How Do I warrant Safe Drinking Water While on Vacation?

Most Americans are aware that water supplies are not nearly as dependable as we used to think. In fact, over 2100 contaminants have been identified in drinking water thus far. Of course, not all are in the water you drink, but how many did you want in it and still know it is safe?

Let's assume you've acted on the warnings you have heard and have stopped drinking faucet or even well water as is. You have decided only filtered water is worthy of yourself and your family. If so, you have elected to whether buy a filter and purify it yourself, or to continually buy bottled water in some form.

Berkey Water Filter

Now you are planning a vacation or a camping trip and you want to take along the same pure water that you enjoy at home. If you have elected to drink bottled water then it's simple. Just take along a case or two. Over eight billion gallons of filtered water are sold annually. In spite of the fact that water is so abundant, in bottles it could be more costly than gasoline. But for a vacation, bottled water is probably pure enough, though maybe not as pristine as claimed by the label. Too, if you discard the dozen or more bottles you use on your vacation, you only add to the environmental problem of non-biodegradable plastics in land fills or on road sides.

For those who have purchased a gravity feed filter the clarification is also obvious. You can pack your water filter in the car and filter all drinking and cooking water no matter what the source. This would provide an endless provide and would certify that the stream or faucet water is safe for the house to drink.

What if you whether have a built in filter, or don't have room to take your gravity fed water filter with you? In that case, a microscopic planning ahead would still provide the same water you drink at home. You filter extra water and store it to take with you.

The problem is, in what do you store and transport it? You know the water is clean when it leaves the filter. You literally don't want it deemed unsafe because of the container. This is a very real concern. The Pet bottles (made of polyethylene terephthalate) used by most bottled water companies, are, as far as we know now, safe as long as they are kept in cool places. Water stored in them at higher temperatures for a duration of time might become contaminated with chemicals from the bottle. Reusing them is not hygienic either.

What about the hard plastic bottles for sports drinks or water coolers? The National Institutes of condition recently showed that bisphenol, used to make these bottles, may cause neurological problems in developing babies. They have yet to witness the long range effects on adults. That may be a bit risky to store and transport water in those packaging too.

This narrows our choices even more. We want the pure water from home but can't bring the filter. If we transport it, we are in danger of ingesting substances leeched into the water from the packaging that may harm us or our families. Solution: filter extra water at home prior to the vacation and store it in glass containers. This would consist of jars, bottles, and glass lined thermoses.

This clarification solves some problems. We not only have the clean water we want, but we also don't lead to the environmental problems of discarded bottles. In addition, we have the peace of mind, knowing that the water is pure and safe, and the packaging can be washed and reused without contaminating the water we drink.

How Do I warrant Safe Drinking Water While on Vacation?