Protect Manatee County watershed, be better informed about quality

Drinking water is undoubtedly one of the top assets of any community. It is essential to human life, and survival without it is impossible. Accordingly, its source and quality should be protected and recent activity by the public to protect Manatee County’s watershed speaks to this reality.

As a retired public health official I have dealt with the public’s reaction to drinking water issues for decades. Often the public has the misguided notion that water should be pure. This ideal is not the case. All drinking water has contaminants but at acceptable levels, which are often exceeded. While public water sources are controlled sources of drinking water, unlike private wells, they are still subject to contamination.

Here is where the public needs to educate itself to understand what comes out of the tap in addition to watershed protection issues. Surprisingly, you will find that public water after chlorination creates a series of chemical byproducts which are considered to be suspected carcinogens. This is the result of the mixture of chlorine and organic matter in the water as it churns through the closed water system. Periodically, you will notice a strong chlorine odor as the water companies strive to keep contaminates at an acceptable level.

The federal government has complicated the issue with a standing directive from Congress that there is no safe level of a carcinogen! It is zero: You cannot go wrong with that position. However, the daily reality of the public is most, if not all, public water in not pure. But the same reality is, if not this water then what water?

May I suggest the public continue its quest to protect the watershed. And become more informed on the actual water quality that comes out of the tap.

This story was originally published February 10, 2017 at 3:14 PM with the headline "Protect Manatee County watershed, be better informed about quality."