Drinking Water Safety
Is your drinking water safe?
The lead crisis in Flint, MI, brought the issue of water quality to the forefront of the American consciousness a few years ago. Since then, we have learned that Flint is far from alone in their struggle to deal with contaminated water – places all across the country, urban, suburban, and rural, homes, businesses, and schools, have also been drinking unsafe water for years, often without knowing it.
Closer to home, we learned earlier this year that Newark, NJ, is also dealing with a lead contamination crisis. In fact, according to a recent article, various utilities in New Jersey have been cited for 226 contamination violations of the Safe Drinking Water Act, for water servicing over 1.5 million residents. Most of the violations have to do with, somewhat ironically, either excessive levels of bacteria or disinfectants. We also, unsurprisingly, have to deal with a longstanding legacy of toxic industrial contamination and Superfund sites which can leach into groundwater supplies.
The article contains a useful map if you want to learn more and checkout what might be going on in your own backyard: