What contains My Water?

threats to our drinking water are increasing due to our aging water system infrastructure and increased pollutants invading our water sources. Because the source of our drinking water varies, the treatment it receives before coming to our tap also varies. For these reasons, we can no longer take the safety of our drinking water for granted.

Some of the more common natural sources of pollution include:

microorganisms; underlying rock; nitrates and nitrites; heavy metals found in underground rock that contains arsenic, cadmium, chromium, lead, and selenium; and fluoride. Human Activities causing pollution include: bacteria and nitrates from human and animal wastes, septic tanks and large farms; heavy metals from mining construction, and older fruit orchards; fertilizers and pesticides; industrial products and wastes from local factories, industrial plants, gas stations, dry cleaners, leaking underground storage tanks, landfills and waste dumps; household wastes such as cleaning solvents, used motor oil, paint, paint thinner, pharmaceuticals (discarded medications flushed down the toilet); lead and copper; hormones passed into the system through waste.

Most of us are familiar with problems caused by ecoli in the water or problems caused by lead poisoning, but not much is heard about problems from hormones or medications that make their way back into our drinking water. In truth, little is known about the long term effects of pharmaceutical contamination.

Hormones fed through the system can create a variety of problems. A study done in the UK found that high concentrations of female hormones (from women using contraceptive pills) were changing the sex of approximately half of all male fish and possibly affected male fertility. Other studies have shown antidepressants can trigger premature spawning in shellfish while drugs designed to treat heart ailments block the ability of fish to repair damaged fins.

If a water supplier determines that drinking water has been contaminated, they are required to inform their customers of any violations within 24 hours. It should be noted that in 2001, one out of every four community water systems did not conduct testing or report the results of testing which could lead to problems that are undetected.