Drugs found in US water supply
By Ken Mitchell
Antibiotics, sex hormones, and other dangerous pharmaceuticals have been found in the water supplies of 41 million Americans, though the concentration is measured in parts per billion (PPB) and is minuscule compared to medical dosage.
An Associated Press investigation found that drugs have been detected in the water supplies of 24 major metropolitan areas across the country. Experts suggest that the drugs get into the supply by being excreted from the bodies of people taking the medications. Small portions of the drugs are filtered by the body and end up flushed down the toilet. Current wastewater treatment doesn’t include methods for cleansing the small amounts of drugs from the water. The government doesn’t require testing for them either.
Bottle or home filtered water is not necessarily better. Many bottlers simply repackage tap water, or use tap water as a source. Their filters currently aren’t intended to filter the drugs either. Drugs have also been found in some groundwater supplies, perhaps due to seepage from septic tanks.
Researchers are unsure of the long term effects, but don’t think that this is a reason to be alarmed. The proportion of drugs to the volume of drinking water is till so minuscule that people need not worry. However, there is a compounding effect. If the water continues to go on unfiltered, and people continue to excrete small amounts of drugs into wastewater, perhaps someday the levels could reach a dangerous point.
Modern treatment methods are available for ridding the wastewater of virtually all toxins. Reverse Osmosis is so expensive, however, and tends to produce several gallons of toxic wastewater for every one gallon of clean water.
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March 10th, 2008
Dear Sir,
You need to get your facts right before attempting to scare the crap out of people!
Reverse Osmosis does not “produce several gallons of toxic wastewater for every one gallon of clean water”. Try doing some research.
The largest wastewater reuse system in the United States, utilizing reverse osmosis, converts 85% of the feed water to product water.
March 11th, 2008
Hmm, thanks for the heads up. I must have been confused by the Wiki article:
“For every 5 gallons of output, a typical residential reverse osmosis filter will send around 10 – 20 gallons of water down the drain”
I can’t find any information about Stickney using solely RO and having an 85% conversion rate, perhaps you could share?
I hope people are more worried that there are drugs in the water, than the RO conversion rate.