What's really in our water?

This week I sat with Matt to try to figure out what is a good next step for my project.  Although it is coming along great...there is not a whole lot more that I can do from here, except to see classify and identify the microbes that I have.  As I mentioned earlier, all I add is DI water so my experiment never gets contaminated.  So i think that my next move is going to be sampling canal water from one of the many canals that er have here in phoenix, run the same experiment and see what is in untreated water.  I did a bit of research to see if the water that was originally collected from Papago Park, had been treated in any way.  This led me to some fascinating information about the process that takes place before we get our tap water.  This is not for the weak!! 
There are only three stages of treatment that out water goes through before we get it and depending on the location, population of your city and the sophistication of the water treatment plant, it may not even go through three stages...yes you read correctly.

The first stage is the primary: - works like a septic tank, the water is allowed to sit and the solid waste settles on the bottom while the scum floats to the top.  The bottom layer is sucked out and either dumped in a landfill or it is incinerated.  The water is them pushed through screens that separate the scum from the water.  This may be the ONLY stage before chlorine is added to kill the bacteria...GROSS

The second stage removes organic material and nutrients.  This is done by adding special bacteria to the water as it flows to large aerated tanks where the bacteria consume everything they can.  The wastewater (politically correct) then flows to settling tanks.  This process removes about 90% of all solid and organic material from the water.

The third stage is broken down into two clarifying stages, typically chemicals are used to remove phosphorous and nitrogen from the water.  The chlorine is added to the water to kill the remaining bacteria...this is the reason why our tap water tastes like pool water!!

Now our water is read to drink....or is it...you be the judge!!