Pure, Sweet Water?

Water is the source of life. According to www.nashville.gov, our life source (drinking water) is drawn from the Cumberland River.

The Cumberland runs right through Nashville, through urban areas, farm land and homeless camps. There could be anything in that water before it is purified.

Lucky for us water snobs, the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation provides a relatively comprehensive report on water processing. At the water’s first stop, large objects (like sticks, leaves and toaster ovens) are removed. Then coagulants are added to the water. When these chemicals are removed, they pull large particles (like dirt and algae) along with them. When the water is sent along to “settling tanks,” more large particles fall out of the water before it passes through filters to become “crystal clear.”

Finally, before the water is sent along to homes and businesses, a little chlorine and fluoride is added. The report says these chemicals are to prevent bacteria growth and promote tooth strength. At home, we add no chlorine or fluoride to our well water, and my dental concerns are only from my own inability to remember to floss. Chlorine is my bigger concern, however.

The amount of effort put into this purification process fascinates me. The water that fueled my every growth spurt was naturally “crystal clear” and made my body feel clean.

When my parents built my home, they did not have to look far for a gushing, pure spring. If you walk a little way west of my house, down a laurel lined path, you will come to a damp, moss covered spot. Here is where my parents drilled a well and installed a pump system into the house. Even during the driest summers, we have never run out of water. The water has a taste to it that is so pure, it is almost sweet.

Besides the installment of this spring well and electrical pump system, our to-die-for drinking water takes little effort. There are no toaster ovens or sticks to pull from this water source.

Coming to Nashville, I knew the water would not be on the same level as the pure mountain spring water that was my life source. However, I did not expect to drink a pool every time I came to a water fountain. The amount of chlorine shocked me and made me wonder what in the original water required such harsh treatment.

When I felt my energy level draining and dehydration taking over, I realized I had been avoiding drinking this pool water at all costs. In order to maintain the water content my body required, I bought a tray of plastic, disposable water bottles. My environmentally conscious parents would not be proud, but a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do to stay hydrated. I’ll buy a water purifier soon.

So back to the chlorine.

This use of chlorine overlooks the existence of positive bacteria. There are natural levels of bacteria in our bodies that aid digestion, like acidophilus which helps break down food in the gut. Chlorine is added to water to kill the harmful bacteria in the water, but when it passes through our bodies it is indiscriminate in its bacteria killing spree. Perhaps this is why the Environmental Protection Agency reports that too much chlorine in drinking water can cause stomach pain, as our bodies likely have to work harder to digest our food with fewer positive bacteria.

What are even more concerning are the chemical reactions that occur when chlorine is added to the water. When the chlorine meets certain organic matter, it forms compounds called trihalomethanes (THMs), among others. These byproducts of the disinfection process include known carcinogens, like chloroform.

Now imagine standing in your daily shower. The hot water is running down your skin, and you can feel the steam in your nostrils. You take a nice, deep breath. Ahhh. You are clean. But as Chris Kresser writes in his article “Is your daily shower making you sick?” you could be breathing in carcinogens or other toxic disinfection byproducts in the steam, and soaking them up through your skin. My showers have been less relaxing since reading this disturbing news.

The EPA lists bromate, chlorite, halo acetic acids and THMs as byproducts that can cause cancer, anemia, central nervous system problems or liver and kidney problems. Kresser adds asthma to the list, and a comment on the article by “kateryna” detailed her daily near-death experiences from serious shower-induced asthma attacks. She said filtering her shower water saved her life.

So while chlorine and other disinfectants reduce the pathogenic bacteria in our drinking water, can we rely on tap water for our health? Many of the articles I read suggested filtering both drinking water and shower/bath water. Unfortunately for me, it is not feasible to filter my shower water without a petition to campus maintenance. Perhaps it is something to look into.

Now, why am I drinking and showing in a pool? The water quality of the Cumberland River must be bad.

According to the Drinking WaterScorecard for Nashville, the turbidity of the water was above EPA standards in 2005. This means that the sediment in the water was too much for the filtering process to work effectively. The research further explains that this could signal high levels of microorganisms, including parasites, viruses and bacteria.

So, Nashville water treatment operations are combating the turbidity with high levels of chlorine. The scorecard lists Nashville water as having high chlorine content (bordering on the EPA maximum) and a high level of halo acetic acids, a carcinogenic byproduct of the disinfecting process that I mentioned earlier.

Compare the turbidity of Nashville water to that of Austin, Texas, and you see a dramatic difference. Austin was named the city with second best drinking water by Forbes in 2008. While Austin’s water has moderately high chlorine content, its halo acetic acid content is much lower, suggesting a connection between turbidity and halo acetic acid and other carcinogenic byproducts of disinfection. It seems there is a connection between the number of sticks, toaster ovens and other large particles clouding up the water and the toxic byproducts the cleaning process creates.

Although I knew Nashville water would not be up to par with my pure, sweet life source, I had no idea I would be discussing dramatic chemical reactions in the cleaning process. It has shocked me how much water must go through before it makes it safely to my mouth and stomach. Water—the most basic element of life on Earth—has become something that must be transformed before our bodies can accept it.