20 Major Water Contaminants on EPA’s Regulation List … Plus Tips for Cleaning Up Your Drinking Water

1st March 2016

By Mark W. Boutwell

Guest Writer for Wake Up World

The United States is considered one of the countries with the safest tap water in the world. There are approximately 155,000 public water systems in the U.S. that provides drinking water to 90% of Americans. The quality of public drinking water in the US is regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA does this by regulating the maximum levels of pollutants and chemicals that are put in drinking water. Our Water sources are vulnerable tocontamination so treatments are necessary to get rid of disease causing pollutants. Water contamination can happen at the source or in the supply system during distribution after the water has already been treated.

The fact is each water source contains contaminants that occur naturally and those that result from human activities. Natural contamination of drinking water occurs as the water flows into rivers or streams, filters through soil layers and rocks, or as it sits in lakes.

During these processes the water absorbs or dissolves the substances that it comes into contact with. Depending on its exposure, water changes in terms of its physical parameters and composition.

20 Major Water Contaminants on EPA’s List

The EPA monitors more than 8,000 water contaminants that are common in our drinking water. Here are the top contaminants, their health effects and Federal limits that you need to know about to interpret water quality reports.

1. Barium: Barium is a water contaminant whose exposure leads to increased blood pressure, stomach irritations, and changes in heart beat rhythm and muscle weakness. The maximum Federal acceptable level of this contaminant is 2.0 milligrams per liter of water.

2. Aluminum: Aluminum is not thought to be a contaminant that is harmful to people’s health when its exposure is low. However, long term exposure to this contaminant in the compound such as Aluminum hydroxide (in antacids) or Aluminum chlorohydrate found in most deodorants has been studied and linked to impairment of brain functions and is thought to result inAlzheimer’s disease and breast cancer. The Federal limit for this contaminant is between 0.05 and 0.2 milligrams per liter of water.

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Further reading from Mark W. Boutwell:

• Agricultural Water Problems and Solutions – What You Need To Know

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