Carpe Datum

Here's Lead In Yer Eye

What Else Is in the Water?
(Image courtesy of Steve Jackson Games)

I've mentioned my concerns about tap water quality in the past, prompted in part by all the MTBE from gasoline going into the groundwater and chlorine-related nasty things. Sure, I get the annual report from our city's water department about how wonderfully safe and clean the water is, but from what I can tell, that's tested at the city's reservoir, not at my tap. Of course, I know the flouride in the water is a good thing, but how important is it for us if we brush regularly anyway? And I worry about what leeches out of the pipes between there and here.

I also worry about the honesty of the city government, frankly. Especially in this era of understaffing, budget cuts and flat-out corruption when it comes to reporting and/or acting on polluters. Stories like this one don't ease my troubled mind:

According to a report released Friday, the District of Columbia's water department had known for several years about dangerous levels of lead in the city's water supply, but it failed to notify the public or report the results to federal authorities as required.

The report, which the city's Water and Sewer Authority paid for, supports allegations made in a series of Washington Post articles that thousands of Washington's older homes - including some of the city's fanciest - had unsafe levels of lead when their water was tested.

Some WASA officials manipulated the city's water sampling in ways that understated it, the Post reported. Among the duped was the Environmental Protection Agency, which monitors water contaminants based on city sampling and reporting.

Outside Washington, the problem remains largely a secret. The city's Web site says nothing about lead in the water. Hotels don't mention it to guests.

While not as dangerous as lead paint, lead in drinking water can contribute to such health problems as attention span deficits, learning disabilities and delays in physical and mental development. Children under the age of 6 are the most at risk of developing such problems, but lead in water can also increase blood pressure and contribute to strokes, kidney disease and cancer in adults, according to the EPA.

"They knew for three years and didn't tell anybody," fumed Katherine Funk, an attorney who lives on Capitol Hill and the mother of an infant.

"My question for everybody out there is: Do you know what's in your water?" Funk continued. "People take for granted that their water is safe."

The thing is, I have to admit that I don't know whether the bottled water we get from the store (we fill several 5-gallon jugs periodically from the store machines) is any better. I mean, sure they claim it is better, that goes through all kinds of filters and so on, but I haven't had it formally tested. Presumably, some government agency like the EPA is looking after this, but I know they have bigger fish to fry (especially if the company pumping out the water I use is a big Republican contributor).

It does definitely taste better, and that's largely because it is in a dispenser that keeps it cold. I should do a taste test of chilled bottled water and chilled tap if that were ever the deciding factor. Maybe someday for the sake of curiosity, I will figure out where I can get both kinds of water tested locally. It would be a relief to find out I'm being paranoid for nothing, and it wouldn't be the first time.

Posted by Observer at July 17, 2004 08:47 PM