dir@cbosgd.UUCP (10/31/83)
My concerns with quality of water are (1) that extremely small amounts of some toxins are sufficient to contaminate large quantities of water, and (2) small amounts of less severe toxins consumed over a long period of time can lead to chronic fatigue, disease, or worse. Point 1 is possible given the flow of groundwater and the multiplicity of leaking toxic waste dumps, especially radioactive waste stored in metal barrels that rust. Point 2 is a concern since we know so little about almost constant exposure to carcinogenic and mutagenic substances. I'm not even sure that distillation is a solution (bad pun) because a home distillation unit tends to build up the very toxins you want to get rid of unless you clean it often, and a commerical supply house is (usually) under no guarantee to keep their water pure. Sigh.