It may look clear and clean, but if you live in the city like we do, that answer may not be as clear as you might think. We have long since filtered our water, both for drinking and for bathing (with the help of a shower filter) but even the best filters may not remove everything that we want them to. Recently I had the rather unpleasant experience of my eyes literally burning from the chlorine fumes coming off our tap water and I decided that we really did need to seek out an alternative to our current filtering situation. My first priority was our drinking water. While I understand we absorb a significant amount of water through our skin each time we bathe (the skin being the largest organ of the body), I felt more confident in the technology and efficacy of our shower filter than I did our fridge (drinking water) filter, so the beverage side of things seemed like a good starting point.
The ideal solution seemed to be a reverse osmosis (RO) filter for our whole house. Unfortunately that kind of system comes with a less than ideal pricetag, and I was apprehensive after reading some of the downfalls to RO water, so at least for now we had to look elsewhere. Some friends of ours recommended sourcing pure spring water from an area spring and provided a great resource for finding springs, (www.findaspring.com) and we had, admittedly, wanted to try some area samples for quite some time. My largest apprehension was the storage of spring water, given that large 5-gallon water jugs are typically made from BPA containing polycarbonate plastics and those that are BPA-free are both hard to find and expensive (around $20 each). As it turns out, my research for the safer non-BPA jugs was quite successful but in a very roundabout way. As luck would have it, shortly after our first son was born, in my quest to find safer alternatives to plastic, we purchased Sigg brand water bottles. In searching for the 5-gallon water jugs, I discovered that our supposedly BPA-free Sigg bottles did, in fact, contain BPA in their liners. Why was this a lucky occurrence, you ask? Well, I called our local Whole Foods where I had purchased our Sigg bottles and inquired about the trade-in program that I had read about in the online posts that mentioned the Sigg BPA controversy. Sure enough, the employee at Whole Foods confirmed that I could exchange my BPA-containing Sigg bottles for new bottles. Furthermore, they said that I could exchange them for any bottle I chose, regardless of brand. The fortunate part about this was that Whole Foods carries BPA-free 5 gallon water jugs and they are only a few dollars more than what I paid for our Sigg bottles.
With the purchase of the new bottles and a thrifted water cooler, we now have a fantastic setup. Our first visit to the spring was a fun trip for the boys and a very rewarding adventure. Not only do we have the experiencece of enjoying the natural resources of the world around us, but the taste is amazing!
Pure, fresh, raw spring water, coming out of the side of a mountain. It is tested monthly by the town officials in the municipality in which it is located (as is required by state law) and if there are any abnormalities, it is closed. While we were filling our jugs, three other cars stopped to do the same. I spoke with one local gentleman who said that, in 15 years, the town has only had to shut down the spring once. Apparently it is very popular, and once you taste it, you will know why. Find a spring near you and try it for yourself. Water... the real thing!
