Environmental Assessment Of Drinking Water

Drinking water provided by a municipality, “tap”, is regulated by the EPA. Additionally, the Safe Water Drinking Act requires all states submit annual reports regarding public water system violations to the EPA. The EPA determines Maximum Contaminant Level Goals (MCLGs) for tap water. The goals are the levels at which a consumer could perceivably drink

Water is probably the most important resource we as people have. Humans can survive without food for several weeks, but without water we would die in less than a week. On a slightly less dramatic note, millions of liters of water are needed every day worldwide for washing, irrigating crops, and cooling industrial processes, not to mention leisure industries such as swimming pools and water-sports centers. Despite our dependence on water, we use it as a dumping ground for all sorts of waste, and do very little to protect the water supplies we have.

Contaminated water poses health risks on humans, pets, wild animals, and farm animals. (Mcdermott-Levy 2013)

Doctors are always telling us to drink more water to improve our health, but what if that water is contaminated by a potentially toxic chemical? When it comes to our drinking water in America, compared to other countries around the world, there is usually no concern in becoming ill after consuming a nice, big glass of tap water. The reason you don’t question the quality is because of the regulations in place by US Environmental protection Agency (EPA) for public drinking water. But now we are foreseeing issues with our drinking water due to chemicals used in items such as food packaging materials (such as pizza boxes and popcorn bags), fabrics, nonstick cooking pans and firefighting foams (Scutti). As a result of their inhabitance, the chemicals

In the online article, “How does Pollution Affect Humans” by The World Counts, “Breathing polluted air puts you at a higher risk for asthma and other respiratory diseases. When exposed to ground ozone for 6 to 7 hours, scientific evidence shows that healthy people’s lungs function decreased and they suffered from respiratory inflammation” (The World Counts par. 4 ). THose are just some of the health problems that pollution causes This information matters to me because it shows that bottled water not only affects the Earth by causing pollution, but that pollution also causes health problems. Not only does it affect the Earth by causing pollution, but bottled water can directly affect you. According to the online article “Bottled Water vs. Tap Water: Rethink What You Drink” by Priscilla Torres, “The EPA regulates tap water, while the FDA oversees bottled. Yet FDA oversight doesn’t apply to water packaged and sold within the same state, leaving some 60 to 70 percent of bottled water, including the contents of watercooler jugs, free of FDA regulation” (Torres pg. 2 par.5). This matters to me because it means if every student in the Natomas district drank from bottled water, some of their water might contain chemicals because it wasn’t checked. Chemicals are definitely a threat because Torres continues to say, “Scientists in Germany found that the longer a bottle of water sits around (in a store, in your home), the more antimony it develops. High concentrations of antimony can cause nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea”(Torres pg. 3 par. 7). This information is important because it shows that just keeping water bottles for a long period of time can cause many health problems. If every student had to drink bottled water, they would constantly be getting sick and spreading their sickness to other students. So, bottled water causes many health problems, through pollution, and because there may be

“The Milwaukee Water Works (MWW) is recognized as a national leader for providing safe, high-quality drinking water, and for our water quality monitoring program. We treat Lake Michigan water with ozone disinfection, biologically active filtration, and chloramine disinfection. Since 1993, the Milwaukee Water Works has invested $508 million in its infrastructure, to ensure a reliable supply of pure, safe drinking water” (MWW,

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is responsible for regulating and overseeing the effective distribution of clean tap water. Even though, history has shown instances of water contamination, it is only normal that such incidents occur. The EPA has set procedures for monitoring the municipal waterworks and from their regulated activities, quick resolution for thresholds are achieved (Lewis 1). However, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), subsequently setting inferior standards for fundamental

Recent amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act emphasize efforts toward safeguarding the nation's water supplies against attack and contamination. The Terrorist and Other Intentional Actions Section establishes requirements for each community water system serving more than 3300 people to conduct an assessment of the vulnerability of its system to a terrorist attack or other intentional acts intended to substantially disrupt the ability of the system to provide a safe and reliable supply of drinking water. Also, healthy, secure communities require clean drinking water and sanitary waste treatment. EPA provides water utilities with tools and strategies needed to improve drinking water and wastewater system resiliency to disasters and to quickly

In 2009, the World Health Organization (WHO) brought together experts in toxicology, water chemistry, water quality and health, water treatment and pharmacology to form a “Drinking–water” directive and policy. The quality Committee along with additional experts examined pharmaceuticals in drinking water, and the human health risk associated with pharmaceuticals in drinking water.

Ground water: Prevent human ingestion of, inhalation of, or dermal contact with ground water that contains concentrations of PCE above 5 µg/L, TCE above 5 µg/L, cis-1,2-DCE above 70 µg/L, and trans-1,2-DCE above 100 µg/L (these concentrations are the maximum contaminant level goals (MCLGs) set by the Clean Water Act (or are Maximum Contaminant levels [MCL] where MCLGs are set at

The biggest controversy surrounding the Walkerton case is that their management “engaged in a host of improper operating practices, including failing to use adequate doses of chlorine, failing to monitor chlorine residuals daily, making false entries about residuals in daily operating records, and misstating the locations at which microbiological samples were taken. The operators knew that these practices were unacceptable and contrary to environment ministry guidelines and directives” (Mastromatteo, 35). This improper management resulted in E.coli bacteria leaking into a drinking water well, ultimately causing 7 deaths and morea than 2400 illnesses (Mastromatteo, 34).This s hardly an isolated event: in Kashechewan – a First Nation community in northern Ontario – an excessive amount of E.coli was found in the local school’s drinking water supply. Authorities responded by adding a disproportionate amount of chlorine to purify the water, causing sickness in school-aged children. Ultimately Kashechewan, a community of 1200, was declared to be in a state of emergency and 946 people were evacuated (Christensen, Goucher and Phare, 5). It is clear that in order to have a functional society, proper management of water systems is imperative; drinking water quality should

Tap water is not as safe for drinking as many people assume in many places and as many governments tell us. Government bureaucrats make it seem as if their regulatory efforts are perfect and complete, but there are many gaping holes in them.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) strictly regulates the levels of health-risking contaminants that are allowed in drinking water, to try and ensure that tap water, used for drinking, meets certain standards. Chlorine is used by most water treatment facilities in the United States, to clean the water drinking supplies. The EPA has determined that chlorine levels of four parts per million, or less, are safe for human consumption. While, the chlorination of drinking water has been credited with increasing life expectancy, and being one of our nation’s major public health achievements, there have been studies, that link chlorination to higher occurrences of some types of cancer, and other health problems, including eczema, heart disease, asthma, and higher miscarriage rates. When chlorine interacts with various organic compounds in the fresh water, trihalomethanes (THMs) are produced, which are environmental pollutants, and carcinogenic. When THMS are ingested, they foster the growth of free radicals, which are known to harm or destroy vital body

The subtle number of highly contaminated water systems has recently been infiltrated with the growing number of 2,000. Since the horrific incident in Flint, Michigan, many people have began their own research across all of the states in the U.S. Unfortunately enough, most of the places with the highest contaminated water systems, were schools. With these numbers growing on a daily and the main people enduring the hazardous water is the children, this has introduced a problem for everyone. The water must be sanitary and safe for everyone at all times, therefore the promotion of clean and non-hazardous water is what the people must strive for. With the interference of unsafe pipes and several dilemmas throughout the year, it is much more secure

coli outbreak at a county state fair that was a result of poor water treatment. The quality of treatment had been far overlooked because private companies monopolized New York’s water systems. They sought profit over quality and their ineptitude led to deadly containments leeching into New York’s water. Not only did many fall ill, but also a three-year-old girl and an elderly man succumbed to the deadly waterborne illness (Olsen et al. v). Afterwards, the state of New York regained control over its public water system, but impurities continued to damper the water of the city.