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Many people ask the basic question, "Is My Water Safe to Drink?". This is not a simple question to answer, since drinking water can become contaminated from hundreds, if not thousands, of chemical and bacteriological parameters.

Clean water is essential for life

Every day each of us uses about 140 liters of water in our homes - over one bath full! But it is being polluted. Our rivers and underground water supplies are threatened by poisons leaking from waste dumps, chemicals from industry and pollution from farms, while sewage pollute some of our best beaches.

Wildlife is most at risk from this pollution. But some pollutants can make their way into our drinking water supply, potentially damaging our health. Pollutants may also be taken up into the food chain. In 1997, for example, a government report revealed many fish oils used as health supplements were found to be contaminated with dioxins, which can cause cancer.

As well as threatening the health of humans and wildlife, polluted water can be expensive and difficult to clean up. The water industry is spending vast amounts of money on equipment to remove pollution. Groundwater and drinking water should not be needlessly polluted and that those responsible for causing the pollution should pay for the clean-up.

The Law

Polluted drinking water is not only potentially bad for our health - it's often illegal too. A European Union law, the Drinking Water Directive, was passed in 1980 setting maximum allowable levels for a wide range of pollutants in drinking water. All drinking water was meant to have met the standards by 1985. However, the UK Government allowed companies to continue supplying sub-standard water well beyond the 1985 deadline.

After all, millions upon millions of dollars have been invested in water treatment facilities of communities all across the country. Federal and state regulatory agencies have carefully outlined procedures and standards intended to guarantee the safety of the public water supply. Regulatory agencies conduct inspections and independently test the quality of municipal water supplies as well.

Recent studies, however, have revealed a growing threat to the nation's health from a surprising source: the public water supply.

Safe drinking water is under attack from a variety of opponents including increased bacterial levels, pesticides, fertilizers, aging municipal water systems and a regulatory structure that appears reluctant to penalize offenders.

Municipal water systems may be under another form of attack in the future, as studies have exposed the vulnerability of public water systems as targets for domestic and international terrorists.

The articles below illustrate the growing concerns of Americans over the quality and safety of drinking water. In a 1998 USA Today/CNN Gallup Poll, 47% of the respondents said they were concerned about drinking water directly out of the tap.

"Each day, millions of Americans turn on their taps and get water that exceeds legal limits for dangerous contaminants. Millions more get water that isn't treated or tested properly, so there's no telling if it's clean."

WASHINGTON -- When it comes to the nation's drinking water, there's no punishment for pollution.

Each day, millions of Americans turn on their taps and get water that exceeds legal limits for dangerous contaminants. Millions more get water that isn't treated or tested properly, so there's no telling if it's clean. Many people get sick. A few of them die.

A USA TODAY investigation finds that the federal and state programs charged with enforcing the nation's safe drinking water laws aren't working, undermined by inadequate funding, inaccurate data, a soft regulatory approach and weak political support. Even the worst violations of drinking water laws have a 1 in 10 chance of drawing legal action by the government.

At the same time, powerful new pollutants imperil the water supply, from hard-to-kill bacteria to industrial and agricultural toxins. Yet water systems increasingly rely on aging pipelines, deficient treatment equipment and poorly trained operators to make the water safe.

USA TODAY did hundreds of interviews and undertook a computer analysis of millions of records from the nation's 170,000 regulated water systems covering 1993-1997, from the largest serving 6.6 million people in New York City to tiny operations with just 25 customers, such as Hanks Trading Post in Flagstaff, AZ.

The most common symptoms of waterborne illness, nausea and diarrhea, usually get blamed on stomach flu or bad food. So, while the government has for years listed contaminated drinking water as a top environmental health threat -- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say people with immune deficiencies should consider boiling all tap water -- there has been little call for strong regulation.

"Right now, we've got a sleepy (regulatory) program nationwide, and we have a public that just assumes it will get clean water" says Steven Walden of Texas' Water Utility Division, a relatively aggressive oversight operation.

"But we've got...a lot of new threats to worry about," Walden added. "And with drinking water competing for resources with everything from roads to libraries...there's not much support for spending money to make it (the program) work".

Consequences are everywhere: For five years Boston has failed to meet requirements that it filter its water; in DeKalb IL, the water has exceeded federal limits for radium since they were imposed 22 years ago; in Ottawa County, Ohio, the Gem Beach Utility Company has refused since 1994 to meet treatment requirements for the water it draws directly from Lake Erie.

The last time a major waterborne illness hit a big city was 1993, when a parasite in Milwaukee's water killed 111 people and made 403,000 sick. It remains the worst outbreak in modern U.S. history but there have been others since, from Las Vegas to Austin, Texas, to Alpine, WY.

Americans are beginning to notice: A recent USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll found 47% of respondents won't drink water straight from the tap.

REBECCA CALDERON
Waterborne-Disease Expert
Environmental Protection Agency [EPA]

There's no telling precisely how many Americans get sick each year from drinking bad water. But it is safe to say there are a lot more of them than anyone knows about.

From 1993 to 1996, the most recent years for which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has records [when article was published in 1998], there were 52 confirmed outbreaks of waterborne illness that sickened 408,000 people and killed 111. All the deaths and 403,000 of the illnesses were linked to a 1993 bad water outbreak in Milwaukee, WI.

Researchers say those numbers barely scratch the surface of what's really going on. "I would say the cases we learn about are the tip of the iceberg", says Deborah Levy, a waterborne-disease expert at the CDC.

An investigation by Robert Morris of the Medical College of Wisconsin and Ronnie Levin of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) concluded that about 7.1 million Americans suffer nausea or diarrhea each year from bad water. The inquiry suggests that as many as 1,200 die as a result.

Other reports, including a widely circulated CDC study, suggest the number of illnesses is closer to 1 million, with about 900 deaths.

And a soon-to-be published report by the EPA suggests only about 230,000 people get sick each year from contaminated drinking water, with about 50 deaths.

There is no suggestion that the United States is returning to an era when waterborne plagues such as cholera and typhoid were leading causes of death. Today's drinking water problems are far more likely to cause nausea and diarrhea than any mortal epidemic.

But gastrointestinal illnesses from bad water have become increasingly common, according to academic and government studies. The illnesses pose what many researchers see as a serious public health threat with life-threatening consequences, particularly to the people in weakened medical condition.

"Nobody really has any idea how many people are getting sick and dying," says Rebecca Calderon, a waterborne-disease expert at the EPA. The problem is that people tend to attribute stomach problems to flus or food poisoning. They let them run their course over a few days and rarely see a doctor. Even if they do get help, doctors rarely do the kinds of tests that can peg bad water as the culprit.

The medical community is especially concerned by the threat that cryptosporidium and other bacteria pose to the rising number of people with weak immune systems, such as cancer patients getting chemotherapy, organ transplant recipients and AIDS patients. The elderly, pregnant women and infants also face greater risks from bad water.

For five years, the CDC has maintained a standing recommendation that Americans with those conditions should consider boiling their water before drinking it, regardless of its source.

Story by John Howard, Associated Press
Published in the Birmingham Post-Herald
January 22, 2000

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- It smells like turpentine and spreads through water so quickly and thoroughly that a scan spoonful can foul an Olympic-sized swimming pool.

MTBE, a widely used gasoline additive that makes cars burn cleaner, has posed a cruel dilemma: It's making the air cleaner, but it's polluting the water.

A suspected animal carcinogen with unknown health effects on humans, MTBE has become the curse of water officials from California to New England.

Leaking from gas stations' underground fuel tanks, it has forced wells to close, run up millions of dollars in cleanup costs, sparked lawsuits and prompted state, local and federal investigations into a petrochemical that is still something of a mystery.

"It's a diabolical chemical. It moves up, it moves down, it moves everywhere. Our feeling is that as long as MTBE is in gasoline, our groundwater is in jeopardy", said Dennis Cocking of the South Tahoe Public Utility District, where 12 of 34 wells were closed because of MTBE.

MTBE has two critical characteristics -- its ability to spread quickly, caused by its high solubility, and its permanency. Even in its tiniest proportions, five parts per billion, MTBE has an easily detectable smell.

"The stuff moves like wildfire. It increases exponentially. Once you find out you have a problem, you have a big problem. And once it's in, how do you get it out?" said Doug Marsano of Denver-based American Water Works Association, a consortium of water agencies that has urged President Clinton to ban MTBE.

According to Marsano, the chemical has been detected in varying amounts in all 50 states. Significant MTBE contamination also has been found in such pastoral areas as Ronan, Mont., and Spring Green, Wis., as well as in major cities like Dallas, Denver and Las Vegas.

"You can see it in a contiguous line from California to the East Cost. One of the great questions here is why a chemical that we don't have a lot of information about is being used in such a widespread manner," Marsano said. "At this point, we think it is a problem in every state, but just how significant a problem we don't know."

A European study in the mid-1990s linked MTBE to liver and kidney tumors in mice. The danger to humans is unknown.

"At the levels we're seeing in drinking water, there is no direct human study that shows cause and effect. The studies being used to assess risk are essentially studies being done on animals", said California's top drinking water official, Dr. Dave Spath of the Department of Health Services. "But the problem with MTBE is whether there is a significant future threat because of all these tanks that leaked over many years."

Water. Most people underestimate its value to good health and underestimate the potential risks of drinking water contaminated with chemicals and bacteria.

8 Reasons For Drinking 8 Glasses Of Water Per Day:

Water...is an essential nutrient
Water...helps carry nutrients to the body's cells
Water...helps transport waste to the kidneys and lungs for excretion
Water...helps carry hormones and disease fighting cells through the bloodstream
Water...is a necessary element for the many chemical reactions involved in the processes of digestion and metabolism
Water...assists in regulating body temperature
Water...helps protect and cushion the tissues and lubricate the joints
Water...provides a full feeling, assists in the regulation of the bowels and aids in relieving such disorders as constipation

CHLORINE
Water

Chlorine serves a valuable function in killing bacteria in public water systems. However, the benefits of chlorine in the public water supply are not without health risks either.

CHEMICALS
Chlorine is intentionally introduced into public water supplies to kill bacteria. What other chemicals find their way into our drinking water?

THE BOTTLED WATER ALTERNATIVE

CLICK ON PICTURE TO SEE ABC NEWS VIDEO

25 - 40% of the bottled water produced in the United States comes directly from municipal water systems
Bottled water is not required by law to have any higher standards for purity or safety than ordinary tap water
33% of bottled water brands tested by the NRDC contained bacteria
25% of bottled water contained known carcinogens
20% of bottled water contained harmful industrial chemicals
Bottled water can be expensive...up to $1.25 per gallon
Bottled water can be inconvenient...to carry extra bottles and difficult at times to find when away from home, especially when traveling

"Today, water system operators are battling a host of new threats, from heartier bacteria to increasingly toxic industrial pollutants, pesticides and fertilizers."

Just a few decades ago, it seemed the nation had won the war on bad water. Modern pipelines, chlorination and sewage treatment had all but wiped out virulent, waterborne plagues.

But the truth has proven more complicated -- and elusive. Providing Americans with clear drinking water is getting tougher every year.

Today, water system operators are battling a host of new threats, from heartier bacteria to increasingly toxic industrial pollutants, pesticides and fertilizers.

"The margin for error is closing", says Dennis Juranek of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Water utilities are presented with sewage or industrial waste much more today than 20 years ago. Back then, an operator could forget to put in chlorine one day. If you did that now, there's a good chance you'd have a (disease) outbreak."

Since 1974, the number of contaminants regulated by the Safe Drinking Water Act has grown from 13 to 83, ranging from dioxin, an industrial and agricultural byproduct, to such naturally occurring toxins as radon. System operators must do scores of water tests a year, yielding thousands of results.

Sometimes, even the most rigorous efforts to combat contamination can't do the job.

In 1992, Des Moines' water works spent $4 million to install the world's largest system for removing nitrates, which are components of fertilizers and manure that plague many agricultural areas and carry serious risks for infants and pregnant women.

Yet this spring (1998), the city warned that its tap water still was likely to exceed the legal nitrate limits because farmers used so much fertilizer during the 1997 drought. But unusually heavy rains ended up diluting contamination enough to keep the levels in check. But the city is now spending another $30,000 to upgrade its high-tech treatment system to handle growing nitrate threats.

Water systems face similar challenges in some of the new, hard-to-kill bacteria that crop up with growing frequency.

The struggle to control cryptosporidium and other bacteria has become even more complicated now that it's known that increasing chlorine levels poses its own problems.

Studies now show that high chlorine concentrations can react with acids in water to create trihalomethanes -- compounds linked to spontaneous miscarriages and various cancers. In response, the Environmental Protection Agency is proposing new rules limiting THMs and other possibly dangerous "disinfection byproducts" in drinking water.

Grappling with new contaminants and legal standards forces water systems to "strike a really fine balance", says Jeffery Griffiths of Tufts University's School of Medicine. "When you're dealing with things like cryptosporidium on the one hand and spontaneous miscarriages on the other...there are no easy answers."

Water Pollution

Sewage is a category encompassing human waste, garbage, and water used for laundering and bathing. About 80% of our sewage goes through treatment plants which remove nitrogenous and phosphorous compounds, as well as other solids. About 10% passes through septic tanks before being filtered and seeping into the ground. The remaining 10% remains untreated and passes directly into the water system.

The three basic types of water contaminants are microbes, chemicals, and byproducts of decontamination processes.

Microbes include viruses, bacteria, and intestinal parasites. The protozoan Cryptosporidium and the bacteria E. Coli, Giarda, and Salmonella are some common water-contaminating microorganisms. Diarrhea, dysentery, hepatitis, cholera, and typhoid fever, are some common bacterial diseases that can be found in drinking water. Hepatitis A, polio, and tuberculosis are some viral diseases found in drinking water. Recent Cryptosporidium outbreaks in Washington, D.C. and Milwaukee caused over 400,000 illnesses. Biological contaminants in the U.S. alone cause about 900,000 illnesses and kill about 900 people per year.

Lead can leak into water from pipes and pipe solder. It can cause brain damage, especially in children. Iron and manganese can cause water to turn rust-colored. They are harmful when ingested in large amounts. Hydrogen sulfide gas gives water a rotten egg odor and is harmful in large concentrations. Radioactive substances, such as radium, can cause cancer, especially bone cancer. Nitrate compounds, which are found in fertilizers, prevent hemoglobin from binding with oxygen. Excess amounts can cause death in infants. Many organic compounds can pollute water. Examples of such chemicals are benzene, dioxin, MTBE (used widely as an anti knocking agent in gasoline), PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), fungicides, pesticides, and industrial chemicals.

Chlorine drops, iodine drops, and halzone tablets are used to treat water to remove microorganisms. These substances give water a distinctly chemical appearance and taste. Trihalomethanes, such as chloroform, are byproducts of chlorine treatment. They can be harmful in excessive quantities. Many water treatment plants are beginning to use less harmful chemicals (such as ozone) in their purification processes. The amount of pollutants discharged by U.S. industries is more than three times greater then the amount discharged by U.S. sewage systems. Waste water from industrial facilities contains toxic chemical waste that is discharged directly into the water system. Factories and automobiles produce sulfur and nitrogen oxides, which can cause acid rain.

Laws limit the amount and kinds of waste that can be dumped into water. Billions of dollars are spent each year on research and water treatment plants. The Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974 set limits on the amount of harmful chemicals, bacteria, and metals in drinking water. The Environmental Protection Agency began to enforce drinking water standards in 1977, and the EPA issued limits on the amount of chloroform and related chemicals that can be found in the drinking water of large cities.