Spring Break
Your drinking water goes back to the tap
Lauren Lawson
Issue date: 10/24/07 Section: Features
- Page 1 of 1
New York City will now be spending $700,000 in tax dollars to tell New Yorkers to get their fill of tap water.
The goal is to save New Yorkers from spending money on bottled water when they can get the same quality from their kitchen sink. Even though New York is one of the five cities in the United States that doesn't filter their tap water, there is nothing in the liquid that is harmful, according to the New York State Department of Heath (NYSDOH) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
1.1 billion gallons of drinking water are distributed to over 8 million residents of the city. This water is supplied from a network of 19 reservoirs and three lakes, all controlled in a 1,972 square-mile watershed that extends 125 miles North and West of NYC. There was another system in Queens that supplied less than one percent of the city's usage, but it went offline in 2006.
All this water has got to pick up some things on the way to your tap, right? That's why the NYSDOH and the EPA both heavily regulating the amount of contaminants that NYC water is safely allowed to include. Some examples of regulated contaminants include microbial contaminants, inorganic contaminants, pesticides and herbicides, organic chemical contaminants and radioactive contaminants.
Freshman William Marvin said as long as scientists prove it's safe to drink, he thinks people will not get sick. However, he still only drinks bottled water because, "my dorm doesn't have a kitchen and it's kind of weird drinking from the bathroom sink."
Because of the expensive nature of only using bottled water, many restaurants are beginning to serve only tap water. According to The New York Times, Del Posto, an elegant, expensive restaurant has left bottled water behind. The owners say that it seems unnecassary to fill cargo ships with bottles of water and ship it around the world when you can get it from the sink.
Having tap water in restaurants could both help gain or potentially lose profit. On one hand, you can buy $2-3 bottles of water and sell them for $8. On the other, who needs to buy the bottles when you've got the tap?
Health-wise, the National Resources Defense Council says there are no differences between bottled and tap water. They say that both may have problems. The EPA regulates tap water more heavily than the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does, so all in all tap water may be just as good as bottled water.
The EPA tests their water weekly while the FDA tests it monthly, and does not have to report the results publicly.
Freshman Dan Mendoza said that he always drinks tap water at restaurants. "It's just something I'm used to. I never drink bottled water when I eat out, so I don't think otherwise."
The goal is to save New Yorkers from spending money on bottled water when they can get the same quality from their kitchen sink. Even though New York is one of the five cities in the United States that doesn't filter their tap water, there is nothing in the liquid that is harmful, according to the New York State Department of Heath (NYSDOH) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
1.1 billion gallons of drinking water are distributed to over 8 million residents of the city. This water is supplied from a network of 19 reservoirs and three lakes, all controlled in a 1,972 square-mile watershed that extends 125 miles North and West of NYC. There was another system in Queens that supplied less than one percent of the city's usage, but it went offline in 2006.
All this water has got to pick up some things on the way to your tap, right? That's why the NYSDOH and the EPA both heavily regulating the amount of contaminants that NYC water is safely allowed to include. Some examples of regulated contaminants include microbial contaminants, inorganic contaminants, pesticides and herbicides, organic chemical contaminants and radioactive contaminants.
Freshman William Marvin said as long as scientists prove it's safe to drink, he thinks people will not get sick. However, he still only drinks bottled water because, "my dorm doesn't have a kitchen and it's kind of weird drinking from the bathroom sink."
Because of the expensive nature of only using bottled water, many restaurants are beginning to serve only tap water. According to The New York Times, Del Posto, an elegant, expensive restaurant has left bottled water behind. The owners say that it seems unnecassary to fill cargo ships with bottles of water and ship it around the world when you can get it from the sink.
Having tap water in restaurants could both help gain or potentially lose profit. On one hand, you can buy $2-3 bottles of water and sell them for $8. On the other, who needs to buy the bottles when you've got the tap?
Health-wise, the National Resources Defense Council says there are no differences between bottled and tap water. They say that both may have problems. The EPA regulates tap water more heavily than the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does, so all in all tap water may be just as good as bottled water.
The EPA tests their water weekly while the FDA tests it monthly, and does not have to report the results publicly.
Freshman Dan Mendoza said that he always drinks tap water at restaurants. "It's just something I'm used to. I never drink bottled water when I eat out, so I don't think otherwise."
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