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Research Outline
Prepared for AHAMMED A. | Delivered October 24, 2019
Drinking Tap Water
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Goals
To prove or disprove that drinking tap water is good for you.
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Early Findings
Evidence for Drinking Tap Water
It is generally safe
-
according to hundreds of studies around the world, drinking tap water that follows the
World Health Organization's guidelines
for drinkable water is considered as healthy or
even healthier
than drinking bottled water. The
United States, Canada
, and countries in the European Union all abide by
W
H
O
'
s
guidelines for drinkable water. For instance, in England,
99.97%
of test analysis performed on water passed the stringent WHO tests in 2018 and
most of the United States
also reported similar results.
Environmental conservation
-
by drinking tap water, consumers reduce the
amount of plastics
that end up in the environment. Plastic waste is destroying
oceans, wildlife, and earth
. Additionally, studies also associate bottled water with a
hefty carbon footprint
i.e. some reports estimate around
82.8g of CO2
for a half-liter bottle. Another disadvantage of filtered water production is the fact that each liter of bottled water is produced from
up to 4 liters
of water from production and filtering.
Evidence against Drinking Tap Water
Regulations do not guarantee safety
-
even though there are
strict regulatory procedures
in place to ensure tap water is safe to drink, there are many instances where these regulations fail in ensuring safety. Recent issues include the
presence of lead in tap
water in Flint, New Jersey and Chicago and PFAS that was
found in 30 regions
in the United States and Europe. The problem of
presence of
m
i
c
r
o
p
l
a
s
t
i
c
s
in drinking water is also rampant especially because we don’t know the
impact of
m
i
c
r
o
p
l
a
s
t
i
c
s
on humans
yet.
Pathogens in tap water
-
there is a higher probability of
tap water containing bacteria
, viruses, and parasites than filtered water.
S
o
m
e
o
f
t
h
e
pathogens present in tap water can be
harmful to human health
. An example of a harmful
b
a
c
t
e
r
i
a
in water is
E.
c
o
l
i
, which can cause
diarrhea, vomiting, cramps
, nausea, headaches, fever, fatigue, and even death sometimes.
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