Lead found in water in Toronto homes

A study, recently released, found that drinking water in more than half of 100 older Toronto homes tested last summer exceeded the acceptable level of lead - by as much as eight times the accepted standard!

The culprit? Aging water pipes. Those aging pipes, which would have been installed sometime before 1955, could be putting up to 65,000 households at risk.

Lead can seriously harm the intellectual and behavioral development of infants, young children and particularly babies in the womb, who are particularly vulnerable to ingesting and absorbing the heavy metal.

I can't help but wonder if the people living in those homes know that there are dangerous levels of lead in their drinking water; and whats more, if the people living in those 65,000 households know what they need to do to eliminate the lead in their drinking water.

There are several simple things that residents can do to lesson the amount of lead they will get in their drinking glass - like running the faucet for at least 5 minutes before using the water (what a waste of water - not to mention time). By far the most effective way or removing the lead contamination and saving water and time is to simply install a water filter that has the ability to remove lead.

This problem of lead in older water pipes is certainly not isolated to Toronto. If you live in an older home, in any city, you need to be concerned about lead contamination in your drinking water. The risk to children, both born and unborn, is great but the solution is simple and will cost less than a night at the movies. Can you afford to take the chance?

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Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink...

When I was a child, growing up on a small island surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, my father used to recite that little rhyme "Water, water everywhere; And not a drop to drink". He would usually say it when we were out in a boat. Obviously, he was talking about the sea water and the fact that if we had not brought fresh, clean water on board with us, we would have no water to drink even though we were completely surrounded.

That was forty years ago and that old adage is becoming alarmingly true even when we're on dry land. Much of the "fresh" water that exists on our planet has become contaminated and is no longer available for drinking. As a civilization, we have created a water crisis with fresh water now being called the "Oil of the 21st Century".

According to the Water Footprint Network, the production of one kilogram of beef requires 16 thousand liters of water. Production of agricultural products consumes, by far, that greatest volume of available water supply with animal production consuming the largest share.

Every day we hear about becoming more "green" and our "carbon footprint" referring to the greenhouse gasses we all produce on a daily basis. But we rarely hear anything about our "water footprint" and how much pressure our world is putting on clean water supplies.

Think of some simple ways you can save water. They can be as simple as turning off the tap while you brush your teeth or shave. Perhaps, the car isn't quite as dirty as you thought and it really doesn't need a bath today.

You can calculate your water footprint at http://www.waterfootprint.org/index.php?page=cal/waterfootprintcalculator_indv_ext. My water footprint was 674, mostly for food production. Find out your own water footprint. Let us know - how did you do?

We can no longer take our water supply for granted.
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