Tap Water

Lincoln, Lincoln, I’ve been thinkin’…what the heck have you been drinkin’?

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Flint.  Newark.  DC.  Boston.  Jersey City.  Baltimore. And, probably every other major city in the US.

I am not trying to scare the bejesus out of you- but you have to recognize that when we don’t maintain our infrastructure, something is going to fail.  And, our roads and our water systems are the two most used resources- so they are bound to be among the first that fail.

Of course, not updating our water distribution systems in over a century doesn’t help matters.  Because before my mother was born (she’s the younger of my two parents), it was considered smart engineering to use lead for our water systems.

(Don’t get me started about the concept that it’s really hard to have smart water and sewage systems if you rely on concepts that build bridges.  There is a slew of chemistry and microbiology that is at the heart of these systems.  And, one course in chemistry and zero in microbiology doth not a smart engineer make.   OK.  Enough ChemE chest thumping.)

Back when I moved to the DC area from Charlottesville, I recognized (ok, after testing) that the drinking water for most of the area (I’m going to be pretty blunt, here) sucked.   And, it never impressed me that I could use a simple device to poison at least one of the major reservoirs.  (Sorry to say, this last part is still very accurate.)

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It really ticked me off that an agency that I thought was above reproach would leave so many people at risk.  You see, the Army Corps of Engineers handles the bulk of the DC water supply.  But, now we know that the same agency was primarily responsible for the failure of the New Orleans floods, since the diking system just didn’t have the proper design- or operational- parameters.

And, up through the late 1990s and early 2000s, the DC water system (which supplies Arlington and a good portion of Fairfax [Virginia], too) was pumping water laden with lead.  Way, way more than currently obtains in Flint.  And, just like what happened in Flint, the government agency(ies) lied about the dangers.

Supposedly (I have NOT tested it recently), this problem has been corrected this decade. But, I am not impressed when the report claims that the DC water system is “as safe or even more safe in terms of lead than other U.S. cities with lead pipe.”   Oh, I see.  Because every other city (like the aforementioned Boston and Newark) is providing leaded water (we don’t even use lead in our gasoline anymore!), then beating their (lousy) performance by a bit makes you ok?

Think I’m lying?  The US Environmental Protection Agency knows that 20 percent of the US water systems exceed the “action level” for lead- which is 15 ppb (parts per billion, or micrograms per liter). (That can mean way more than 1/5 of the population is affected- since we are talking about water systems.)   And, an action level means the responsible authority is required to take action to eradicate the problem.   And, you can bet that they are NOT!

Part of the problem came about when cities dropped chlorine as a disinfectant.  And, switched to chloramines.  This changed the pH – and the chemistry- of the water.  Which let all those ancient (decrepit?) water pipes to corrode and leach lead into the water.  (Yes, it also meant that the various agencies could test the water at their plants and claim- with a straight face- that there was no lead in their produced water.  Knowing full well that their piping distribution was delivering significant quantities of lead to their residents.

Now, we add orthophosphate to the water to stop it from corroding the pipes.  Instead of changing the pipes to remove the offending lead components.

I’ll have more on this potential (and now, often realized) disaster tomorrow.

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