Water Warning - Florida Water Contamination

Experts blame Drought, heavy rains and cracks in aging pipes for recent contaminations of the West Palm Beach Water Supply

October 5th, 2007

West Palm Beach's woes began after routine tests found evidence of coliforms - bacteria found naturally in the environment as well as the digestive tracts of humans and animals.

Mandatory follow-up tests found a narrower subset called fecal coliform bacteria, including E. coli, which provide firmer evidence that animal or human waste may have gotten into the water.

Other possible causes for the outbreak that city officials have stated are Bacterial films, including E. coli, which can thrive in warm water, parts of the pipeline that have low pressure, standing water, runoff water from recent rainfall's drainage or possibly areas where there are low levels of chlorine present in the water.  Human's are not meant to ingest these substances!  Our bodies have just gotten better at fighting them off, why continue ingesting these harmful substances when we can purify the water ourselves and be ASSURED that our drinking/bathing water is pure and healthy?

Check Florida Counties for Contamination - www.dep.state.fl.us

Here is some data on skin absorption of dangerous contaminants, taken from http://www.pristine-water.com/Chlorine%20Hazards.htm

Toxic effect of chlorine skin absorption

Hazards in the bath & shower
Chlorine chemically bonds with proteins in the hair, skin and scalp. Hair can become rough and brittle and lose color. Skin can dry out with itchy, flaky scalp occurring. Chlorine can aggravate sensitive areas in the eyes, nose, throat and lungs. Chlorine combines with organic substances forming Trihalomethanes including Chloroform. The most common volatile compounds found by the EPA in drinking water supplies are: trichloroethylene, tetrachloroethylene, carbon tetrachloride, benzene,1,1,1-trichloroethane, 1,2-dichloroethane, ethylene chloride,1,1-dichloroethylene, bis-1,2-dichloroethylene, vinyl chloride, trans-1,2-dichloroethylene, chlorobenzene, dichlorobenzene, and trichlorobenzene.

Inhalation
Chlorine, trichloroethylene (TCE), chloroform, benzene and other vapors are readily absorbed through the lungs into the bloodstream. Chloroform (a Trihalomethane or THM) and TCE are two highly volatile toxic chemicals that have been identified in many municipal drinking-water supplies. The National Academy of Sciences has estimated that hundreds of people may die in the U.S. each year from cancers caused by ingesting these contaminants in water. However, the major threat caused by these water toxins is far more likely to be as air pollutants in the home according to a study by Dr. Julian Andelman. He found that in the shower when temperature and chemical concentrations increase and diameter of shower head holes decrease, volatilization increases. His data indicate that hot showers can liberate about 50% of the dissolved chloroform and 80% of the dissolved TCE into the air. Both the heat and the large surface-to-volume ratio of small droplets increase vaporization.

American Journal of Public Health May 84
Science News Sep 86
Pool & Spa News Oct. 86

We will continue to look for news of areas that have posted water warning's recently or even if old warning still exist or have not been improved to a quality standard.

References:
Robert P. King - PalmBeachPost.com