Your tap water could contain traces of what you flushed away last week.

We all know that your diet has drastic effects on your health and happiness but did you know that after what you’ve flushed away ends up back in your tap water? Yeah,..yum!

What The Fact?

It seems that the contaminants in our tap water are subject to seasonal changes which reflect our dietary habits throughout the year.  For example, for a few weeks after Christmas, there is a spike in the amounts of cinnamon in our tap water while after Independence Day, it’s all about the caramel corn residue and waffle-cone pieces.  The most prolific contaminant globally it seems is vanilla extract/flavouring at around 14 milligrams per litre!

Why You Should Care.

It all seems pretty harmless right?  Who cares if there’s a little vanilla in your water?  Well those are some of the nicer ‘additives’ you might find.  In 2008, a study found that 92% of water samples at a Spanish water treatment plant contained traces of cocaine and other narcotics.  Even worse than that, in some cases tap water has been found to contain perchlorate which is a chemical mainly used in the production of rocket fuel which through destabilizing iodine intake can cause hyperthyroidism.

But I Only Drink Bottled Water…That’s Gotta Be Safe!

Shame on you!  For one, bottled water isn’t regulated nearly as strictly as tap water so no, it is far less safe than tap water and more importantly, bottled water is environmentally disastrous.  No matter how little you think you care about the environment, this frank infographic from Online Eduction is really hard to dismiss.

So next time your at the supermarket, put down the box of bottled water and go buy yourself a water filter or filter jug. Do yourself and the rest of the world a big favour.