Home and office filtration systems are saving plenty - no piles of plastic, recyclable bottles and no machines - but how long can you expect a clean stream from any method of cleaner drinking water?
FOX 29's Joyce Evans decided to find out. Since we spend much of our days at work, we decided to see what was in the water at FOX 29's Old City studios.
We started in the newsroom by properly swabbing the water fountains and worked our way into the lunch room and then we made our way to the water fountains in our human resources office.
We also grabbed all of the water pitchers out of the fridge.
"I can take a look at this and see what we can find," microbiologist Dr. Farbod Nekouei said.
The team at EMSL Analytics gathered cultures and we waited, for weeks for the gunk to grow.
Eventually, microbiologists found something called "sphingomonas," inside our filtered fountain water. which isn't toxic but could make you sick and may even cause serious infection if your immune system is weakened.
"I've seen far worse," Dr. Nekouei said.
Our filtered newsroom and lunchroom fountains still had less bacteria then the unfiltered human resources fountain, which probably won't hurt you but still isn't the cleanest way to drink water.
Faring better was the filtered tap water pitcher, which was doing a great job to catch all of the water born bacteria, but microbiologists still found a few other types of bacteria - the kinds of germs they suspect from the not so clean hands that installed the clean filter.
"It's a good thing we have an immune system," Dr. Nekouei said.
Microbiologists did stress one point: you can't expect to catch every speck - it's just not going to happen. In fact, they sent us back with a super sterile kit to capture more samples.
If you're looking for some help on how to properly change your water cooler at home, ehow.com has some good tips.
Tuesday, June 18 2013 6:07 PM EDT2013-06-18 22:07:39 GMT
Published reports are saying this is a murder/suicide. The victim is 47 year old family practice doctor Michelle Liggio, and the alleged gunman is her estranged husband 58 year old Christopher.
Published reports are saying this is a murder/suicide. The victim is 47 year old family practice doctor Michelle Liggio, and the alleged gunman is her estranged husband 58 year old Christopher.
Tuesday, June 18 2013 5:57 PM EDT2013-06-18 21:57:09 GMT
A former teacher in central Pennsylvania is charged with allowing a student to perform body piercings in class. The teacher at Northern York County High School resigned after the incident last April.
A former teacher in central Pennsylvania is charged with allowing a student to perform body piercings in class. The teacher at Northern York County High School resigned after the incident last April.
Tuesday, June 18 2013 5:26 PM EDT2013-06-18 21:26:08 GMT
Torrential rain and storms are moving across the region tonight. The heavy rain is causing flooding for some people out on the roads, particularly in South Jersey and Delaware.
Torrential rain and storms are moving across the region tonight. The heavy rain is causing flooding for some people out on the roads, particularly in South Jersey and Delaware.
Tuesday, June 18 2013 5:20 PM EDT2013-06-18 21:20:41 GMT
Bensalem Police have released a series of photos of the suspect wanted for stabbing a man during a vehicle break-in.It all happened on Monday when the suspect was observed trying to break into vehicle
Bensalem Police have released a series of photos of the suspect wanted for stabbing a man during a vehicle break-in.It all happened on Monday when the suspect was observed trying to break into vehicle
Tuesday, June 18 2013 5:17 PM EDT2013-06-18 21:17:37 GMT
Lots of traffic and police activity, police cameras are everywhere. But that didn't stopped this armed robber from calmly walking into a Dunkin Donuts on camera Monday afternoon and sticking the place up.
Lots of traffic and police activity, police cameras are everywhere. But that didn't stopped this armed robber from calmly walking into a Dunkin Donuts on camera Monday afternoon and sticking the place up.
Tuesday, June 18 2013 3:47 PM EDT2013-06-18 19:47:28 GMT
It was a crime that stunned a Montgomery County community--the murder of a baby and her grandmother. Now, the lawyer for 27-year-old Raghunandan Yandamuri says his client was "pressured" into confessing.
It was a crime that stunned a Montgomery County community--the murder of a baby and her grandmother. Now, the lawyer for 27-year-old Raghunandan Yandamuri says his client was "pressured" into confessing.
Tuesday, June 18 2013 3:41 PM EDT2013-06-18 19:41:03 GMT
A man from Newark Delaware has been charged after he exposed himself to a woman while stopped at a red light. The incident happened on May 1 around 8:30 p.m.
A man from Newark Delaware has been charged after he exposed himself to a woman while stopped at a red light.
Tuesday, June 18 2013 2:58 PM EDT2013-06-18 18:58:15 GMT
Ever wonder how you can stay toned while on vacation? FOX29's Mike Jerrick was out on the patio with some tips from the folks at Balance Chestnut Hill on "Good Day Philadelphia" Tuesday morning.
Ever wonder how you can stay toned while on vacation?
WJBK-TV | Fox 2 16550 West Nine Mile Rd. Southfield, MI 48075
Main Station: (248) 557-2000 Newsroom: (248) 552-5103
We put our filters and water coolers to the test to see how clean our drinking water really was at our FOX 29 studios in Old City.
We swabbed our faucets and took what we found to EMSL Analytical Laboratories in Cinnaminson, New Jersey.
