Reply Directly To Author
Jack Crawford
originally in conference SIERRAN Si
and was forwarded to you by JACK CRAWFORD.
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From: Spartacus
Subj: Municipal Water Supply
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It has been known for quite a while that the highest percentage of
dangerous water quality problems occur from homes with their own
well -- their own source of water. These systems become polluted
from septic systems, nearby ranching, and several other causes.
However, in the last decade the occurances of excessive contaminants
appearing municipal water water supplies has risen. The current problems
are management/enforcement related. Below are some examples:
Excessive Voluntarily
Contaminants Reported
State Violations Violations
----- ------------ ----------
Arizona 405 14,886
California 894 3,396
Delaware 107 5
Florida 521 5,250
Georgia 169 746
Idaho 464 1,342
Kansas 178 291
Mass 113 257
Mississippi 339 835
Montana 113 1,136
New York 406 6,174
N. Carolina 338 20,054
Ohio 576 3,085
Pennsylvania 459 12,897
S. Carolina 91 1,279
Texas 822 2,329
Virginia 496 1,464
WA (most important..i live here!) 1,474 7,993
Wisconsin 164 433
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The column on the right shows all reported violations, while the left
column shows violations that are excessive and can pose a health threat.
I got these numbers out of today's USA Today, and they did not supply
for what period of time these numbers accumulated, unfortunately.
Municipal water suppliers for the most part know what it takes to deliver
clean, healthy water. An exception is a current, chlorine-resistant
parasite in the Milwaukee water supply. There are certain standards that
must be adhered to...but without proper enforcement, those standards are of
little value. Another area of exception is with new-found knowledge of a
particular pollutant, say arsenic, where it is dangerous in smaller
quantities than previously thought.
The General Accounting Office estimates that 66 percent of Safe Drinking
Water Act violations are not reported. A Natural Resource Defense
Council report documents more than 250,000 violations of drinking water
laws in 1991 - 1992.
Detection, reporting, and enforcement all need more attention. Companies
are required by law to inform their users if the water is not safe to drink.
Many times that warning is buried in a newspaper's legal notice section.
A lot of good there. That exact circumstance happened here. A woman was
catching up on several days of newspaper reading when she eventually came
across that notice. She called her water company and then was told to
boil it before drinking. She was fit to be tied because her and her family
had been drinking that tainted water for several days! That particular
water company is small by comparison -- they only supply 700 homes. She
called the TV News and they really had a lot of reporting to do.
Even with all that negative news, our water in the States is better than
many countries. Congress is considering changes to the reporting/enforcement
procedures, and to a few other areas concerning water supplies. Encourage
them to act! And your own water filter will never hurt either.
-=-
Spokane Central BBS
Spartacus
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