Consumer Confidence Reports (CCR) and Water Quality
The Daly City water system is supplied by the San Francisco Water Department and local Daly City Wells. The former is heavily reliant on the Hetch Hetchy Watershed and supported by local reservoirs. According to data from 2007, substances such as arsenic, chromium-6, cryptosporidium and giardia were detected in the water. While commonly found in surface water, cryptosporidium and giardia can cause diarrhea, stomach cramps, upset stomachs, and slight fevers if ingested. Disinfectants were required before being distributed through the system, and these were also found in the water. Trihalomethanes and habacetic acids were at 80 and 60 parts per billion, respectively. I learned that while water systems do their best to provide the cleanest water possible, many contaminants can still be present in the water. We do not use a filter where I stay. However, back in the Philippines, we usually have to boil the water before we can drink it. Even before watching the video on bottled water, I already made it a point not to drink bottled water since I want to avoid contributing to the problem of plastics in the environment. If ever I do, I make it a point to reuse the bottle for tap water. Simply understanding these choices and making small changes can make a small, but significant difference in our community and our environment.
What if we stopped treating our water, what would happen then? Do you think that would be more damaging then the systems we have in place today?
ReplyDeleteI think it is super scary that all these chemicals were commonly found in the water supply. Based on your findings, will you start using a filter? Do you think that these chemicals get into the water system because of the treatments used to clean the water?
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