Pollution on Tap

December 17th, 2009. By Hunter West

You would think that a developed nation with the size, strength and clout of the United States of America would excel at the basic provision of clean drinking water for its citizens. Indeed, when Americans see images of under-developed countries around the world, with residents having to grapple with filthy sources of water for drinking, washing and bathing—our hearts go out to them. 

Little do most Americans know that such images hit just a little closer to home. 

The Clean Water Act passed in 1972 was an attempt to upgrade the nation’s aging sewer system. Over two decades in the 1980s and 1990s more the $60 billion was distributed by Congress to various cities and municipalities around the country in an attempt to shore up antiquated sewers. 

But it doesn’t seem to have helped. According to a recent New York Times investigation, sewers around the country are frequently overwhelmed resulting in raw sewage spilling into waterways. 

In the last three years alone, according to the Times investigation, more than 9,400 of the 25,000 sewage systems that exist in the US have reported violations via the dumping of untreated or partly-treated human waste, chemicals and other hazardous materials into rivers and lakes. 

Fewer than one in five violations were fined, or sanctioned. 

The problem is not limited to small municipalities. Major cities are likewise affected. 

A 2007 study published in the journal Pediatrics, focusing on one Milwaukee hospital, indicated that the number of children suffering from serious diarrhea rose whenever local sewers overflowed. Another study, published last year in the Archives of Environmental and Occupational Health, estimated that as many as four million people become sick each year in California from swimming in waters percolating with pollution often linked to untreated sewage. 

Samples collected at dozens of beaches and piers around New York City have detected the types of bacteria and other pollutants tied to sewage overflows. Though the city’s drinking water comes from upstate reservoirs, environmentalists say untreated excrement and other waste in the city’s waterways pose serious health risks. 

In Miami, a year-old luxury hotel was closed and all its’ guests moved to other facilities after a bacteria known as Legionella was found in the drinking water piped into the hotel. The water is heavily chlorinated by the municipality, but a carbon filter system in the hotel supposedly worked a little too well and allegedly removed too much chlorine, allowing the proliferation of a bacterium the chlorine was supposed to kill. One guest of the Epic Hotel died and three other guests became ill. 

As of December 15^th the hotel, on the banks of the Miami River at Biscayne Bay, remains closed pending further investigation. 

Another problem lay with the fact that in many municipalities, storm sewer run-off is combined with household waste water. When a heavy rain happens—which appears more frequent these days with global warming—such systems are often overwhelmed, resulting in the dispensation of thousands and sometimes millions of gallons of grey water into rivers and streams. 

At Owls Head Water Pollution Control Plant, which handles much of Brooklyn’s sewage, a fragile system can see an overflow occur even after a hard rain lasting no longer than 20 minutes. 

There’s more to be worried about. 

According to the New York Times investigation drinking water provided to more than 49 million Americans since 2004 has been found to contain illegal concentrations of chemicals such as arsenic, or radioactive uranium—as well as sewage-borne bacteria. 

As part of its investigation the New York Times analyzed data supplied by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and found various violations in every part of New York State. In Ramsey, New Jersey for example—an upscale area—tests of drinking water since 2004 have revealed the presence of arsenic, a carcinogen, and tetrachloroethylene (a dry cleaning solvent). Both chemicals have been linked to cancer and both were found at levels considered illegal and unsafe. 

It has been reported that the nation’s drinking water supply is one of a litany of priorities for the Obama Administration, and the EPA has been mandated with a wide-ranging overhaul of the Clean Water Act. 

However, reforms and improvements are likely a long way out, and studies have indicated that drinking water contaminants are linked to millions of instances of illness in the US each year. 

It may leave you thinking twice about holding that drinking glass under the tap—especially if it’s for your kid who wants a drink of water. 

One thing’s for sure—it’s a recipe for certain success for proprietors and suppliers of bottled water…

Tags: New York Times water study, Tap Water, Water Pollution

This was posted on Thursday, December 17th, 2009 at 11:59 am and is filed under Environment, Food Illness . Feel free to respond, or trackback. Read our comments policy.