OPINION:
Flint, Michigan, and Newark, New Jersey, have been high-profile failures of localities to deliver safe, clean water to residents. But the lack of tap water safety in America may actually be underappreciated. In October, there were 77 boil water advisories issued in the United States. That annualizes to about 1,000 a year.
A boil water advisory is sent to residents when tap water is unsafe to drink. It must be vigorously boiled for a few minutes before the contaminants are neutralized. Some water advisories last a few hours while most others last several days.
A few of these advisories were pre-planned if, for instance, repairs on water mains were taking place. At other times, residents are told after-the-fact. When an old water main ruptures and contaminants seep into their taps, residents will generally be unaware for some time before the local government warning reaches them.
For much of the country, there is no advisory for the water they drink — which is chronically problematic.
Recently, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said that 92% of water delivered in the United States is clean. That sounds high. But Newsweek did the math: If 8% isn’t meeting standards, people may be drinking up to 209 million glasses of bad water — every day.
The public water infrastructure in the United States is crumbling and there is no immediate fix. There are more than 240,000 water main breaks in the U.S. each year. According to the American Society of Civil Engineers, many water treatment facilities have reported being underfunded and understaffed. The governor of Michigan recently released a $500 million plan to renovate the water infrastructure of that state. But even if approved, it would take years to accomplish. Remember, they can’t even manage to fix highway potholes.
There are some short-term solutions for bad tap water. But it wouldn’t be America in 2020 if there weren’t some special interest group fighting against common sense.
When disaster strikes — whether a hurricane or a systemic problem of heavy metals in the tap water — governments respond by bringing in bottled water by the truckload. The federal government keeps 18 million bottles stored in strategic locations. Yet, now municipal governments throughout the country, lobbied by radical environmentalists, are looking at banning water bottles.
After environmentalists have had some limited success in banning plastic bags and straws — which are easily replaceable and hard-to-recycle — they’re attacking bottled water. A product that is completely recyclable and much less replaceable. Ironically, according to a study by Denmark’s version of the EPA, the alternatives to bottled water all create higher greenhouse gas emissions to produce and transport.
Glass is heavy, requiring more fuel to transport. It’s also subject to breakage as well as being rejected by many recycling centers. Making new aluminum cans involves environment harm from mining bauxite ore. Water boxes, an amalgamation of paper, plastic and metal lining, are more difficult to recycle than plastic. Of course, you can always refill your reusable container if you trust the local drinking water supply.
There are very few ways for the average person to get purified water if a boil water advisory is put into place. The average filtered pitcher from a supermarket does not filter out small bacteria like E. coli or other fecal bacteria. Some reverse osmosis purification systems can filter out E. coli, but they must be monitored regularly or bacteria growths can spread through the filter membranes. Common carbon filters can also harbor bacteria.
Lead is even more difficult to address. Residents cannot boil water to remove lead. They need an effective filter or must rely on bottled water to keep their families safe.
PFAS, which is a specific group of man-made chemicals often detected near manufacturing facilities or airfields where it’s used for firefighting, should also be of concern to tap water drinkers. Just last week, New Jersey filed suit against a state business they claim is releasing these chemicals into the environment.
The substances, which can seep into water systems, have been linked to cancer and reproductive problems, among other issues. They also don’t easily breakdown in the human body and can accumulate over time. And they don’t get neutralized with typical home filters.
Clearly, the United States has better tap water than most places in the world, but there are hidden dangers. Municipal governments cannot easily dismiss these dangers or emergency solutions when they outlaw the sale of water bottles.
Whether it is for an everyday desire for purified water, natural disaster relief or local emergency alerts, access to bottled water is essential. Banning it locally out of some distorted view on recycling is not the solution. Education and making recycling easier is a more logical answer to an environment issue. For governments to embrace bans as a simplistic alternative means we will once again trigger the law of unintended consequences.
• Richard Berman is president of Berman and Co. in Washington, D.C.
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