Pharmaceutical Drugs Found in DC Area Water Supply

As many people have already heard, The Associated Press (AP) just reported that it conducted an extensive 5-month investigation into the possible existence of various pharmaceutical drugs in the nation’s water supply. The study indicated that both tap water systems (where trace pharmaceutical compounds were found in 24 of 28 major water systems tested) and many of the nation’s watersheds (where 28 of 35 tested watersheds were found to contain some of these compounds) were contaminated.

According to the AP, “In the United States, the problem isn't confined to surface waters. Pharmaceuticals also permeate aquifers deep underground, source of 40 percent of the nation's water supply. Federal scientists who drew water in 24 states from aquifers near contaminant sources such as landfills and animal feed lots found minuscule levels of hormones, antibiotics and other drugs”. That means that well waters and spring waters may also be implicated.

At DrinkMore Water, we have built our Company on the fundamental belief that the single, most important way to choose one’s drinking water is by its purity. Purity is paramount. That’s why our custom-designed purification system employs the latest and most effective technologies currently available. In fact, in the AP report itself – our technology is the only technology mentioned that eliminates virtually all of these trace pharmaceutical compounds.

According to the AP, “One technology, reverse osmosis, removes virtually all pharmaceutical contaminants but is very expensive for large-scale use …” The centerpiece of the DrinkMore Water purification system is, in fact, reverse osmosis technology. Yes, it is expensive to install and maintain, but the purity of our product demands nothing less. Many people – customers and non-customers alike – have called us today asking the question of whether DrinkMore’s technology can remove pharmaceutical compounds from the water – and the answer is a resounding yes. Our technology removes virtually all of these types of compounds. In fact, we remove more than 99.5% of all impurities found in water. More than 99.5%!!

One question raised by the study is whether or not we’re looking at the tip of a veritable iceberg. There is little doubt that this very issue will be with us for a very long time. Do these compounds cause harm to humans in the amounts found? That is truly an impossible question to answer at this point and certainly, much more research needs to be done on this matter. But, in the DC area, the study looked at only six pharmaceutical compounds. There are literally tens of thousands of man-made chemical compounds in the environment. Are they all in the drinking water – hopefully, and almost certainly not. But, there will undoubtedly be further testing that shows that there are, in fact, many more compounds in the DC area’s tap water than were listed in the AP report.

What most people do not realize is that the municipal water suppliers actually do a very good job of making tap water “potable” or drinkable. The problem lies in the fact that we only drink about 1% of all tap water produced, the rest goes to flush toilets, wash clothes and cars, take showers and water the yard. Unfortunately, those municipal supplies don’t know which one gallon out of 100 gallons you’re going to drink – so they make all 100 gallons acceptable.

DrinkMore Water’s purification technologies are focused on that one gallon of water (out of a hundred gallons) that we actually drink. We strive to make that one gallon as pure as possible – so that people can have peace of mind that their drinking water supply does not contain any pharmaceutical compounds and for that matter, DrinkMore Water does not contain any chlorine, fluoride, aluminum, barium, copper, or nitrates. No coliform or E-coli. In fact, our purification technology is so comprehensive that our water exceeds all the U.S. Pharmacopeia standards for “Purified Water” – something no tap water and no spring water could ever claim.

DrinkMore Water’s proprietary ten-stage purification system ensures that your drinking water supply is safe from contamination. Rest assured

Honest Tea & Seth Goldman

First of all, I want to congratulate Seth Goldman – the founder of Honest Tea in Bethesda. Seth has done a superb job of growing his company over the past ten years and now, hopefully, is reaping the rewards after selling a minority interest in his company to Coke (announced yesterday).

I met Seth probably 8 years ago down at his old office and we talked about how DrinkMore Water might be able to help distribute his product to our water customers. I think we concluded that it was going to be a tough thing to do using our trucks (that are specially designed for delivering 5-gallon bottles). Anyway, he obviously figured the whole distribution thing out pretty well and I truly hope that the Coke investment doesn’t squash the entrepreneurial verve that got Seth to where he is right now – because that’s what it’s all about!

Seth has always been a leader in our community when it comes to the socially responsible form of entrepreneurship and business building and it just goes to show that you can do well by doing good. Congratulations Seth!!

Is Purified Water the same as Tap Water?

If you watch TV or read the news, you just may think so. Couldn't be further from the truth. Purified Water is defined by the US Pharmacopeia as having less than 10 PPM (that's parts per million or milligrams/liter) of total dissolved solids (TDS). In order to achieve that level of purity, you have to use expensive purification technologies like reverse osmosis or distillation or deionization. There are very few municipalities that have invested in these kinds of technologies for two very simple reasons. First, it simply costs too much, and second, 99.5% of tap water is not being consumed by people - it's being used for all sorts of other valid purposes - like flushing your toilet, washing your clothes, showering, hosing off the driveway (that, by the way, is not a valid purpose in my book), washing dishes, etc.

Why spend tons of money to make better water when your dishes don't care, your toilet doesn't care, your shower doesn't care and your lawn doesn't care?

At DrinkMore Water, we have invested heavily in state-of-the-art reverse osmosis purification equipment because we're focused on the 1/2 of one percent of the water that people actually drink!! We start with the water that the municipal water suppliers call their final product!! We could use spring water, river water, rain water, frogwater - virtually any kind of water and end up at the same point - that's how good our process is. It's also a whole lot more environmentally friendly to use a municipal source that is piped right in to our plant (as opposed to say, spring water, which has to be trucked in using heavy duty tanker trucks). If society could take a step back in time and redesign its water supply systems - there would actually be two systems. One system would distribute very high quality water for drinking and cooking and the other system (using a completely separate set of pipes) would distribute much lower quality water for all of the other tasks.

So, back to the question - is purified water the same as tap water? The answer is most definitely no. I do not know of a single municipal tap water that meets the US Pharmacopeia definition for Purified Water. None. Our water not only meets the standard, we blow it away. Our water has 1 PPM of TDS. It is very, very pure.

Our process begins with municipal tap water in much the same way that paper begins from a tree or a steel beam begins from iron ore or cheese begins from milk or gasoline begins from crude oil. Paper is not a tree. Steel is not iron ore. Cheese is not milk. Gasoline is not crude oil. Purified water is not tap water. To suggest that it is, is simply ridiculous.

The real question is whether purified water is BETTER than tap water. That answer is simple. If you're talking about the purity of the water and you're talking about what you personally drink, then yes, purified water is BETTER than tap water. If you're talking about eliminating as many contaminants as you can from the water you drink, then, yes, purified water is BETTER than tap water. If you're talking about watering your yard, then there isn't a big enough difference to say that purified water is way better. Your lawn, plants and dishes probably don't care that much.

Now, all that being said, I think our local municipal water supplier - the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC) - does an excellent job of providing tap water. The tap water MEETS all EPA regulations as far as I know. But again, only 1/2 of one percent of all of the water they treat goes into our collective mouths. They don't know which gallon (out of every 200) we'll drink, so they have to bring all 200 gallons up to meet EPA standards for tap water. Literally, the water you flush down the toilet is the exact same quality as the water you would drink. Same stuff. My personal preference is clearly to drink the BEST quality water, period. That would be purified water. That would be DrinkMore Water.

What about spring water? That's on tap for next time!!

Here we go!!

Greetings from Waterworld -


After many conversations with my in-house marketing gurus, I've been convinced to start a blog. Here she blows. So, in this blog, I'll occasionally pontificate on various issues that are: 1) about water, 2) timely and 3) potentially interesting. My opinions.

Generally speaking, I think most people understand very little about water, and more specifically, the water they drink. As water issues have recently become more topical, it's kinda disappointing to me how those issues get reported upon in the press. Like just about everything else we read or watch, there are a lot of questionable conclusions. Everyone has their own angle - or at least an angle that they think is newsworthy - facts be damned.

Well, my job is to separate the wheat from the chaff, and believe me, there's a whole lotta chaff.

My credentials? Got a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Duke - on the way I did time in both the pre-med and biomedical engineering programs. Worked on offshore oil rigs for Schlumberger for a couple years. Harvard Business School. CFO for a small oil exploration company. A little investment banking. A lot of energy consulting work and investment banking work for independent power producers and cogeneration companies. Lots of equipment specification work.

I love water. Started DrinkMore Water in 1993 with one retail water store. Designed and installed virtually every piece of purification and bottling equipment in our facility. DrinkMore Water now manufactures and distributes water throughout the Washington/Baltimore greater metro areas. We have about 10,000 customers - homes and businesses alike. Our product is purified water. I think it is the best water on the market today - bar none - and believe me, I'll be telling you why I think that.


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