Summary Of Steven Shermer's Drinking Water Security

Think about the following statement: “Only communities located downstream in a watershed need to be concerned about how the water resources are managed in the watershed.” In my opinion, I strongly disagree with this statement. This essay will explain why even communities upstream a watershed should be concerned due to acid rain, and the risk of contaminated drinking water.

Under the Safe Drinking Water Act, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is required to establish the concentrations of contaminants that are permitted in public drinking-water systems. A public water system is defined by EPA as a “system for the provision to the public of water for human consumption through pipes or other constructed conveyances, if such system has at least fifteen service connections or regularly serves at least twenty-five individuals” (63 Fed. Reg. 41940 [1998]). Section 1412 of the act, as amended in 1986, requires EPA to publish maximum-contaminant-level goals (MCLGs) and promulgate national primary drinking-water regulations (maximum contaminant levels [MCLs]) for contaminants in drinking water that might cause

One of the basic elements required to sustain life is water. Water is of extreme importance as the body cannot go without water for more than a few days. Therefore, the supply of water is a paramount concern amongst society. The availability of water is not the only concern. Another factor is the purity of the water supply. Imagine the catastrophic sequence of events if the water supply for a region were to be contaminated with Ebola or any plethora of deadly viruses. Following such a tragedy to conclusion would leave thousands or possibly millions dead depending upon the detection and response procedures. It is no surprise that water supply is considered a critical infrastructure.

Imagine life without water, what affects do you think will come? Water is not only an important source of nature but a  necessity to living life through human society. Our group believe in the importance of water and realize that without Central Arkansas Water the future for our area would lack in a necessity in daily living. We wanted to know more about the complications CAW experiences, the current improvements to the system, and the future plans that will lead Central Arkansas to a new level of water enterprise. In the water sector of Infrastructure there are many important sub-sector to the transportation of water, but water treatment is the most important in our Central Arkansas area.

On January 9, Charleston, West Virginia residents began to smell a strong odor in the air. There were several complaints and something was obviously wrong. Inspectors soon came upon a 40,000 gallon tank that had been leaking from a chemical storage unit. The object was an oily substance. It had run into the Elk River just upstream from an intake of a drinking water supply for 300,000 people. The chemical that leaked into the river was used for washing mined coal. “ At 6 p.m., after residents had been using their tap water all day, Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin declared a state of emergency, ordering people in nine counties not to drink, cook with or bathe in the contaminated water.” (Weeks) If there isn't any water to drink from the faucet then how do you get any water? People quickly went for stores to get bottles of water so they could at least drink. After some test the government said the water was okay to use. Yet people were still filling up the hospital with unknown rashes, nausea, and other symptoms. The spill revealed the flaws and uncertainty of the federal and state laws. This time the water linked the people of Charleston to the government. The government didn't take the right precautions and told the people the water was safe to drink. But people kept getting sick. So they thought maybe there is still something wrong in the water and then told people that the water might not be very

When reading about safe drinking water, likenesses and differences in both authors’ points of view have been noted. In the pieces, After Pollution in Flint, Some Find Tap Water’s Benefits Hard to Swallow, and For the World’s Poor, Drinking Water Can Kill, there are many facts presented about how tap water causes issues. When comparing the texts, similarities and differences are noted.

made to ensure that the province’s water supply is safe. Mr. Newman, at the Ontario

Thesis statement (central idea): Access and availability to fresh water are essential to the survival of the human race. Fresh water is a finite source and once it is gone, we have limited options to replenish it, so we must take action to conserve the fresh water we do have especially at home in the United States.

Access to clean, safe, and affordable water is a fundamental human right essential for a healthy population, environment, and economy. Many communities, particularly those of low-income and communities of color are under-served. Unlike other groups, these communities lack access to safe, affordable water for drinking, subsistence, cultural, and/or recreational uses. California’s 5 years of consecutive drought have exacerbated these conditions in impoverished areas. Disadvantaged communities tend to be disproportionately impacted by disasters, both natural and human caused, due to a general lack of diversified resources. Impoverished areas tend to be reliant on a sole source of water, be geographically distant from large water projects, and

Collectively the United States is ranked as the greatest consumers of water worldwide; a startling fact for a country that cannot support its own unrivaled demands (Barlow, 2007). The United States is now crucially dependent on nonrenewable groundwater for a staggering 50% of its daily water usage (Barlow, 2007). In addition to such formidable numbers, citizens of the United States use and waste up 80-100 gallons or 454 liters of water per day (Perlman, 2009). The United States simply doesn’t possess enough fresh water or renewable sources of water to keep up with its gross demands. Nearly 40% of U.S waters are deemed unsafe for recreational activities such as fishing and even swimming

In North America, water is taken for granted and we seldom concern ourselves with the many aspects of a society and economy that demand on water. Water is the backbone of modern infrastructure from urban planning to agricultural

If there are leaks or imperfections in a water line, public health could be compromised. With the amount of fracking going on in the country, there is concern of gas contaminating water supplies in wells. There are also many cases of gas leaking into water supplies in recent years. There have been cases where fire has sprayed from kitchen sinks because of contamination from fracking wells. The study from the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) in 2013 stated “Even though pipes and mains are frequently more than 100 years old and in need of replacement, outbreaks of disease attributable to drinking water are rare”. The United States consists of nearly 170,000 water pipes. If all of these pipes (most of which are outdated) were to be replaced over the next decades, it would come at a cost of over $1 trillion dollars. Our water system and electric grids seem to be in just as poor of condition as our

Have you ever wondered if our drinking water is actually safe to drink? The topic of safe drinking water according to my research isn’t a topic that it’s given that much attention even though there have been events and statistics that have impacted our drinking water. There have been important events such as the chemical spill in Charleston, West Virginia and the ash sludge in Kingston Tennessee in 2008, these kind of events even though they have happen a few years ago still have an impact on our drinking water today. Lauren Russell is an important person because she stated that climate change is another factor that can affect our drinking water because it can impact the quality of the water since climate change is a main world problem it affects everyone 's drinking water. Another big factor of drinking water is what kind of chemicals are in our water that makes it safe for us to drink? I feel like people and I should be informed of the risks that human and natural disasters can do to our sites that we get our drinking water from. And we should also be inform if the chemicals that they put in our drinking water are one hundred percent safe. The reason why I chose this topic is because water is a necessity for every human so if we all get informed about this topic we can enforce better laws that can ensure us the best water quality for us to drink.

The purpose of this report is to propose a solution to the problem of reduced drinking water quality due to chemical pollution. Some bodies of water in the United States are becoming polluted from chemicals and restrictions are needed to protect drinking water quality.

Every day Americans depend on public water systems to treat and deliver over 44 billion gallons of water to homes daily (“Importance of Clean Water”). However, Americans