Every living creature needs clean and safe drinking water. How much do you need? It depends - your size, activity level and the weather all make a difference.
The water you drink is a combination of surface water and groundwater. Surface water includes rivers, lakes and reservoirs. Groundwater comes from underground. The United States has one of the safest water supplies in the world, but drinking water quality can vary from place to place. It depends on the condition of the source water and the treatment it receives. Treatment may include adding fluoride to prevent cavities and chlorine to kill germs.
Your water supplier must give you annual reports on drinking water. The reports include where your water came from and what contaminants are in it.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Ground Water and Drinking Water: Frequently Asked Questions(Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Water) - http://www.epa.gov/safewater/faq/faq.html
- Water: Meeting Your Daily Fluid Needs(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/nutrition/nutrition_for_everyone/basics/water.htm
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Drinking Water and Health: What You Need to Know(Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Water) - http://www.epa.gov/safewater/dwh/index.html
Also available in Spanish http://www.epa.gov/safewater/agua/apsalud.html
- Healthy Drinking Water(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dpd/healthywater/index.htm
- Water(Navy Environmental Health Center) - Links to PDF - http://www-nehc.med.navy.mil/downloads/ep/Posters/gwlittle.pdf
- Water Disinfection Products No Harm to Pregnancy(08/28/2008, Reuters Health) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_68637.html
- Arsenic in Drinking Water Raises Diabetes Risk(08/19/2008, HealthDay) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_68325.html
- Community Water Fluoridation Now Reaches Nearly 70 percent of U.S. Population(07/10/2008, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://www.cdc.gov/media/pressrel/2008/r080710.htm
- Preventing Cryptosporidiosis: A Guide to Water Filters(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://www.cdc.gov/crypto/factsheets/filters.html
- Water: How Much Should You Drink Every Day?(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/water/NU00283/METHOD=print
- Arsenic in Your Drinking Water(Environmental Protection Agency) - Links to PDF - http://www.epa.gov/safewater/arsenic/pdfs/fs_arsenic_justthefactsforconsumers.pdf
- Basic Information about Radionuclides in Drinking Water(Environmental Protection Agency) - http://www.epa.gov/safewater/radionuclides/basicinformation.html
- Drinking Water Contaminants(Environmental Protection Agency) - http://www.epa.gov/safewater/contaminants/index.html
- E. Coli 0157:H7 in Drinking Water(Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Water) - http://www.epa.gov/safewater/contaminants/ecoli.html
- Ground Water and Drinking Water and Mercury(Environmental Protection Agency) - http://www.epa.gov/safewater/dwh/c-ioc/mercury.html
- Is There Lead in My Drinking Water?(Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Water) - http://www.epa.gov/safewater/lead/leadfactsheet.html
- Radon in Drinking Water(Environmental Protection Agency) - http://www.epa.gov/radon/rnwater.html
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Water Fluoridation: Frequently Asked Questions(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://www.cdc.gov/fluoridation/faqs.htm
Also available in Spanish http://www.cdc.gov/spanish/dental/fl-faqs.htm
- Airline Water Supplies(Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Water) - http://www.epa.gov/safewater/airlinewater/questions.html
- Bottled Water Everywhere: Keeping It Safe(Food and Drug Administration) - http://www.fda.gov/consumer/updates/bottledwater082508.html
- Bottled Water, Home Water Treatment Systems, and Fluoride Exposure(American Dental Association) - http://www.ada.org/public/topics/bottled_water.asp
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Emergency Disinfection of Drinking Water(Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Water) - http://www.epa.gov/safewater/faq/emerg.html
Also available in Spanish http://www.epa.gov/safewater/agua/desinfeccion.html
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Keeping Food and Water Safe After a Disaster or Power Outage(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://www.bt.cdc.gov/disasters/foodwater/facts.asp
Also available in Spanish http://www.bt.cdc.gov/disasters/espanol/foodwater.asp
- Lead and Drinking Water from Private Wells(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dpd/healthywater/factsheets/lead.htm
- Private Drinking Water Wells: What to Do After the Flood(Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Water) - http://www.epa.gov/safewater/privatewells/whatdo.html
- Private Well Resources(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dpd/healthywater/privatewell.htm
- Risks from Food and Water (Drinking and Recreational): Health Information for International Travel(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://wwwn.cdc.gov/travel/yellowBookCh2-FoodWaterRisks.aspx
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Tox Town(National Library of Medicine) - http://toxtown.nlm.nih.gov/
Also available in Spanish http://toxtown.nlm.nih.gov/espanol/
- Arsenic in Ground Water of the United States(U.S. Geological Survey) - http://water.usgs.gov/nawqa/trace/arsenic/
- Groundwater Sources of Contamination(Groundwater Foundation) - http://www.groundwater.org/gi/sourcesofgwcontam.html
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Safe Water in an Emergency
(Healthy Roads Media) - http://www.healthyroadsmedia.org/english/Files/flv/engsafwat.htm
Also available in Spanish http://www.healthyroadsmedia.org/spanish/Files/flv/spasafwat.htm
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ClinicalTrials.gov: Water
(National Institutes of Health) - http://clinicaltrials.gov/search/open/condition=%22Water%22
- Study Supports Benefits of Community Water Fluoridation for Older Adults(American Dental Association) - http://ada.org/prof/resources/topics/science_fluoridation_adults.asp
References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)
- Article: Surveillance for waterborne disease and outbreaks associated with drinking water... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18784643&tool=MedlinePlus
- Article: A community-based bacteriological study of quality of drinking-water and its... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18686548&tool=MedlinePlus
- Article: Targeting appropriate interventions to minimize deterioration of drinking-water quality in... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18686547&tool=MedlinePlus
- Drinking Water -- see more articles - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=search&db=pubmed&term=(water+supply[majr]+OR+water+purification[majr])+AND+(drinking[mh]+OR+drink[ti]+OR+drinking[ti])+AND+english[la]+NOT+(letter[pt]+OR+editorial[pt]+OR+case+reports[pt])&doptcmdl=summary&cmd_current=Limits&pmfilter_EDatLimit=last+1+Year&tool=MedlinePlus
- Drinking Water Glossary(Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Water) - http://www.epa.gov/safewater/glossary.htm
- Water Science Glossary of Terms(U.S. Geological Survey) - http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/dictionary.html
- Local Drinking Water Information(Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Water) - http://www.epa.gov/safewater/dwinfo/index.html
- Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) Program(Environmental Protection Agency) - http://www.epa.gov/tri/
- Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Water - http://www.epa.gov/watrhome/
- National Center for Environmental Health(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/
- National Center for Zoonotic, Vector-borne, and Enteric Diseases, Division of Parasitic Diseases(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dpd/
- National Drinking Water Clearinghouse - http://www.nesc.wvu.edu/drinkingwater.cfm
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National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences - http://www.niehs.nih.gov/
Also available in Spanish http://www.niehs.nih.gov/about/community/espanol/
- U.S. Geological Survey, Office of Water Quality - http://www.apta.org/AM/Images/APTAIMAGES/ContentImages/ptandbody/balance/BalanceFall.pdf
- It's Your Drinking Water: Get to Know It and Protect It!(Environmental Protection Agency) - http://www.epa.gov/safewater/consumer/itsyours.html
- Safe Water Drinking Act Basic Information(Environmental Protection Agency) - http://www.epa.gov/safewater/sdwa/basicinformation.html
- Drinking Water and Ground Water: Kids' Stuff(Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Water) - http://www.epa.gov/safewater/kids/index.html
- Groundwater: Kids Corner(Groundwater Foundation) - http://www.groundwater.org/kc/kc.html
- Water Science for Schools(U.S. Geological Survey) - http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/
- Asbestos - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/asbestos.html
- Cryptosporidiosis - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/cryptosporidiosis.html
- E. Coli Infections - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ecoliinfections.html
- Food Contamination and Poisoning - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/foodcontaminationandpoisoning.html
- Food Safety - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/foodsafety.html
- Giardia Infections - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/giardiainfections.html
- Lead Poisoning - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/leadpoisoning.html
- Parasitic Diseases - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/parasiticdiseases.html
- Traveler's Health - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/travelershealth.html
- Water Pollution - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/waterpollution.html
- Food and Nutrition - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/foodandnutrition.html
- Poisoning, Toxicology, Environmental Health - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/poisoningtoxicologyenvironmentalhealth.html