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Think Before You Drink
As recently as
July 27, 1994, the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) claimed
that one in 5 Americans drinks water that is not adequately treated for
toxic chemicals, bacteria, parasites and other pollutants. In a report titled
"Think Before You Drink," the NRDC said its examination of
the nationwide compliance with federal drinking water standards shows
that nearly 50 million people are drinking improperly treated water.
NRDC researchers
said that, using Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) data, they were
able to document 223,042 violations of federal drinking water standards
during 1992 and 1993, including 26,275 cases where water was found to
be more contaminated than health standards allow.
The NRDC report
said, water supplies that served as many as 49.8 million Americans in
1993-94 were more contaminated than health standards allow. And it maintained that
water quality is deteriorating instead of improving. In 1992-93, it
said, 36.4 million Americans drank water that did not meet EPA
standards, up from 28.8 million in 1991-92. In many of the cases, the
water supply systems "violated EPA's treatment technique
requirements" that are aimed at protecting against parasites,
bacteria and toxic pollutants, the report said. But it said "only
a tiny percentage of violations are ever subject to any formal
enforcement action."
Without actually
having your drinking water tested it is impossible to know whether it
contains contaminants or not, or if contaminants do exist in the water
you are drinking, that they exist in excess of permitted levels
Today's Water
Most water is
not safe to drink without some kind of treatment. In fact, Americans rely on
public water systems to gather, treat, and deliver approximately 85% of
the nation's water supplies. Federal and state governments are dedicated
to achieving high water quality standards through regulation of these
public water systems.
The Safe
Drinking Water Act (SDWA) of 1974 was enacted by Congress solely for
the purpose of protecting drinking water supplies. It required the development
of national standards for drinking water quality, the establishment of
monitoring and reporting requirements, and the regulation of
underground injection of fluids. The U. S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) has responded to these requirements by establishing
primary and secondary drinking water regulations and by making
provisions for state enforcement of the regulations.
In 1986 Congress
enacted the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments, which among other
things, call for revised or new regulations governing 83 drinking water
contaminants.
These regulations were to be followed by the development of regulations
governing 25 more contaminants every three years, starting in 1991.
It is clear that
obtaining clean, drinkable water is no easy task. Forces of nature and the
activities of a modern industrialized society present many threats to
the cleanliness and safety of our water. Costs are also escalating. The
EPA estimates that meeting the requirements of the 1986 SDWA amendments
will cost Americans $83.5 billion in new or improved publicly owned
water treatment works.
For these
reasons, it's important that all of us be aware of water quality issues
and understand what we can do to improve the quality of the water we
drink.
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