While historically, United States drinking water has been celebrated as among the safest in the world, emerging threats and climate change are challenging that reputation. The truth is, our drinking water is under attack from many different directions. Here are the top threats you should be concerned about.
The first is forever chemicals. These are also known as PFAS or emerging contaminants. They’re used in water-resistant clothing, non-stick pans, and firefighter gear. They don’t break down naturally, so they continue to accumulate in our groundwater supply. The EPA estimates that over 140 million Americans have PFAS in their tap water. These PFAS have been linked to cancer and even premature death.
Other emerging contaminants that we need to worry about are microplastics and volatile organic compounds from industrial manufacturing.
The second biggest threat to our drinking water is our aging infrastructure. Specifically, lead is getting into our water from deteriorating lead pipes. When water sits or passes through older pipes and brass fixtures containing lead, corrosion leaches the lead directly into our tap water. The US is also experiencing more water main breaks than ever before, which can introduce soil, contaminants, and bacteria into our drinking water before it even reaches your home.
The third-biggest threat to our drinking water comes from animal agriculture. You should search Google for all confined animal feeding operations in your state. It’s a staggering amount. The problem is that the animals in these feeding operations produce a lot of waste full of toxic chemicals, and oftentimes that waste is simply put into a giant lagoon, where it seeps into our groundwater supply. Because of this problem, people are seeing high concentrations of nitrates from synthetic fertilizers and animal manure. These nitrates are hazardous to babies cuz they can interfere with the blood oxygen levels and cause Blue baby syndrome. Animal agriculture also introduces many pesticides into our drinking water because it requires a lot of crops to feed the animals.
The fourth-biggest threat to our drinking water comes from pathogens and disinfectant byproducts. According to the CDC, over a million Americans get sick annually from germs in drinking water, like Legionella, Giardia, and Cryptosporidium. But when we treat water to remove these pathogens, we introduce trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids into our drinking water, which are linked to increased cancer and reproductive health risks.
The fifth biggest threat to US drinking water comes from climate change and water scarcity. The US is experiencing severe drought in some areas, which concentrates naturally occurring metals in our water, such as arsenic and uranium. This makes cleaning the water much harder; the systems that clean it are often outdated, and as a result, we are seeing higher levels of highly toxic metals in our water. Severe wildfires are also scorching watersheds and releasing toxic Ash, benzene, and debris into surface Waters, while flooding is overwhelming municipal stormwater and sewage systems.
To understand the exact threats to the water in your area, you should do a quick Google search. It’ll tell you what contaminants are the highest in your local water supply. No matter where you live, getting a multi-stage water filtration system should be a top priority, as with the filtration systems in our water ionizers.
