stream, kidneys and liver causing major damage. It could also result in development effects for fetuses during pregnancy.
7. Chlorine
Chlorine in drinking water may not sound too scary, but in abnormal amounts, symptoms of chlorine poisoning include diarrhea, cramps, nausea, asthma symptoms, food allergies, bladder, and rectal cancer.
8. Copper
Copper sneaks into your tap water through corroded plumbing, faucets and water fixtures. Similar to chlorine, copper toxicity can lead to diarrhea, headaches and in severe cases, kidney failure.
9. Radioactive Substances
Two radioactive substances that are found in tap water are radium and uranium. Both these concentrates can cause various bone cancers and have a toxic effect on one’s kidneys.
10. Arsenic
Arsenic gets into water, mainly from industrial and agricultural pollution. Long term exposure to inorganic arsenic can lead to cancer, thickening, and discoloration of the skin alongside many heart and nerve problems.
11. Lead
Young children, infants, and fetuses are very vulnerable to lead poisoning, which can damage their central and peripheral nervous system, cause learning disability, shorter stature, and impaired hearing.
Avoiding Toxins in Your Water
It’s hard to make sure all the water your home is getting is toxin-free. Thankfully, there are a few things you can do to limit how much ends up in your water. Running tap water through a high-quality water filter and regularly changing filter cartridges is extremely effective. If you’re truly concerned about toxins, you can transition to using bottled water. It may be expensive, but it won’t have the substances you might find in your tap water.
We hope this has equipped you with the knowledge you need to drink water safely, however you choose to!
