What's in Your Water?

We all want to stay hydrated, right? Drinking enough water is hard enough, without having to worry about how many chemicals are passing through your at-home filter; and filling your house with hard-to-recycle plastic water bottles isn’t very eco-friendly!

We all know that drinking water can contain metals and certain pesticides, but recently you may have heard that chemicals called PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) have started sneaking into water sources around the country and world.

What are PFAs? Known as “forever chemicals,” they are chemicals that resist grease, oil, water, and heat. They were first used in the 1940's and are now in hundreds of products including stain- and water-resistant fabrics and carpeting, cleaning products, paints, and fire-fighting foams.

The Environmental Protection Agency is working to set strict standards on these chemicals, and some states are moving to ban the use of the substances altogether. These are good steps in the right direction, but what can we do to limit our exposure to these chemicals through our own drinking water? Your best bets are active carbon filters and reverse osmosis filters. Active carbon filters do a good job at filtering your tap water, but they need to be replaced frequently to be effective - and used filters usually end up in the landfill. Reverse osmosis systems are more effective, but installing one in your home can be costly. Take advantage of Common Market's bulk filtered water machines at both store locations.

Good news - if you’re a Common Market Owner, reverse osmosis filtered water is free! You can bring in your own containers to fill in our bulk department (we also have some for purchase in the store), thus bypassing the need for individually bottled drinking water.

Learn more about Ownership here!