Lots of people think drinking bottled water is safer. Is it?

by Andrew Postman, originally posted on January 05, 2016

Few questions confound health-conscious conservationists more than the first one a waiter might ask at a nice restaurant: bottled or tap?

We know which is better for the environment. That’s easy. Not only are millions of tons of plastic bottles clogging our landfills, but it takes 1.63 liters of water to make every liter of Dasani—and the company is doing it in drought-plagued California.

But despite those harsh realities, public concerns about tap-water quality (and, let’s face it, slick marketing) have caused bottled water sales to soar over the past couple of decades. Ads and labels drive home the perception of purity, with images of pristine glaciers and crystal-clear mountain springs. We now have “luxury” water bars and “premium” bottled water. Some people are spending 10,000 times more per gallon for bottled water than they typically are for tap. Is it worth the cost—to you and the environment?

How is water regulated?

It’s regulated by different agencies, with different missions. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency oversees the quality of water that comes out of your tap, while the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is responsible for ensuring the safety and truthful labeling of bottled water sold nationally. States are responsible for regulating water that is both packaged and sold within its borders (which is most of the bottled-water market), but one in five states doesn’t even bother.

It’s important to note that the federal government does not require bottled water to be safer than tap. In fact, just the opposite is true in many cases. Tap water in most big cities must be disinfected, filtered to remove pathogens, and tested for cryptosporidium and giardia viruses. Bottled water does not have to be.

Both kinds of water are tested regularly for bacteria and most synthetic organic chemicals, but city tap is typically assessed much more frequently. For example, bottled-water plants must test for coliform bacteria just once a week; city tap needs to be tested 100 or more times a month.

Limits on chemical pollution for both categories are almost identical. The one place where bottled water might have the edge is in the case of lead; because many older homes have lead pipes, the EPA standard for tap water is less strict—one-third of the FDA’s standard for lead in bottled water.

OK—but which type of water is actually safer?

In 1999, after a four-year review of the bottled-water industry and its safety standards, NRDC concluded that there is no assurance that bottled water is cleaner or safer than tap. In fact, an estimated 25 percent or more of bottled water is really just tap water in a bottle—sometimes further treated, sometimes not.

Of the 1,000 bottles tested, the majority proved to be relatively clean and pure. About 22 percent of the brands tested contained chemicals at levels above state health limits in at least one sample. If consumed over a long period of time, some of those contaminants could cause cancer or other health problems for people with weakened immune systems.

Though it’s mostly safe, tap might at times also present issues—especially if you live in a rural community with a higher likelihood of pesticide runoff contamination, or if you get your water from a private (unregulated) well or live in an older home.

Under “right-to-know” provisions in the drinking water law, all tap suppliers must provide annual quality reports to their customers. You also can test your water yourself. Standard consumer test packages are available through large commercial labs at a relatively reasonable price. Call your state drinking-water program or the EPA Safe Drinking Water Hotline (800-426-4791) for a list of contacts.

Your water report will point out possible risks to health; fortunately, a home filter designed explicitly to strip contaminants will resolve most cases. If you want to take extra precautions, you should purchase filters certified by NSF International. These models are designed to filter out specific contaminants, so you can select one based on your needs.

If I still want (or need) to buy bottled water, how do I know what I’m buying?

Even though both the federal government and most states have bottled-water safety programs, regulations don’t adequately assure consumers of either purity or safety. A few state bottled-water programs (for example, those in Massachusetts and New York) maintain lists of the sources, but not all do.

Carefully check the label and even the cap; if it says “from a municipal source” or “from a community water system,” this means it’s derived from tap. If you don’t find any information on the bottle, you can call the bottler or the bottled-water program in your state or the state where it was packaged and ask about the source.

Could the actual bottle pose a health risk?

Recent research suggests there might be cause for concern. Chemicals called phthalates, which are known to disrupt testosterone and other hormones, can leach into bottled water over time. One study found that water that had been stored for 10 weeks in plastic and in glass bottles containing phthalates, suggesting that the chemicals could be coming from the plastic cap or liner. Although there are regulatory standards limiting phthalates in tap, there are no legal limits in bottled water; the bottled-water industry waged a successful campaign opposing the FDA proposal to set a legal limit for these chemicals.

originally posted on July 15, 2016

GALLUP, N.M. (AP) – The Navajo Nation community of Rough Rock went five days without water after a mechanical failure and is again being asked to conserve.

The Gallup Independent reports that Navajo Tribal Utility Authority officials say a water pump motor for the Rough Rock well broke on July 3, leaving 371 customers without water. The pump was repaired on July 7 but then water in the storage tank dropped to a level that caused the motor to stop again.

Utility authority officials say they have been taking water to refill the Rough Rock water storage tank and asking customers to use only about 100 gallons a day. They have ordered a new part for the motor that should arrive Friday.

Community members who own livestock are being directed to other chapters to buy water for their animals.

by Pooja Lodhia, originally posted on July 15, 2016

by Lauren del Valle, originally posted on July 14, 2016

Data on water contamination reveals Colaba, Cuffe Parade, Fort has most polluted water supply, Kandivali safest.
According to BMC data, percentage of water contamination in the city fell from 4.31 per cent last year to 3.34 per cent now.
Meanwhile, Kandivali recorded the least contamination, at 0.34 per cent.
In terms of the presence of E. Coli in the samples collected, Malad fares best with no recorded instance of the bacteria.
Andheri East comes next with 0.08 per cent and Kandivali with 0.09 per cent.
In 2012-13, 19 per cent of the total water samples collected from around the city had been termed ‘unfit’.
However, the numbers have gone down since with the city recording 10.84 per cent contamination in 2013-14 and 3.87 per cent in 2014-15.
“Every year, we undertake work on replacement of old pipelines, which are prone to leaks.
Additionally, whenever the roads department is undertaking repair work or trenches, we ensure we check our water mains and repair them if required,” said A S Tawadiya, chief engineer of the Hydraulics Department.
Further, the department has also cracked down on ‘bunch connections’ in slums.

by Yang Jian, originally posted on July 14, 2016

SHANGHAI’S major tap water source, the Qingcaosha Reservoir, has stopped taking in water from the Yangtze River after a collision between two over 10,000-ton cargo ships taking place on the upstream, which had contaminated the river, the Shanghai Water Authority said.

The dams of the reservoir will be closed if the oil contamination failed to be cleared on the upstream to protect the water resource from being polluted, the authority announced. The reservoir contains enough water to supply the city for 68 days.

The 20,000-ton cargo ship Changrongmen collided with the Zhongheng 9 carrying over 10,000 tons of steel beams around 1am on Wednesday on the river section near the Changshu City in neighboring Jiangsu Province. The smaller Zhongsheng ship sank immediately but no one was injured.

Fifteen crews on Zhongheng were saved 50 minutes later after the rescue team of Changshu sent five rescuing ships. The Changshu authority has also dispatched ships to clear the leaking oil.

The Shanghai Water Authority has asked the water plants along the river in the Chongming Island and Jiading District to enhance the monitoring on the water quality. The contaminated water is expected to flow to the city today.

“If necessary, all the dams of the reservoir will be closed until all the contamination was cleared,” said an official with the authority.

About 70 percent of the city’s population gets its tap water from the Yangtze, which is purified at the reservoir. The Huangpu is mainly used as a reserve water resource.

by Lauren del Valle, originally posted on July 14, 2016

Wells near former Hercules Inc., IBM plants test positive

originally posted on July 14, 2016

MONTPELIER, Vt. — Two new sites in Chittenden County have tested positive for groundwater contamination, Gov. Peter Shumlin said Wednesday.

Officials are trying to determine if any private wells are contaminated with the cancer-causing chemical perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA.

All 12 groundwater monitoring wells at the former Hercules Inc. plant in Colchester contained PFOA in concentrations ranging from 77 to 7,200 parts per trillion — currently the highest reading for the contaminant in the state.

One groundwater monitoring well outside of the property did not show detectable concentrations of PFOA. Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid, or PFOS, was not detected in any samples at the Hercules site.

Eight of the 15 groundwater monitoring wells at the former IBM facility in Essex Junction contained PFOA in concentrations ranging from 8 to 190 parts per trillion. Four wells contained concentrations of PFOS up to 120 parts per trillion.

The health advisory level set by the Vermont Department of Health is a combined level of 20 parts per trillion for both chemicals. The contamination was confined to the property.

Champlain Cable operates the former Hercules site. The sites were included in statewide testing earlier this year.

Shumlin said drinking water contamination is not a major concern because there appeared to be few private wells near both sites. There are fewer than 10 private wells within a 1 mile radius of the Hercules site (at 175 Hercules Drive in Colchester) and none within a 1 mile radius of the IBM site (at 1000 River St. in Essex Junction), officials said.

“It’s important to know that the vast majority of folks in Chittenden County get their drinking water from the Champlain Water District — that’s the municipal source that they’re drawing from — and that water is clean,” said Alyssa Schuren, commissioner of the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation. “So these are really environmental issues that we’ll need to be addressing underground in the groundwater.”

Of the 11 sites originally part of the statewide perfluorinated compound testing plan, results are in for all but one facility. The state is still waiting on results from groundwater collected at the former Harbour Industries property in Shelburne.

Drinking water wells surrounding the site tested earlier in June were found to not be contaminated by PFC. The companies involved in the contamination are working with the DEC to fund future cleanups Schuren said in a phone interview with WPTZ.

The two other statewide testing sites where PFOA and PFOS were detected include an underground storage tank at the Pittsford Fire Academy and a groundwater collection trench at the Air National Guard Base in South Burlington. No private drinking water wells were affected near either site.

PFOA can be prevalent in wire coating industries and certain synthetic fabrics, whereas PFOS is often present in Scotchguard and firefighting foam.

The state has no plan to expand the testing of PFCs at this time. Precautionary testing will be required if information surfaces that indicates potential historic use of these compounds at any property.

Anyone with wells within 1 mile of the Colchester or Essex Junction sites may call the Department of Environmental Conservation at 802-828-1138.

by Michael Goot, originally posted on July 13, 2016

originally posted on July 13, 2016

NEWBURGH – A business is being eyed as a possible source of Newburgh’s drinking water contamination problem.

Cloudy, white material was spotted last month in storm water outfall by Washington Lake, and then traced back to a Route 300 business called New York Granite.

The city manager has since notified the Department of Environmental Conservation.

Newburgh stopped using Washington Lake in May for the city’s drinking supply after high levels of a toxic chemical were found.