Today we will continue to explore the different drinking water filtration systems available to the general public by discussing briefly the specifics of a drinking water filtration system known as a Distiller.

• One part of a distillation system boils drinking water into steam and a second part recondenses the ‘purified’ steam back into water.
• Distillation systems may take the form of countertop models and point-of-entry (whole house) systems.
• Distillation systems work quite well for people whose unfiltered/untreated drinking water contains heavy metals and elements such as copper, cadmium, chromium, lead, mercury, arsenic, selenium, barium, fluroide and sodium.
• Some people opt to combine a distillation systems with an activated carbon system for more complete drinking water purification. Adding the activated carbon drinking water filter to the purification systems allows it to remove bad tastes and odors and a well-rated activated carbon filter will filter out many hazardous contaminants such as heavy metals, disinfection byproducts (i.e. haloacetic acids and trihalomethanes to name a few), chlorine, radon, volatile organic chemicals, parasites, and pesticides.

Once again all of us here at Water Testing Blog feel the need to mention a testing topic slightly off from our usual water testing subject — though in the end this discussion will come right back to it.

Many different newspapers, magazines and other media outlets have published articles about the dangers presented by pressure treated lumber containing chromated copper arsenate. Studies have shown that over time, chromated copper arsenate treated lumber in wooden playgrounds, decks and other structured have a tendency to leach inorganic arsenic out of the wood, onto the ground, and potentially into the local drinking water supply.

“NEW YORK (August 27th, 2007) – More than thirty percent of New Orleans schoolyards tested two years after Hurricane Katrina are contaminated with arsenic in amounts two to three times the levels requiring cleanup under both state and federal law, according to findings released today by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). ( source )”

Children whose lives got thrashed apart by Hurrican Katrina returned home to their battered neighborhoods only to find their favorite playgrounds coated in cancer-causing arsenic which officials believe may have come from deposits of deeply buried old pesticide deposits which came to the surface when flood waters rushed through the city and eroded the soil, carrying the toxins wherever they went.

More proof that arsenic in pressure treated wood poses a danger to the environment. . .

The following text taken from an article written entitled “U.S. Tests for Arsenic in Playgrounds Sets” by Julie Hauserman and published in the St. Petersburg Time on 9/26/2001 ought to give the average parent nightmares:

“TALLAHASSEE — The U.S. government plans to take more than 1,000 samples at wooden playgrounds around the country to find out if the arsenic in pressure-treated lumber is leaking out.

The testing could start as soon as November, according to a draft plan released this week by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The government’s action follows a series of studies around the country — including soil tests commissioned by the St. Petersburg Times — that show that arsenic is leaking out of pressure-treated wood, one of the most popular building products in America. The wood is infused with a pesticide called chromated copper arsenate, or CCA.

EPA plans to make random calls to city parks, private schools, day care centers and public schools, asking for permission to test. The Consumer Product Safety Commission plans to test about 75 playgrounds, and also test lumber purchased at home-improvement stores around the country. Government testers plan to take some 750 soil samples.

The strategy could change, though, in the next month. It becomes final after a 30-day public comment period.

Ordinary pressure-treated lumber has enough toxic chemicals in it to rank it as a hazardous waste, but the industry got a special exemption years ago from hazardous waste laws. The wood is banned in several countries.

Some advocates hope the federal study will lead to a ban on pressure-treated wood at playgrounds, where children can pick up traces of arsenic.

“I think we know enough now to know that CCA wood is dangerous,” said Jane Houlihan, research director for the Environmental Working Group in Washington, which is pushing for a ban. “The government should be acting, not studying, at this point.”

To find out whether pressure-treated lumber leaks arsenic, the Times commissioned soil tests around five wooden playgrounds, picked randomly in the Tampa Bay area. Every test came up positive for arsenic, at levels higher than the state allows when polluters clean up contaminated neighborhoods.

Pressure-treated wood executives agree that arsenic leaches out, but say the levels are too low to worry about.

“The testing that’s been done in the past has consistently held up the safety of CCA wood,” said Mel Pine, spokesman for the American Wood Preservers Institute, an industry trade group. “We have every reason to believe these new tests will affirm the safety of our product.”

The Consumer Product Safety Commission last studied pressure-treated wood in 1990, testing seven wooden playgrounds purchased from “major U.S. manufacturers.” The study found that arsenic was leaking from the wood. The study looked only at a child’s risk for skin cancer from the arsenic and found “a small risk that should be reduced further if it can be practically accomplished.”

Arsenic can also cause neurological problems, birth defects and other kinds of cancer.

The Environmental Working Group and the Healthy Building Network filed a petition with the Consumer Product Safety Commission last spring, asking the government to ban arsenic-treated wood on playgrounds. That petition will be addressed at a public meeting in Bethesda, Md., Oct. 3.

On Oct. 22, a scientific panel convened by the EPA will explore the risk that arsenic-treated lumber may pose to children.

The wood-treatment industry is facing legal and regulatory challenges all over the country.

In Miami, a federal class-action lawsuit says the industry and home-improvement stores were negligent because they didn’t warn consumers that the wood contained toxic chemicals.

The EPA ordered the wood-treatment industry to add more warning labels on the wood, which should show up in stores before the end of the year.

Wood-treaters are also facing several personal-injury claims from people who say they have been poisoned by the wood. Some of those claims, including one filed by a Seattle teacher who was poisoned by arsenic wood when he built a raft, have been settled.

In Congress, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., is pushing a measure that would force the EPA to issue a report on arsenic-treated wood in just 30 days. He praised the government’s plan to do more tests.

“Thank goodness the Consumer Product Safety Commission is coming forth,” Nelson said. “The whole point of me doing my amendment and raising such a ruckus is to try to give some certainty to local government officials as to what they should do with their playgrounds. Some of them have closed, some of them have reopened. The county commissions and city councils need to have some definitive information — is the playground soil safe or not?”

In Florida, state Rep. Larry Crow, R-Dunedin, is pushing to ban arsenic-treated wood on playgrounds. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection has stopped buying arsenic-treated lumber for state parks, and the Florida Department of Health has convened a scientific panel to look at the risk that the wood may pose to children.

There are safer alternatives to arsenic-treated wood, and some of the same companies that sell arsenic-treated wood in the United States also sell the environmentally safer kind in countries that have banned arsenic-treated wood.

This summer, a Florida wood-treatment company became the first in state history to start treating wood without arsenic.

Large retailers like Lowe’s and Home Depot don’t carry the arsenic-free treated wood yet. Company spokesmen say there’s not enough consumer demand for it. ( source )”

Update: An ad campaign sponsored in part by Healthy Building Network has since convinced Lowe’s and Home Depot to stop selling arsenic treated wood. ( source )

No demand for safe lumber? Cost probably plays a factor in that, but that topic can get debated elsewhere. No one on the Water Testing Blog staff has a degree in Economics. . . but we all care about keeping dangerous compounds such as arsenic out of our (and your) drinking water.

Remember: Inorganic arsenic leaching from pressure treated wood typically goes into the ground where it can find its way into a stream, a river, the aquifer, someone’s well, and eventually someone’s drinking water.

How Can Homeowners Test for Arsenic in Wood?

A new test procedure developed by Industrial Test Systems, Inc. makes use of their patented, EPA/ETV^R Test Verified Arsenic Quick^TM test kit and provides accurate, repeatable arsenic in wood test results down to as low as 1 migrogram per liter in as little as 10 minutes. Suggested retail cost for 5 tests: $25.99 USD

International Aid Organizations worldwide make use of Quick^TM Arsenic testing kits to detect arsenic levels in water, wood and soil.

On August 19, the American Medical Association published the results of a medical study involving the medical records of just under 800 Americans. They concluded that a link exists between exposure to arsenic and a specific type of diabetes. They could not, however, pin down what type of exposure (by air, soil, water, etc.) caused the diabetes.

Study: Possible diabetes link to arsenic in water

“CHICAGO, Illinois (AP) — A new analysis of government data is the first to link low-level arsenic exposure, possibly from drinking water, with type 2 diabetes, researchers say.

The study’s limitations make more research necessary. And public water systems were on their way to meeting tougher U.S. arsenic standards as the data were collected.

Still, the analysis of 788 adults’ medical tests found a nearly fourfold increase in the risk of diabetes in people with low arsenic concentrations in their urine compared with people with even lower levels.

Research outside the United States has linked high levels of arsenic in drinking water with diabetes. It’s the link at low levels that’s new.” ( source )

Announcements about arsenic in water such as this one by the American Medical Association serve as strong, compelling proof that the amount of arsenic in our drinking water does matter and that it needs monitoring at regular intervals.

Fact: Arsenic levels in groundwater change as the water table rises and falls.

Fact: Operators of public water systems must test the arsenic levels in the drinking water they produce and report those levels to the Government on a very regular basis — or face serious legal and financial consequences.

Fact: Owners of private wells have no compelling legal reason to test their water for arsenic or that matter, anything. Responsibility for the safety of their drinking water lies squarely in their laps.

Given that arsenic levels may vary greatly from week to week and possibly even day to day, Water Testing Blog suggest that owners of private well heed the advice of organizations such as the National Ground Water Association and the United States Environmental Protection Agency and test their well water (or get their well water tested by a certified lab) at least once a year — and definitely make arsenic testing a part of that routine.

Home Drinking Water Test Kits for Arsenic

While do-it-yourself home drinking water test kits for arsenic such as the EPA/ETV Test Verified^® Arsenic Quick^TM do not take the place of water tests performed by certified laboratories, they do provide fast, reliable results in the field and work quite well as on-site screening tools for arsenic in drinking water.

• 481396-2, Arsenic Quick, 0 - 500 ppb, 12 minute test time, 2 tests
• 481396-5, Arsenic Quick, 0 - 500 ppb, 12 minute test time, 5 tests
• 481297-2, Arsenic Low Range Quick, 2 - 300 ppb, 12 minute test time, 2 tests
• 481303-5, Arsenic Quick II, 1 - 160 ppb, 14 minute test time, 5 tests

Several membsers of the Water Testing Blog staff have spoken with members of the military, both currently enlisted and recently discharged, and found out that some soldiers do not have access to simple, efficient tools they can use to test potential drinking water while deployed in foregin countries.

In most cases they carry packets of sanitizing/disinfecting tablets which they can use to put into their canteens to kill off bacteria, but what about lead, arsenic, cyanide and other items which can EASILY render an entire unit inoperable and take them away from their assigned duties?

Thankfully US Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps medical units deployed around the globe now have the ability to make use of simple water quality test kits which give them the ability to read basic water quality parameters quickly and easily.

Arsenic in Water and Soil: Arsenic Quick^TM

Bacteria in Water: Bacteria Check

Chlorine Residual (Free): SenSafe^TM Free Chlorine Water Check

Chlorine Residual (Total): SenSafe^TM Total Chlorine Water Check

Cyanide in Water: Cyanide ReagentStrip^TM

DPD-1 and DPD-4 (Chlorine Testing): eXact DPD ReagentStrips^TM

Lead in Water: Lead in Water Test Kit

Multi Parameter (6 Parameters): Well Water Check

Multi Parameter (11 Parameters): Well Driller Standard Water Test Kit

Multi Parameter (13 Parameters): COMPLETE Water Test Kit

Multi Parameter (15 Parameters): Water Quality Test Kit

Most of us know how badly we feel after ‘a night on the town’ filled with margaritas, martinis, cocktails and body shots because of dehydration. Now try to imagine how our soldiers must feel after a few MONTHS in the desert wearing full combat gear.

Safe drinking water means safer soldiers.

Ivars Jaunakais of Industrial Test Systems, Inc. recently announced that he had successfully used one of his company’s EPA/ETV Test Verified Field Arsenic Test Kits to detect inorganic arsenic in undiluted ocean water.

According to the statement we received, Ivars spiked a sample of undiluted ocean water with 50ppb inorganic arsenic and recovered 100% during testing with both an electronic meter system (Arsenic Scan) and a visual test method (Arsenic Econo-Quick II).

Ivars went on to make comments about testing for arsenic in brackish water that contains suspended solids. He suggested that the solids have time to settle in the sample prior to testing and/or that samples get filtered before testing.

Additionally, he remarked that samples ought not sit for too long before testing as the organics in ocean water have the abilty to convert inorganic arsenic into organic arsenic. The Quick^TM series of arsenic test kits cannot detect organic arsenic.

Thoughts of testing water for specific chemical parameters scares a lot of folks because they remember all the horrible nights they spent cramming for an upcoming Chemistry test in high school and/or college. Trust us when we say, “We feel your pain. Been there and done that.”

You should also trust us, though, when we say you don’t need complicated chemistry sets or highly specialized training to find out if your tap water contains dangerous levels of things like:

Worried about the quality of the drinking water in your home, office or school? Inexpensive, easy-to-use home water test kits are just a click or a phone call (800-861-9712) away!

Now, of course, should the results of your home water testing for key water parameters yield results above expected and/or acceptable limits, you will most certainly want to have a certified water professional perform more advanced tests on your drinking water and at no time should you rely on home water quality test kits if you have serious reason to suspect that your water contains know carcinogens or other life threatening contaminants. Leave that sort of testing up to the Water Testing Professionals in your area.

The majority of people in the United States already know that our country sends a lot of aid to foreign countries in the form of water purifiers and water quality test kits in the wake of heavy rains or other natural disasters which result in massive flooding… and now we must turn our attention to the plight of millions of Americans whose homes, neighborhoods, schools and places of business have fallen victim to the mighty power of the Mississippi River and its tributaries.

As flood waters begin to recede back towards the river banks which once held them in place, the returning residents of recently flooded areas face seemingly endless hours of cleaning, millions of dollars in property damages… and uncertainty as to what sort of contaminants the flood waters have left on their lawns, on their roads, and in their wells.

The same millions of gallons of river water which burst through levees also tore through landfills, soaked up runoff/drainage from septic systems, picked up debris from swere systems, scrapped up trash from the streets, and carried the carcasses of countless animals and bugs whose lives it claimed.

Large amounts of that ‘dirty’ water may have found its way down into aquifers through open wells and other means so now the water getting pulled from wells could contain any number of natural and/or manmade chemicals.

Individuals and companies looking to perform multiple tests on numerous water sources may want to consider picking up a water testing kit like the Well Drillers’ Master Kit, as it contains a good number of tests for items which can have and adverse effect on human health:

Well Drillers’ Master Water Test Kit

Each Well Drillers’ Master Water Testing Kit contains:

• 50 Free Chlorine Test Strips
• 50 Ultra Low Total Chlorine Test Strips
• 50 Hydrogen Sulfide Test Strips
• 50 Total Hardness Test Strips
• 50 Nitrate/Nitrite Test Strips
• 50 pH Test Strips
• 24 Manganese Tests
• 50 Water Metals Test Strips
• 10 Arsenic Test Strips
• 50 Iron Tests
• 50 Copper Test Strips
• 2 Lead in Water Tests
• 2 Pesticide Tests
• 1 bottle of Bacteria Test

Full kits, refills, and extra tests for each parameter can be ordered independently and in small quantities through the Industrial Test Systems, Inc. web site.

Although this blog tries to deal mainly with water quality and matters directly related to water quality testing, the following bit of information about dangerous levels of arsenic in food caught our attention and we felt compelled to post it:

“A lack of regulation means a third of baby rice on sale in the UK contains worryingly high levels of carcinogenic inorganic arsenic, according to researchers.

The study, carried out by scientists from the University of Aberdeen and published this month in the journal Environmental Pollution, said this meant some children could be getting six times the recommended inorganic arsenic for their weight.

The levels detected in some of the samples would be illegal in China, where there are stringent controls in place. But while there are European Union and American regulations for arsenic levels in drinking water, there are currently no laws to direct the amounts of arsenic allowed in food products.

Furthermore, current guidelines on intake are based on outdated research conducted before arsenic was found to be a carcinogen, according to the researchers.

This calls into question the need for am urgent review on the situation.

“It is apparent that inorganic arsenic levels in baby rice should be of concern,” said lead scientist, Andrew Meharg.

Read the full FoodProductionDaily.com story here.”

Pretty frightening stuff. We cannot help but wonder if the methodology used to test arsenic levels in soil with the Arsenic Quick test kit could also work for testing arsenic levels in certain types of foods.