Foods - Water - Tap Water

Tap water is provided by your municipal/provincial/federal government, state, or territory for the consumption of its residents. Processing plants are typically owned by a government organization or association/corporation acting on its behalf. In most cases, tap water has had chlorine added to it to prevent microbial contamination.

As water treatment plants only target biological contaminants during processing, it is possible that non-biological contaminants pass through the system and into the city's water distribution network. Non-biological contaminants include chemical effluent, dioxins, heavy metals (cadmium, lead, mercury) herbicides, fungicides, nitrates, pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyl's (PCB's), and synthetic hormones (from birth control pills, factory-farm growth hormones, et cetera). Most people thus use some form of filtration before consuming tap water.

The radioactive isotope tritium is a form of nuclear waste found in the polluted water bodies adjacent to nuclear power plants. Consequently, water from these sources contains radioactive factors that then enter the city's water distribution network. In Canada, four of the five Great Lakes are contaminated with tritium. Unfortunately, there is no form of filtration that will eliminate the radioactive factors that may be present in water.