In another damning blow to our US drinking water quality, the New York Times printed another article today as part of their "Toxic Waters, Outdated Laws", series. (Last week's drinking water article commentary here) I stumbled across this as I raced through the airport trying to catch a flight to Nashville. There I see it, at the airport mini-mart kiosk on the front page of the NYT; That tap water is legal, but may be unhealthy. As I read these sorts of articles and scientific reports often, I was expecting some more rehashing of the usual dismal conditions of our municipal water systems. This was the case, however there was an important connection made relating the growing problem of our water quality to the shrinking amount of funds to fix it.

Drinking Water Quality Downtrend

Not only are we failing miserably in keeping pace by defining and categorizing all the chemicals that continue to show up in our drinking water. But, even if we do, the majority of municipalities are going to be unable to afford the type of upgrades or replacement treatment facilities that would be needed to remove these chemicals. This is a scary thought, trying to fix a behemoth of a problem that continues to grow fast, with limited funds and resources to do so. The reality is that the water quality challenges the US and most other developed countries are facing would be intimidating if we had unlimited funds and finances. As a society are we really ready to acknowledge the severity of this problem and fight this uphill battle? Home water filters are only a short term solution to a long term problem. Here are some of my favorite quotes that appear in the article.

"Only 91 contaminants are regulated by the Safe Water Drinking Act, yet more than 60,000 chemicals are used withing the United States according to the Environmental Protection Agency." Mind you, the Safe Water Drinking Act is 35 years old and no additional chemicals have been added to the regulated list since 2000!

"People don't understand that just because water is technically legal, it can still present health risks" Dr. Pankaj Parekh - Director of the water quality division for LA, California. - Speaking in regard to challenges he's faced in trying to reduce/remove chemicals that are not on the SDWA watch list.

"For years, people said that America has the cleanest drinking water in the world. That was true 20 years ago. But, people don't realize how many new chemicals have emerged and how much more pollution has occurred. If they did, we would see very different attitudes." William K Reilly, EPA administrator under President George H. W. Bush

"Government scientists have evaluated 830 contaminants most often found in water supplies...and they have determined that many of them are associated with cancer or other diseases, even at small concentrations. Yet, almost none of these assessments have been incorporated into the SWDA or other federal laws"

"In May, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee passed the Water Infrastructure Financing Act which, if approved by congress and signed by President Obama, would authorize $14.7 Billion in loans to help states improve their systems." A step in the right direction, but the article also quotes that a new system for LA could be upwards of $800M. We simply need to move faster and act with more urgency.