It was two in the morning when the hospice nurse knocked at our door. My father had died a little over an hour earlier but she was coming, as required by law, to dispose of the painkillers that had been prescribed to him. She gathered all the drugs and poured the morphine down the drain.  

It's some years later and AP has released its own report sounding the alarm about the safety of our drinking water. Our water supply is substituting as a toxic waste dump for pharmaceuticals. AP estimates that at least 41 million Americans may be getting water that includes tiny concentrations of antibiotics, anti–convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones. Currently, there are no federal laws regulating the presence of these drugs and, according to AP's report, the EPA knows of no sewage treatment systems designed to remove them. In addition, the chlorine we add to our water can increase the toxicity of these pharmaceuticals.

It's a wake-up call –– just in time. With bottled water being no safer AND less tested, we have to protect our precious water supply from the disposal of medications. Pharmaceutical companies must be accountable for safely disposing of unused prescriptions.  And we need to take action to support our water infrastructure.  

To the consumer, our advice is the same. Avoid bottled water, drink the water from your public utility and get informed about how to protect it. Find more incentives to take back the tap in our report Take Back the Tap: Why Choosing Tap Water Over Bottled Water is Better for Your Health, Your Pocketbook, and the Environment.

Our water is a public responsibility and that's why Food & Water Watch is working to get a steady and reliable source of funding to keep our water clean and make it safe for our communities. Find out how your state would benefit from the establishment of a clean water trust fund in Clear Waters: Why America Needs a Clean Water Trust Fund.

Finally, help protect our water, sign the petition for a trust fund today.