Water is one of the most essential components of this world. We drink it. We cook with it. We swim in it. It makes up roughly 60% of your body. Everyone knows that, but do you know if the water you are putting into your body is making you healthier, or introducing lethal contaminants?

It is no secret that the lack of access to safe drinking water is the concern of many humanitarian organizations. Their time and energy is giving the gift of potable water to the poorest areas of the globe. Significant amounts of money are donated each year to this cause – perhaps even your money.

Despite this global need, the United States continues to struggle providing clean water to its residents. The Safe Water Drinking Act was passed in 1986 to help aid the US in providing safe water, but its history has been questionable, especially in the state of New Jersey.

HERE ARE SOME IMPORTANT FACTS ABOUT THE WATER CRISIS AND HOW THIS GLOBAL ISSUE HAS COME TO YOUR BACK YARD – LITERALLY.

GLOBAL

• 663 million people in the world live without clean water.
• Diseases from dirty water kill more people every year than all forms of violence, including war.
• 361,000 children die every year from diarrheal diseases caused by unsafe water and poor sanitation. That’s Nearly 800 children a day who die from preventable diseases.
• 2.4 Billion people don’t have access to adequate sanitation, that’s one in three of the world’s population.
• Every 90 seconds a child dies from a water-related disease.
• 3rd leading cause of child death is diarrhea, a majority of which is water-related.
• 1 Million people killed by water, sanitation and hygiene-related disease each year.
• Women and girls spend 6 hours each day collecting water.
• Today, 1 in 10 people lack access to safe water.
• 1/3 of all schools lack access to safe water and adequate sanitation.
• $260 Billion is lost globally each year due to lack of safe water and sanitation.

UNITED STATES

• Since 2004, the water provided to more than 49 million people has contained illegal concentrations of chemicals like arsenic or radioactive substances like uranium, as well as dangerous bacteria often found in sewage.
• Regulatory records show that fewer than 6 percent of the water systems that broke the law were ever fined or punished by state or federal officials.
• As many as 19 million Americans may become ill each year due to just the parasites, viruses and bacteria in drinking water.
• Certain types of cancer — such as breast and prostate cancer — have risen over the past 30 years, and research indicates they are likely tied to pollutants like those found in drinking water.
• Those figures are particularly worrisome, say researchers, because the Safe Drinking Water Act’s limits on arsenic are so weak to begin with. A system could deliver tap water that puts residents at a 1-in-600 risk of developing bladder cancer from arsenic, and still comply with the law.
• Some 4 million Americans get water from small operators who skipped required tests or did
• Individually, the communities served by small utilities seem tiny. But together, the number of people getting lead-contaminated drinking water, or water not properly tested for lead, since 2010 is about 5 million.

NEW JERSEY

• 5.1 Billion gallons of untreated, or partially treated, sewage was discharged into local New Jersey waters during Hurricane Sandy.
• The average age of a home in New Jersey was 50 years old in 2016. The Safe Drinking Water Act was not introduced until 1986, which means a majority of New Jersey homes are at a high risk for lead contamination.
• In 2016, 3,000 children tested positive for lead poisoning in the state of New Jersey.
• No state has more people served by unhealthy amounts of PFOA – a manmade chemical that has been linked to cancer and child developmental problems – than New Jersey, according to a new study by the Environmental Working Group.
• A study has found water safety violations in every state in U.S., with New Jersey ranking fourth in terms of violations.

HUNTERDON COUNTY

• In 2015 Flemington Water Department violated drinking water health code for 5 different contaminants. These include:
  • Arsenic
  • Bromodichloromethane
  • Dibromochloromethane
  • Radium-226 & Radium-228
  • Trihalomethanes
• Private wells in Hunterdon County have more dangerous contaminants like arsenic, nitrate and volatile organic compounds than the statewide average.
• About 17% of approximately 6,000 private wells tested in [Flemington] county were found to exceed safe limits for contaminants.
• Milford, NJ has 6 contaminants below legal limits, but above health guidelines.
• Lambertville Public School and West Amwell Township Elementary School, both part of the South Hunterdon Regional School district, had tests showing lead in water in excess of 15 parts per billion in February 2017.

This is exactly why Patriot Plumbing Services LLC provides water treatment installation for your home or business. We provide solutions that can provide clean, safe drinking water to a single spout, or to every faucet in your home.

Patriot Plumbing Services is here to help!

Contact us today to schedule a water treatment analysis.

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Data Sources

https://www.unicef.org/wash/
http://www.charitywater.org/global-water-crisis/
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs391/en/
https://water.org/our-impact/water-crisis/
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/08/business/energy-environment/08water.html
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/12/13/broken-system-means-millions-of-rural-americans-exposed-to-poisoned-or-untested-water/94071732/
http://www.climatecentral.org/news/11-billion-gallons-of-sewage-overflow-from-hurricane-sandy-15924
https://www.zillow.com/blog/age-of-homes-181636/
https://www.epa.gov/ground-water-and-drinking-water/basic-information-about-lead-drinking-water
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2016/02/11_cities_in_jersey_have_more_lead-affected_kids_t.html
http://www.app.com/story/news/health/2017/07/26/drinking-tap-water-pfoa-environmental-working-group/504345001/
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2017/05/nj_ranks_4th_in_water_violations_study_says.html
https://www.ewg.org/tapwater/system.php?pws=NJ1009001#.WYahS9PyuHo
http://www.nj.com/hunterdon-county-democrat/index.ssf/2012/07/private_well_testing_act_track.html
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/projects/toxic-waters/contaminants/nj/hunterdon/nj1020001-milford-w-dept/index.html
http://www.nj.com/hunterdon/index.ssf/2017/02/elevated_lead_levels_found_in_2_hunterdon_county_s.html