Environmental standards for water contaminants are set at levels that the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) consider are safe to drink, but for some contaminants, these levels still pose a health risk when consumed consistently over a long period of time.

One of these contaminants is the trihalomethanes (THMs), which are produced as a byproduct when disinfectants are added to drinking water to eradicate organic matter, typically algae, that may be present in the water.

"If the water has high levels of organic matter—which in most cases is algae—[utility districts] will disinfect the water," Craig Cox, senior vice president for agriculture and natural resources at the Environmental Working Group (EWG), told Civil Eats. "It's a real conundrum for these facilities because they have to disinfect it to prevent a huge public health threat. But the trade-off is more chronic health threats because so many of these byproducts are carcinogenic. So they don't have a lot of good options."

But Cox suggests that rather than treating the water to combat algae, we should be limiting the flow of nutrient pollutants entering our waterways from farm runoff. Both nitrogen and phosphorous, commonly used in fertilizers, by their very nature promote algal growth, and should be prevented from entering freshwater systems for both ecological and human health reasons.

Wallkill River at Wallkill, NY, USA, its waters turned green by an algae bloom in late summer 2016

Cox and his colleagues at the EWG have been working on compiling a national Tap Water Database that allows consumers to see what contaminants are in their drinking water by searching an online map or by entering their ZIP code on the website's home-page. While some consumers may assume that drinking water contamination is limited to the cities, rural areas have their own set of challenges.

In fact, very often water serving rural areas has more contaminants than that piped to cities. And, according to Cox, many of the pollutants that turn up in city water originates from farms. In an effort to avoid costly lawsuits, such as the one recently filed by Des Moines Water Works against three farming counties in an attempt to reduce agricultural pollutants entering their water, the farming sector is encouraged to start taking concrete measures to reduce nitrate runoff at the source. While the agricultural industry opposed the suit, which was ultimately dismissed, the Des Moines water utility was left with the hefty bill — US$1.5 million in 2015 — to remove nitrates from its drinking water in order to make it safe to drink.

"Most industries in the United States have to pay when they pollute," says Des Moines Water Works spokesperson, Laura Sarcone. "But for some reason on the water quality side, that's not the case in the agricultural industry. So we are constantly monitoring, analyzing, treating extensively and expensively to remove agricultural contaminants that shouldn't be there in the first place."

Our water resources simply aren't afforded the respect they deserve. In fact, they water is a commodity that is pretty much taken for granted. Yet, our health, and ultimately our survival, depends on having access to clean drinking water.

"I think nationally we, the industry, feel water is an undervalued resource," said Sarcone. "People are willing to pay hundreds for cell phone minutes and unlimited data, or for their cable TV," she added, but rarely do they tend to put the same value on clean drinking water.

Who Ultimately Foots the Bill?

In most instances, water utilities pass this additional cost onto the customers they serve. But while these costs may be minimal when divided up amongst thousands of households in larger cities, it can prove very costly for those living in smaller rural areas where there just isn't the same amount of households sharing the cost, explains Cox. And even when drinking water meets drinking water standards, it may not necessarily be safe to drink over a lifetime, especially if that water has been heavily treated with chemicals that produce hazardous byproducts such as trihalomethanes. Go ahead and check out the EWG's online database now to see what's in your drinking water. The EWG recommends filtering drinking water with a good quality water filter that is capable of removing chemicals such as trihalomethanes.

The Big Berkey range of filters will remove both nitrates and trihalomethanes, as well as a wide range of other drinking water contaminates that could potentially pose a health risk to you and your family.