Would you like some anti-convulsants or mood stabilizers to go with your water?

Clean, pure, and unpoisoned drinking water is a basic human need.....and right. It's a need and right we strive to bring to people all over the world and work hard at attaining for those in poverty-stricken third-world countries.

But do we even have it here?

An AP article published in my local newspaper this morning says that no, we don't. And not only have our drinking water supplies been proven to contain traces of major pharmaceuticals, there is absolutely no legislation requiring water treatment plants to test for these pharmaceuticals, or even do anything about it.

"A five-month-long inquiry by the AP National Investigative Team found that many communities do not test for the presence of drugs in drinking water, and those that do often fail to tell customers that they have found trace amounts of medications, including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones.

As part of its effort, the AP surveyed 62 metropolitan areas and 52 smaller cities, reporting on positive test results in 24 major cities, serving 41 million Americans. Since release of the AP investigation, other communities and researchers have been disclosing previously unreleased local results, positive or negative.

In Yuma, Ariz., for example, city spokesman Dave Nash said four pharmaceuticals — an antibiotic, an anti-convulsant, an anti-bacterial and caffeine — have been detected in that city's drinking water. In Denver, where the AP had reported undisclosed antibiotics had been detected, a Colorado State University professor involved in water screening there e-mailed the names of 12 specific drugs that had been detected."

What ever happened to just a plain old wedge of lemon to flavor our water?