Many Unseen Threats to Our Water Supply

The Orlando Sentinel editorial board has written an excellent article describing the unseen poisons in our water.  We are now paying the price for our culture’s conveniences and technology made possible by chemicals, some of which we now recognize as poisons.

We have said on multiple occasions that when people think of Florida’s water problems they think of the Everglades or, more recently, starving manatees in the Indian River Lagoon.  What they don’t see is the dropping aquifer and slowing flows of the springs and rivers, down about a third of what they should be.

This is a water crisis we are undergoing which is not often heralded by the media and certainly not by our DEP and water districts, who pretend that all is fine.

And a crisis that is increasing each year under out State’s policy of protecting and promoting industry at the expense of our environment.

That why it is so important to support the proposed constitutional amendment the Florida Right to Clean Water.

This article appeared in the Orlando Sentinel.

Comments by OSFR historian Jim Tatum.
jim.tatum@oursantaferiver.org
– A river is like a life: once taken,
it cannot be brought back © Jim Tatum

Editorial: How secrecy threatens our water supply

Rony Michaud/ Pixabay

Editorial: How secrecy threatens our water supply

By Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board | insight@orlandosentinel.com |

July 23, 2023 at 5:58 a.m.

Central Floridians take clean, affordable water as their birthright. And for generations, it has been. The vast underground aquifers that supply almost all of Florida’s drinking water do a remarkable job of filtering out contaminants from roads, farm fields, lawns and parking lots that cover more of Florida’s surface every day. But there are clear signs of big trouble — such as the drastic die-off of seagrass in the Indian River Lagoon; the algae blooms or thick layers of muck in areas where they’ve never been seen before and the increasing number of Florida springs that are reporting unsafe levels of bacteria.

Those are just the threats we see. As the Sentinel has reported over the past two weeks in its series “Toxic Secret,” more subtle chemicals have been unleashed into local water supplies, ones that are hard to detect and even harder — sometimes impossible — to remove.

This creates a true dilemma for responsible water utilities. Central Florida water utilities report that the water they supply is clean and safe to drink — even in the areas covered by the Toxic Secret investigation. But across the nation, many utilities have seen reports indicating that their own water supplies have been infiltrated by substances tied to cancer, hormonal disruptions, birth defects and other devastating health conditions. What they lack, in many cases, is good data on how much contamination is too much. What they know is that the cost of state-of-the-art filtration systems might drive utility bills so high that clean water becomes a luxury.

There are no easy answers. We wish there were.

‘Forever’ toxins

The Sentinel series focuses on one particular contaminant — a compound known as 1,4-dioxane, found in three Seminole County water supplies. In part 3 of the series, writer Kevin Spear refers to the chemical 1,4-dioxane as “sinister” because of its elusive qualities: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency hasn’t set limits on it yet, but in quantities considered to be carcinogenic — just 10 parts per million — it’s absolutely undetectable by humans. Though it can break down quickly when exposed to air, in Florida’s underground system of aquifers it’s considered a “forever chemical” that doesn’t go away. Conventional water-treatment plants and home filtration systems don’t remove it from the water supply. And the cancers it’s most often tied to won’t show up immediately.

But the truly sinister thing is this: 1,4-dioxane is just one of a multitude of “forever chemicals” that can sneak into public water supplies or invade our bodies. Many of them were introduced through careless handling at manufacturing plants, but some can be found in products that homeowners use themselves — such as shampoos, household cleaners and home-improvement supplies.

Here’s just one example, albeit a massive one: If you’ve ever squirted bug spray at a roach in your shower stall, or washed an old non-stick pan that was flaking, you may have released one of the thousands of chemicals grouped under the heading of “per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances” or PFAS into the water supply. Some of the chemicals in this group have already been discontinued because of clear ties to cancer and other health problems, but they are still pervasive — found in clothing, furniture and even fast-food wrappers. They’ve been detected in hundreds of water supplies across the country. Like 1,4-dioxane, most of these substances aren’t routinely tested for or filtered out.

Moreover, these chemicals can be dangerous in incredibly small concentrations, especially when consumed over long periods of time. To understand what one part per million is, we’ll borrow an example from a TED video by science educator Kim Preshoff: In a truck loaded with 1,250 ears of corn, 1 part per million would be close to the weight of a single kernel.

If you’re not worried yet, consider this: Most of the studies of these micro-contaminants isolate and explore one compound at a time. There’s even less data about health outcomes when people consume small quantities of multiple toxins.

From openess to advocacy

Last week, we criticized local water utilities in Lake Mary, Sanford and Seminole County for not doing enough to inform their customers when 1,4-dioxane was first detected in their water; very few people the Sentinel contacted for comment had heard about it, including some elected officials and clean-water advocates in the affected communities.

That could well be the key that unlocks the door to a solution: Getting a notice that says a toxin has been detected, in plain language that most water-utility customers can understand, could spur Americans to demand a more thorough national response to dangerous chemicals. More research, more stringent testing, tougher regulation of industries that use these chemicals in manufacturing and consumer products and funding for advanced municipal water-treatment systems.

All this would be beyond the financial scope of one city, one county or even one state. It is, however, worthy of expanded national investment.

That won’t happen as long as these toxic secrets remain secret.

The Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Opinion Editor Krys Fluker, Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson and Viewpoints Editor Jay Reddick. Contact us at insight@orlandosentinel.com

Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board | Our Opinion

The Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Opinion Editor Krys Fluker, Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson and Viewpoints Editor Jay Reddick. Contact us at insight@orlandosentinel.com

insight@orlandosentinel.com

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