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Tap Water is good for Your Health & the Environment

Posted on May 9, 2013

(Kansas City, Mo.) – This week, during National Drinking Water Week (May 5-11), Kansas City Water Services is celebrating the essential role drinking water plays in one’s daily life by educating Kansas Citians about the importance and quality of Kansas City’s tap water.

“Quality drinking water is essential to the health and well-being of Kansas City and the region,” said Water Services Director Terry Leeds.  “This week is National Drinking Water Week, and it’s important that we share with Kansas Citians the health and environmental benefits associated with Kansas City’s high-quality and great-tasting tap water.”

“Drinking clean natural water every day is a powerful step toward health,” said Amy Vandemerwe, Wellness Coordinator with St. Luke’s Hospital.  “Water is essential, and even slight dehydration affects our concentration and our energy levels and affects the body’s ability to cool itself during exercise or while in a warm environment.  The body loses water every day through elimination, through sweating and even through breathing.  We are not camels; we don’t have a place in the body where we store water for later, so we have to replace it.”

“The general guideline is that individuals drink six to eight, 8-ounce glasses of water per day.  Although a better guideline is to divide your bodyweight in half and drink one ounce of water per pound of bodyweight a day,” added Vandemerwe.  “For those interested in achieving or maintaining a healthy weight, research supports drinking one to two glasses of water prior to each meal to help reduce total calories eaten.  Water definitely makes you feel full, and this is a proven and effective weight strategy.”

There are a multitude of environmental and financial benefits associated with drinking tap water.  According to TapIt, a New York City-based national water bottle refilling network, ten important reasons to drink tap water, instead of bottled water, include:

  1. 36 ounces of water is needed to produce one 12-ounce plastic water bottle;
  2. 50% of bottled water is re-packaged tap water;
  3. Bottling water produces 2.5 million tons of carbon dioxide yearly;
  4. $1 billion worth of plastic is dumped in U.S. landfills each year;
  5. 17 million barrels of oil are consumed in yearly production of water bottles;
  6. Which is enough oil to run 1 million cars for a year;
  7. 1,500 water bottles are consumed in the US every second;
  8. Americans spend over $11 billion a year on bottled water;
  9. 1 billion water bottles are shipped across the U.S. weekly; and
  10. Tap water is cheap, safe, and eco-friendly.

To learn more about National Drinking Water Week and Kansas City’s high-quality and great-tasting tap water, please visit www.kcwaterservices.org/water-week.

For additional health-related information, please contact Amy Vandemerwe, Wellness Coordinator, at 816.513.1386 or amy.vandemerwe@kcmo.org.

To learn more about TapIt, please visit www.tapitwater.com.

For more information, please contact Jennifer Kincaid, Media Relations Coordinator, at 816.513.0284 or jennifer.kincaid@kcmo.org.

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KC Water maintains and operates water treatment and distribution systems, stormwater management systems, and wastewater collection and treatment systems for residential and business customers in Kansas City and for wholesale customers in the Kansas City area. KC Water is primarily funded by fees charged to customers based on their use or impacts on the three utility systems.

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