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Did
you know?
Reverse osmosis is the finest water filtration method known. This process will
allow the removal of particles as small as ions from a solution. It is used
to purify water and remove salts and other impurities in order to improve the
color, taste or properties of the fluid. R.O. uses a membrane that is semi-permeable,
allowing the fluid that is being purified to pass through it, while rejecting
other ions and contaminants from passing.
This technology uses a process
known as crossflow to allow the r.o. membrane to continually clean itself. This
is the reason of why an r.o. element can last many years before clogging or
need replacement. This
water purification process requires a driving force to push the fluid through
the membrane, and the most common force is household water pressure or pressure
from a booster pump. The higher the pressure, the larger the driving force and
efficiency.
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Which
U.S. Cities have 'Risk' or Potentially Unsafe Water?
We
often take the purity of our tap water for granted -- and we shouldn't.
A recent study (NRDC's What's on Tap?) a carefully researched, documented
and peer-reviewed study of the drinking water systems of 19 U.S. cities,
found that pollution and deteriorating, out-of-date plumbing are sometimes
delivering drinking water that might pose health risks to some residents.
Many cities around the country rely on pre-World War I-era water delivery
systems and treatment technology. Aging pipes can break, leach contaminants
into the water they carry and breed bacteria -- all potential prescriptions
for illness. And old-fashioned water treatment -- built to filter out
particles in the water and kill some parasites and bacteria -- generally
fails to remove 21st-century contaminants like pesticides, industrial
chemicals and arsenic. The research also found one overarching truth:
If steps are not taken now, our drinking water will get worse.
The
U.S. government is making the problem worse instead of better. Seemingly
more concerned about protecting corporate polluters than protecting public
health, the administration is campaigning to hobble existing laws, thwart
efforts to strengthen current pollution standards and cut funds for programs
that protect tap water. Government -- whether city, state or federal --
should be doing all it can to ensure that citizens get clean, safe drinking
water every time they turn on a faucet or stop at a public water fountain.
And an informed, involved citizenry is the key to the process; it's through
analyzing the report data that all Americans get the opportunity to look
into the quality of their city's water supply, and to demand that our
elected officials do what's necessary to provide safe tap water.
The
recent report issues grades for each studied city in three areas: water
quality, right-to-know reports, and source water protection. Good drinking
water depends on cities getting three things right:
- Lakes,
streams, reservoirs and wells must be protected from pollution
- Pipes
must be sound and well-maintained
- Modern
treatment facilities are a must.
- If just
one of those three factors goes away, water quality will suffer. For
example, these four cities have fair-to-substandard drinking water:
- Atlanta,
which maintains its distribution system poorly
- Albuquerque
and San Francisco, which have poor treatment systems
- Fresno,
which has no real source water protection.
So what does
all this mean in terms of what's actually in your water glass? If your
city has a water quality problem, your tap water may at times carry a
worrisome collection of contaminants. Tap water can contain a vast array
of contaminants, but a handful showed up repeatedly in the water of these
cities: Lead, which enters drinking water supplies from the corrosion
of pipes and plumbing fixtures and can cause brain damage in infants and
children; Pathogens (germs) that can make people sick, especially those
with weakened immune systems, the frail elderly and the very young ; By-products
of chlorine treatment such as trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids, which
may cause cancer and reproductive problems; Arsenic, radon, the rocket
fuel perchlorate and other carcinogens or otherwise toxic chemicals contaminants
like these get into our water from many different sources.
A few examples:
runoff from sewage systems that overflow after a heavy storm; runoff from
contaminant-laden sites like roads, pesticide and fertilizer-rich farms
and lawns, and mining sites; wastes from huge animal feedlots; and industrial
pollution that leaches into groundwater or is released into surface water.
A high level of any of these contaminants in your water represents a failure
of your city's "water treatment train" -- a series of steps your water
is put through to filter and disinfect it before it is delivered to your
tap. By extension, it also represents a failure by your government --
local, state and federal -- to protect your water supply and ensure that
pure, safe and good-tasting water is supplied to your home. NRDC's study
found that relatively few cities are in outright violation of national
standards for contamination of drinking water, but this is more a result
of weak standards than it is of low contaminant levels.
For example,
cancer-causing arsenic is currently present in the drinking water of 22
million Americans at average levels of 5 ppb, well below a new EPA standard
for arsenic of 10 ppb that will go into effect in 2006. Yet scientists
now know that there is no safe level of arsenic in drinking water. (The
EPA found that a standard of 3 ppb would have been feasible, but industry
lobbying and concerns over treatment costs prevailed over public safety.)
Many cities failed to meet the EPA's "level of concern" for various contaminants
that are not yet regulated. Studies also yield another broad truth about
the nation's drinking water "treatment trains": many cities show an increase
in the frequency of periodic spikes in contaminant levels, indicating
that the World War I-era plumbing and water treatment facilities still
widely employed may be inadequate to handle contaminant spills or even
the basic daily contaminant loads produced by our heavily industrialized,
densely populated cities. And spikes above the EPA's standards generally
don't trigger a violation; usually only an average level over the standard
is considered a violation.
The bottom
line is this: the tap water in some cities might pose health risks to
vulnerable consumers -- people who have serious immune system problems,
pregnant women, parents of infants, those with chronic illnesses and the
elderly should consult with their health care providers about the safety
of tap water. Your Right to Know What's in Your Tap Water. The first question
that one would logically ask on reading the above is, "How do I find out
what's in my water glass?" And according to U.S. law, every citizen is
entitled to a straight answer. Every city is required to publish reports
about the safety and quality of its drinking water system. The problem
the study found, is that while some cities do a good job with their right-to-know
reports, others publish information that is incomplete or misleading:
Reports from Atlanta, Boston, Fresno, Houston, Newark, Phoenix, Seattle
and Washington, D.C. included false, unqualified or misleading claims,
or buried crucial information about problems deep in their reports; Reports
from Newark, New Orleans and Phoenix included incorrect or misleading
data -- or omitted it entirely; Nearly all cities in the study failed
to report on health effects of most contaminants found in their water;
Most of the cities studied failed to translate the reports into languages
spoken by a large minority in their community.These right-to-know reports
hold enormous promise. In addition to informing citizens about the state
of their city's water system, they can also build support for investment
and encourage citizens to participate in fixing local problems.
Protecting
the Source.
The first
line of defense in ensuring the safety and quality of drinking water is
to ensure that water sources -- lakes, rivers, streams and aquifers (porous
underground formations that hold water) -- are protected from pollution.
And as indicated above, there are many ways that contaminants get into
source water, among them:
- Municipal
sewage
- Polluted
runoff from stormwater or snowmelt in urban and suburban areas
- Pesticides
and fertilizers from agricultural fields
- Animal
waste from feedlots and farms
- Industrial
pollution from factories
- Mining
waste
- Hazardous
waste sites
- Spills
and leaks of petroleum products and industrial chemicals "Natural" contamination
such as arsenic or radon that occurs in water as a result of leaching
or release of the contaminant from rock.
To keep such
contaminants out of tap water, a city's first step is identifying where
pollution is coming from. Once these sources are known, the water utility,
city planners and citizens of a municipality must work together to figure
out how to reduce the threat of contamination. Land purchases often prove
useful, allowing the water utility to establish a pollution-free zone
around source waters. Utilities may also ban boating and other recreational
activities on these waters, push for improved pollution controls, or protect
wetlands (which replenish and purify source waters). Some cities are doing
a fine job of protecting their drinking water supply. Seattle is doing
an excellent job of protecting source water; Boston, San Francisco and
Denver also get high marks.
But many
other cities have a long way to go: Albuquerque's groundwater is becoming
seriously depleted; Fresno's groundwater is highly susceptible to contamination;
In Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Newark,
Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego and Washington, D.C., source water is
threatened by runoff and industrial or sewage contamination; Water supplies
in Baltimore, Fresno, Los Angeles, New Orleans, San Diego and several
other cities are vulnerable to agricultural pollution containing nitrogen,
pesticides or sediment; Denver's source water faces an additional challenge
from debris from wildfires and sediments from floods; Manchester's problems
apparently come from recreational boating activity in its reservoir.
An informed,
involved public is a water utility's strongest ally in an effort to better
protect its water supply. The report recommends that citizens urge legislators
not to pull the plug on safe water supplies - to stop broad assault on
Clean Water Act protections and inform Congress to act to strengthen the
laws and contaminant standards we have in place to protect the purity
and safety of our drinking water.
Healthy and Convenient!
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