Contaminated Water

Drinking water pollution is a bigger problem than most people realize.

While drinking water filters and bottled water has become a staple in our society, most consumers still use unfiltered drinking water for cooking, filling pet water bowls and bottles, and for mixing powdered drink mixes.

Drinking water pollution is a big enough problem within our country to warrant the same vigilance as we give other health hazards.

There are numerous sources that pile up into serious contamination potential for all drinking water.

Whether your water i scoming from a well on your property or if you are using “filtered” city water sources, the chances that you have a problem with drinking water pollution is quite high.

Groundwater testing has shown that in any given area throughout the country as many as 200 variable contaminants have been detected. Long term exposure can create numerous health problems, including lead poisoning.

While not every single contaminant is destined to cause a serious health problem or even any health problem at all, you can not count on your local contaminants to be harmless.

Filtering helps to clear up a great deal of the usual drinking water pollution but what is much more effective and necessary is dealing with the direct sources of the water contaminants and cleaning up the environmental factors that are poisoning our drinking water.

By dealing with the direct sources of water contamination we can not only control our drinking water contaminants but we can also clean up the natural sources of water that house and provide life saving water for the wildlife of the natural environment.

Agriculture practices are one of the largest sources of groundwater contaminants. The chemical used in controlling bugs and other chemically based treatments run directly into the groundwater supply. Pesticides and poisonous agricultural raw waste can contaminate more than 40% of the surrounding groundwater.

Since groundwater contaminants run down with the gravitational pull, poisonous contaminants from agricultural practices can pollute drinking water miles away from its original source.

By teaching farmers and farming coops safer, more natural agricultural practices we can reduce one of the largest sources of drinking water contaminants and make the areas around farms a much healthier environment.

Another major contributor to drinking water pollution is urban run off. Another human based contribution that needs to be controlled at the source in order to save our drinking water supply.

Urban run off used to be considered a rather small contributor to the pollution problem in our drinking water because there was a very large contribution being made by construction and industrial wastes.

Yet with more stringent regulations controlling the pollutants associated with construction and industrial wastes, urban run off has reached a much higher place on the list of problematic situations contributing to the drinking water pollution problem.

When rain washes urban trash, chemicals, and pollutants from the structures and roadways of populated areas, there is no way for the water to filter itself on its way to the groundwater.

Since the pollutants run directly over pavement and other non-porous surfaces that have no filtering capabilities, and thus all pollutants will travel straight to the groundwater supply.

Everything from basic trash, cigarette butts, antifreeze, motor oil, gasoline, pesticides, and other daily use products are all contributing factors in groundwater contamination caused by urban run off. Practicing safer disposal practices of automobile chemicals, putting together trash clean up projects, and using environmentally safe household products can help cut down on urban run off pollutants.

Lead is one of the most concerning urban run off pollutants, as lead poisoning can cause learning problems, chronic emotional and health issues, and is non-reversible. Drinking lead contaminated water is a serious health problem. It does not matter if you live in the city, the country, or an upscale neighborhood, your drinking water can be laden with very dangerous levels of lead.

Lead based paints were outlawed due to their dangers, but older homes and buildings that are remodeled, improperly disposed of older electronics, and construction in older neighborhoods can release lead into the groundwater, creating a significant drinking water pollution hazard.

It takes the cooperation and the education of everyone to help clean up our biggest drinking water threats. The more environmentally friendly everyone becomes, the closer we get to finding cleaner drinking water and protecting our natural environment. Industrial and personal responsibility for our environment is the first and most significant step toward clean drinking water in the country in every community.