Alexandria's Drinking Water

“If you live in this region then your body is 60% Potomac River water.”  I was shocked to hear this statement from an E.P.A. representative.  I was sitting through a learning session at the GreenGov Symposium in October when he made this claim.  Quiet gasps and “ewws” came from the audience.  I wrote the quote down in my notebook to investigate it further, surely, an Alexandria/Fairfax County resident doesn’t drink water that originated from the Potomac--Fairfax County was ranked eighth in the U.S. in the Big City Water Ratings! But wait, where else would we be getting our water?!

After just a few Google searches, it was confirmed.  Fairfax County gets its drinking water from two sources, the Potomac River and the Occoquan Reservoir.  If you’ve lived in this region for a few years then you’ve probably heard that Potomac River is polluted and there are three-eyed fish swimming around in there. If you aren’t familiar with the Potomac River you can learn more about it on this web site. So how can it be that Fairfax County’s water is so clean if it’s coming from the Potomac?  Well, it turns out that the water testing conducted to award Fairfax County with the eighth cleanest water in the country, only tested for the presences of certain harmful chemicals.  Fairfax County is not hiding the fact that an incomplete testing was conducted--the county posts the testing results on their web site. And the harmful contaminants found in the Potomac are sort of new to the water testing world, and the side effects of human ingestion these of contaminants is still being studied and is a controversial topic in the U.S. 

So what are these harmful contaminants that I keep referring to?  Toxic waste coming from sewage treatment plants and other wastewater facilities.

And what is so bad about these?  They are endocrine disruptors.  The E.P.A states that

“…there is strong evidence that chemical exposure has been associated with adverse developmental and reproductive effects on fish and wildlife in particular locations. The relationship of human diseases of the endocrine system and exposure to environmental contaminants, however, is poorly understood and scientifically controversial (Kavlock et al., 1996, EPA, 1997).”  (my bolding). http://www.epa.gov/endo/pubs/edspoverview/whatare.htm

In fact, there have been a considerable amount of fish found in the Potomac to be “intersex”.  Please check out this short video provided by the Potomac Conservancy. Male fish are developing eggs…

This is a scary revelation.  So what can you do to reduce the amount of contaminants that get in our waterways?  The Potomac Conservancy suggests eight ways you can help:

1. NEVER flush unneeded or expired medications down a toilet or drain, especially if you use a septic system.

2. Keep it contained: Unused personal care products are best disposed of by landfilling if left in the original container. If medications must be thrown away, leave them in their original container to reduce seepage at the landfill.

3. Remove identifying information, or package medications in an obscure container such as an empty margarine tub or non-transparent bag, and place it in the trash.

4. Go natural: Consider using products with biodegradable ingredients which are less likely to harm the environment. Choose products containing ingredients more prone to biodegrading like vinegar, lemon juice, or baking soda.

5. Avoid unnecessary ingredients such as fragrances, or those labeled “antimicrobial” in personal care products.

6. Locate a take-back program: Ask pharmacies in your community if they take back unneeded or expired medications. Inquire about community take-back programs at local government sites and online. If none exist, implement your own using resources such as Teleosis Institute’s Green Pharmacy Program (www.teleosis.org/gpp-program.php ), or the SMARxT Disposal public awareness campaign (www.smarxtdisposal.net) to help you get started.

7. Alter medications before placing them in the trash. Opinions on altering medications vary — some believe the medications should simply be made unpalatable or undesirable to prevent accidental ingestion, while others believe they should be made completely unusable. Add kitty litter to liquid medications, glue or a small amount of water to pills, a small amount of disinfectant to any medication, or salt, flour or a powdered spice like mustard or turmeric to liquid medications.

8. Use personal care products sparingly, completely, and according to label recommendations.

9. Recycle responsibly: See if your state runs a program to provide low-income patients with leftover pharmaceuticals. Rules and regulations vary according to state so reference the laws in your area with the help of organizations such as the National Conference of State Legislatures (www.ncsl.org).

10. Call your local government and ask what they can do to help. Suggest a community campaign to integrate some of the above methods into your own neighborhood.

If you’re interested in learning the history behind U.S. water regulations current news surrounding these issues, the NY Times has an ongoing series on their web site.

Next week’s blog post will be about the world’s water supply and simple ways we can help to conserve it.