Wisdom Wednesday: Mineral Water versus Tap Water

Mineral water comes from underground reservoirs. Unlike regular drinking water, mineral water does not undergo chemical processing. As the name suggests, mineral water contains high quantities of minerals, especially magnesium, calcium, and sodium. But is mineral water better than regular water, and what are its benefits?

This article discusses some possible health benefits associated with drinking mineral water.

All living organisms need water to survive. Not only does water support essential physical functions, it also provides vital nutrients that the body does not produce on its own. While most people in the United States have access to clean drinking water, many people choose bottled mineral water for its perceived purity and potential health benefits.
How does mineral water compare with regular water? Based on the current evidence, the differences are not very significant. The water in household taps comes either from surface or underground sources.

In the U.S., tap water must meet the Safe Drinking Water Act standards established by the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). These regulations limit the number of contaminants present in water supplied to homes. Public water suppliers move water from its source to treatment plants, where it undergoes chemical disinfection. The clean water ultimately gets delivered to households through a system of underground pipes.

170 Million Americans Drink Radioactive Tap Water

Drinking water for more than 170 million Americans in all 50 states contains radioactive elements that may increase the risk of cancer, according to an EWG investigation released today.

Radiation in tap water is a serious health threat, especially during pregnancy, and the Environmental Protection Agency’s legal limits for the most widespread radioactive elements are more than 40 years old. But President Trump’s nominee to be the White House environmental czar rejects the need for water systems to comply even with those inadequate standards.

The most common radioactive element in American tap water is radium. EWG’s analysis of test data from almost 50,000 public water systems found that from 2010 to 2015, more than 22,000 utilities in all 50 states reported radium in the treated water delivered to customers’ taps.

Only a small percentage of those systems exceeded the EPA’s legal limits for radium, set in 1976. But almost all exceeded California state scientists’ public health goals for two separate radium isotopes, set in 2006, which are hundreds of times more stringent than the EPA’s standard for the two isotopes combined. The elevated risk of cancer, as well as potential harm to fetal growth and brain development, decreases with lower doses of radiation but does not go away.

“Most radioactive elements in tap water come from natural sources, but that doesn’t take away the need to protect people through stronger standards and better water treatment,” said Olga Naidenko, Ph.D., EWG’s senior science advisor for children’s environmental health. “Millions of Americans are drinking water with potentially harmful levels of radioactive elements, but the outdated federal standards mean many people don’t know about the risk they face when they turn on the tap.”

California has the most residents affected by radiation in drinking water. From 2010 to 2015, about 64% of the state’s residents were served by public water systems that reported detectable levels of the two radium isotopes. In Texas, which has a smaller population, about 80% of the population was served by utilities reporting detectable levels of those elements.