There is a lot of controversy going around these days about our drinking water supply. So many people are concerned about exactly what is in it. No matter the source you get yours from, there could be things in that water that you would never voluntarily drink if you were really aware of it. We know that when we get our water from public sources that it has probably been treated to make it safe to drink, but what about what they are cleaning it with? Is the treatment process safe for us?

The usual treatment process for most public sources of water is chlorine. We also might add chlorine to our well water if we get our water supply from that. Chlorine has been used for quite some time to treat water and kill bacteria in drinking supplies. Without chlorine to treat water, it is thought that about 80% of the world drinking water supply would not be safe to ingest. This is why it is so important for the water to be treated.

Chlorine is also added to swimming pool water to make it sanitary enough to swim in. This is why it is essential when you have a pool that you are careful to test your pool water regularly to make sure it is as clean as it should be. The worry about chlorine in drinking water is when there might be too much added to water that we use to drink. It is recommended that a swimming pool should have 3 parts per million. Drinking water can be treated with 0.2 PPM up to 3PPM depending on the contamination levels. When the chlorine treatment gets to 3ppm or even higher is when it might be worrisome.

Chlorine can react with naturally occurring organic compounds. Known as disinfection by products, or DBPs, the most common two are trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids. However these by products have been found to be relatively harmless in small levels. Things like DBPs and drug residues are why people are becoming concerned about the real safety of their municipal drinking water. Many people have become accustomed to the smell and taste of chlorine in their water and have for years drank it without a lot of concern because we knew it made water clean enough to drink, but we probably never though it could contain as much chlorine as we put in our swimming pools.

In most cases there is not as much chlorine as there is put in pools, but our water supplies have become increasingly polluted, but there are other ways to clean water such as UV ray exposure for one. It is not quite as affective as chlorine though. It is said that if you place your water in a loosely covered container in the refrigerator for at least two day, the chlorine will disappear. This might work if you do not mind your water tasting like onions or leftover tuna salad.