Water Quality
The United States has one of the safest water supplies in the world. However, national statistics
don’t tell you specifically about the quality and safety of the water coming out of your tap. That’
s because drinking water quality varies from place to place, depending on the condition of the
source water from which it is drawn and the treatment it receives. Now you have a new way to
find information about your drinking water, if it comes from a public water supplier (EPA doesn’t
regulate private wells, but recommends that well owners have their water tested annually).
Starting in 1999, every community water supplier must provide an annual report (sometimes
called a consumer confidence report) to its customers. The report provides information on your
local drinking water quality, including the water’s source, the contaminants found in the water,
and how consumers can get involved in protecting drinking water. You may want more
information, or have more questions. One place you can go is to your water supplier, who is
best equipped to answer questions about your specific water supply.
What contaminants may be found in drinking water?
There is no such thing as naturally pure water. In nature, all water contains some impurities. As
water flows in streams, sits in lakes, and filters through layers of soil and rock in the ground, it
dissolves or absorbs the substances that it touches. Some of these substances are harmless.
In fact, some people prefer mineral water precisely because minerals give it an appealing taste.
However, at certain levels, minerals, just like man-made chemicals, are considered
contaminants that can make water unpalatable or even unsafe. Some contaminants come from
erosion of natural rock formations. Other contaminants are substances discharged from
factories, applied to farmlands, or used by consumers in their homes and yards. Sources of
contaminants might be in your neighborhood or might be many miles away. Your local water
quality report tells which contaminants are in your drinking water, the levels at which they were
found, and the actual or likely source of each contaminant. Some ground water systems have
established wellhead protection programs to prevent substances from contaminating their
wells. Similarly, some surface water systems protect the watershed around their reservoir to
prevent contamination. Right now, states and water suppliers are working systematically to
assess every source of drinking water and to identify potential sources of contaminants. This
process will help communities to protect their drinking water supplies from contamination.
Where does drinking water come from?
A clean, constant supply of drinking water is essential to every community. People in large
cities frequently drink water that comes from surface water sources, such as lakes, rivers, and
reservoirs. Sometimes these sources are close to the community. Other times, drinking water
suppliers get their water from sources many miles away. In either case, when you think about
where your drinking water comes from, it’s important to consider not just the part of the river or
lake that you can see, but the entire watershed. The watershed is the land area over which
water flows into the river, lake, or reservoir. In rural areas, people are more likely to drink
ground water that was pumped from a well. These wells tap into aquifers, the natural reservoirs
under the earth’s surface, that may be only a few miles wide, or may span the borders of many
states. As with surface water, it is important to remember that activities many miles away from
you may affect the quality of ground water. Your annual drinking water quality report will tell you
where your water supplier gets your water.
What are the health effects of contaminants in drinking water?
EPA has set standards for more than 80 contaminants that may occur in drinking water and
pose a risk to human health. EPA sets these standards to protect the health of everybody,
including vulnerable groups like children. The contaminants fall into two groups according to
the health effects that they cause. Your local water supplier will alert you through the local
media, direct mail, or other means if there is a potential acute or chronic health effect from
compounds in the drinking water. You may want to contact them for additional information
specific to your area. Acute effects occur within hours or days of the time that a person
consumes a contaminant. People can suffer acute health effects from almost any contaminant
if they are exposed to extraordinarily high levels (as in the case of a spill). In drinking water,
microbes, such as bacteria and viruses, are the contaminants with the greatest chance of
reaching levels high enough to cause acute health effects. Most people’s bodies can fight off
these microbial contaminants the way they fight off germs, and these acute contaminants
typically don’t have permanent effects. Nonetheless, when high enough levels occur, they can
make people ill, and can be dangerous or deadly for a person whose immune system is already
weak due to HIV/AIDS, chemotherapy, steroid use, or another reason. Chronic effects occur
after people consume a contaminant at levels over EPA’s safety standards for many years. The
drinking water contaminants that can have chronic effects are chemicals (such as disinfection
by-products, solvents, and pesticides), radionuclides (such as radium), and minerals (such as
arsenic). Examples of these chronic effects include cancer, liver or kidney problems,or
reproductive difficulties.
The United States has one of the safest water supplies in the world. However, national statistics
don’t tell you specifically about the quality and safety of the water coming out of your tap. That’
s because drinking water quality varies from place to place, depending on the condition of the
source water from which it is drawn and the treatment it receives. Now you have a new way to
find information about your drinking water, if it comes from a public water supplier (EPA doesn’t
regulate private wells, but recommends that well owners have their water tested annually).
Starting in 1999, every community water supplier must provide an annual report (sometimes
called a consumer confidence report) to its customers. The report provides information on your
local drinking water quality, including the water’s source, the contaminants found in the water,
and how consumers can get involved in protecting drinking water. You may want more
information, or have more questions. One place you can go is to your water supplier, who is
best equipped to answer questions about your specific water supply.
What contaminants may be found in drinking water?
There is no such thing as naturally pure water. In nature, all water contains some impurities. As
water flows in streams, sits in lakes, and filters through layers of soil and rock in the ground, it
dissolves or absorbs the substances that it touches. Some of these substances are harmless.
In fact, some people prefer mineral water precisely because minerals give it an appealing taste.
However, at certain levels, minerals, just like man-made chemicals, are considered
contaminants that can make water unpalatable or even unsafe. Some contaminants come from
erosion of natural rock formations. Other contaminants are substances discharged from
factories, applied to farmlands, or used by consumers in their homes and yards. Sources of
contaminants might be in your neighborhood or might be many miles away. Your local water
quality report tells which contaminants are in your drinking water, the levels at which they were
found, and the actual or likely source of each contaminant. Some ground water systems have
established wellhead protection programs to prevent substances from contaminating their
wells. Similarly, some surface water systems protect the watershed around their reservoir to
prevent contamination. Right now, states and water suppliers are working systematically to
assess every source of drinking water and to identify potential sources of contaminants. This
process will help communities to protect their drinking water supplies from contamination.
Where does drinking water come from?
A clean, constant supply of drinking water is essential to every community. People in large
cities frequently drink water that comes from surface water sources, such as lakes, rivers, and
reservoirs. Sometimes these sources are close to the community. Other times, drinking water
suppliers get their water from sources many miles away. In either case, when you think about
where your drinking water comes from, it’s important to consider not just the part of the river or
lake that you can see, but the entire watershed. The watershed is the land area over which
water flows into the river, lake, or reservoir. In rural areas, people are more likely to drink
ground water that was pumped from a well. These wells tap into aquifers, the natural reservoirs
under the earth’s surface, that may be only a few miles wide, or may span the borders of many
states. As with surface water, it is important to remember that activities many miles away from
you may affect the quality of ground water. Your annual drinking water quality report will tell you
where your water supplier gets your water.
What are the health effects of contaminants in drinking water?
EPA has set standards for more than 80 contaminants that may occur in drinking water and
pose a risk to human health. EPA sets these standards to protect the health of everybody,
including vulnerable groups like children. The contaminants fall into two groups according to
the health effects that they cause. Your local water supplier will alert you through the local
media, direct mail, or other means if there is a potential acute or chronic health effect from
compounds in the drinking water. You may want to contact them for additional information
specific to your area. Acute effects occur within hours or days of the time that a person
consumes a contaminant. People can suffer acute health effects from almost any contaminant
if they are exposed to extraordinarily high levels (as in the case of a spill). In drinking water,
microbes, such as bacteria and viruses, are the contaminants with the greatest chance of
reaching levels high enough to cause acute health effects. Most people’s bodies can fight off
these microbial contaminants the way they fight off germs, and these acute contaminants
typically don’t have permanent effects. Nonetheless, when high enough levels occur, they can
make people ill, and can be dangerous or deadly for a person whose immune system is already
weak due to HIV/AIDS, chemotherapy, steroid use, or another reason. Chronic effects occur
after people consume a contaminant at levels over EPA’s safety standards for many years. The
drinking water contaminants that can have chronic effects are chemicals (such as disinfection
by-products, solvents, and pesticides), radionuclides (such as radium), and minerals (such as
arsenic). Examples of these chronic effects include cancer, liver or kidney problems,or
reproductive difficulties.
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| Certified Home Inspections of New Hampshire (603)-455-3023 Email: CH.INSP@Yahoo.com |