A lookout H2O in the 516
February 16, 2018
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It was just over three years ago when Flint, Michigan made headlines for its increasingly unsafe drinking water. Unusually high levels of lead had been found in the tap water, posing a threat to over 100,000 residents of the city. A federal state of emergency was declared in January 2016 and Flint residents were advised to drink, and to only drink, bottle or filtered water for all purposes. Thanks to an abundance of water treatment and after lots of national attention, the water quality has returned to an almost-acceptable level. For now. Closer to home, Port Washington faced an alarming situation a few years ago when, according to the Environmental Water Group, a tap water database,
contaminants were detected in the water
supply that can cause cancer in the long
run: 1,4 dioxane, chromium, and heptachlor
epoxide.
While the Water District has been
making great strides in terms of purifying
local water supplies in recent years, water
pollution has become an issue that’s no
longer possible to ignore. On Feb. 9, 2016, the Western Long Island Aquifer Committee (made up of officials from Port Washington and surrounding towns) wrote a letter to the New York State Speaker of the Assembly and Senate Majority Leader asking for improved water quality inspections. The letter noted that Nassau County has 150 superfund sites—polluted areas that require long-term cleanup efforts—the most of any county in New York State. In order to understand the problems facing Port Washington’s water supply, it’s important to go back to the source. So where exactly does our water come from? According to the Annual Drinking Water Quality Report for 2016 from the Port Washington Water District, the usual sources of drinking water, which includes both bottled and tap water, are lakes, streams, rivers, springs, reservoirs, ponds, and wells. While the water moves through the ground or over the surface on land, it dissolves naturally occurring minerals. During this time, the water may also be combined with dangerous materials. These include remains from human and animal activity and radioactive material. As a result, a diverse variety of contaminants may be present in the source water, a few being pesticides, herbicides, and organic chemical contaminants. For the Port Washington Water District specifically, our main water source is groundwater. The water is pumped from 12 wells, which range from 90 to 600 feet in depth. These wells are located at eight different stations across the District and are drilled into the Port Washington, Magothy, and Lloyd aquifers situated beneath Long Island. Though New York State and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) established regulations to limit the presence of contaminants in the water supplied by public water systems, some pollutants manage to slip through. The Nassau County Department of Health conducted an evaluation of both the potential and real threats to our drinking water source and found that one of our wells has a medium high susceptibility to contamination to microbes. “Sometimes I drink from our sink water even though I buy bottled water
from stores like Costco,”
said junior Hannah Roth.
“Knowing this now is making
me more worried.”
These levels of susceptibility
are likely a result of
transportation routes and
industrial facilities in the
area, as well as land practices
by residents like fertilization
on unsewered lawns.
“I think I’ve always just
been kind of wary about
d r i n k i n g
our town’s tap water
in general,” said junior Gaby
Chu. “The thought of pollutants and contaminants
getting into what I drink plays
a large role in that.”
But what about city water? Many believe
that the quality of New York City’s
water supply is better than ours since it is
imported, but is this really true? Unlike
Port, the city gets its water from a surface
supply system made up of
controlled lakes and
reservoirs located
throughout a watershed.
The overwhelming
majority
of their water comes
from the Catskill/
Delaware supply,
which is of such
high quality that
filtration is not
needed to treat
the water.
Still, others
argue that the
possible negative
health effects
and metallic
taste from the
chemicals used to
disinfect the water,
namely chlorine
and fluorine, takes
away from the perceived
perks of city
water.
Me a n w h i l e ,
though well water
also has somewhat of
a reputable reputation
for carrying natural
minerals, it is absolutely
crucial for well water to
be completely treated and
not have an excess amount
of natural minerals for the
safety and health of all of us.
As a coastal community, Port Washington’s
water supply is susceptible to a
number of threats. According to the 2016
water quality report, all of our twelve wells
have a high to very high susceptibility to
nitrates. In this report, 6.25 mg/L of nitrates
were detected. Although this is less
than the maximum contaminant level of
10 mg/L, the report indicates that nitrate
levels have risen above half of the MCL.
This is largely due to unsewered residential
land use, nitrogen-based land fertilizers,
and commercial and industrial
activity. In addition, these levels may temporarily
increase rapidly due to changes in
rainfall or agricultural activity.
“If we find that there are problems with
regulated contaminants like nitrates, we
take prompt and measured action to put
in filtration systems and keep everything
up to standard,” said Granger.
When nitrates reach bays, rivers, and
the Long Island Sound, it can cause excessive
algal growth that blocks light and
therefore depletes oxygen supply in the
water, harming marine life. High levels of
nitrates may also lead to blue baby syndrome,
a type of anemia found in infants,
decreased thyroid function, spontaneous
abortion, and cancer.
1,4 dioxane has also been a chemical
high on the Water District’s radar.
The synthetic chemical, which is used as
a stabilizer for industrial chemicals, can
also be found in laundry detergent, soap,
shampoo, and body wash, has not yet been
federally regulated, but has been found in
trace amounts in Long Island’s groundwater
supply and is still an issue of concern.
“We’re looking at creating an acceptable
standard for the chemical. It’s an
emerging compound, so new information
is constantly coming out,” said Paul
Granger, who sits on the state Drinking
Water Quality Council and is superintendent
of the Port Washington Water District.
“1,4 Dioxane isn’t removed easily
with treatment methods, and there’s no
approved treatment technology yet, which
shows how new this is for everybody.”
Not only has the federal government
failed to establish a standard for 1,4 dioxane,
but the state of New York also has yet
to make and enforce regulations. According
to the New York State Department
of Health, 1,4 dioxane is classified as an
Unspecified Organic Contaminant, and
although trace amounts of up to 1.9 ppb
have been found in Port’s water, the NYSDOH’s
maximum contaminant level is 50
ppb, which is substantially higher.
All Long Island public water suppliers
are required to test all of their supply
wells multiple times per year for 144 different
parameters, which include volatile
organic chemicals, inorganics, pesticides,
and herbicides.
On August 20, 2015, EWG pointed out
that the Town of Hempstead contained
amounts of PFOA, or per uorooctanoic
acid, a compound found in numerous industrial
and commercial products.
In a 2016 article called “The Lawyer
Who Became DuPont’s Worst Nightmare,”
the New York Times magazine referenced
Nassau County as a location with
a high concentration of fluorochemicals.
Due to industrial processes all over
the country that have been going on
for decades, exposure to small doses of
chemicals is practically inevitable. The
article focused on PFOA and PFOS, or
perfluorooctanesulfonic acid, a similar
compound.
“If you are a sentient being reading this
article…you already have PFOA in your
blood. It is in your parents’ blood, your
children’s blood, your lover’s blood. How
did it get there? rough the air, through
your diet, through your use of nonstick
cookware, through your umbilical cord.
Or you might have drunk tainted water,”
wrote Nathaniel Rich in the article.
Seniors Saige Gitlin, Ali Hoffman, and
Molly McLoughlin were inspired to conduct
a research project concerning the
effects of these chemicals after learning
about the presence of PFOA in human
breast milk.
“The chemicals are so harmful because
they enter the environment so easily,”
said Hoffman. “PFOA is difficult to
remove and builds up quickly because it
is non-biodegradable and has a high bioaccumulation
rate. BHT has a low vapor
pressure so it easily evaporated o of rubber
and plastic products and enters the
environment.”
Over the course of their two-year project,
these students exposed PFOA and
BHT to aquatic and terrestrial organisms,
sea stars and earthworms speci cally,
and measured the effects of these chemicals
on the organism’s motility. Through
their study, they found that both of these
chemicals caused detrimental loss of motor
function.
“This decreased mobility decreased
the survival chances of these animals, and
also suggests that the chemicals could be
having a similar impact on humans,” said
Gitlin. “Because of this, it is important
that we find ways to remove them from
our water and food supply.”
McLoughlin continued the project this
year, as she developed a filtration method
to remove harmful chemicals like PFOA
from the water supply.
“Because of their environmental persistence,
they have become very hard to
remove from water, so it is imperative
that a effective filtration system is made
in order to prevent any future harm these
chemicals cause,” said McLoughlin.
In order to avoid being exposed to
chemicals such as these, as well as other
possible water contaminants, there are
many filtration options available. Aside
from built-in home filtration systems, Brita
lters, as well as reusable water bottles
with their own filters, are both viable options.
Others look to bottled water as a safer
alternative to tap water. However, one
should be wary when considering the
benefits of bottled water versus tap water.
For instance, in 2012, Nestle was sued
as a result of falsely advertising their bottled
water as being natural spring water,
when it was actually just tap water. Furthermore,
almost 50% of bottled water
has been found to simply be purified tap
water, and many experts believe that tap
water actually has tighter regulations than
bottled water.
“Tap water is safe and federally regulated,
so people should limit the use of
bottled water because those bottles generally
end up in land fills, or the plastic can
leach into the water,” said environmental
science teacher Ms. Julia Brandt. “Even
recycling can be problematic because it
takes additional energy and resources to
process the bottles.”
In a poll conducted by The Schreiber
Times, 56% of students said that they
drink filtered water or bottled water at
home, while only 36% drink tap water.
As for when they are at school, 89% percent
of students indicated that they prefer
to bring water from home as opposed to
drinking water from school. If they do
drink water from the school, they prefer
to get it from the hydration station, as opposed
to the regular water fountains.
In response to the Western Long Island
Aquifer Committee’s 2016 letter to
New York State officials, the state established
a twelve-member Drinking Water
Quality Council this year, and because
Mr. Granger is a member of the council,
Port now has a direct connection to state
decisions regarding water quality. If you
wish to learn more about water treatment
in Port Washington, the Water District
makes annual reports publicly available online.