The Annual San Antonio Water Report is Out and It's a Doozy

The Annual San Antonio Water Report is Out and It's a Doozy

07-Nov-2016

 

The 2016 Water Quality Report for San Antonio was recently released , and it contains a few interesting observations.  First, the SAWS (San Antonio Water System) admits that “…all drinking water, including bottled water, may reasonably be expected to contain at least small amounts of some contaminants.”  It then goes on to describe how to “minimize the potential for lead exposure” by running your tap for a couple of minutes before filling your glass or cooking utensil.  

Nice. That sounds wasteful and unsafe. 

The report lists  a bunch of contaminants that may be present in source water, including microbial (“such as viruses and bacteria which may come from sewage treatment plants”), inorganic (“such as salts and metals … from oil and gas production”), pesticides, herbicides, organic chemicals (“including synthetic and volatile chemicals … from gas station runoff”), and radioactive contaminants.

This thing reads like a Stephen King best seller.  Sewage treatment plants?  Gas station runoff? Radioactive contaminants? [deep shudder]

Here’s a paragraph that stands out:  “You may be more vulnerable than the general population to certain microbial contaminants, such as Cryptosporidium, in your drinking water.”  The CDC has this to say about that little guy:

"Cryptosporidium is a microscopic parasite that causes the diarrheal disease cryptosporidiosis. Both the parasite and the disease are commonly known as 'Crypto.'  There are many species of Cryptosporidium that infect animals, some of which also infect humans. The parasite is protected by an outer shell that allows it to survive outside the body for long periods of time and makes it very tolerant to chlorine disinfection.

While this parasite can be spread in several different ways, water (drinking water and recreational water) is the most common way to spread the parasite. Cryptosporidium is a leading cause of waterborne disease among humans in the United States." 

So, the SAWS admits that the water is more vulnerable to Cryptosporidium, which is "very tolerant to chlorine disinfection". That’s wonderful. It's a superbug, and San Antonio's water sources are lousy with it.

Let’s take a peek at the actual report.  The first thing that jumps out is the chlorine level.  Chlorine, of course, is used to try to kill off all the gas station runoff, sewage, and radioactive material, in the city of San Antonio’s water.  So it’s no real surprise to see that the average concentration found is 1.14 ppm.  But look at the minimum (0.11) and especially the maximum (4.5 ppm).  Wow, that’s a lot of chlorine running through the tap!  The EPA allows up to 4 ppm, so the SAWS is within those parameters, but the EPA also admits that drinking water filters and reverse osmosis systems are a better solution.

What else shows up in San Antonio’s water?  Copper, lead, barium, fluoride, nitrate, radium 226 and radium 228 (honestly, that can’t be good, right?), and a cute little chemical named Tetrachloroethylene.  This guy is manufactured for dry cleaning and metal degreasing.    I’m sure it tastes wonderful, also…

One last thing.  The report doesn’t mention this, but the SAWS was fined by the TCEQ last year for too much coliform bacteria in the water.  You probably received a letter about this.  

Of course, San Antonio doesn’t have to take this laying down.  Dupure has been working with quality homebuilders around the area for many years now, and plenty of your neighbors are reading this report with total confidence.  Why not join them and enjoy clean and clear water today?  Dupure offers a single-stage activated carbon filter system, a dual-stage pre- and post-filter system, and a reverse osmosis drinking water purification system. Any one of these filters out Chlorine, Chloramines, heavy metals (such as that lead we mentioned above), pharmaceuticals, chemicals, organics, and many more.  Check out each page for more information.

Dupure and San Antonio, Texas – eliminating sewage and superbugs in your water, one family at a time.