Take a look at a glass of water. It looks refreshing, hydrating, and invaluable to your survival. Before you take a sip, how do you know the water inside is free from disease-causing organisms?
Did you know that 1 out of 10 people can ensure their water is clean and safe to drink? People are very aware that water safety is essential to the human body. The quality of the water you drink greatly impacts your overall health.
Most of us don’t think about the water we drink. We turn on a tap, fill a glass, and drink. Is the water you're drinking safe, or would bottled water be safer? What can you do if your tap water suddenly becomes contaminated?
Inadequate sanitation, poor protection of drinking water sources, and improper hygiene often lead to sewage and feces-contaminated water, the ideal breeding ground for dangerous bacteria, parasites, and other viruses, and the effects of these pathogens are staggering.
Diarrheal disease from unsafe water is one of the leading causes of death worldwide for children under 5. According to the UN report from 2010, microbial water-borne illnesses killed more people per year than war.
So, how can you tell whether the water you access from the tap is safe or drinkable?
A Consumer’s Guide to Nation’s Drinking Water
Water is one of the most precious resources essential to life on Earth. About 70% of the Planet's surface is covered in water. Ninety-seven percent of the water on Earth comes from the oceans and seas, while the remaining three percent is fresh water.
Of that small amount of freshwater, almost 2% is locked up in glaciers and ice. The remaining 1% of freshwater is mostly groundwater, with a small fraction filling the world's lakes and rivers. Thus, with this minimal amount, how can we be sure that the water we drink is clean and safe?
Most people in the United States get their water on tap, which meets federal and state standards and is safe to drink. However, technical inaccuracies like improper plumbing still increase the probability of major and minor diseases.
Drinking unclean water can cause diarrheal diseases such as Cholera, Typhoid, Guinea Worm, and Dysentery in common people, especially those living with HIV/AIDS, undergoing chemotherapy, transplant patients, infants, frail elderly, and pregnant women.
Though most of us are lucky enough to drink clean water, we must do our best to conserve it and value its importance.
Water in America: Is It Safe to Drink?
Americans drink over one billion glasses of tap water each day. The water supply in most cities is very potable, except for some large cities like San Francisco, LA, New York, Boston, and Washington, D.C.
You may get drinkable water, but in places where contaminants in drinking water exceed a legal limit, rural areas are often more affected than wealthy, urban, and suburban ones.
Those are key takeaways from a new database reported by the Environmental Working Group (EWG).
Another report by NRDC stated that nearly 77 million Americans lived in areas where the water systems violated safety regulations and that many relied on systems that did not comply with standards for protecting public health.
Millions of water suppliers failed to test water safety properly; they did not report the test results to health authorities.
This underreporting and the fact that many contaminants aren’t monitored or regulated may have occurred with common contaminants such as perchlorate and PFOA/PFOS (chemical cousins of Teflon) in millions of Americans’ tap water. Thus, America has a drinking water crisis.
The Safe Drinking Water Act (SWDA) governs public water sources. The US government passed this regulation to provide safe drinking water for all US residents. It is a federal law that only applies to the public community or public water system (PWS).
Suppose something happens to water safety or regulations. In that case, the local government must inform people to stop drinking the water. Community water systems would be required to prepare and distribute annual reports about their water.
How Safe is My Drinking Water?
Waters produced by taps in the U.S. are very well tested and regulated by the Public Water Systems (PWS). PWS serves water for at least 60 days per year to at least 15 service connections.
This system has 161,000 units in the U.S. and is owned by the public and private sectors. At the same time, the Community Water System (CWS) is a PWS that serves water all year round.
Most people use the CWS because it is cheaper and convenient for hundreds of connections.
The U.S. Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) defines the safety and standards of public water systems. Passed by Congress in 1974, this act protects public health by controlling the nation’s drinking water supply and protecting its sources.
On the other hand, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates the water at schools, factories, campgrounds, and restaurants.
This Environmental Protection Agency administers the Safe Drinking Water Act and ensures their water supply is regularly tested.
The amount of contaminated water increases as our modern society develops. Activities such as the disposal of human, animal, and chemical wastes could create chemical, lead, and microbial contaminations that cause high probabilities of polluting the water.
Because of this, the EPA ensures that the water flowing in the pipes has undergone proper treatment and disinfection to lessen the health risk.
To know more about the water in your home, ask for information or contact your water supplier. It is also better to ask them for regular reports so that you will be updated on how your water is being regulated.
Where Does My Drinking Water Come From and How is it Treated?
There are two sources of drinking water: surface water and groundwater. Surface waters include reservoirs, lakes, and rivers, while the wells and other geological formations that contain water are the groundwaters.
Most people get their water from the surface, which is easier to attain. Unfortunately, treating surface water takes longer, as it is exposed directly to the atmosphere and runoff from snow and rain.
On the other hand, large water suppliers get water from the ground since the amount of clean water there is greater. Also, groundwater is less contaminated than surface water because some minor pollutants are filtered as the water seeps into the ground.
However, regardless of where these waters come from, suppliers still follow various treatment processes to remove contaminants.
The most common process includes these steps:
- Coagulation is when particles suspended in the water are removed. Alum and other chemicals are also added to attract dirt.
- Sedimentation: This is when the heavy particles created by the alum and other chemicals are removed so that only clean water remains.
- Filtration is when the water is filtered by gravel, charcoal, and sand layers to remove smaller particles.
- Disinfection is when chemicals such as chlorine are added to kill the bacteria or microorganisms in the water.
- Storage is when the water is clean and placed in a reservoir before being delivered to your home.
What can you do to Protect your Drinking Water?
Plants, animals, and humans all need fresh water to survive. Though small in numerical value, freshwater is also essential to life.
Because of the growing population, we face the threat of water scarcity. Excessive water supply usage and decreasing clean water due to pollution cause problems.
Governments are trying to find ways to lengthen each country's water supply. They are finding alternatives and better solutions to help lessen the increasing contamination of our lands and waters. As citizens, we must also do our part to have clean water in the future.
We can help by participating in every activity related to water protection, staying informed of updates from the local water supplier, being observant of our surroundings, and ensuring that water sources are not further damaged.
We can also start changing our lifestyles and becoming more natural and organic. For example, we can avoid using pesticides and other cleaning products, which could contaminate underground water.
If possible, find additive-free solutions so they won’t add to the toxic chemicals seeping into the ground. Reducing the amount of garbage by recycling and reusing it could also help not just in our waters but also in our environment.
Always remember that everything has its limits. Thus, we must protect and save our water sources and value every drop of them because, sooner or later, they could be gone if we don’t take action to preserve them.
Tap Water in America: What Is It Like?
Tap water is generally considered safe if it comes from a public water system, such as one run and maintained by a municipality in the United States.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is the authorizing body that sets enforceable health standards regarding contaminants in drinking water and monitors all public water systems.
In the United States, there is a nearly one-in-four chance your tap water is either unsafe to drink or has not been properly monitored for contaminants by federal law; one example is the water crisis in Flint, Michigan.
Sky-high levels of lead in tap water were widely publicized in 2015, which was not led by the E.P.A. but by Flint residents who enlisted allies, including Marc Edwards, a scientist at Virginia Tech, who played a major role in bringing the crisis to national attention.
The main problem with tap water in America is the pipes in the houses. Many homes and schools have galvanized steel water pipes for drinking, and these galvanized steel pipes rust on the inside, causing the drinking water to have a yellow, red, or brown tint, where lead solder can leach into the water.
In houses with discolored tap water, a water filter is worth paying for and using during this predicament.
Another problem with tap water is that it is hard in much of the country, making it harder to clean sinks, tubs, and showers. Some people "soften" their water, which usually adds sodium.
The U.S. public water systems provide drinkable tap water; most add chlorine to sterilize it. However, to ensure the water is sterile, you must boil it or chemically treat it yourself. So, what’s actually in tap water?
Here are 7 Contaminants Found in Tap Water in America
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Fluoride
TO PREVENT DENTAL PROBLEMS, the U.S. government has mandated that fluoride be added to the water supply for about 50 years now. However, the current study has shown that fluoride, a chemical used in rat poison, does a lot more harm than good.
The EPA considers this substance a class 4 hazardous waste, and it is illegal to dump it anywhere in the environment. Over the last few years, cities all over North America have been banning the use of chemicals, and this trend is expected to continue.
The fluoride found in tap water has been shown to damage tooth enamel. It can also increase fracture risk, suppress immune and thyroid function, increase cancer risk, and disrupt the pineal gland's function.
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Chlorine
Chlorine is used in water treatment facilities as a disinfectant that has been proven to kill bacteria but has toxic effects on the human body. It has been identified as the leading cause of cancer of the bladder, associated with breast and rectal cancers, asthma, premature aging of the skin, and congenital disabilities.
It is common in tap water and swimming pools. The problem is that this substance does not know when to stop killing organisms, which can have toxic effects on the human body.
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Pharmaceutical drugs
Pharmaceutical drugs are significantly consumed in North America. Antibiotics and birth control pills, antidepressants, painkillers, and other psychiatric medications are now showing up in most public water supplies.
These drugs find their way into our water inevitably after being flushed through urine. New investigations have shown that a growing number of pharmaceutical drugs are finding their way into drinking water.
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Hexavalent chromium
Chromium is an odorless and tasteless metallic element found naturally in rocks, plants, soil, volcanic dust, and animals. The most common forms of chromium in natural waters are Trivalent chromium (chromium-3) and Hexavalent chromium (chromium-6).
At present, an Environmental Working Group (EWG) report shared that hexavalent chromium, a chemical identified as probably considered a “carcinogen” by the EPA, is present in high concentrations in 31 U.S. cities. Despite its known toxicity, no government regulations exist for hexavalent chromium in drinking water.
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Radioactive Contaminants
During the Fukushima nuclear accident, radioactive fallout from Japan was detected in drinking water supplies throughout the U.S., and radioactive iodine-131 was detected in drinking water samples from 13 U.S. cities.
Radioactive cesium and tellurium isotopes have been detected at low levels. However, the health implications of this radioactive contamination are not yet known, and the hazardous impacts on human health are still widespread.
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Arsenic
Arsenic is odorless, tasteless, and a poisonous element well-known to be extremely carcinogenic. It can enter drinking water supplies from natural deposits in the earth or agricultural and industrial practices.
As many as 56 million Americans are estimated to have drunk water containing unsafe levels of arsenic. The base from the Natural Resources Defense Council can greatly increase the rate of cancer of the bladder, lungs, nasal passages, skin, kidney, liver, and prostate.
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Lead, Aluminum, and Other Heavy Metals
Lead is a toxic metal that can harm human health, even at low exposure levels. It is persistent, and bioaccumulation may occur in the body over time. Young children, infants, and fetuses are particularly vulnerable to lead because the behavioral and physical impacts of lead occur at lower exposure levels in children.
Exposure to lead has been linked to damage to the central and peripheral nervous system, impaired hearing, and impaired formation and function of blood cells, usually in children.
Other heavy metals and Lead can make their way to every home’s tap water through corrosion of the pipes in your plumbing system. Lead contamination has been linked to serious developmental delays and learning disorders in children.
Aluminum and other heavy metals have been linked to nerve, brain, and kidney damage. Today, some municipalities are still transporting water in lead pipes.
Water contamination from these and other sources, including leaching, chemical spills, and runoffs, has been linked to long-term health effects, like cancer, cardiovascular and neurological diseases, and miscarriage.
Unfortunately, analyzing the exact risks of chemically contaminated water is difficult. While disinfectants make us safer by removing disease-causing pathogens, experts have yet to determine the full scope of how the chemical cocktail in our drinking water impacts human health.
For the greater part, America’s drinking water is pulled from groundwater to federal and state purity levels before arriving at every home’s tap. How do you know if your water is safe for drinking? See if these reports help you tell whether the water you can access from the tap is safe or drinkable.
REPORT: Nearly One in Four Americans’ Drinking Water Comes from Untested or Contaminated Systems
Drinking Water for 15 Million Americans Is Contaminated With a Toxic Chemical
If you're drinking tap water, you're consuming plastic pollutants.
Is It Safe to Drink Tap Water in the U.S.?
All municipal water systems in the United States provide clean and safe drinking water. The government regulates water supplies, and they must be tested regularly. If they are significant, national news is often well-publicized, where water safety problems and emergency notices are issued if a rare temporary situation results in unsafe water.
The Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance noted that the EPA faced a discouraging list of challenges in its ongoing efforts, particularly with small systems that “lack the basic infrastructure, resources, and capacity to provide clean drinking water to the public.
Clean and safe water remains a precious and often scarce commodity. The good news is that continued development in water treatment, both on a small and large scale, can alleviate many unsafe conditions. Implementing proper systems where they are needed and paying careful attention to the ones already in place will fulfill one of the most basic human needs.
Related stories about Tap Water in America
EWG’s National Drinking Water Database
27 Alarming Facts About Water Pollution in the United States
How Do We Get Our Drinking Water In The U.S.?
Water disinfection application standards (for the USA)
Nearly All USA Tap Water Is Contaminated With Plastic
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