Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Running Gutter Brook (Massachusetts)
Clackamas River (Oregon)
Truckee River (Nevada)
Cache la Poudre (Colorado)
When and Where You Least Expect It
In 2003, another study, titled “What's on Tap? Grading Drinking
Water in U.S. Cities,” by the nonprofi t Natural Resources Defense
Council (NRDC), looked at the quality of drinking water systems in
19 U.S. cities and found much more than water in the water.
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Here are some of the unwanted (and sometimes hazardous)
extras they discovered in the water.
Rocket fuel:
Perchlorate, harmful to the thyroid and possibly
carcinogenic, is in the water of 20 million Americans. High
levels have been measured at times in Los Angeles, Phoenix,
and San Diego.
Lead:
This substance, which can cause brain damage and
decreased intelligence in children, gets into drinking water
via corroding pipes and faucets. Boston, Newark, and Seattle
exceeded the national action level for lead.
Germs:
These included coliform bacteria and
Cryptosporidium
,
a microscopic disease-carrying protozoan. The Natural
Resources Defense Council's study found that many cities
should be concerned about their water supply's vulnerability
to such contamination.
Arsenic:
Recently judged not safe at any level in drinking water,
it's still present at significant levels in the drinking water of
22 million Americans.
Contaminant levels:
Spikes are on the rise, a sign that aging
pipes and water-treatment facilities often can't handle today's
contaminant loads. (Such loads may occur, for example, after
a major storm or an industrial spill.) In recent years, Atlanta,
Baltimore, and Washington, DC, all issued boil-water alerts in
response to such spikes.
Groundwater supplies:
These can also be vulnerable to contami-
nation. Fresno, California's groundwater is becoming seriously
