Water, water, everywhere . . . Nor any drop to drink.

Over the last few months, public outcry has increased as residents continue to discover contaminated drinking water in cities throughout the United States. PFOA, lead, arsenic, chromium, nitrates? You name it, someone's water's got it.

But why now?

To make a long story short--until recently, many of these contaminates were either unregulated or their potential for adverse health effects were unknown. Under the Safe Drinking Water Act, the EPA is required to publish a list of unregulated contaminates known to be present in public waterways which, due to their potential for adverse health effects, might require regulation under the SDWA. The list is published every five years and cannot contain more than 30 entries. Out of the 30 contaminates listed, the EPA selects 5 for regulation, which explains why there are only 87 contaminates currently subject to any maximum contaminate levels.

Sure, that's 87 less things down the hatch, but the EPA has published official health advisories for over 200 contaminates that are known to cause health effects. WHAT THE HECK, EPA? Why aren't the others on the books? Red tape, my friends.

So what can you do to protect yourself? Well, you can start by checking out your area's Consumer Confidence Report. Each year, your water supplier is required distribute the report to residents. Never received one? Shocking.

Luckily, you can access the information here: https://ofmpub.epa.gov/apex/safewater/f?p=ccr_wyl:102