We talk about older infrastructure (i.e. water service lines) a lot on this site because many of the water service lines running from the water treatment plant out to individual homes contain copper and lead elements that over time tend to dissolve into the water passing through them.

While the presence of dissolved copper in the water supply generally poses no health risks in the quantities normally seen in the public water supply, it can result result in unwanted and VERY difficult to remove staining on fixtures in the home. Additionally, owners of swimming pools and hot tubs get warned constantly of the dangers of not neutralizing or removing dissolved metals (like copper) prior to adding chemicals after filling up their pool or tub… else risk some serious stain problems that will cost a lot of money and elbow grease to remove!

The presence of lead in water, however, does pose a serious health risk according to pretty much every water quality expert and health agency. The USEPA requires public water systems to take action to immediately reduce levels of dissolved lead when they reach or exceed 15ppb (parts per billion).

OK, so why add phosphates to the water supply?

By maintaining a certain level of phosphates in the water supply, public water systems reduce the amount of copper and lead that can leech into the water. In layman’s terms, the phosphates ‘coat’ the metal surfaces and thus limit its exposure to the water passing through the lines.

I have well water, so I’m safe, right?

Actually, you may have larger concerns than just exposure to copper and lead. Public water supplies get monitored for a large assortment of various chemicals, compounds and water quality parameters on an ongoing basis whereas no one monitors the quality of the water coming from your well.

Getting back to the matter of copper and lead in well water, though, both metals occur naturally in the environment and may show up in well water without warning. Additionally, older homes may still contain copper plumbing that has lead laden solder holding its joints and unions together.

• The Safe Drinking Water Act contains regulations governing the levels of specific contaminants in drinking water but not ALL of the potential contaminants that could find their way into drinking water.
• The Safe Drinking Water Act contains rules and regulations which municipalities should follow if some municipalities cannot afford the equipment to bring their water into compliance with those rules and regulations then they get fined… and the out-of-compliance water continues to flow to customers’ faucets.

• Water can leave a drinking water treatment facility in full compliance with all the guidelines specified in the Safe Drinking Water Act and pick up contaminants between the facility and your faucet because of water line breaks, old plumbing, etc.

So what does all of that mean? Simply put, while the Safe Drinking Water Act does give municipalities incentive to ‘do the right thing’ when it comes to making sure the water they distribute does not contain harmful contaminants, a definite possibility still exists that the water coming out of your faucet may not comply with the provisions set forth by the Safe Drinking Water Act.

Just as in the case of well owners, individuals on a public water systems should perform periodic checks on the quality of their drinking water, too. Having a certified water testing laboratory check the quality of your water every once in a while and performing occasional water tests for critical parameters (i.e. metals, bacteria, chlorine, nitrate/nitrites, etc.) between laboratory tests yourself using an at-home drinking water test kit will provide you with peace of mind when it comes to the quality of your drinking water.

Bacteria Check Test Kit

SenSafe Heavy Metals Check

City Water Test Kit

]]> http://watertestingblog.com/2009/12/28/safe-drinking-water-act-does-not-guarantee-safe-drinking-water/feed/ 0 http://watertestingblog.com/2009/09/28/contaminated-drinking-water-found-in-schools-across-the-country/ http://watertestingblog.com/2009/09/28/contaminated-drinking-water-found-in-schools-across-the-country/#respond Mon, 28 Sep 2009 21:22:39 +0000 http://watertestingblog.com/?p=439 One would THINK that we could send our children to school and feel confident knowing that the water dispensed from drinking fountains and faucets would not contain coliform bacteria, lead, copper, pesticides, etc. As sad as this will sound, we apparently cannot think like that.

In an article written by Associated Press Writer Garance Burke for publication last Friday (Sept. 25, 2009)…

CUTLER, Calif. – Over the last decade, the drinking water at thousands of schools across the country has been found to contain unsafe levels of lead, pesticides and dozens of other toxins.

An Associated Press investigation found that contaminants have surfaced at public and private schools in all 50 states — in small towns and inner cities alike.

But the problem has gone largely unmonitored by the federal government, even as the number of water safety violations has multiplied.

“It’s an outrage,” said Marc Edwards, an engineer at Virginia Tech who has been honored for his work on water quality. “If a landlord doesn’t tell a tenant about lead paint in an apartment, he can go to jail. But we have no system to make people follow the rules to keep school children safe?” ( source )

After reading that last bit you most likely would like to know what schools have the greatest problems, what sorts of problems they experience, and how often they experience them.

According to the article by the Associated Press,

The contamination is most apparent at schools with wells, which represent 8 to 11 percent of the nation’s schools. Roughly one of every five schools with its own water supply violated the Safe Drinking Water Act in the past decade, according to data from the Environmental Protection Agency analyzed by the AP.

In California’s farm belt, wells at some schools are so tainted with pesticides that students have taken to stuffing their backpacks with bottled water for fear of getting sick from the drinking fountain.

…

The AP analyzed a database showing federal drinking water violations from 1998 to 2008 in schools with their own water supplies. The findings:

• Water in about 100 school districts and 2,250 schools breached federal safety standards.
• Those schools and districts racked up more than 5,550 separate violations. In 2008, the EPA recorded 577 violations, up from 59 in 1998 — an increase that officials attribute mainly to tougher rules.
• California, which has the most schools of any state, also recorded the most violations with 612, followed by Ohio (451), Maine (417), Connecticut (318) and Indiana (289).
• Nearly half the violators in California were repeat offenders. One elementary school in Tulare County, in the farm country of the Central Valley, broke safe-water laws 20 times.

• The most frequently cited contaminant was coliform bacteria, followed by lead and copper, arsenic and nitrates.

( source )

Simple test kits exist for arsenic, coliform bacteria, lead, copper and nitrates but in most cases schools do not have to test for and report the quality of their water since it comes from municipal water water source which does have to issue water quality reports to the government on a regular basis.

So where do the contaminants come from? In many cases the contaminants may come from old or faulty plumbing within the schools’ own walls. Older copper piping with fused together with lead solder can very easily contaminate water supplies to an entire school with the highest readings typically found in the mornings and after weekends or vacations.

What can a concerned parent do?

• Ask your child’s school administrators questions: Do they test the water quality? How often do they test the water quality? What do they test the water for?
• If the people you initially speak with cannot answer you, then ask them who can provide you with the answers you seek and move up the food chain until you get them.

• Ask the school to perform simple testing for heavy metals and coliform bacteria on a regular basis. Schools using well water should also consider testing for pesticides, nitrates and nitrites. If they will not do the testing, ask then if they will allow YOU to perform the testing before or after normal school hours as long as you have a member of school staff as an escort.

We cannot protect our children from EVERY hazard out there but we CAN do our best to keep them from drinking contaminated water at school.

Test Kits to Consider:

• Arsenic in Water Test Kit
• Bacteria in Water Test Kit (Coliform)
• Copper in Water Test Kit
• Lead in Water Test Kit
• Metals in Water Test Kit
• Nitrates/Nitrites in Water Test Kit
• Pesticides in Water Test Kit

What does this have to do with drinking water or testing your drinking water? Not a whole lot, but just remember that our planet only has so much potable and potentially potable water available and that every gallon wasted means one less gallon we will have later. Scientists, scholars and water industry professionals work diligently each day to find new ways to recycle/process all forms of ‘used’ water and make it safe for human consumption. For most of us, though, the idea of drinking water that very recently came out of someone else’s toilet does not sound all that appealing.

For that reason, as well as for the ever-popular ‘saving money on utility bills’ reason, all of us here at Water Testing Blog encourage everyone to take a look around their home, office or apartment for dripping faucets, leaky pipes, running toilets, etc. — and FIX them immediately.

Oh, and as always, if your water tastes funny, looks funny, smells funny or simply just makes you nervous, get it tested by a Certified Laboratory right away or use a reputable at-home drinking water test kit to do a preliminary evaluation. Note: Nothing takes the place of a Certified Water Analysis when dealing with potential health risks.

After the testing, if the testing shows that your water could use a little help, follow the advice of qualified water professionals and install the proper water filtration system(s) so that you can cook with, drink, bathe in and use safe, healthy water.