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Dear LEC Reader,
Water is essential to human survival. According to the medical community,
the human body is made of more than 70 percent water and can only survive
three days without consuming any water.
As the most ingested substance worldwide, water is also a common source
of both acute and chronic illness. Long-term exposure to chemical contaminants
can have serious and deadly effects.
According to the Water Quality and Health Council, "drinking water
systems continue to face challenges in assuring that customers receive
microbiologically safe water".
Most Americans depend on their local water utility to provide a safe
water supply, testing and monitoring is not as routine as most people think.
Is bottled Water the answer?
Roughly 40 percent of bottled water begins as tap water.
~Earth Policy Institute
According to the Container Recycling Institute, 86 percent of plastic
water bottles used in the United States become garbage or litter. (It takes
up to 1000 years for a plastic water bottle to biodegrade.)
Making bottles to meet the U.S. demand for bottled water requires more
than 1.5 million barrels of oil annually, enough to fuel some 100,000 U.S.
cars for a year.
~Earth Policy Institute
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