DC Water Crisis Spreads to Arlington, Virginia.

Toxic Water Protection Program Expanded to Meet the Crisis in Neighboring Jurisdiction. Advice to residents and others on how to protect against water contamination anywhere.

Washington, DC March 5, 2004 -- Yesterday, government officials in Arlington, Virginia announced that 5 Arlington homes tested positive for excessive levels of lead in drinking water. Approximately one month ago, Washington, D.C. water officials announced lead levels of 50 parts per billion in the city drinking water, which is approximately 5 times the limit set by the Environmental Protection Agency for safe human consumption. In two cases, levels of lead in D.C. were found to be as high as 48,000 parts per billion, a level that would allow residents to actually taste the lead, according to city officials.

Arlington gets its drinking water from the same source as Washington, D.C., although neither jurisdiction has determined exactly how the lead is getting into the water.

What these results show us is that no matter how much confidence you may have in your local water authority, the safety of your family depends on your own action, and that action should be in the form of installing a point of use water filtration system in your home, says Glenn Garnes, a Maryland business man who operates a web site devoted to health and wellness. According to Garnes, who has done extensive research on water filtration systems, a water filtration system that removes toxins right before you drink, or shower is the best way to assure that your water is safe.

We have reviewed several high quality systems on our web site at Choosefitness.com, and would recommend that anyone looking for a high quality system begin their search by reviewing the information we have compiled, said Garnes. "Our review found that the more expensive systems are not always the best value, or more effective than less expensive systems, so consumers can save themselves significantly by doing their homework", Garnes added.

Garnes, also noted that some less expensive pitcher type and faucet systems can actually cost more in the long run, because of the higher cost of replacement filters. "Many pitcher filters that you see in your grocery store appear to be good values because the up front
cost of the pitcher is relatively small, but when you consider overall cost of ownership, in the form of replacement filters, these systems on a cost per gallon basis, can cost you as much as three times the cost of a quality counter top system, Garnes warned.

In response to the crisis in Washington, D.C., Garnes had arranged for a water filtration system retailer to make a high quality system available to D.C. residents at a significant discount. Ameripure Technologies, a company based out of Woburn, Massachusetts, has agreed to make one of its best filter systems available at a discount to D.C. residents.

That program has now been expanded into Arlington, Virginia. Ameripure Technologies president, John Krowiak says, "We will continue to offer this program to residents of any jurisdiction that is affected by high lead readings", said Krowiak. We are committed to making sure that no resident has to sacrifice family health and safety while government officials figure all this out", added Krowiak.

Ameripure has also agreed to offer the same level of discount on the purchase of replacement filters for any customer in D.C. or Virginia who acquires a system under the program.

Another filter manufacturer has donated 10,000 pitcher style water filtration systems for use by D.C. residents, but it was not clear whether residents would have to buy the replacement filters themselves. We were happy to see the Brita Company step in like we did, and help out with this crisis, said Garnes. "We know they can't give filters to every resident affected, and certainly, replacement cartridges will have to be the responsibility of the resident, so consumers should compare total cost of ownership in figuring out what benefits them the most in the long run", Garnes added.

D.C. and Arlington residents interested in taking advantage of the program can call Ameripure at (877) 281-1967. All they have to do is tell customer service they are a D.C. or Arlington, Virginia resident, and as long as the system is shipped to a an address in one of those jurisdictions, they will receive the discount.

For more information on the importance of filtered drinking water, community members can visit www.choosefitness.com, where the topic is covered in detail.

# # #