Drinking Water Problems: An Overview
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Problems with tap water are a growing concern. Here's how to deal with poor drinking water.
"I suspect that in the next 50 years, we will see a shift from oil to water as the cause of great conflicts between nations and peoples." This chilling statement was made by Wally N'Dow, Secretary-General of a recent United Nations conference. Because of growing population, urbanization and pollution, the world is becoming thirstier for clean water. And though this drought is felt most severely in developing nations, Americans are beginning to see the ripples as domestic waters grow troubled.
Despite decades of controlling water-borne diseases and contamination through conventional chlorination and treatment, in 1993, a newly recognized parasite gave serious gastro-intestinal disorders to over 400,000 people in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Meanwhile, other headlines have continued report other problems: "Missouri Farmers Suffer from High Rates of Cancer," "Nitrates in Rural Water Exceed Federal Health Standards," "Urban Water Tainted by Lead from Aging Pipes," "Smog-Reducing Chemical May Threaten Ground Water." It's no wonder Americans now consume 2.5 billion gallons of bottled water per year.
What about you? Should you join the rest of America and buy your water at the grocery store? Should you ladle-up a few hundred dollars for a state-of-the-art filtering system? Or should you trust the tap?
To answer this question, you will have to do your homework. First, find out where your water comes from and determine what tests, if any, might be needed. Then, when you know what you're dealing with, consider the solutions.
The Basics
For most of our drinking water, municipal utilities draw ground water from aquifers, rock strata and springs beneath the surface, treat it for impurities and pipe it to our homes. A relatively few remote or rural homes pump drinking water directly from private wells.
Chlorination and other treatments are used to kill bacteria and microbes that cause water-borne diseases. Although only a handful of acute, water-based sicknesses normally occur in the U.S. each year, that huge Milwaukee outbreak was the harbinger of bad news. During the past three years, trace amounts of that dangerous parasite-- Cryptosporidium parvum--have appeared in many public systems across the country. Though in most cases these truly are harmless trace quantities, the parasite can survive conventional treatment.
The gastrointestinal distress that "Crypto" causes is uncomfortable but not life threatening to most people, but it can be serious or lethal for AIDS patients and others with suppressed or weak immune systems, including children and elderly people. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued an advisory suggesting that people at risk boil or filter their drinking water with an appropriate filter or drink bottled water that is known to be free of Crypto. If you're in doubt, speak with a health-care provider. In the very near future, large water systems will be monitoring for this parasite.
Largely because of improved detection capabilities, an ocean of microscopic contaminants has been found in treated drinking water in recent years. When present, these contaminants are usually in extremely low concentrations, but long-term exposure to higher levels has been linked to cancer and other diseases. Perhaps most disturbing is the fact that these pollutants are evidence of dangerous chemicals trickling into our water supplies which, without proper controls and disposal methods, will only get worse.
For the public's protection, Congress enacted the Clean Water Drinking Act in 1974 and strengthened it in 1986, setting minimum water quality standards for all water utilities that serve at least 25 people or 15 service connections. These standards limit the allowable amounts of pollutants found in drinking water, measured in maximum contaminant levels (MCLs), but there is no guarantee that all utilities comply with the regulations. Enforcement is difficult on national, state and local levels; not all known contaminants are on the list; and all testing isn't necessarily accurate.
Fortunately our biggest water suppliers, large metropolitan systems, tend to have the best drinking water because they have the equipment and resources for frequent, mandated testing--the frequency of testing depends on the number of people served. It's also somewhat reassuring to know that, when something does go wrong, utilities are required to notify their customers. Wells are another story. Private wells and systems that serve fewer than 25 people or 15 service connections are regulated only by state and local laws or by their owners.
The Hit List
What are the contaminants that put us at risk? The EPA categorizes the culprits as follows. A chart listing maximum contaminant levels and suspected health risks is available through the EPA printing office. For a copy or more information, contact the EPA's National Safe Drinking Water Hotline at (800) 426-4791.
* Organic chemicals are pesticides, solvents, and other chemicals that seep into ground water supplies. Some are known as volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) because they change (they may evaporate, for example). Most are linked with cancer and/or nervous system, liver and kidney disorders.
In the organic group, trihalomethanes (THMs) are sometimes created after water has left a treatment plant, when chlorine may react with leaves and other decaying animal and plant matter. A substance that can result from this process is chloroform, a suspected carcinogen.
* Inorganic chemicals include dangerous metals such as mercury, lead and arsenic; sodium; nitrates and nitrites; asbestos; fluoride; and a variety of natural minerals. Some inorganics are associated with a variety of health problems. Lead is known to cause brain damage and is highly toxic to infants and pregnant women, even in minute doses. It usually comes from lead water pipes, old pipe solder, or lead-based brass fixtures.
* Radon and other radio nuclides are present in the water of certain regions. These can enter the air you breathe through showers and steam--you don't have to drink the water. They come from naturally occurring radon, uranium, and radioactive waste and are known to increase cancer risk.
* Microbes, parasites, protozoa, bacteria and viruses are, by far, the most common cause of immediate, acute illnesses from polluted water. They occur in nature or often result from "back flows" of septic waste into the clean-water supply. They're much more common in wells than in metropolitan water systems.
NEXT: How to Test Your Home's Water / How to Solve Drinking Water Problems
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