Distilling water?

The more I hear about water the more concerned I am. There have been articles for years about how some substances including medications are not tested for at treatment plants and find their way into our drinking water.

Now, there is 'fracking' a process to harvest natural gas, and articles detail how the waste is not treated completely, how the industry has persuaded agencies not to even test for some substances, and how there are escalating health complaints in fracking areas.

Do any of y'all have thoughts on water safety, and how we ourselves can assure that our water is safe? It appears that the people who are supposed to be watching out for us are looking the other way, because of the combination of pressure from private industry, and politics- the natural gas obtained by fracking will make America less dependent on foreign oil.

could always stick to distilled, or filter your own.

http://www.rei.com/product/695265 one of the best water filters ive found.

I'm not entirely comfortable with the prospect of long term exclusive consumption of distilled water either, and myself would prefer a high quality filter that included carbon filtration.

The debate about the benefits/potential danger of distilled water has gone on for decades, and is unlikely to find a resolution any time soon.
One of the problems is most of the proponents of distilled water are those who are also hoping to sell you a distiller. Likewise, many of the opponents of distilled water are looking to sell you some other form of water purification equipment, so it is difficult to find an unbiased opinion.

The proponents of course say it's pure water, and of course it couldn't get any better.
Those who caution against it say the process also strips the beneficial elements and minerals from the water making it deficient. At the extreme of that argument, some say distilled water not only fails to provide those nutrients, but because of it's deficient state actually strips them from your body resulting in significant deficiencies in your body after long term consumption.

I don't know which is closer to the truth myself. There is a tremendous amount of distilled water consumed world wide. As far as I know the US Navy uses it exclusively on their ships, and there's thousands of desalination plants across the world. Logically you'd think if it were a potential health risk that it would be better proven already. Some of the arguments cautioning against it are compelling though.

Myself, I am of the opinion that I'd drink solely distilled water only if the alternative was potentially worse than the speculated side effects of distillation.
Remember though, simple distillation does not remove many volatile organic compounds. Some hydrocarbon compounds for instance have a lower boiling point than water. The addition of at least an activated carbon filter is needed to fully purify the water.