http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn21882-antidepressants-in-drinking-water-may-contribute-to-autism.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=online-news

The use of antidepressants has increased dramatically over the past 25 years, says Michael Thomas of Idaho State University in Pocatello. Around 80 per cent of each drug passes straight through the human body without being broken down, and so they are present in waste water. In most communities, water purification systems cannot filter out these pharmaceuticals. "They just fly right through," says Thomas, which means they ultimately find their way into the water supply.

This is why we don't need health insurance in the U.S. All of us already get all the pharmaceuticals we need for free! Imagine all of the other poor countries of the world having to BUY their meds and swallow pills instead of getting them for free in their drinking water What a shame!

There are 2 recent studies on pharmaceuticals in municipal tap water from river or lake sourced drinking water. One is in the Eastern USA and found as many as 56 commonly used prescription drugs in trace or minute quantities, and the other was by a Guelph Ontario Masters candidate during his thesis on Cdn drinking waters with pharmaceuticals. Hi s study will not be published until it has been presented to the University which one of the two major veterinary colleges in Canada. {more later as I have just returned from a short vacation and shopping trip to the USA] - need some shut eye now!

There are 2 recent studies on pharmaceuticals in municipal tap water from river or lake sourced drinking water. One is in the Eastern USA and found as many as 56 commonly used prescription drugs in trace or minute quantities, and the other was by a Guelph Ontario Masters candidate during his thesis on Cdn drinking waters with pharmaceuticals. Hi s study will not be published until it has been presented to the University which one of the two major veterinary colleges in Canada. {more later as I have just returned from a short vacation and shopping trip to the USA] - need some shut eye now!

Too bad I can't get my insulin this way. Insulin requires injection else it get digested and broken down into its more basic amino acids. It's so depressing. (gulps big glass of water) ah ... I feel much less depressed now.

Gee, all I get here from non tap water is cholera...... That is, if it survives the e-coli and the mercury.

Thank goodness for chlorinated water, and the ion exchange resin I put in the water dispenser.

This link is only one of many articles on this subject:
http://www.law.fsu.edu/journals/landuse/vol26_1/gorman.pdf
Google at times boggles!
One of the worst of the pharma' contaminants are the various birth control prescriptions. They are altering the aquatic animals health and reproduction, particularly fish.
And the big unknown is what are the hazards of these residuals acting in combination(s) to create more medical problems than they ever cured as a prescription!

iTS A WONDER THAT WATER down stream TENDS TO BE PROCESSED 8-10 TIMES AS IT GETS used by other towns/cities.
By the time it hits the end and the LARGE cities...how bad can it be??

iTS A WONDER THAT WATER down stream TENDS TO BE PROCESSED 8-10 TIMES AS IT GETS used by other towns/cities.
By the time it hits the end and the LARGE cities...how bad can it be??

Out in the Prairies, many places have only Primary and Secondary sewer processing then holding lagoons followed by run off through a cattail marsh. It is well known that 300 yards of cattails will purify H2O to potable status including heavy metal filtering.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arcata_Wastewater_Treatment_Plant_and_Wildlife_Sanctuary

-did not find a link confirming the 300 yards, but I recall it as a fact from some authoritative discussions years ago [on how to get your shit together!]!
I suspect that length varies with the loading effect, plus the amount of Sunshine impinging on the lagoons, and the rate of hydraulic flow.
The experience in Ontario in the Trent River where Cdn Gen. Electric and others let PCBs escape into the river, it was found that the Carp which eat cattail roots/shoots, etc. were high in PCB % in the areas below Peterborough, yet much further down the Trent system and in other fish species PCBs were much lower to non existent! [I have never fished for Carp, and never intend to!]

There was a video created about Paws Inc.  The creator of Garfield installed a NATURAL filtration system for the building..