Is the water we drink clean?
Which is safer, tap or bottled water?
The water most of us drink, including most of Cabell, parts of Wayne County and nearby Ohio, comes from the Ohio River through the West Virginia American Water plant, located at East 24th Street, Huntington.
The pipes are usually made of copper or plastic, but in very old homes, occasionally some are lead.
Although lead pipes have been outlawed since the 1950s, there are still some lead service lines (connecting water to homes), and most cities don’t know where these are.
In response to my email request on May 30, 2018, Dr. Halden replied, "City water is preferable to bottled water for reasons of sustainability and resource conservation undergoes constant monitoring and has an excellent safety track record Filters installed at the tap or under the kitchen counter can serve as an inexpensive safeguard from microbial contamination potentially introduced during travel of water in the pipes to the point of use Taxpayers already footed the bill for the water treatment infrastructure.
Personally, I use tap water, because I think it’s generally safer than bottled water, and because of the enormous amount of plastic waste that gets discarded into the environment from using bottled water.
Businesses and homes are required to ensure what they put into the sewer and eventually the river is safe, compliant with the Clean Water Act.
Huntington’s combined sewer system, carrying rain water, toilet water and industrial wastes through the same pipes, is designed to pass all the water through the treatment plant before entering the river.
When the system overflows, the excess goes through overflow pipes directly into the river or smaller streams.

Students at six Detroit schools have been drinking bottled water for weeks since tests revealed dangerous levels of lead or copper in the schools’ water fountains.
But retesting this year again discovered elevated levels of metals, and Detroit’s main district shut off water fountains and brought in bottled water.
The district initially discovered lead and copper in water pipes in aging district schools when it started testing water in 2016, a move prompted by the Flint water crisis.
Parents at the six schools have been notified, Superintendent Nikolai Vitti informed board members in a memo last month.
“We are proactively testing the water at all of our schools even though this is not required by federal, state, or local laws.” A facility review of district buildings will be shared with the community later this month, Vitti’s statement said, and will “define our district’s facility challenges moving forward.” The six affected elementary and middle schools schools are J.E.
While she’s grateful the district voluntarily tests the water and informs parents and students, Burton International Academy’s PTA President Dana Dacres said the water shutoff has been a great inconvenience for students, teachers and staff.
“I’m concerned about all our children in these buildings,” he said.
Lead exposure can cause serious damage to children’s developing brains, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, and there is no safe level of exposure.
Studies show most lead exposure doesn’t immediately cause symptoms, but as the concentration of lead in the body rises, symptoms can include headaches, stomach pain, loss of appetite or constipation.
Detroit district buildings are undergoing a review of its building conditions, many of which are in serious disrepair.

Boil water notice issued for Copper Ridge subdivision in New Braunfels.
NEW BRAUNFELS, Texas – Residents of the Copper Ridge subdivision in New Braunfels should boil their water before drinking it, using it to wash their hands and face or brushing their teeth, the city announced Friday.
The city said the notice was issued to due to “excessive irrigation, resulting in a critical drop in water pressure.” They said children, seniors, and people with weakened immune systems are particularly vulnerable to harmful bacteria, but that all New Braunfels Utilities public water system customers should boil their water.
Water should be brought to a “vigorous boil and then boiled for two minutes,” the city said.
The city said they will notify customers when the water is safe to drink.
For the next 72 hours, use of irrigation systems also is prohibited in the Copper Ridge subdivision, the city said.
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Former Ansonia Copper and Brass site to be auctioned July 19.
“The auction is a great first step.” The city maintains that Ray McGee, the owner of Ansonia Copper and Brass, owes more than $1.3 million in property taxes and Water Pollution Control Authority fees.
But when contacted, McGee said if he were going to do that, he would already have paid the amount owed.
Access to rail In 2014, the city cut a deal with McGee to forgive as much as $400,000 in owed taxes in return for demolition and remediation.
“There are some interested parties,” said Davies, who estimates he’s conducted about 150 tax actions in the Valley.
He said the auction includes the former administration building at 75 Liberty St. as well as the five standing industrial buildings.
“Residential would probably be the least likely,” Marini said.
The key is for us to help them overcome any obstacles and remove them.” O’Malley has determined it will cost about $3 million to $4 million to demolish and remove the remaining structures.
“We have to determine what the extent of the contamination is, and what the liability will be going forward,” O’Malley said.
Once the six-month limit for McGee’s redemption passes, Marini said, the city could begin working with the developer to secure funding to demolish and remediate the properties.

Photo/ ThinkStock 19 schools had at least one water fixture positive for lead above federal action levels, and 13 of those tested positive for both lead and copper.
The Enterprise @AnnaBurgess_ENT BROCKTON – Water fixtures at 19 of the district’s 23 schools have been shut off in recent months after they tested positive for lead or copper contamination.
Of the 23 school buildings in Brockton, 19 had at least one water fixture that tested positive for lead above federal action levels, and 13 of those tested positive for both lead and copper above action levels.
At every other school, both lead and copper levels were high in some water fixtures.
Other school committee members said they were glad to have done the testing and taken action on the results.
Ward 4 committee member Brett Gormley said, "I’m happy the state DEP gave us the chance to do this, because we never would have known about (these fixtures)."
Sullivan said he was "a little surprised" to see the results, but said he thought the district was "doing the right thing" in shutting off or replacing the fixtures right away.
In Brockton, a high percentage of children have had elevated lead levels in the past decade.
Between 2005 and 2015, 15 percent of Brockton children tested had elevated lead levels, while only 5 percent of children in Flint had elevated levels during its water contamination crisis.
He said these contaminants, which have possibly been in some school fixtures for years, may be connected with a higher-than-average rate of children testing positive for elevated lead levels.