The Salem News ran a piece titled “Salem Drinking Water Testing Results Examined,” in the Aug. 15 edition of the paper. In that article, Administrator of the Dent County Health Center, Zach Moser, who is a Doctor of Pharmacy, helped The Salem News and its readers understand the results from several water tests which were taken at private residences in Salem and tested through the State Health Lab.
In recent months, questions have been raised by citizens about Salem’s drinking water quality in meetings of the city’s Utility Committee. City government and staff have repeatedly insisted that water quality is regularly tested as required by state and federal law, such as regulations set by the Environmental Protection Agency, and standards set as part of the federal Safe Drinking Water Act. Private citizens who felt their concerns about their water were not being addressed by the government submitted a series of water samples taken from private property locations on the Salem Public Water System. This can provide an interesting comparison between the Salem Public Water Supply Consumer Confidence Report (CCR) and the samples from further down the line. The Salem PWS CCR shows all contaminants to be under the maximum levels, and the Salem water system is not in violation of federal guidelines for drinking water according to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (the last violation noted was in March of 2016). Results from the test were examined in the article, since the tests were public record, having been passed through the Dent County Health Department.
Some of the results contained some elevated secondary contaminants, which were discussed in the article in the Aug. 15 edition. Most of the contaminants tested for were below detectable thresholds, and the elements that were elevated were secondary contaminants. Moser said one of the samples was visibly cloudy. Multiple sources, including Moser, Salem Public Works Director Mark Nash, and several other city utility employees, have said both during interviews and in public meetings that one possible source of cloudiness and minor contaminants is old plumbing. Over time, metals such as iron, copper, and aluminum can leech into the system, either from natural sources (Dent County’s underground is riddled with iron and other naturally occurring elements) or old pipes, which may collect sediment on the pipe walls over time. When the city flushes fire hydrants as part of their regular maintenance, sometimes the fluctuating pressure can lead to sediment being loosened and coming out of the tap. For this reason, the city released a statement warning locals that tap water may become cloudy for a day or two following the recent major fire at Dewayne’s Tire Services in Salem.
What are secondary contaminants?
While there were elevated levels of certain contaminants shown in the test results, Moser said that there was little cause for concerns about health. Moser said that one of the samples was visibly cloudy, and that the contaminants may affect the taste and smell of the water but were unlikely to cause health problems.
“These contaminants that you’re seeing, there’s a very high chance that’s coming from plumbing somewhere. Either in the city’s lines, or backflowing from people’s houses. We have city water here [at DCHC], we never have any issue with it,” said Moser in the article. “It’s not impossible that [individuals] could legitimately be having problems, but to me, these results are pretty clear that if it is, it’s stuff that’s natural from the inside of the pipes. Our water has iron around here, has iron in it normally. To me, it’s nothing I would be worried about. Yeah, I don’t want to drink cloudy water, so run the tap for five minutes and get clear water. Or, buy a whole house filter.”
Contaminants that affect only the taste, smell, and cloudiness of the water but are not considered imminent threats to health and safety fall under what is referred to by the EPA as “secondary standards”.
The EPA established National Primary Drinking Water Regulations that set mandatory water quality standards for drinking water contaminants. These are enforceable standards called “Maximum Contaminant Levels,” or MCLs, which are established to protect the public from consumption of dangerously contaminated drinking water. In addition, the EPA established maximum contaminant levels for secondary contaminants, which are not enforced by the EPA, and exist to provide guidance to water systems to improve the taste, smell, and color of drinking water.
Some of the secondary contaminants (like aluminum, copper, iron) measured in the Salem tests showed amounts much higher than the secondary Maximum Contaminant Level, which begs the question: By what standards are the secondary maximum contaminant levels set?
According to an EPA publication, “Secondary Drinking Water Standards: Guidance for Nuisance Chemicals,” the entity says that the MCLs for secondary contaminants are set based not on the health effects of the substances themselves, but rather the taste, color, and smell of the water, aspects which may make the water unpleasant to drink, but are unlikely to result in medical problems.
The 15 contaminants that fall under secondary standards are aluminum, chloride, color, copper, corrosivity, fluoride, foaming agents, iron, manganese, odor, pH, silver, sulfate, total dissolved solids (TDS), and zinc. In the secondary contaminant guide, the EPA echoes Moser’s comments made in the article.
“These contaminants are not health threatening,” reads the page. “[…] Secondary standards are set to give public water systems some guidance on removing these chemicals to levels that are below what most people will find to be noticeable.”
Further down in the publication, the EPA expounds on the problems that secondary contaminants can cause—The reason they are monitored.
“Aesthetic effects – Undesirable tastes or odors; Cosmetic Effects – Effects which do not damage the body but are still undesirable; Technical Effects – Damage to water equipment or reduced effectiveness of treatment for other contaminants,” reads the guide.
Perspective for secondary contaminants
In the days following the article about Salem’s test results, concerns were brought to The Salem News regarding specifically the aluminum content in one of the tests, which was reported at 1.8mg/L. Aluminum is a perfect example of a secondary contaminant. The secondary maximum contaminant level for aluminum is 0.05 to 0.2mg/L. High amounts of aluminum can lead to severe health issues according to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), a subsidiary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and while large amounts of aluminum are certainly a concern, everyone is constantly exposed to small amounts of aluminum, often in great excess of 1.8mg/L.
The ToxFAQ for aluminum, from the ATSDR , says drinking water is just one possible source of the aluminum that individuals ingest every day.
“Virtually all food, water, air, and soil contain some aluminum,” reads the page. “The average adult in the U.S. eats about 7-9mg aluminum per day in their food.”
In a staff article published by the Mayo Clinic, entitled “Water: How much should you drink every day?”, it is recommended that men drink 3.7 liters of water per day. If one were to drink nothing but 3.7 liters of water per day from a tap with 1.8mg/L of aluminum, only around 6.66mg of aluminum would be ingested per day, which is still less than the 7-9mg ingested daily through eating food.
Isn’t almost doubling ingested aluminum cause for concern? According to the numbers provided by the ToxFAQ and the test results, if an individual drinks 3.7 liters of water with 1.8mg/L of aluminum, and eats regularly, they’ve ingested about 15mg of aluminum. If dinner resulted in some indigestion, and an antacid tablet is taken, that individual has just ingested 300-600mg of aluminum compounds (according to the ATSDR document from which the ToxFAQ was sourced), which is 20-40 times that ingested through both the water in question and regular food.
Other common sources of aluminum intake include buffered aspirins (10-20mg) and many vaccines, which may contain small amounts of aluminum compounds, in the neighborhood of 0.85mg/dose. Astringents, certain food additives, and some cosmetics and antiperspirants can also contain aluminum in varying amounts.
What happens to the aluminum once it’s ingested?
The CDC notes that very little of that aluminum generally enters the bloodstream. Your body can also regulate (get rid of) most ingested aluminum content. From a toxicological profile for aluminum from the US Department of Health and Human Services:
“Most aluminum in food, water, and medicines leaves your body quickly in the feces. Much of the small amount of aluminum that does enter the bloodstream will quickly leave your body in the urine.”
So, while aluminum intake in large amounts can lead to terrible health effects, and the long-term effects of even small amounts of aluminum are debated, the water tested does not represent a significant increase in aluminum intake over what is already regularly consumed by virtually every American. Thus, it is considered a secondary contaminant, and is not enforced by the EPA in the same way as primary contaminants which are found to be harmful to humans. Secondary maximum contaminant levels are not set by the same criteria as primary maximum contaminant levels as set under the EPA’s primary drinking water regulations.
The source from which the 1.8mg\L sample was taken from was visibly cloudy, said Moser, who acknowledged that the water might not be desirable to drink, despite it being safe.
In recent Salem Utility Committee meetings and other forums, the topic of cloudy water has come up, and has been hotly debated between the city and several members of the public who claim that the city refuses to acknowledge a problem with the water at their houses, many complaining of cloudy water. The question being debated: Who’s responsible?
While some citizens claim their water is cloudy as a result of an issue with the city’s plumbing, city responses during the public meetings have maintained two points: One, that the water that the city distributes is safe to drink, and two, that there are myriad sources from which cloudiness could arise not necessarily on the city’s side. Since the Salem PWS Consumer Confidence Report shows no contamination, and the test results from private residences show only secondary contaminants, the problem may very well lie with individual residence’s plumbing. Moser made similar points during his interview for the last article, though he conceded that it’s possible that there are issues with some areas of infrastructure that need to be replaced. Without more data from private residences, it’s difficult to determine if the issue lies on the city’s side or the private side. While most of the test results examined included a location, the one discussed in this article (with 1.8mg/L of aluminum) has none listed, but does note that a fire hydrant nearby had been just been flushed, likely explaining the cloudiness.
“You’re going to find more stuff if you test it down the line. […] Depending on where you test it, you’re going to have more miles of pipe or however much it’s going to go through,” said Moser. “So, I wouldn’t say that there’s maybe not a problem with it, because you don’t want [secondary contaminants] still; But I’d say there’s definitely some old pipes that need to be replaced. At the same time, no, I’m not saying there’s a big problem with their water. To me, it’s pretty clear that there’s not a big problem.”
Some citizens present in city meetings have likened the situation to that faced by Flint, Michigan. Moser was asked if he thought there was any comparison. His response?
