There is no such thing as naturally pure water. There will always be some impurities in your water unless it has been chemically altered. As water flows in streams, sits in lakes, and filters through layers of soil and rock in the ground, it dissolves or absorbs minerals and there are microbes everywhere around us. For the most part, these are harmless. Also, the minerals give water an appealing taste. This is why distilled water isn’t used for drinking. However, at a certain level, these minerals could make your water unsafe.
Some contaminants come from the erosion of natural rock formations. Other contaminants are substances discharged from factories, applied to farmlands, or used by consumers in their homes and yards. Sources of contaminants might be in your neighborhood or might be many miles away.
Your local water quality report tells which contaminants are in your drinking water, the levels at which they were found, and the actual or likely source of each contaminant. Some groundwater systems have established wellhead protection programs to prevent substances from contaminating their wells. Similarly, some surface-water systems protect the watershed around their reservoir to prevent contamination.
Right now, states and water suppliers are working systematically to assess every source of drinking water, and to identify potential sources of contaminants. This process will help communities to protect their drinking water supplies from contamination.
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