If I was to ask you what the #1 threat to the future of your own safe drinking water was what would your answer be? Climate Change? Industrial Pollution? Pesticides and Fertilizers? Fracking? Mining? Oil Exploration? Would you be surprised if I told you that none of those threats were the top threat to safe water? Would you be surprised if I told you that the #1 threat to the future security of water; the #1 enemy to the future of safe drinking water are the individuals and groups who promote “Save Our Water” type activities? Well, don’t be shocked, this is an absolutely, 100% true statement.
Am I just trying to piss people off, here? Maybe shooting for shock value? Honestly, I am on your side; I am on the side of our water. There is nobody more passionate or engaged with water than I. With that said, I reiterate, the #1 enemy to future safe drinking water are the very groups and individuals that garner attention with these “Save Our Water” activities.
Allow me to explain.
There are currently 7.5 billion people in the world. Each one of us a polluter, each one of us unpredictable. Our manufacturing, process, and life activities, even ones we think are green are constantly adding pollutants to the environment. So, whether we like it or not, by land, sea, and air our water is being inoculated with new contaminants at every tick of the clock. Likewise, our population growth has already created unquenchable demand in many places across the globe.
Our aquifers were filled hundreds of years ago when rainwater was far cleaner than it is today. So, even if our aquifers are being filled and maintained, the quality of the water in them is declining and will continue to do so.
There are two indefatigable facts about water that we not only ignore but beat our heads against the wall believing that we can make a difference and change these trends.
- Our water supplies will continue to degrade. Man cannot stop this unless man ceases to exist.
- Current water technology can make totally pure water out of the nastiest polluted water. We absolutely do not need clean water supplies to provide safe drinking water.
So then, here is the problem with “Save Our Water” activities. While such activities give us a good feeling, the reality is that while we are all focused on one potential threat, hundreds of unseen threats are happening at the same time. While better water behavior is mandatory for mankind, more important is that we are prepared for the contamination that will keep coming at us and coming from far too many sources for us to ever monitor, police or prevent.
Think about this! Forever chemicals, known as PFAS, potentially carcinogenic chemicals have been found not only in our water sources, but also in our bodies. The FDA, EPA, and scientific community are all hard at work preparing municipalities to meet new restrictions in our drinking water standards. Okay, so what? Even if we stopped PFAS use 100%, our soils, food, and water sources have already been contaminated.
This activity is like getting a shooter to stop firing bullets after he has shot his victim. While I support stopping the production of PFAS containing non-stick cookware, exactly how many Americans are going to throw away their existing cookware and go back to the stuff that gets all gunked up and causes food to burn?
- Each year 1.2 trillion gallons of untreated sewage, storm water, and industrial waste are dumped into US water.
- Around 70% of industrial waste is dumped into the water bodies making water unusable
- 3,000 children die everyday globally due to contaminated drinking water
Not only that, but ask yourselves, how did PFAS sneak up on us? Well, at the time nobody wanted to listen to those who knew it was toxic. Elections, donations, job promotions and God knows what else allowed us to look away for the good of jobs and commerce. Do you imagine these things are going to change? As we “save” our water from PFAS, I promise you, another new contamination is already being placed into our environment and we won’t find out about it for years to come. By that time, just like with PFAS, our bodies and environment will be permanently contaminated with it.
Am I saying that we should just sit back and not work for higher water standards? Of course not, but any chemist or chemical engineer will tell you, if you remove PFAS from one place, you have to discharge it to another. Once discharged, our soil and water will reabsorb it and we will have just as much contamination as we started with.
Let me be clear, my focus is not in saving our water but rather providing safe water for all. There is a great difference between the two of these things.
If we are to have safe drinking water in the future, we must update our outdated water plants, accept that one day every home will be required to have a personal water purification system, and begin educating the public in basic water science. If we do not focus on these critical things we will continue to suffer an ever-increasing amount of water contamination issues that seem to hit the newswire almost daily.
Featured Image Courtesy of Joseph Russo
