09 Oct, 2009
Worst Drinking Water in the U.S. Comes From California
Posted by: Beach Reporter In: california| dining
When a friend said to me that her California beach city sent out an annual report showing that they had some of the best tap water in the state of California, I asked her if she was aware that there are many chemicals that have no national standards for safety and thus, appear in most tap water. The answer was a dead silence with no reply. In recently-reported grades of U.S. water supplies, California drinking water is the worst in the country.
Worst water in U.S.
1. California
2. Wisconsin
3. North Carolina
4. Florida
5. Texas
6. New York
7. Nevada
8. Pennsylvania
9. Ohio
10. New Mexico
We do weekly reports on the ocean water quality after our work in tourism made us aware that visitors go in the ocean without any knowledge about the water quality, and then call tourist bureaus, complaining that they got sick after entering the Pacific Ocean at a certain beach. Week after week we’ve followed the lead of the Healthybay.org in summarizing their data and trying to spread the word that water quality is important. Awareness about it can mean the difference between a great vacation and illness to spoil your trip. Some water-born illnesses can even create lifelong health problems. Our weekly summary is forthcoming in a future blog post.
The New York Times recently wrote an article about their research into the nation’s tap water–and California came up on top of the pack with the most violations affecting the largest number of consumers in the United States. Close to 57% of water supplies tested had violations for exceeding nationally recommended limits of particulates, poisons, chemicals and other matter in the water. An explanation of the limits stated that just because it is a limit, doesn’t mean it’s thought to be “safe.” A limit simply is an economic consideration as to what is affordable so that everyone can have water in the U.S. without it costing too much money to obtain, and the general population tolerating the amounts of the lead, strichnine, arsenic, birth control pills, fertilizers, bug sprays, and other such drugs passed appearing in our water supplies. Some evidence suggests that boys now have larger breasts, and young girls are developing breasts sooner because of the chemicals in the drinking water.
In 2008 Environmental Working Group released an alert about drugs in the U.S. water supply. The study showed that millions of Americans are not only drinking poisons, but also are consuming low-level mixtures of pharmaceuticals with every glass of water. Antibiotics, sex hormones, and drugs used to treat epilepsy and depression, contaminate drinking water and expose Americans to health risks. Yet the Environmental Protection Agency does not require monitoring of these drugs, and doesn’t set standards.
The Environmental Working Group has crunched the numbers and monitored U.S. drinking water supplies, providing data and charts that you can study to see the real low-down on water quality. ewg.org
