By Robert Coleman
This week EWG released a report and map documenting widespread bacteria contamination of private drinking-water wells across Iowa. Focusing on two ubiquitous agricultural contaminants, coliform bacteria and nitrate, we mapped nearly 55,000 tested private wells in the state – 22,000 of which had at least one positive test for either contaminant.
Des Moines Water Works (click here) has struggled for years to provide safe drinking water to its customers, battling nitrate contamination from upstream farms. But contamination from agricultural practices may be even worse for the estimated 230,000 to 290,000 Iowans whose drinking water comes from private wells, an investigation by Environmental Working Group and Iowa Environmental Council finds....
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler released the Trump administration’s proposed plan to clean up toxic fluorinated chemicals known as PFAS throughout the nation. EWG believes EPA’s plan falls short in many ways.
“This proposal is not a serious response to a drinking water contamination crisis that has already ballooned out of control,” said EWG Senior Scientist David Andrews. “It is a Band-Aid, at best, that does essentially nothing to help the hundreds – perhaps thousands – of communities, in almost every state, with contaminated tap water. Americans need real and swift action to address this crisis, not more toothless proposals from the Trump administration.”...
There are enormous problems with water quality all over the country. it is important we get it right. Having to purchase water to protect one's health is a tax on average citizens.
We have seen in Flint how an impoverished community relies on clean water coming from the water faucet in their homes. When that falls apart the people's lives are in danger. The reason without a doubt in these emergencies is the lack of monies DEDICATED to protecting clean water in the USA.
The Obama Administration took great pains in creating a rule no one likes to begin the process of ending poor water quality. It was called "Waters of the USA." Iowa is an example of how poor water practices result in contaminated wells that are of no use to these folks.
Iowans have a real problem. They need a real solution and solutions on this scale are not cheap.
When knowing where water comes from in this country, it's quality and the geologicals of it all, there is no one like USGS that has records and a history of providing safe water sources for the American people. If they are asked direct questions, they will provide direct answers. They have professional standards. If the current USGS personnel are inhibited for some Trumpian reason, there are scores of retired folks that can't wait to provide help if asked.
Roughly 60 percent (click here) of global groundwater use is for irrigation; most of the rest is used in households and industry. Groundwater uses vary significantly by country, and partly depend on climate. In some countries with abundant rainfall, such as Indonesia and Thailand, irrigation needs are very low, so household water supply is the main use for groundwater. Globally, over 2 billion people use groundwater as a source of drinking water. In some more arid countries such as Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Syria, irrigation accounts for 90 percent of groundwater use.
The U.S. Geological Survey publishes data on water use in the United States every five years. In 2015, the main uses for groundwater in the United States were irrigation (68%) and public supply (18%). Although over 13 million households in the United States get their water from private wells, this accounts for only 4 percent of all groundwater used in the United States. Other minor uses include livestock, aquaculture, mining, and self-supplied industrial use....
