March 10, 2008

• You might have missed this, but check it out. Then again, maybe you didn't miss this.

  http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080309/ap_on_re_us/pharmawater_i

  Either way, this is pretty scary. I've been an advocate of bottled drinking water for years now. About 8 years ago I worked for a company that did government research. Its sound interesting and even top secret, but its pretty much just a fancy way of saying that we did surveys for the government. And one of those research surveys was tracking down and interviewing former Marines who served at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. It seems that the water was contaminated with the chemicals used in dry cleaning from 1968-1986. The whole time, people were drinking the water without knowing that it was contaminated. Our job was to interview (via phone) these Marines to find out if their children born or conceived on the base had any childhood cancers. It was, to say the least, a heartbreaking study and the origin of my belief that the US military does not give a shit about their soldiers. Anywho, ever since then I have been very weary about tap water.

  And its not to say that bottled water is 100% pure. We have all heard stories about how bottled water companies use tap water. I for one believe that Wal Mart probably does this, knowing how cheap and evil they are. But still, I would rather take my chances with bottled water than tap water. For example, the water in the town I live in has more than its share of radon in it. It also has limestone and is known for having hard water that dries out the skin. I've been told we are going to be getting some new water systems here, but that it won't be complete until 2009. The fact that the water in my town has been contaminated with radon and limestone opened my eyes to this even more. And our village says that the water is still safe to drink, but why should I trust them? Just to be safe, I haven't drank Romeoville tap water in probably 5 or 6 years.

  Were you like me though? Were you STUNNED to read this article? I want to say I wish I was surprised, but the more and more I think about it, the less stunned and surprised I become. And to think, there are still a lot of major cities whose water was not tested. If I had to guess I would say that this is a problem in just about every town. After reading the article, its hard to see how it is not a problem is every major town. Furthermore, Congress is claims that they will hold hearings on this issue, that is probably after they get the the FAR more important issues of steroids in sports and the New England Patriots possibly cheating during the 2002 Super Bowl. In case you couldn't tell, I was being sarcastic.

  The disgusting part is how these drugs got into the drinking water: from human waste. Call me nuts, but I thought that we were supposed to have some sort of system that prevented the drinking water from mixing with the toilet water. I know when somebody mixes various foods while they eat they say "ehhhh, what's the difference, its all going to the same place." Well I had no idea the same held true for water. They are saying that if you drink tap water you can potentially be drinking Aunt Bea's estrogen pills. Sure, its probably not enough to do any significant damage, but still the mere thought that its in there is kind of scary. I mean, if that can be in there, than who the hell knows what the hell else is in there? First we find out that fast food companies sometimes get cow shit mixed in with their beef and now we find out that, essentially, human waste is mixed in with our water? Is there no escape from shit? I'm no fucking doctor, but even I can see that consuming feces, even if trace amounts, can not possibly be healthy.

  Bill Maher is always saying that our food and water supplies are being poisoned. At first I thought he was being a little nuts, but the more and more I learn the more and more I realize that he is right. And what's even worse it that I don't know how we can know we are safe.

  • 10:18 pm
  • 1 Comment