A second set of FOILED information regarding sampling that has occurred in the Village of Ilion Water system (January - May 2019) has finally been obtained. The information provided, is not as inclusive and or comprehensive of last Foiled documents received. It appears major focus was on chlorine residuals, alkalinity, and corrosion control measures.
LINK TO FIRST SAMPLE REQUEST https://harley508.wixsite.com/forbettergovernment/post/nysdoh-foiled-records-may-2018-october-2018
Samples, data, and analysis show Chlorine residuals being highly fluctuated at tests sites. This indicates at the very least operational and or environmental issues that needs further exploring. One sample in particular in the Distribution system, whose location has been redacted ironical consistently falls below the DOH minimum safety standard for Cl2 residual of 0.2 ppm.
Falling below this threshold puts at greater risk and increases the probability of the presence of bacteria and disease-causing organisms, in the distribution system and at and around sites tested. Although they state no E- coli was indicated with these samples.
At least on 5 separate occasions and at 3 out of the five sample sites Chlorine residuals were reported to be below the 0.2 threshold set by the DOH. Also present at these sites were wide range of alkalinity and the presence of heavy metals. This is an indicator that corrosion control measures are not effective, and heavy metals are being introduced and or leeched into the distribution system. The presence of these heavy metals, lead, copper, manganese, iron carry their own aesthetic and potential health risks, but also reduce the effectiveness of disinfection by chlorine.
There appears to be a direct correlation between the high metal samples, low alkalinity, and fluctuating chlorine levels. What can be expected, and a higher probability exists is for bacterial growth and or other presence of harmful or disease-causing organisms to be found. Outbreaks of legionella, and high lead levels have historically been associated with water systems that have these chronic issue.
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/02/05/582482024/lethal-pneumonia-outbreak-caused-by-low-chlorine-in-flint-water
What can and should be done?
Find clean water sources free of metals such as iron, manganese, and with acceptable PH and alkalinity, these do not currently exist in the Village of Ilion. All current sources need wide ranges of treatment.
Reduce the amount, and or carefully monitor the use of Chlorine for disinfection. Remove as much as possible the foreign contaminates such as heavy metals that effect chlorine disinfection properties. Have an effective corrosion control program operations, to prevent heavy metals from leeching out of the distribution sytem.
https://adams.extension.wisc.edu/files/2013/01/Home-Water-Safety-Interpreting-Drinking-Water-Test-Results.pdf
Consumers should be aware and knowledgeable of their public drinking water supply and review annual reports and ask questions and demand answers from their local public water supplier, elected officials, and State Department of Health.
HERKIMER COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT
Address: 5665 State Route 5, Herkimer, NY 13350Phone: (315) 866-6879
David Murray
Ilion NY
TEST SAMPLE
What Is Legionnaires' Disease
Legionnaires’ disease, or Legionellosis, is a severe infection caused by Legionella species, primarily L. pneumophila. In fact, L. pneumophila is responsible for 90% of infections. The disease typically presents as pneumonia and symptoms may include a high fever, chills, cough, muscle aches, headaches, and diarrhea.
What are the symptoms of Legionnaires' disease?
The incubation period of Legionnaires' disease is from two to ten days; this is the time it takes before symptoms of the illness appear after being exposed to the bacteria. For several days, the patient may feel tired and weak. Most patients who are admitted to the hospital develop a high fever, often greater than 39.5°C (103°F). A cough can be the first sign of a lung infection. The cough may be sufficiently severe to cause sputum production (coughed up mucous). Gastrointestinal stomach symptoms are common with diarrhea being the most distinctive symptom. Many patients have nausea, vomiting, and stomach discomfort. Other common symptoms include headaches, muscle aches, chest pain, and shortness of breath.
How is Legionnaires' disease treated?
Many antibiotics are highly effective against Legionella bacteria. The two most potent classes of antibiotic are the macrolides (azithromycin), and the quinolones (ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin, moxifloxacin, gemifloxacin, trovofloxacin). Other agents that have been shown to be effective include tetracycline, doxycycline, minocycline, and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole.
Erythromycin, the former antibiotic of choice, has been replaced by more potent and less toxic antibiotics.
Even if your drinking water gets a ‘passing grade,’ it may not be safe
Health Oct 25, 2019 4:15 PM EST
An empty glass in hand, you turn on the faucet to quench your thirst. But what exactly are you drinking? That question and all its public health implications have undergone greater scrutiny in recent years, yet the overall safety of the U.S. water system is far from assured, experts say.
A report released this week by the Environmental Working Group found that “the vast majority of the nation’s drinking water supplies get a passing grade from federal and state regulatory agencies.” But, the authors suggest, that does not say much.
To come to that assessment, researchers analyzed 32 million state water records from 2012 to 2017 from 50 states and the District of Columbia, checking for more than 270 contaminants, both regulated and not, such as lead, nitrates, and PFAS, the so-called “forever chemicals.” In some cases, contaminants break down from lead or copper pipes, leaching harmful minerals into the water supply. Elsewhere, agricultural and industrial run-off from farms and factories wash into rivers or seep into groundwater.
There are no federal limits on half of the contaminants detected in drinking water, according to the report, and establishing such regulations takes years. Regulating chlorate, a disinfection by-product that has been linked to thyroid problems when consumed in high doses, was proposed in 2011, but has gone nowhere, said Sydney Evans, science analyst for the Environmental Working Group.
“Legal does not necessarily equal safe,” she said.
“Legal does not necessarily equal safe.”
That idea rings painfully true in Flint, Michigan. In 2014, the city of 100,000 people with a majority-black population realized that, due to a cost-saving measure, dangerously untreated tap water was flowing inside their homes, schools and businesses. Among the houses where samples were collected, more than half showed levels regarded as either very serious or requiring action, and water contamination levels for lead violated federal guidelines. Children were found to have high levels of lead in their bloodstreams, which can permanently blunt brain development. Five years later, and despite national outrage, the city still has not fully recovered, and no one has been prosecuted.
Yet long before the Flint water crisis, many Americans have suspected something may not be quite right with their water. The steps to reassure the public will take far more data, coordination, vision and investment. But just as local water systems vary from community to community, the problems and solutions are diverse and complicated.
Something in the water
The nation’s water system is an incredibly fragmented patchwork of more than 51,000 water utilities. For example, Los Angeles County, with 10 million residents spread over 4,751 square miles, supports roughly 200 water utilities alone, said author Seth Siegel. That means utilities generally do not have sufficient money or geographic footprint to plan or pay for improvement, he said.
Siegel, who tracked this public health dilemma in his book,“Troubled Water,” said a third of Americans report that they only drink bottled water because they do not trust what flows out of the faucet. Most people who say they rely on bottled water said they do so out of concern for health and safety.
“We need to change drinking water from an environmental issue to a public health issue,” he said.
Another problem is that the federal government is not mandated to manage water the way it should be, Siegel said.
Control of the nation’s water supply is broken up into often tiny, localized jurisdictions. These water systems were not built up all at once, but as cities and towns were established over time. That shapes the way cities and towns see their role and the resources needed to fix fractured pipes and infrastructure — but water systems don’t start and end at property lines, said Sunil Sinha, a civil engineering professor who directs the Sustainable Water Infrastructure Management program at Virginia Tech.
In some parts of the U.S., current water systems were put in place more than 100 years ago. Oftentimes, those systems have since been ignored, Sinha said. When pipes burst or water systems are contaminated, communities usually rush to patch up the problem, rather than take a step back to collect data about what caused the problem, or how to fix the system — steps that could lead to a more holistic and long-lasting solution, he said.
A regulatory snapshot of “forever chemicals”
Perfluoroalkyl substances, or PFASs, are man-made chemicals first manufactured in the 1950s and used to make waterproof and stain-resistant clothes and non-stick cookware. But those modern-day conveniences came at a cost. Most of these chemicals never break down and are so pervasive they are found in air, water, animals, including those we eat, and people. Because of their pervasiveness, there’s a solid chance PFAS are coursing through your bloodstream. Starting in 2000, manufacturers voluntarily began to stop using these chemicals, but other countries still make them.
Prevalence matters because evidence suggests that PFAS could negatively influence a child’s growth and development, a woman’s chances of getting pregnant or a person’s risk of cancer, according to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. In 2016, the EPA issued a health advisory that warned the public to avoid drinking water with concentrations greater than 70 parts per trillion, so as to offer “a margin of protection from a lifetime of exposure.”
According to the Environmental Working Group’s data released this week, public records revealed PFAS-polluted water in 1,026 sites in 49 states. As many as 110 million Americans drink water contaminated with these chemicals, the group has estimated.
“These widespread, manmade chemicals have leached into our soil, air, and water,” according to the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences. “People are most likely exposed to these chemicals by consuming PFAS-contaminated water or food, using products made with PFAS, or breathing air containing PFAS.”
The institute noted more research needs to be conducted before drawing conclusions about the health impacts of these pervasive chemicals. But public outcry is growing to address potential risks associated with PFAS chemicals.
During a hearing before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works on Wednesday, members of Congress asked why government regulators were dragging their feet before taking action on PFAS.
Lawmakers questioned Charlotte Bertrand, deputy assistant administrator for policy in the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Water. When Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., asked why the EPA was “taking so long” to regulate chemicals that appear to hold so much risk, Bertrand said, “We want to make sure we get it right.”
Three years ago, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., said the EPA had warned that these chemicals had reached “levels that weren’t healthy.”
“These are chemicals we need to watch as they go into our water system,” Capito said then
Siegel, who tracked this public health dilemma in his book,“Troubled Water,” said a third of Americans report that they only drink bottled water because they do not trust what flows out of the faucet. Most people who say they rely on bottled water said they do so out of concern for health and safety.
“We need to change drinking water from an environmental issue to a public health issue,” he said.
Another problem is that the federal government is not mandated to manage water the way it should be, Siegel said.
Control of the nation’s water supply is broken up into often tiny, localized jurisdictions. These water systems were not built up all at once, but as cities and towns were established over time. That shapes the way cities and towns see their role and the resources needed to fix fractured pipes and infrastructure — but water systems don’t start and end at property lines, said Sunil Sinha, a civil engineering professor who directs the Sustainable Water Infrastructure Management program at Virginia Tech.
In some parts of the U.S., current water systems were put in place more than 100 years ago. Oftentimes, those systems have since been ignored, Sinha said. When pipes burst or water systems are contaminated, communities usually rush to patch up the problem, rather than take a step back to collect data about what caused the problem, or how to fix the system — steps that could lead to a more holistic and long-lasting solution, he said.
A regulatory snapshot of “forever chemicals”
Perfluoroalkyl substances, or PFASs, are man-made chemicals first manufactured in the 1950s and used to make waterproof and stain-resistant clothes and non-stick cookware. But those modern-day conveniences came at a cost. Most of these chemicals never break down and are so pervasive they are found in air, water, animals, including those we eat, and people. Because of their pervasiveness, there’s a solid chance PFAS are coursing through your bloodstream. Starting in 2000, manufacturers voluntarily began to stop using these chemicals, but other countries still make them.
Prevalence matters because evidence suggests that PFAS could negatively influence a child’s growth and development, a woman’s chances of getting pregnant or a person’s risk of cancer, according to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. In 2016, the EPA issued a health advisory that warned the public to avoid drinking water with concentrations greater than 70 parts per trillion, so as to offer “a margin of protection from a lifetime of exposure.”
According to the Environmental Working Group’s data released this week, public records revealed PFAS-polluted water in 1,026 sites in 49 states. As many as 110 million Americans drink water contaminated with these chemicals, the group has estimated.
“These widespread, manmade chemicals have leached into our soil, air, and water,” according to the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences. “People are most likely exposed to these chemicals by consuming PFAS-contaminated water or food, using products made with PFAS, or breathing air containing PFAS.”
The institute noted more research needs to be conducted before drawing conclusions about the health impacts of these pervasive chemicals. But public outcry is growing to address potential risks associated with PFAS chemicals.
During a hearing before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works on Wednesday, members of Congress asked why government regulators were dragging their feet before taking action on PFAS.
Lawmakers questioned Charlotte Bertrand, deputy assistant administrator for policy in the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Water. When Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., asked why the EPA was “taking so long” to regulate chemicals that appear to hold so much risk, Bertrand said, “We want to make sure we get it right.”
Three years ago, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., said the EPA had warned that these chemicals had reached “levels that weren’t healthy.”
“These are chemicals we need to watch as they go into our water system,” Capito said then.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/why-flint-residents-are-still-dealing-with-water-worries-5-years-after-lead-crisis
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/years-after-flint-water-crisis-began-no-one-is-behind-bars
n
Even you don’t drink this God Forsaken water, be mindful that Legionella of how it is spread.
How do people contract Legionella?
The most popular theory is that the organism is aerosolized in water and people inhale the droplets containing Legionella. However, new evidence suggests that another way of contracting Legionella is more common. "Aspiration" is the most common way that bacteria enter into the lungs to cause pneumonia. Aspiration means choking such that secretions in the mouth get past the choking reflexes and instead of going into the esophagus and stomach, mistakenly, enter the lung. The protective mechanisms to prevent aspiration is defective in patients who smoke or have lung disease. Aspiration now appears to be the most common mode of transmission.
Arm yourself with knowledge, take care of yourself, and pay attention to the symptoms.
Comments