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How Safe Is Our Drinking Water?

by on May. 27, 2010, under Health, Life

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Yum

Here at Data Port headquarters we regularly receive a health news letter published by the Center For Science in The Public Interest.

The newsletter, Nutrition Action, is filled with information about the food we eat and the stuff we drink. The cover story this month is titled “H2 Uh Oh” and outlines in scary detail some of the bad stuff that may lurk in our drinking water.

“For years, people said that America has the cleanest drinking water in the world,” William K. Reilly, the Environmental Protection Agency’s administrator under George H.W. Bush, told the New York Times last year.

“That was true 20 years ago. But people don’t realize how many new chemicals have emerged and how much more pollution has occurred. If they did, we would see very different attitudes.”

The risks from germs, contaminated surface water, leaking distribution pipes and plumbing (lead) are familiar. Happily, various disinfectants like chlorine can go a long way to make us safe. But according to Arizona State University’s Paul Westerhoff, director of ASU’s School of Sustainable Engineering we’re still not home free.

Chlorine combines with organic matter naturally found in water to form “hundreds of compounds called disinfection byproducts, or DBPs.”

The Nutrition Action article goes on to say, “The EPA regulates the 11 most common and best studied DBPs. Nine of the 11 cause cancer in laboratory animals.”

So what do we do? We filter. Home filters offer varying degrees of protection, but anything would be better than nothing. Costs and efficiencies vary from the simple home ‘pitcher style’ to sophisticated reverse osmosis systems.

And for an entertaining look at outrageous, and potentially disabling examples of over-eating let me recommend the 2010 Extreme Eating Awards .

More in Pol. & Govt.:

I'm So Tranparent

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 27th, 2010 at 9:00 pm and is filed under Health, Life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

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  • Ferraribubba

    Hey Mr. Port: If the Old Pueblo’s water is safe enough to keep our beloved golf courses green . . . it must be safe enough to drink. Es verdad, amigo?
    Just wait until you taste the Soylent Green that’s coming next. YUM!
    Yer pal, Ferrari Bubba

  • dr

    What kind of half baked article is this? Our drinking water IS safe.
    Water purveyors are required by regulation to monitor and analyze for a host of contaminants, any analytical results that are above the action level or in some cases, detected in any amount, require notification to the customers and remedial action to bring the water into compliance. In addition, consumer confidence reports are required to be provided annually to all customers. These enlighten the public as to what contaminants are in the supplied water, even if a contaminant is detected in an amount below action levels.
    “So what do we do? We filter. Home filters offer varying degrees of protection, but anything would be better than nothing.”
    As I said, except in isolated instances, water provided to end users in the U. S. meets EPA standards.  Point of use devises (filters, softeners, etc.)  generally are not required to make the water safe to drink,  but are for aesthetic purposes. In fact,  a lack of maintenance on these devises by the customer can actually make the water less safe.

    Do is all a favor. Do your homework and don’t post scare tactic, misinformed crap.

  • Eld

    Right on dr.
    This “article” seems more like a bad infomercial scare tactic than a well informed attempt to educate. We are very fortunate that our water is VERY safe to drink. Don’t like it?  Visit any town in Mexico (where, incidentally, I have volunteered many times to improve the water systems) and get a dose of reality.

    • Ferraribubba

      Hey Eld: You don’t have to travel to the combat free-fire zones of Mexico. Try certain areas of  Phoenix. Wasn’t there at least one tainted water caused death of a teen-aged boy a few years ago?
      Yer pal, Ferrari Bubba

      • db

        That occurred in Peoria, I believe. Cryptosporidiosis, from the parasite cryptosporidium, was the cause of death, I believe.  There was a lawsuit filed by the family against the utility. I’m not sure how the courts ruled on it though. It seem like there may have been an issue with a swimming pool that the boys used? I just don’t remember the details. These critters are normally found in surface waters, i. e.  rivers, streams, lakes, water parks, swimming pools. They are resistant to chlorine disinfection.
        My recollection is that contamination was not a widespread concern until the early 90′s when Milwaukee had a large scale outbreak in their surface drinking water system. That is the most notable outbreak that I can recall in the U. S.  Water system techniques and monitoring have been stepped up since then. The majority of cryptosporidium outbreaks that you read of now are from pools and other surface waters.

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