Introduction & Understanding Water Quality Issues
Are you concerned about your family’s home water quality but don’t quite know where to start? We are here to help! Follow along with this 4 part series as we explore this critical topic that affects all of us. Subscribe to our Newsletter to get more helpful information on Healthy Home from time to time.
Introduction – Why Our Water Quality Matters
Since water is essential to life, it logically follows that healthy water is essential to healthy life. Although water is not the only thing that is essential, it’s quality is a foundational contributor to our health. For too long we have assumed that water quality issues are just a developing world issue. But in recent years it has become increasingly apparent that serious water contamination issues exist in developed nations as well: from point source pollution, to limited treatment technologies, to lax monitoring, to aging distribution infrastructure. New contaminant classes are being discovered such as perchlorates and PFAS/PFOAs that have serious health impacts, but adoption of maximum contamination limits (MCL’s) have been slow to be adopted and testing implemented. The glaring conclusion is that we simply can no longer rely solely on regulators and water providers to safeguard our water against a growing list of contaminants. Fortunately, we can take steps to understand our risks and help safeguard our family’s water.
Understanding Water Quality Issues
The first step in the process of taking responsibility of your water quality is understanding your local water quality issues. This includes:
- Understanding Water Contaminants & the EPA’s Max Contaminant Levels (MCLs)
- Identifying your Water Source(s) & Risk Assessment
- Reviewing your Consumer Confidence Report or Well Water Quality Assessment
- Understanding Water Treatment Issues
Classes of Water Contaminants
Generally, water contaminants fall into the following classes:
- Microorganisms: bacteria, parasites, viruses, etc.
- Disinfectants: from chemical water treatment to kill microorganisms
- Disinfection Byproducts: chemical products resulting from the reaction of disinfectants & microorganisms from water treatment
- Inorganic Chemicals: ie heavy metals, fertilizers, etc.
- Organic Chemicals: ie Pesticides, Herbicides, Pharmaceuticals, VOCs, Semi-VOCs, etc.
- Radionuclides: alpha and beta emitters like radium, uranium, etc.
For some it may come as a shock that our water typically contains many of these classes of contaminants in some measure. But how much is too much? Over the years, the EPA has established the amount of these contaminants that they consider dangerous for drinking water. These are called Maximum Contaminant Levels or MCLs and are typically measured in parts per million (ppm) or milligrams per liter (mg/L) which are roughly equivalent when use to measure things in water. Currently this list contains 88 contaminants and range from very low level of 0.00000003 ppm for Dioxin up to the relatively high limit of 10 ppm for Nitrate and Xylenes..
Some researchers consider the EPA’s MCLs as too high and recommend lower limits. There are others who criticize the EPA for being slow to adopt new MCLs for a list of emerging contaminants such as classes of chemicals known as PFAS, PFOS, and PFOA; or compounds containing perchlorates. Although there is ample evidence that these chemicals are hazardous, the EPA has not come to a consensus on what level of exposure should be considered the MCL to publish. For another perspective on what should be considered a contaminant and at what level they are hazardous, the Environmental Working Group publishes there own Standards for Drinking Water Contaminants.
In fact, EWG hosts a Tapwater Database of Consumer Confidence Reports from many municipal water supplies. You can search by Zip code to see how your lab results compare to the EWG’s Standards for Drinking Water Contaminants. They also show how well key filtration technologies can address each of those contaminants.
PLEASE NOTE: EWG’s database might not cover your area or might not have the latest results. Furthermore, the latest Consumer Confidence Reports may not list those contaminants that your water source is reasonably at risk of suffering as the next section will describe further. But, this can be a helpful resource for finding some CCR information and understanding a more conservative assessment of the health risks that the contaminants represent to your family’s health.
Water Risk Assessments by State
Most state’s departments of environmental quality maintain Source Water Assessments or Water Risk Assessments for surface and ground water resources across the state. These Risk Assessments consider a range of factors from point source contaminants in the area, to road and rail networks, to topography, to land cover and ground geology to asses the level of risk a water source may have and to what class of contaminants. This is important as water quality can fluctuate over time based on many factors. You want to select a home water treatment for the class of contaminants and levels for which your water source is reasonably at risk of suffering at any point in time. To find your state’s Department of Environmental Quality which publishes these Source Water Assessments, see the EPA’s Directory of State Dept of Env Quality and then search your state’s website for either “Source Water Assessment” or “Water Risk Assessment”.
Consumer Confidence Reports (CCRs)
Most water providers are required to publish annual reports showing their test results for EPA required contaminant detection. These are commonly called Consumer Confidence Reports and can typically be found on your water provider’s website. If you cannot find them there, call their Customer Service line and request them to send them to you.
While helpful, there are some things to know about these reports to help you put them in context. First, the list of contaminants is not always the full list that is required by the EPA, but should be the most relevant contaminants for the water sources the report represents given the EPA’s MCLs. Second, given that a water provider may source their water from multiple sources across a service area, the reports typically contain averages across these water sources and there’s no guarantee that they are representative of your particular water sources. You can contact the Water Quality Specialist at your water provider to get the lab results for the water sources for your home address.
While this worked for us, it might not work for everyone, so the CCRs my be your best available information. This is why it is recommended to not just base your home water treatment technology on the latest CCR, but rather consider the classes of contaminants at moderate to high risk from your Source Water Assessment prepared by your state. These are the contaminant classes you may reasonably face over time and you need to take responsibility for addressing for your household.
Coming Up Next
Now that we have reviewed the nature of water contaminants, Part 2 – Treatment Options is the next part in this series, where will review the options for treating these various types of contaminants.