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Severe Weather Can Impact Drinking Water Quality

Christina Liu @ Wednesday, February 21, 2024 at 11:13 am -0500

Recent storms and atmospheric rivers can cause problems with drinking water infrastructure and both public & private water systems. Here's how you can protect yourself.


Things You Should Avoid Pouring Down The Drain:

Analies Dyjak @ Thursday, April 28, 2022 at 11:36 am -0400

Analies Dyjak, M.A. & Christina Liu, B.S. | Science Team   

Whenever we pour something down the drain or flush the toilet, it’s easy to think “out of sight out of mind.” However, the things we put down the drain can impact water quality in a big way. This article highlights exactly what not to pour or flush down the drain.

Where Does The “Stuff” That Goes Down The Drain Go?

All of the water flushed or washed down the drain goes through your city’s sewer system and into the wastewater treatment facility. The water that’s used to flush your toilet, take a shower, or wash your dishes all end up in the exact same spot. The wastewater treatment facility will treat the used water for a variety of pollutants. Once the water goes through the various processes, it’s released into local waterways to be recycled for a number of different purposes (including drinking water!).

Do Wastewater Treatment Plants Remove “Everything”?

It’s easy to assume that a wastewater treatment plant might remove absolutely everything from incoming wastewater. That isn’t entirely the case. Wastewater treatment plants do a really good job at removing larger solids, biological/bacterial contaminants, and sediment. They do not remove many chemicals, pharmaceuticals, hazardous materials, industrial waste, or pesticides. This puts a lot of pressure on drinking water treatment plants to carry a majority of the tap water purification. Some wastewater treatment plants are outdated and aren’t able to remove these types of pollutants, while others are not even required to do so. Click here for an in-depth video on how wastewater treatment plants actually work.

To help ease the burden on wastewater and drinking water treatment plants, here’s a list of things you should never pour or flush down the drain:

Pharmaceuticals: Old or unwanted prescription/over-the-counter medications should never be flushed down the toilet or sink. Water treatment plants are unable to remove most pharmaceuticals, which means that trace amounts end up in our tap water. Small amounts or levels below therapeutic doses are currently not a cause for concern but if people continue to dispose of medications down the drain, these levels of pharmaceuticals may accumulate. For guidance on how to properly dispose of pharmaceuticals, check out the FDA’s best practices for disposal of unused medicines.

Grease: Aside from the obvious reasons why you should never pour grease, oils, or fats down the drain, doing so can actually cause issues at a much larger scale. Whatever grease you pour down the drain congeals with everyone else's, and can form a mass in the sewer system. The mass can block other wastes from passing through, creating a major sewage blockage (like we saw in Detroit, MI). Check your city’s municipal utility company to see if they have a cooking oil collection program. If not, the best recommendation is to collect the used oil in a leakproof jar, seal it up, and throw it away in the trash.

Motor Oil: Never pour used motor oil or other automotive fluids (including antifreeze, solvents and gasoline) down a drain in your house or garage, into a storm drain, onto the soil, into a waterway, or in a manhole on a sidewalk. Used motor oil can contain toxic heavy metals such as zinc, lead, and cadmium that can contaminate drinking water. In fact, one quart of oil poured down a storm drain can contaminate one million gallons of water. One pint of oil can produce a slick of approximately one acre of water. When oil enters a body of water, a film develops on the surface that blocks out sunlight that plants and other organisms need to live. Please note that unlike cooking oil, you also cannot dispose of motor oil in the trash, and many cities will issue stiff fines for dumping toxic waste into landfills. Always bring used motor oil to local used oil collection centers. 

Paint: Whether it’s latex, acrylic, or oil, paints can clog your pipes and potentially leach toxic compounds into the water. If you can, first try to see if the leftover paint can be reused. School drama clubs or community theaters will often be happy to take unused paint! If the paint can’t be reused and must be disposed of, avoid throwing it away. Bring paint to local household hazardous waste collection locations/events. Don’t clean brushes in the sink, but use rinse buckets, and let the paint residue settle overnight from the old rinse water before pouring the water down the sink, leaving the congealed and dried paint at the bottom of the bucket, where it can be peeled or scraped off and thrown away.

Important Takeaways:

Wastewater treatment plants are primarily designed to treat the biological materials in the water, but are NOT equipped to treat the water for chemicals such as pharmaceuticals, cooking oil, household grease, motor oil and other automotive fluids, paint, photographic chemicals and others. A good rule of thumb is, when in doubt, don’t pour it down the sink or into sewer or storm drains. Check with your local authorities for toxic waste disposal locations.

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How Do Hurricanes Affect Your Drinking Water?

Analies Dyjak @ Thursday, June 3, 2021 at 3:39 pm -0400

Emily Driehaus  |  Science Communication Intern   

The start of hurricane season not only brings the threat of deadly storms, but also the potential for problems with drinking water infrastructure and systems. Heavy rain and flooding from hurricanes can interfere with both public and private water systems and contaminate water sources, leaving individuals without safe drinking water for days after a hurricane.

Drinking Water Contamination From Stormwater Runoff

Stormwater runoff can contaminate both groundwater and surface water during a hurricane. As stormwater runs into a storm drain or the nearest body of water, it picks up both biological and chemical contaminants from the ground that make their way into the water supply. Impervious surfaces exacerbate this problem, as stormwater cannot penetrate the ground and instead sits on top of these surfaces, contributing to flooding during a hurricane. Some local governments, such as Washington, D.C. and other municipalities surrounding the Chesapeake Bay, are working to combat this issue by replacing impervious surfaces with materials that soak up stormwater and allow it to permeate the ground instead of sitting on top of surfaces gathering contaminants that harm drinking water supply. 

Hurricane Flooding and Water Systems

The large influx of water from hurricane rain and flooding can overwhelm both public and private water systems, leading to the overflow of sewers, wells and other parts of water infrastructure. Combined sewer overflows are systems designed to collect stormwater runoff, sewage and other wastewater to be transported to a wastewater treatment plant to be treated before moving to a larger body of water. Hurricane rain and flooding can cause these systems to overflow and untreated water can spill into nearby water sources, potentially contaminating drinking water supply. Wells can also be contaminated with sewage, bacteria and other microorganisms due to hurricane flooding. 

Hurricanes and Water Treatment Facilities

Water treatment plants are not immune to the power outages and structural damage caused by hurricane winds. Treatment plants can lose power and infrastructure can be damaged during a hurricane, leaving facilities without the ability to treat water. Equipment and infrastructure in water treatment plants can also be contaminated by runoff and floodwater. The inability of treatment plants to treat water due to power outages leads to boil water notices to ensure people in the affected area are not ingesting biological contaminants through their drinking water. 

Case Study: Hurricane Harvey

Hurricane Harvey made landfall in southeast Texas on August 25, 2017, and bombarded the Gulf Coast with heavy rain and wind for days. The Category 4 storm caused $125 million in damage in Texas and Louisiana, including damage to water systems. According to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, 61 public drinking water systems and 40 wastewater facilities were declared inoperable and 203 boil water notices were issued during the storm. Flooding also damaged chemical and energy plants in the area, leading to the contamination of surface water and drinking water reservoirs with sewage, wastewater and toxic chemicals. All inoperable facilities, except one wastewater facility, were restored in the cleanup process following the storm. However, tap water was not safe to drink in some communities for months, with boil water notices lasting into December for some areas affected by the storm.  

How To Prepare for Water Service Interruptions in a Hurricane

The best way to avoid losing access to clean drinking water is to prepare before the storm arrives. The National Hurricane Survival Initiative recommends beginning preparations as far in advance as possible to avoid the chaos at stores right before a hurricane hits. Buying bottled water is an option for individuals preparing for a hurricane, but prices can increase dramatically right before a storm due to increased demand. Alternatively, individuals can store their own water in the days before a hurricane hits. The NHSI recommends storing water in containers made out of durable materials, such as plastic bottles. Because hurricanes can leave water treatment plants without power and contaminate water sources, individuals should prepare enough water, about a gallon, per person for at least three days.

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City Programs Invest in Green Solutions to Reduce Runoff

Analies Dyjak @ Monday, April 5, 2021 at 12:00 pm -0400
City programs around the country are working to reduce the runoff volume and pollution by replacing impervious surfaces with green spaces.

How Does Stormwater Runoff Affect Drinking Water?

Analies Dyjak @ Tuesday, October 30, 2018 at 4:10 pm -0400

*Updated 3/2/22 to include recent study*

Analies Dyjak  |  Policy Nerd

Heavy rains and snowmelt can carry a lot of unwanted contaminants into drinking water sources. Here’s how stormwater runoff can affect your water.

How Does Stormwater Affect Drinking Water?

Heavy rain storms create a rapid influx of water, which can cause a host of health and environmental issues. Rainwater travels to low-lying bodies of water, including oceans, lakes, rivers, streams, and aquifers. Both surface and groundwater are susceptible to contamination from stormwater runoff, both of which are sources of drinking water. As water travels, it picks up loose debris, pesticides, herbicides, oil, and other types of pollution in its path. This cocktail of contaminants is then dumped into a nearby waterway. Some municipal water treatment facilities are equipped to deal with these types of contamination, while others are not. 86% of the U.S. population gets their drinking water from surface water sources, so maintaining clean lakes and rivers is extremely important for managing stormwater runoff pollution in drinking water.

Road Salt and Drinking Water Contamination 

70% of the US population lives in areas that experience ice and snow, and rely heavily on road salts and other deicing techniques to maintain road safety. Road salts are crucial for decreasing automobile accidents, but they can have some unintended consequences on the environment. A recent study found that freshwater contamination from these deicing materials causing significant increases in the salinity of the freshwater, resulting in issues with native wildlife and widespread contamination of drinking water supplies. The contamination is primarily from excess chloride and sodium, which affects both surface water and groundwater, for municipal water suppliers as well as private wells. In addition, deicing salts can leach heavy metals (such as mercury, lead, cadmium, copper, and zinc) from sediment and plumbing pipes into the drinking water. In groundwater, sodium can also mobilize dissolved radium, increasing the risk of radon exposure to homeowners.

What Are Combined Sewer Overflows or CSO’s?

Combined Sewer Overflows or CSO’s, are a system of underground canals that collect stormwater runoff, industrial wastewater, and sewage all in the same pipe. Under normal conditions, stormwater and sewage travels to a wastewater plant where it’s treated before being discharged into a body of water. During heavy rain events, the large influx of stormwater causes pipes to exceed the capacity of the the system. Untreated wastewater, including sewage, overflows into nearby oceans, lakes, rivers or streams or wherever a stormwater discharge output exists. CSO’s were used as early as the 1850’s, and were the only system in place to deal with such high volumes of water. Many cities have replaced CSO’s with advanced infrastructure, but cities such as Portland, Maine and Cambridge, Massachusetts still use them.

Impervious Surfaces and Stormwater

Impervious surfaces are developed areas where water is unable to infiltrate into the earth. This typically refers to paved roads, roofs, and sidewalks. When water is unable to infiltrate, it flows into the nearest body of water or wastewater system. Impervious surfaces are of concern because water picks up and carries dangerous contaminants, then deposits pollution into drinking water sources. Impervious surfaces also increase the impacts from floods. Unable to percolate, water sits on top of paved roads, increasing the flood potential and presence of biological contamination. As communities continue to develop, the area of paved or impervious surface increases as well.

Wetlands: Important for Stormwater Retention

Wetlands offer remarkable protection from the impacts of flooding and other stormwater damages. Wetlands absorb incoming water and release it slowly, acting as a natural sponge. According to the U.S Army Corps of Engineers, the state wetland conservation along the Charles River in Boston, Massachusetts saved approximately $17 million in potential flood damage. Additionally, wetlands naturally filter stormwater runoff pollution. The fast-moving water is slowed by vegetation, which allows suspended sediment and pollution to fall to the bottom.

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