The Importance Of Drinking Water In The United States

Water is one of life’s most precious resources. Without it, life as we know it would cease to exist. Almost all life is dependent on water for survival. Humanity uses water in almost everything they do in their daily lives, whether that be for consumption or production. However water itself is not enough to sufice, clean water is required for life to thrive. Dirty untreated water can be the cause for death as well, so it is integral that water be kept clean. The government has enacted laws to ensure that our water is maintained and kept clean. These laws cover industries, plumbing, and sanitation among other things. Unfortunately, the city government in Flint Michigan willfully failed to provide safe water for its citizens.

In the fourth chapter, “Fouling Our Own Nests,” of Unquenchable: America’s Water Crisis and What to do About It, Robert Glennon discusses the dangers of water contamination that plague many parts of the United States. His main claim that water pollution requires the help of the entire population stems from an unmentioned warrant: contaminating the national water supply with chemicals from individual communities and industries is detrimental to American society. In order to strengthen his argument, Glennon showcases the impacts of local contamination issues on larger populations and utilizes quantitatively intimidating statistics to solidify his position and inspire his readers to fight for better water regulation.

Over the past few years, Flint, Michigan, has undergone a severe water crisis. The problem arose when the area’s water supply was changed to the Flint River. The problem, however, arose in the extreme amounts of lead in the water. While studies and tests were conducted by the government, no information was broadcast, and the general

The Midwestern region of the United States, such a small corner of the world, is notorious for its prosperous agriculture and its abundant livestock population. Citizens of the Midwest, and consequently, the United States, rarely have to worry about where meals will come from or when the next time water will be available. Water fountains are a common sight within public places, specifically schools and workplaces, and each system reliably produces water at the touch of a button, every time, without fail. However, what happens when the dependability of water in the Midwest is compromised? Over the past decade, the water quality in Flint, Michigan, a town very close to Iowan homes, has seen a rapid decadence, given that the Flint River has been exposed to “the presence of fecal coliform bacteria, low dissolved oxygen, plant nutrients, oils, and other toxic substances,” though the main focus has

The Flint, Michigan water crisis has caused the nation to rethink if the water they drink is safe or not due to toxic substances such as lead posing a threat to drinking water. It leads to a nationwide investigation on the water system and most of them have failed to meet federal safety standards for lead and other harmful substances. Such crisis puts spotlights on government agencies responsible for tracking the water system and why they fail to protect the public from this crisis. The water infrastructure of the nation is old and worn out and fixing it would cost 30 billion to replace lead pipes and one trillion to upgrade the water mains.

Imagine living in an area where tap water looked darker than a glass of cola. Imagine living in an area where water that looked and smelled like sewage earned the name of “the most expensive water in the nation.” Imagine living in an area where poisoned and carcinogenic water was unwittingly being sold to residents. This is what the residents of Flint, Michigan have, and are still, facing since 2014. Flint, Michigan, a city earning fourth place on “America’s Most Dangerous Cities” by Forbes.com, is facing trouble distributing clean water to residents, something many Americans take for granted. After a cost-cutting switch from water sources, residents have been bombarded with various health and financial damages.

Africa, Haiti, and other smaller third world countries have always experienced the issue of having a lack of or contamination of water. As Americans, we always here about the struggles for food and water all across the world but more recently within our own borders. A little over a year ago today the city of Flint, Michigan was struck by a water crisis. The first thing residents noticed after the Flint River began flowing through their taps were the colors. The color was constantly changing blue one day than you began to see tints of green and sometimes even some brown. Next came the smell the Flint people said that it was

Chemistry is a branch of science that deals various compositions of matter which involves investigating properties that affect us directly, including our environment and our way of life. One of such issues is the public water contamination of Flint, Michigan. The state experienced a water crisis for almost two years continuously, which highly devastated the town since its main water source had been contaminated. There were increasing levels of lead in the city’s drinking water (Broadsidedpress.org). The issue started in 2014 when the city of Flint changed its source of water from their original source, Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, where they received treated water, to the Flint River. Drinking water from Flint River had a series of problems, including lead and bacterial contamination, which led to serious health issues (Dixon). Flint River water was corrosive thus it caused lead from old pipes leach into the water supply and this caused very high levels of metal neurotoxins in the water. So many children have been exposed to the contaminated water leading to a series of health issues. The children have elevated blood-lead levels and the number increased drastically from 2014 to 2015 (Dixon). The change in the water source also led to Legionnaire’s disease breakdown that killed more than ten people while affecting another 77 in 2015. Due to this issue, many people and organizations stepped in to aid the city of Flint by providing them with bottled

The water crisis in Flint, Michigan shocked and outraged many Americans. It was true, a simple water source change from one source to another in the city of Flint turned into a State of Emergency as declared by the governor. Toxic water from the Flint River had filtered into thousands of homes in the town near Detroit. Keeping lead out of the drinking water is something modern society view as a fundamental and common sense action. As such, countless citizens wondered how something like this could ever happen in the United States. Indeed, the missteps by the city of Flint, Michigan must be examined in terms of both decision-making and chemistry in order to make appropriate adjustments for the future.

These cleanups are required by federal and state laws passed in the last two decades mostly in response to public concern that drinking contaminated ground water may cause cancer or other illnesses. The laws require that, in most instances, the contaminated ground water be restored to a condition that meets state and federal drinking water standards. Businesses and government agencies paying for the cleanups are calling for reconsideration of whether returning all contaminated ground water to drinking water standards is a realistic goal. At the same time, public interest groups are advocating maximum protection of the public's right to a safe water supply in places where there is

As a mere second-grader I remember learning the definition of ‘essential’, along with a list of items essential to the human body, one of those items being water. Living on a planet that consists of approximately 71 percent water, it only makes sense that each of Earth’s inhabitants have access to water. Unfortunately not everything that makes sense is realistic. Many third world countries have little to no access to water and in America we have experienced several issues of water contamination. The most recent and tragic incident involving water contamination occurred in Flint, Michigan. Due to economic issues government officials switched to a cheaper water resource that was known to be very dirty. Officials failed to adhere to federal policy in treating the new water source, sending lead and iron filled water into the homes of thousands causing several cases of lead poisoning. Although I've never experienced a full blown water crisis the incident in Flint troubles me.

Community members raised almost immediate concerns about the water’s quality. Not long after, E.coli and Total Coliform bacteria were detected in the water. City officials advised residents to boil their water, while the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) increased the level of chlorine in in an effort to reduce the discovered bacteria. Noteworthy, General Motors stopped using Flint River water in their plant, concerned about the water corroding their machines. Equally unconvinced by MDEQ’s response, Michigan State government started providing bottle drinking water to government employees. (2.2).

Americans utilize a great deal of water, in fact, the average American uses 90 gallons a day (Henshaw). So it is not surprising America has one of the cleanest water reserves in the world (“Water Quality”). A surprising statistic, however, is one-third of the American population drinks bottled water on a regular basis when the majority has clean drinking water at home (Olsen). This might be due to the fact that the bottled water industry has promoted itself as a healthier and more portable alternative to tap water. However, the truth is startling as bottled water is only a misleading, expensive, and dangerous gimmick to bring in revenue for large companies.

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.

Although the state of America’s water infrastructure is of great concern, the types of chemicals found in America’s tap water are equally as frightening. The passage of the Water Act in 1972 prevents the direct dumping of hazardous chemicals directly into waterways, and helps regulate quality standards of water. However, the Clean Water Act is has no jurisdiction on regulating indirect dumping of chemicals that integrates into water supplies. Pesticides and prescription drugs are the greatest cause for concern of indirect containments in America’s water supply (Olsen). An abundance of the harmful chemicals found in liquefied animals feces, used in large dairy states, have percolated into drinking wells that have caused serious infections (Duhigg). However, more harmful containments are infiltrating water supplies. Such containments include