Is my drinking water safe? We already know that it’s not true if you live in Flint. But, what about other places? How can you be sure?
Well, we know that New York City has about the cleanest drinking water in the US. And, where I live in Alexandria, where we have a private water company delivering the goods, we are pretty much ok, too.
Way back when, we had great intentions. We passed the Clean Water Act (that set how we treat- or should treat- wastewater). We also passed the Safe Drinking Water act in 1974. This act was supposed to protect us from drinking unsafe water. And, there was a rush of activity- defining a score of inorganic chemical and microbial levels our water had to achieve.
However, the real problem is that the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) has not really expanded this list. They’ve not updated the supposed “adequate standards” for drinking water safety.
You see, back in 1986, Congress got fed up with the slow action of the EPA and requested limits for several scores of contaminants (legionella microbes, organic chemicals like acrylamide). And, to have EPA set up a system to continually update the rules for other compounds. So, thresholds for 85 substances were established.
But, water providers complained that it cost too much time and money to comply with these “new” regs. So, in 1996, Congress reversed itself (they would never admit that’s what they did). Congress basically straight-jacketed the EPA, so it can’t develop adequate protections for our drinking water.
They demanded EPA provide “cost-benefit” analyses for each new proposed restriction. Oh, and the agency had to prove that the science behind those limits was impeccable.
What does that really mean? About two decades ago, the EPA proposed a new addition to the compounds that must be precluded from water. An explosive residue- really a rocket fuel compound- perchlorate was to be regulated. One that, believe it or not, is found to be polluting the drinking water for about 5% of all Americans (more than 16 million folks). (What the heck is rocket fuel doing in our drinking water in the first place? I amsure you are not surprised that it results from industry not protecting our water sources from their laxity.)
But, even for this health hazard, no action has been taken, Because the Bush Administration said that EPA could not regulate this compound. Which meant nothing happened. Until 2011 (Under President Obama), when the EPA “said” it was going to promulgate an acceptable level. Except it hasn’t yet- and it is now 5 years later.
Not like this is the only problem compound in our drinking water. There’s perfluorooctane sulfonate and perfluorooctanoic acid. Both of these compounds are addressed as “advisories”. That means basically that we know they’re bad, but we’ll do nothing about them when we find them in our water. That’s the way it stands even as the EPA advises us that the concentrations in our water are unsafe.
Of course, there are at least 100 other industrial compounds that have found their way into our drinking water. Which have no limits imposed on them. Unlike these two that are at least “covered” by “advisories”.
And, then, folks tell you to drink 8 glasses of water daily…
RT @RAAckerman: Safe Drinking Water? Not by a long shot for most of us https://t.co/UXk24UmbYV #in #blogboost #blogtribe #adjuvancy
Safe Drinking Water? https://t.co/hASTFbZ0U9 via @RAAckerman <- Or you could just drink 8 glasses of poison daily.
Sheesh! Hope my water-filter pitcher is doing its job
Some of those filters work. But they also need to be changed frequently, Jeanine.
Safe Drinking Water? Maybe, maybe not | https://t.co/9rdI6MpWUs via @Adjuvancy
We get periodic reports on our municipal water where I live in upstate. I wonder how many other areas do that.
Everyone gets those reports. But, there is no requirement to provide the daily results. And, there is no guarantee that the report reflects one of their best quality days….
I am not saying that’s the case, Alana, but I would much prefer seeing a graph of daily results for all the required components.
We are lucky in our little village to have excellent drinking water.
Let’s hope you are not just lucky, Martha. But, that your water provider is highly diligent in ensuring the quality is superb!
Safe Drinking Water? | https://t.co/GhpMWAiONh via @Adjuvancy
It’s sad with all the noise these past three or four years about the “dark act” and getting GMO labels on all foods, everyone seems to have forgotten about the water we drink. Water being more important than food to keep us alive, how come nobody seems to be trying to fix a leaky boat. So we will label the foods that contain GMO’s and people will adjust to eating foods that contain no GMO’s but have been watered during the growing process with water containing a rocket fuel compound….I feel so much safer now.
Chef William Chaney recently posted..My Favorite Green Juice
I know you are against GMO: I am on the side of the National Academies if Meficine, Science, and Engineering that recognize GMO have been safe…and here for a while.
Our water is not so safe, as we read about those poisoned by it, those lacking adequate and safe supplies, etc. That us the fight worth executing.
Even if water is judged to be safe at the municipal water supply, there’s no guarantee that what comes out the faucet in our homes is of the same quality. Most homes built before 1986 either have lead pipes, fixtures, or solder that can leach into your tap water. And there have been plenty of stories in the news lately about accidental contamination of drinking water from coal ash, farm waste lagoons, etc. I would encourage everyone to consider getting a filter for drinking water. You need to get the right kind, though. Pitcher type filters like Brita and Pur don’t do much good except to make it taste better. I have more information on my blog if you’re interested.
Great points, Marge!!!!
Some of the pitcher filters can work- dependent upon the water quality at the tap. But, it’s always important to test the water a few times over a few days and then choose the appropriate treatment.
Thanks for that education!