Drinking Water Contamination
...The Big Picture

Drinking Water Contamination

A second complication is distinguishing between physically harmful and unharmful contaminants. Fortunately, the vast majority of those 1 billion viruses are not harmful. The same is true of other contaminants such as chemicals, minerals, parasites, etc. Though some contaminants are unharmful, they can still be a nuisance. They affect the color, taste and odor of your water and still need to be removed for aesthetic reasons.

Add to this picture a third factor affecting the subject of drinking water contamination, there are regulated contaminants and unregulated contaminants. That is, among the contaminants that do affect our health negatively, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has identified 114 to which they have given a standard, the MCL (the Maximum Contaminant Level) which is enforced among the public water utilities of the United States. This is the level above which the contaminant is a threat to one's health. An additional 5 contaminants have been assigned MCLs, but are unenforced. The Environmental Working Group (EWG), after a two and a half year investigation of 22 million tap water quality tests identified 260 health effect contaminants in the water served to the public. This means that there are an additional 141 additional contaminants that are not regulated and have not yet been assigned a Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL). The EPA is currently working on what to do about these.

A final complication regarding drinking water contamination is that there is a big difference between the contaminants that can be found in tap water and those which are found in my tap water or your tap water. To have a better idea of the particular contaminants found in your tap water and whether or not the local water utility is meeting the regulation, you need to consult your Annual Water Quality Report. But even there it is not necessarily the same as what comes out of your tap, since additional contaminants are added in getting the water from the treatment center to your tap.

Classification of Contaminants

In an effort to make sense out of these complexities, there are various ways of classifying contaminants. The Environmental Protection Agency groups contaminants as follows: Microbes, Radionuclides, Inorganic, Volatile Organics, Synthetic Organics, Disinfectants, Disinfection Byproducts, and MTBE.

I find the classification of Colin Ingram in his book, The Drinking Water Book, to be helpful in getting a handle on the big picture. The following table is one way of classifying drinking water contamination or as he describes it as this "almost infinite number of possible contaminants."

Categories	Type of Contaminants
Pathogens	Bacteria
	Viruses
	Parasites
Toxic Minerals	Toxic Metals
	Nitrates and Other Nonmetals
	Asbestos Fibers
Organic Chemicals	Volatiles (VOCs)
	Pesticides, PCBs, THMs, herbicides, other nonvolatiles
Radioactive Substances	Radon
	Uranium and Radium, dissolved
	Uranium and Radium, particles
Additives	Chlorine
	Fluoride
	Flocculants, Alkalizers, and other water treatment chemicals
	Organic Additives
Tastes and Smells	Hydrogen Sulfide and other volatiles
	Dissolved Minerals
	Mineral and Organic Particles

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Description of Drinking Water Contamination

PATHOGENS are harmful microorganisms which can cause diseases such as cholera, typhoid and hepatitis. There are three kinds of pathogens that make up drinking water contamination. First there are bacteria. These are relatively easy to detect and identify. Public water treatment plants usually use chlorine to kill them.

Viruses are much smaller and harder to detect and identify. They can come through even well functioning public water treatment plants. Fortunately, most of them are not harmful, but they can cause colds, flu and hepatitus.

Protozoan Parasites are a third kind of pathogens. The best known of these hard shelled cysts are Giardia and Cryptosporidium both of which affect the intestines and can cause diarrhea, nausea and stomach cramping. They can be life threatening for those with low resistance. They are not killed by chlorine and can come through well functioning water treatment systems.

TOXIC MINERALS are harmful inorganic materials, that is, they don't come from plant or animal matter. They include metals as well as rock, sand, and clay matter. Some are not harmful to one's health but are annoying such as calcium and magnesium which causes hardness of water or iron and manganese which discolors water or hydrogen sulfide gas giving water a rotten egg odor.

There are a host of toxic minerals that are harmful to health. There are the highly toxic ones such as Arsenic, Mercury and Lead. Asbestos in water may increase the risk of cancer. Nitrates and Nitrites come from fertilizers in agricultural areas and can be harmful in high concentrations. Fluoride is a mixed blessing and much debated as to whether it is more beneficial or more harmful to health. These toxic minerals come from multiple sources such as normal surface or ground water, from industrial waste, water run off from urban and agricultural areas and from plumbing, such as cooper. Some are very toxic in small amounts and others not as toxic but over extended years can cause damage to kidneys, bones, blood and the nervous system.

ORGANIC CHEMICALS are chemicals which come from plant or animal matter, either directly or indirectly. An example of the latter is plastic which is a petroleum product. Petroleum, in turn, comes from plants, originally. There are about 100,000 different manufactured synthetic or organic chemicals in use today. These would include pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, paints, fuels, dyes, plastics, pharmaceuticals and preservatives.

One category of organic chemicals are called VOCs or Volatile Organic Chemicals. A long list of chemicals that in water can be absorbed through one's skin but can easily evaporate and be inhaled as well. Then too, there are THMs, which are organic chemicals combined with chlorine to form toxic pollutants. They increase the risk of cancer. They are present in virtually all tap water coming from our treatment plants.

RADIOACTIVE SUBSTANCES are both minerals and gasses that are sometimes found in nature and sometimes man made such as those from nuclear power plants or weapons or hospital wastes. Uranium is one of these substances which can come from mining run offs or nuclear waste. Radon is another radioactive substance that is a byproduct of the decay of radioactive minerals. It is a colorless and odorless gas which can build up in one's house, particularly in winter or, if in water, can evaporate. Both uranium and radon increase our risk of cancer and are dangerous not in drinking them so much as in inhaling them.

ADDITIVES are those chemicals that are added to our tap water to either make it look better or make it safer for our health. They are a mixed blessing. The major additive is Chlorine which is used in most water treatment plants in the United States. It is valuable as a disinfectant but combines with organic chemicals to form toxic chemicals called THMs that are a serious health threat. About these Collin Ingrim says,

For decades it has been assumed that small amounts of chlorine in drinking water are safe. But convincing evidence, largely unreported to the public, has been accumulating for many years that shows a correlation between chlorinated water and a greater risk of serious diseases.

His recommendation: "Do not drink chlorinated water on a regular basis."

Another additive is Fluoride It is the object of great debate. In general, the medical and dental communities are in favor of its being added to public water because it reduces tooth decay. On the other hand there have been studies showing the detrimental effects of fluoride on health. Here again Collin Ingrim recommends: "Do not drink fluoridated water on a regular basis."

A third kind of additive is what are called Flocculants. These are substances that are added to help clump together particles in water to better remove them. One class of flocculants are called polyelectrolytes which are actually banned in some countries and the EPA lists it as a probable carcinogen.

TASTE, SMELL, AND APPEARANCE include those contaminants that don't affect one's health so much as are a nuisance. Hydrogen Sulfide can give water a rotten egg smell. Other Dissolved Minerals such as Iron can affect the color of the water. Finally, there are Mineral and Organic Particles that may not be toxic but detract from the water's aesthetic appeal and clarity.

What to Do about Drinking Water Contamination?

This picture of drinking water contamination may look rather pessimistic. To know that there is no such thing as completely pure water. But on the brighter side, our tap water is relatively healthy compared to the water many drink in developing countries which give them numerous intestinal parasites, liver disease, cholera, etc. Furthermore, we have the opportunity of taking water that is substantially good and making it much better through the use of home filters. If you are concerned about particular contaminants, you match the contaminant to the filter that best removes it. If you are concerned about the general level of the drinking water contamination of your tap water, you can get a quality filter which will greatly reduce a vast number of pollutants.

To analyze your drinking water contamination, I recommend you start with your Annual Water Quality Report which you should be receiving each year. It can also be found on the Environmental Protection Association's (EPA)website. It will tell you which contaminants are in your water, which ones meet the standard set for that pollutant and which contaminants are over the required standard. Armed with that information, you can look for the filter that suits your needs. For more on what to consider in choosing a water filter go to "How to Choose a Water Filter".

Because of the complexities of reading and understanding the Consumer Confidence Report (CCR), I have prepared a separate page to enable you to get the essential information you need out of it. Go to my page entitled "The Consumer Confidence Report".

If you want to be more exact about the quality of your tap water, you can have it tested yourself. Remember there is always a difference between the Annual Water Quality Report and what comes out of your tap because there are invariably additional contaminants that are picked up through the town's water distribution system and through your own house's plumbing.

For more information about removing contaminants from drinking water contamination, go to drinking water contamination.