🚀 go-pugleaf

I've been drinking bottled "spring water" since getting pregnant
a year and a half ago, because I thought it was probably safer than
my tap water and didn't have time to pursue the matter.  But now
I'm wondering whether I wouldn't be better off with the tap water.
(Mostly because I'm reading the horrifying book "Our Stolen Future,"
which suggests that plastic of various kinds, like that used to
bottle water, may leach hormone-disrupting chemicals into the water.)

There are a multitude of issues and questions.  I'd appreciate any
help with any of this.

How regulated is bottled water?  I remember hearing it wasn't very.
Does "spring water" really mean anything?  Do they have to test the
quality as often and in as many ways as my municipal water supplier
(EBMUD)?

I looked up Consumer Reports -- they said that the main things to
test for are radon, lead, and nitrates.  Do I have to worry about
radon in the Bay Area?  I got the impression they just didn't have
time/space to discuss all the other possible contaminants.  Is there
some way I could find out what's most likely in our water?

I'd really like to get my water tested -- even if it starts off in
relatively good shape from EBMUD, who's to say what happens to it
en route?  Do I just pick a lab from the yellow pages?  What should
I ask them to test for?  How much should I expect to pay?

Thanks in advance for your advice and suggestions.

	Tahani Sticpewich
	tahani@eecs.berkeley.edu
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Test Sticpewich | tahani@eecs.berkeley.edu                 | 510-642-1818
ERL, UC Berkeley  | http://infopad.eecs.berkeley.edu/~tahani | fax 642-2739
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