How do pharmaceutical drugs get in drinking water? And what can I do about it? These are all questions many households throughout America have been asking - and quite rightly so.

All hell broke loose when an Associated Press story broke, indicating that our water supply wasn't as safe as we thought.

Probe Finds Drugs In Drinking Water.

An Associated Press study of 24 large metropolitan cities across America (40 million people) found a large variety of medication in their drinking water. Sex hormones, cancer drugs, antidepressants and antibiotics were some of medications found. Even though these drugs were only found in trace amounts, the fact is that over the long term, taking these medications whenever you have a glass of water, can be dangerous.

Drugs find its way in your tap water as it travels from our toilet down to our rivers, lakes and reservoirs. When people take pills, their bodies absorb only part of it, the remainder is excreted and flushed down the toilet. This waste water is then treated before being discharged into lakes, rivers and reservoirs. Then the water is treated a second time before it is sent to you.

Although municipal water purification may remove some drug residue, many of it still remains when it is piped to you.

Limits Of Municipal Water Filtration

City water treatment will remove some drugs from water but their method of disinfection, chlorination, may actually interact with other pharmaceuticals and make them more toxic.

Besides, by the EPA's own admission, drugs in drinking water is a relatively new to them. They have not formulated a national policy for its removal from our water supply. This because they do not know for sure, the long term effect of these drugs on the human body.

You see, the EPA sets the rules as to how much of a contaminant can remain in tap water. Some contaminants, like lead, has to be totally removed from water. Other contaminants can partially remain in tap water because at a certain level, it is still considered "safe".

But The EPA and water authorities do not have any idea as to what is a safe level of drugs in drinking water or if it is necessary to remove all drugs from drinking water.

The Solution - Home Water Filtration

Getting a home water filter is the only option available at this time to increase your protection against pharmaceuticals in your water supply.

Reverse osmosis filtration can remove some drugs, but if a drug is molecularly smaller than water then reverse osmosis is ineffective. Carbon filtration is a less expensive alternative, as it is capable of removing molecularly small contaminants as well as other synthetic chemicals found in your tap water.

It is just a matter now of finding a reputable supplier of home carbon water filters. This can be easier said than done, but suffice it to say, with some research online and carrying out your due diligence, you can buy a great carbon filter system online.