IS YOUR DRINKING WATER SAFE?

Water is a critical resource on earth—every known form of life relies on it. But as pollution rises around the world, the debate on which is safer to drink, tap or bottled water, intensifies. This question and much more will be answered at a special Drinking Water Discussion on Wednesday, March 23 from 6 to 8pm in the Ross School Senior Building Lecture Hall. Hosted by the Ross Lower School Green Committee, this event is FREE and open to the public.

The panel of speakers will feature several Long Island officials including Doug Feldman, Chief of Water Resources and Andrew Rapiejko, Associate Hydrologist for Suffolk County Department of Health; Adrienne Esposito, Executive Director of Citizens Campaign for the Environment; and Carrie Meek Gallagher, Chief Sustainability Officer for Suffolk County Water Authority. Patty Lein, Curriculum Director and Chair of the Science Domain, will moderate the discussion.

Always looking for ways to lighten Ross School’s carbon footprint and slow down global warming, the Lower School Green Committee sought to ban bottled water on both the Upper and Lower School campuses. “The manufacture, transport and disposal of bottled water consumes a tremendous amount of energy and so generates a tremendous amount of greenhouse gases,” said Judy Rall, President of the Green Committee.

The issue gave rise to many questions, such as, what is the difference between bottled water and tap water? “As this attempt got underway, we discovered that there was a great deal of misinformation and lack of knowledge and awareness about the pros and cons of bottled vs. tap water,” Ms. Rall said. “I realized that many people must go through this debate frequently and that we all would appreciate a forum to ask experts questions, to discuss this topic with our peers and get some straight answers.”

Panelists will discuss whether or not town water is safe, the levels of chlorine used in town water and the federal, state, and county water regulation standards. They will also talk about well water and the impact of agricultural runoff as well as the effectiveness of filters in removing contaminants from water. Finally, they will describe the type of plastic used for bottled water and whether or not the chemicals in the plastic leach into the water.