Water Tastes Different in Different Cities, so Why Should All Water Testing Be the Same?

If you've ever thought that the drinking water you tasted while on vacation tasted "different" from your water, you were right, said researchers in a recent study. In a recent press release, researchers detailed their findings.

According to researchers at the University of Iowa College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, currently the regulations mandated by the federal Safe Drinking Water Act usually ignore local water history and water conditions.

Therefore, the same tests and standards are required whether they need to be, or should be, or not. Researchers compared it to breaking one's leg, going to the hospital, and everyone at the hospital having their leg x-rayed, whether they broke it or not.

Raj Rajagopal, geography professor in the University of Iowa College of Liberal Arts and Sciences has determined that rather than having a one-size fits all approach, water monitoring should be adjusted to the specifics of each community.

By altering the standards to go from one-size fits all, to specific standards based on the history, geography, and local water conditions, Rajogopal states that two things would be accomplished.

First of all, the process would not become any less effective than current water testing procedures. Indeed, it would likely increase the effectiveness of water quality testing in all of the water districts across America because water districts would spend the bulk of their time (and money) testing for fewer problems.

Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, it would make the cost of testing water less expensive financially. Currently, water is tested for the presence of many contaminants even if it is impossible for those contaminants to be discovered in water supplies.

"Based on several decades of historical data, we came up with 19 different lists of the contaminants we would expect to find in each of the 19 communities. Our results raised a question. Why test for all 90-plus contaminants regulated by the Safe Drinking Water Act when testing for five or six will do? We can save money by focusing on contaminants historically found, and use the extra funding to look at a wider range of contaminants more often, and in more communities," said Ed Brands, University of Iowa adjunct assistant professor of geography and international programs.

Researchers propose that these changes be made, without affecting the quality or safety of drinking water. Additionally, this could serve as a model for making changes in other laws that are applied across the board, regardless of whether or not an exposure to a particular substance is possible.

This study was based upon decades of data regarding water qualities collected by federal, state, and local governments.

Source:
http://www.newswise.com/p/articles/view/535884/