Its easy to take for granted, but its essential for life and staying healthy. What are we talking about? Yes, water. Wouldn’t it be a 
good idea then, to find out as much as we can about where our drinking water comes from. Is there reliable information about what’s in our water supply?
Finding out where our drinking water comes from.
Heavily populated areas such as towns and cities, will likely have a water source from a lake, reservoir or river. This is referred to as a surface water source. It actually could be many miles away from you, not just a water source from your immediate vicinity.
It is not just the body of water that you need to look at to see if the water is good drinking water. What is the land like that surrounds the body of water? What is is used for? Is it more industrial or used for farming? An area like this is known as the water shed.
If you are living in a more rural area, do you have the same water source? It most likely comes from a different source, such as a well, which obtains its water from natural underground reservoirs, or aquifers. Interesting to note, however, that the area surrounding these wells should also be looked at.
You may think that its a difficult task to to obtain information about your drinking water, and we will be talking about this in future articles. For a more in depth investigation of the water in your vicinity, contact the supplier of the water for your area. Since 1999 every community water supplier must make an annual report readily available for its customers. The report provides information on the waters source as well as any contaminates that are found in the water.