How much do you know about the bottled water you drink? Not nearly enough, according to a new report released today from Environmental Working Group (EWG). "Bottled water companies try hard to hide information you might find troubling," says Jane Houlihan, senior vice president of research for the Washington D.C.-based research and advocacy group.

EWG analyzed the labels of 173 unique bottled water products and company websites to determine if companies disclose information on where water comes from, how or if their water is treated, and whether the results of purity testing are revealed. The nonprofit also looked at how effective (and advanced) any water treatment methods are. Researchers followed up by calling dozens of bottled water companies to find out which ones willingly tell consumers what's in their bottles.

The Environmental Protection Agency says on its website that consumers have the right to know where their water comes from and what's in it so they can "make informed choices that affect the health of themselves and their families." Tap water is regularly tested and consumers can find their local water info online. That's not necessarily the case with bottled water, which is not required to disclose that information to consumers. "Bottled water is a food product and every one of these companies is complying with federal law," says Tom Lauria, of the International Bottled Water Association.

More than half of the bottled water products surveyed failed EWG's transparency test --18 percent didn't say where their water comes from, and another 32 percent did not disclose any information on treatment or purity of water.
Only three brands earned the highest possible marks for disclosing information and using the most advanced treatment methods available - Gerber Pure Purified Water, Nestle Pure Life Purified Water, and Penta Ultra-Purified Water.

On the other end of the spectrum, these six brands got the worst marks in EWG's report because they don't provide consumers with the three basic facts about water on product labels or their company website - Whole Foods Italian Still Mineral Water, Vintage Natural Spring Water, Sahara Premium Drinking Water, O Water Sport Electrolyte Enhanced Purified Drinking Water, Market Basket Natural Spring Water, and Cumby's Spring Water.
How does your bottled water brand stack up? Here's a look at the 10 top-selling* U.S. brands:

1. Pure Life Purified Water (Nestle), EWG grade = B

2. Arrowhead Mountain Spring Water (Nestle), EWG grade = C

3. Aquafina Purified Drinking Water (Pepsi), EWG grade = D

4. Dasani Purified Water (Coca-Cola), EWG grade = D

5. Deer Park Natural Spring Water (Nestle), EWG grade = D

6. Ice Mountain Natural Spring Water (Nestle), EWG grade = D

7. Ozarka Natural Spring Water (Nestle), EWG grade = D

8. Poland Spring Natural Spring Water (Nestle), EWG grade = D

9. Zephyrhills Natural Spring Water (Nestle), EWG grade = D

10. Crystal Geyser Natural Alpine Spring Water (CG Roxane), EWG grade = F

Filtered tap water received the best grade (an A) from EWG because if you change your filter regularly, EWG says it is purer than bottled water, plus it saves money (bottled water can cost up to 1,900 times more than what flows from your tap). Drinking tap water also takes less of a toll on the planet. EWG offers plenty of tips for filtering your tap water so that you can drink the healthiest water possible.

What should you do when bottled water is your only option? "While our top choice is filtered tap water, when you do need to choose bottled water, we recommend brands that tell you what's in the water and that use advanced treatment technologies like reverse osmosis and micro-filtration," says Houlihan. Advanced treatment technologies remove pollutants that other methods don't. You should look for bottled water products that tell you where the water is coming from and how pure it is.

Here are the results for all 173 bottled water brands included in the report. You'll find that some less popular brands rank even lower than our list of top-sellers.

The advice to drink filtered tap water can seem confusing when there are often reports about the contaminants found in municipal water supplies. Just last month, for example, EWG announced that cancer causing hexavalent chromium (chromium-6) is in 31 cities' tap water. Houlihan says chromium-6 is as likely to be in your bottled water as it is in your tap water and we need action from the federal government on this. She points out that a reverse osmosis filter can remove the worrisome contaminant. You can guarantee its removal in your home supply, but in many cases you don't know what's in the bottle you're drinking from.

OMG!, you love the water in Milwaukee.! WOW! Never heard anyone say that!

I had crypto, worst thing eva! If you even felt like you had to go to the bathroom, you had better be on the toilet.

Have not drank water from the tap since then, unless I had to, and to be honest, Milwaukee's water tastes like a swimming pool. It has that much chlorine in it. It tastes like chemicals, completely gross.

I drink Nicolet Artesian water from the Nicolet State Forest in Northern Wi (its bottled and sold in some grocery stores). Went camping there in 1992, and they had water pumps all over the place (its artesian water). I Filled up some gallons and brang the stuff home and that's all the only water I've drank since.

buy Nicolet artesian water for three months and drink it exclusively, then turn on the tap, and drink somee of that chlorinated Milw water....

You'll puke!

"dhpackr" wrote:

Study: Milwaukee, Madison tap water have probable carcinogen

Laboratory tests commissioned by Environmental Working Group (EWG) found hexavalent chromium, or chromium-6, in the drinking water of 31 of 35 selected U.S. cities. Among those with the highest levels were Norman, Okla.; Honolulu; and Riverside, Calif.

Milwaukee and Chicago both had .18 parts per billion (ppb) of chromium-6 in their drinking water. Madison, though, clocked in at 1.58 parts per billion (ppb), making it the fourth worst water city in the survey.

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) is an environmental organization that specializes in environmental research and advocacy in the areas of toxic chemicals, agricultural subsidies, public lands, and corporate accountability. EWG is a non-profit organization (501(c)(3)) whose mission, according to their website, is "to use the power of public information to protect public health and the environment."[1] Their funding is from "private foundations, individuals and select corporations."

Chromium-6 (hexavalent chromium) is a potent carcinogen when inhaled. Growing evidence shows it is harmful when ingested via drinking water. EWG has uncovered a scheme by industry-funded scientists to alter study findings linking chromium in drinking water to cancer. People may be exposed to chromium in pressure-treated wood.

One part per billion is equivalent to about a drop in 250 gallon drums of water, or three seconds in a century. Even if a city such as Norman has the highest concentration of chromium-6 of all the cities tested, that doesn't mean it places the residents at a higher risk for developing cancer than in other cities.

Toxicology experts say inhaling chromium-6 can cause cancer, but there isn't much data on the dangers of drinking it.

"The evidence is fairly good that it's carcinogenic in people in occupational settings who inhale it and get a good dose," said Dr. Shan Yin, assistant medical director of the Cincinnati Drug and Poison Information Center.

"No one has really established what is a carcinogenic level for drinking water," said Alfred Aleguas, managing director at the Northern Ohio Poison Control Center in Cleveland. "We need to establish what is a limit we have to be concerned about."

Whenever society tells me not to be alarmed, I'm alarmed! I am a non-conformist, and I very rarely believe the majority, unless I am taking a poll. Here's the thing, they also say that immunization shots don't cause autism but people keep getting it. Cancer is obviously an epidemic like aids however, since it is not transmitted via sex it gets a better stigma attached to it. Cancer is just like smallpox people are dropping like flies something very available is obviously causing it so if I were you I would boil my Water before drinking it from the tap. Common sense is not so common anymore!

As a master chemist and former president of Maryland's EPA-grant recipient environmental watchdog group, let me say that parts per billion are extremely small and PROBABLY not a problem. I capitalized probably because we really don't know. There should be further studies because there's lots of Chromium 6+ around because it's a common waste product of steel mills and other metalworks. The old Bethlehem Steel's Sparrows Point Steelyard in Baltimore is loaded with Cr+6 and the site was once considered for the location of a new pro. stadium. Whatever the old steel and shipyard sites there eventually become, we don't know if the area is hazardous or not because too little is known about Cr+6. I only minored in biology in college and had one upper-level biochemistry course, so I'm not an expert, but the fact that Chromium is element 24 and lighter than other metals like Iron (element 26), Copper (element 29), and Zinc (element 30) , is a more reactive metal than Iron or Copper [meaning it's more likely to metabolize and leave the body], and NOT a heavy metal like Mercury (element 80) and Lead (element 82), makes it less likely to easily grow to toxic proportions in the body like lead, mercury, etc. can.

A controversial water contaminant made famous by Erin Brockovich and a small California desert town is carcinogenic.

That conclusion by federal scientists, culminating more than a decade of debate, is likely to trigger new, more stringent standards limiting the amount of hexavalent chromium allowable in water supplies.

Its been known for about 20 years that people can contract lung cancer when inhaling hexavalent chromium, also known as Chromium VI. But until now, toxicologists have been uncertain whether it causes cancer when swallowed.

National Toxicology Program scientists reported that their two-year animal study clearly demonstrates that the compound is carcinogenic in drinking water. Mice and rats contracted malignant tumors in their small intestines and mouths when they drank water containing several different doses of hexavalent chromium.

I think its resolved, as much as it can be resolved, said George Alexeeff, deputy director of scientific affairs at Californias Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment.

It's aimed at improving the safety of our water: A new "goal" for the maximum amount of Chromium 6.

But it's prompting some serious questions. Perhaps the biggest is, how much of the carcinogen can be in our water.. and still be considered safe?

No agency has yet answered that question.

Naturally occurring and used in manufacturing, tests show it causes cancer in lab animals.

Currently, no law specifically regulates it. The new state "public health goal" for our water is Chromium 6 at a level of .02 parts per billion, a smaller amount than the goal announced a few years back.

Translated, the new goal means this: That one in a million people will develop cancer drinking two liters of water a day over 70 years with chromium 6 levels at 0.02 parts per billion.

So what about the water in the Coachella Valley Water District at 9 parts per billion? It's 450 times higher than the new goal. Does that mean the risk for developing cancer is 450 times greater?

Right now, no one is offering an answer, but research is being done.