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Some of my fondest childhood memories involve water. I remember what it felt like to swim in a cool lake, fry up a fresh batch of fish that I had just caught with my Dad, and how refreshing the taste of ice cold lemonade felt after a hot day under the sun. And it saddens me to think that I can't recreate these same memories with my children and grandchildren because our waterways are so polluted. I walk down to the local river and see pop cans floating on top. We can still fish but can't we eat what we catch because of the high level of toxic chemicals that plague our water. Now, I read in the paper that despite our city's best efforts there may be drugs in drinking water.

My kids and I still have fun with water but it's different. We swim in a chlorinated pool, buy our fish at the supermarket and drink tap water that has been run through our home's carbon ion water filtration system.

With the carbon ion water filtration system, I feel safe even if I read stories about drugs found in drinking water. I know that the thick carbon block traps most pollutants that are found in tap water and the ion exchange renders most chemicals including drugs inert. Our water even tastes better than it use to.

But still I think that it is a shame to have to go to such lengths to protect my family from the pollution that we cause. It would be much easier if we and our government did more to prevent drugs in drinking water, and pollution in our lakes, rivers, reservoirs and ponds.

Did you know that the Environmental Protection Agency has no regulations regarding the drugs found in drinking water in our country? There is no way they can enforce the regulations anyway. Drugs in drinking water are caused by the way we dispose of expired and unused pharmaceuticals. Think about it. What do you do when you have a medicine that you no longer need? Do you rinse it down the drain? Flush it down the toilet or throw it in the garbage? Where do you think they go?

If you flush them down the sink or rinse them down the toilet, they go down into the sewer. Then the raw sewage goes to a water treatment plant and is run through their system. The clean water ends up back in the river, lakes or reservoirs. We end up drinking some of this recycled water. And the filtration systems used by most cities don't effectively remove the drugs in drinking water.

It takes longer for drugs to reach our water supply if you dispose of them in your garbage can. But over time drugs found in drinking water can be attributed to this means of disposal as well.

I wish that I could feel safe about the water that we drink, get our food from and play in. But with continued headlines that read drugs in drinking water, I think that I will stick with the carbon ion water filtration system that I have in my home.

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