Two U.S. towns have now found elevated levels
of lead in their water supply.
Let’s look at why this is happening, and
exactly what lead poisoning is.
When you turn on your faucet, you’re the
final destination in a water droplet’s incredible
journey through regional and local water supply
systems.
That drop typically has gone from source to
treatment plant to pump station to water tower
to water main to local distribution lines
to get to you.
Here in the United States, a lot of that infrastructure
was built immediately after World War II,
and some of it even dates to the late 1800s.
A few towns in America still have wooden water
mains.
According to the EPA, at least 30 percent
of our high-use drinking water pipes are more
than 40 years old.
This aging infrastructure could be a huge
problem for three related reasons.
First, the CDC only started establishing acceptable
blood lead levels for children in the 1960s
– meaning that many of our pipes were built
before we knew exactly how harmful lead is.
Second, metal pipes, depending on what metal
they’re made of and the conditions where
they’re laid, can last over 100 years – or
as little as 15.
And third, this infrastructure is literally
buried, so it’s difficult to diagnose issues
until something has already gone seriously
wrong
like in Flint, Michigan and Sebring, Ohio.
All metals break down over time through corrosion
and dissolution.
(That’s right: metals dissolve.
Just very slowly.)
Water is corrosive by nature because it contains
dissolved oxygen,
and corrosion is what happens when metals
react with oxygen and break apart into particles
of metal oxides.
This is disastrous for human drinkers because
lead is so toxic.
Even at seemingly tiny levels of ingestion,
it can cause irreversible damage to the liver,
blood, kidneys, and brain.
In young children and unborn babies, it’s
been implicated in lifelong behavior and attention
problems, reduced IQ, delayed growth, and
even an increase in violent behavior.
Although researchers are still studying why
these effects happen, the leading idea is
that atoms of lead displace other atoms in
proteins.
This can seriously reduce or change enzymes’
efficiency in our bodies, causing chains of
issues from the cells up.
Steps can be taken to preserve pipes by controlling
water’s pH level and adding protective compounds,
like calcium or magnesium salts, that will
coat the pipes (and won’t harm humans).
But every water system is different and must
be monitored closely – and these are all
temporary measures.
A report from the American Water Works Association
suggests that updating our water infrastructure
will cost a trillion dollars over the next
20 years or so.
But this is one of those cases where the cost
is unavoidable
and, as Flint is finding out, not making needed
updates is much more expensive in the long
run.
What do you think should be done about all
this?
And hey, on a lighter note, what do you think
about our new studio?
Reach out and let us know.
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