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ewg.org/tap-wat

EWGs Guide to Safe Drinking Water

Tap Water: Learn whats in it.Tap water suppliers publish all their water quality tests. Bottled water companies dont. Read

your annual tap water quality report. Look up your citys water in EWGs National Tap Water Atlas

(www.ewg.org/tap-water ). (Private well? Get it tested.)

Filtered Tap Water: Drink it, cook with it.Choose a ilter certiied to remove contaminants ound in your water: www.ewg.org/tap-water/getawaterilter.

Eectiveness varies - read the ine print.

Carbon lters (pitcher or tap-mounted) are aordable and reduce many common water contaminants, like lead

and byproducts o the disinection process used to treat municipal tap water.

Install a reverse osmosis lter i you can aord it, to remove contaminants that carbon lters cant eliminate, like

arsenic and perchlorate (rocket uel).

Filters: Change them.Change your water ilters on time. Old ilters arent sae they harbor bacteria and let contaminants through.

Bottled Water: Drink fltered tap water instead.You can read the bottle label and still not know whether the water is pure or just processed tap water. EWG ound 38

contaminants in 10 popular brands.

On the Go: Carry water in sae containers.Hard plastic bottles (#7 plastic) can leach a harmul plastics chemical called bisphenol-A (BPA) into water. Carry

stainless steel or other BPA-ree bottles. Dont reuse bottled water bottles. The plastic can harbor bacteria and break

down to release plastics chemicals.

While Pregnant: Stay hydrated with sae water.Its especially important or women to drink plenty o water during pregnancy. Follow all the tips

above and take your doctors advice on how much to drink.

Infants: Use sae water or ormula.Use ltered tap water or your babys ormula. I your water is not fuoridated, you can use a carbon

lter. I it is, use a reverse osmosis lter to remove the fuoride, because fuoridated water can

damage an inants developing teeth. I you choose bottled water or your inant, make sure its

fuoride-ree. Learn more at www.ewg.org/babysae.

Breathe Easy: Use a whole house water flter.For extra protection, a whole house carbon lter will remove contaminants rom steamy vapors

you and your amily inhale while showering and washing dishes. Eectiveness varies widely call

the manuacturer or details.

Drinking plenty o good, clean water is important or a healthy body. Read EWG researchers top tips to learn how to stay hydrated

while reducing your exposures to common drinking water pollutants.