What Can Be Done About Contaminants in Tap Water?
It’s bad enough to be able to see, smell, or taste a contaminant, but what if your water looks, smells, and tastes just fine? Those of us who live in urban areas in the United States usually get water from municipal water systems. These facilities take water from lakes and rivers, filter and disinfect it, and pump it to our homes in a form that is generally safe to drink without any further processing. The Environmental Protection Agency, as well as state agencies, regulate what can be in our drinking water and require regular testing. Even with routine monitoring, it’s possible that contaminants can enter our water supply. If you live in a rural area and depend on well water, you can encounter unsafe water. Even if you cannot see, taste, or smell the contaminants, there are resources available to help you detect and treat the issues. Find a lab or a water professional to help you perform a water analysis.
Here are some common water contaminants, how water is treated, and how you can protect yourself and your family.
Sources of Water Contamination
Much of our drinking water originates from rivers and lakes near where we live. Depending on where it is, the water may pick up bacteria and other microorganisms as well as pollutants from industry, agriculture, roadways, and other sources. As water flows through rocks, sand, and soil, some of the foreign material gets filtered away, but those rocks can also leach minerals into the water. Before this water is safe to drink, it must go through several stages of processing. Water will be filtered to remove particulates that make the water cloudy, disinfected to kill any living organisms, and treated to remove concentrations of minerals and chemicals that exceed federal and state health standards.
How Dangerous Are These Contaminants?
The EPA regulates over 80 different potential water contaminants that may pose health risks. Some of these substances may cause acute illness, such as what might occur from bacteria or other microbes, like E. Coli, which may cause illness and even death. Other contaminants, including lead, pesticides and radioactive elements, build up in the body over time and may cause organ failure, congenital disabilities, developmental issues in children, or cancer. The EPA requires that all municipal water facilities regularly test for these contaminants to ensure our water is safe to drink.
Contamination From City Water Supplies
Although agencies regulate levels of contaminants in water coming from municipal water supplies, it’s a good idea to know what can be found in the water that comes out of your faucets. Most municipal water treatment plants will filter water for particulates, and then apply disinfectants and chemicals to remove harmful microbes and other contaminants from water. Barring equipment malfunction, flooding or human error, water that comes from your city water supply should be safe to drink.
However, to produce clean water, certain chemicals must be added to the water supply, and some consumers prefer to remove these chemicals before consuming the water. The most common additives to our drinking water are Chlorine, chloramines, and fluoride.
Small amounts of Chlorine are routinely added to drinking water supplies to kill harmful bacteria, viruses, and other microbes. In these quantities, the Chlorine is safe to consume, but many people dislike the taste and smell. Showering in chlorinated water may also cause dry, itchy skin. For these reasons, some people use carbon filters to remove Chlorine from the water. Chloramines are another substance used to disinfect water and are significantly less effective than Chlorine. They are formed when Chlorine comes into contact with ammonia. Many municipal water systems either treat water with chloramines or first treat water with Chlorine and then later add ammonia. Like Chlorine, it is easy to remove chloramines with charcoal filtration.
What About Fluoride?
In some forms, fluoride is toxic. However, fluoride in its mineral ionic form is found naturally in our bodies. Supplemented in small quantities, it may be beneficial for reducing tooth decay. For this reason, many municipalities regularly add fluoride to drinking water. Because of naturally occurring deposits, malfunctioning equipment, or poor monitoring, some water systems have tested for higher than recommended levels of fluoride. The EPA conducted research that shows fluoride exposure among the population has increased significantly in the last 40-50 years through fluoride found in drinking water, toothpaste, certain medications, and Teflon coating on nonstick pans. Long-term overexposure leads to tooth enamel destruction, brittle bones, and joint pain. Many people choose to reduce their exposure to fluoride, and some have campaigned to remove it from drinking water. Removing fluoride is more complicated than removing other contaminants. Reverse osmosis is a good option.
Contamination From Pipes
The two most common contaminants in our drinking water are copper and lead. Rather than coming from our municipal water supplies, these minerals leach into drinking water from the plumbing used to bring the water into the building.
Lead poisoning can occur gradually and often without warning. Although lead has a bit of a metallic, sweet taste, it can be difficult to recognize in drinking water. It gets into our water through corrosion of older pipes, lead solder, and brass fixtures. Symptoms of lead poisoning include vomiting, constipation, stomach pain, and irritability. Over time, lead may cause brain damage, impair kidney function, damage the nervous system, and affect red blood cells. Children are at the most dangerous risk as they absorb lead at significantly higher levels than adults. For children, in addition to the other risks, they can experience lowered IQs and developmental delays.
Copper is another contaminant that can enter our water supplies through corrosion. While humans need trace amounts of copper in our diets, too much can be toxic. Like with lead, copper poisoning may cause nausea and stomach pain, vomiting, and other flu-like symptoms. Long-term exposure may lead to liver poisoning, kidney failure, and anemia. Whole-house filtration can remove impurities, but old or damaged plumbing must be removed or repaired.
Well Water Contaminants
People who obtain their water from wells don’t have to deal with chemicals from other sources necessarily, but they must be just as concerned about their water quality. Well water may have high levels of dissolved minerals and chemicals leached from surrounding soils, agricultural runoff, and naturally-occurring but unsafe microbes.
Some of the biggest dangers lurking in well water include arsenic. This toxin can leach from natural deposits or enter groundwater from sources as varied as mining, oil and gas extraction, pesticide use, and treated wood. It is both tasteless and colorless, so regular chemical analysis is necessary. Fertilizers and pesticides, as well as nitrates and nitrites from fertilizers, animal waste, and septic tanks, present another common hazard for well water. Finally, well water must also be disinfected to prevent consumption of a variety of microbes, including fecal coliform bacteria and E. coli, two bacteria that may enter groundwater from agricultural runoff. Arsenic and other toxins can be removed by reverse osmosis or whole-house systems specifically designed to remove them.
