Prescription Drugs in Our Drinking
Water
Summary: Recently, issues have come up
regarding exactly what is contained in the drinking water reserves of public
areas such as towns and cities. Drugs have been detected in the water of 24
major cities in the US. Information of the contents of drinking water is
difficult to acquire, as water departments do not freely give detailed reports.
Many water departments have stated that the reason for this is the public would
learn of this and become alarmed, when the extra substances in the water are
supposedly harmless in the small quantities they exist in. But how did these
substances even get into the waters? Prescription drugs are consumed by humans,
and the remaining substances of the drugs are transferred in the waste and go
through the waste systems. The wastewater is then treated and sent out. That
water is treated and cleaned, then recycled through the public distribution.
The waste is removed, but not all of the drug contents. Because of lack of
information and other unknown factors, the possible effects, the severity, and
the locations cannot be exactly determined at this time.
Response/Reflection/Connections: I think that this could become an
issue eventually, but is not currently one of the most important topics of
today. However, this does make us stop to think about where our tapped water
really comes from. So far in recent history, extra substances in water reserves
has not been a part of any major events, maybe minor differences from city to
city. In my opinion, we’ll eventually have to attend to this, but as of now,
there are some other issues that are quite a bit more important and urgent. And
if I may go on a bit of a tangent, I’m a bit sick of hearing about whether
people should drink bottled water or tap water. This may be part of the
argument of tap vs. bottled water, but I haven’t actually read anything about that topic, so I’m not sure. I recently
read a short story by Stephen King titled An End to the Whole Mess that I didn't follow all too well, but I believe was about this man that discovered
that a certain chemical in some water reserves caused the area drinking the
water to live with a low crime rate and little violence, and he planned to
isolate this chemical and distribute it to all water supplies.
·
Do you think we need to handle this issue now? Or can it wait?
Do you think we need to handle this issue now? Or can it wait?
·
Do
you think water departments do not give information freely because of the
reason mentioned above, or do you think it may be something else?
·
Do you own a water purifier in your home? Do
you know why? Do you think it works?
As it turns out, the waters in Philadelphia have trace amounts of fluoride in them. Water treatment plants should let the public know what is going into their water. There could be drugs in the waters for an inordinate amount of reasons. It could be that the medicine that passes through our systems is not treated properly. The water treatment facilities should use a larger adaption of a home water filter for the impurities. I do not have one in use but it sounds like a great little device. Here is an explanation of water treatment that I found here: http://water.epa.gov/learn/kids/drinkingwater/watertreatmentplant_index.cfm
ReplyDeleteOpinion/Reflection: Like you said Justin, this is an issue that can be dealt with at a later time, especially when we barely have any specific information about it. It seems to me from this article that this is a small amount of drugs being present in some public water systems. I think that this is a small issue. Even if a small amount of prescription drugs were found in many areas, odds are that if the amount was that small, we would not even be affected close to enough to actually worry about it. I never really knew about this possible issue until now, and when I drink tap water in the future as I usually do this will not phase me. It is an interesting thing to look in to, and it may be an issue in the future, but until I read or hear about a real case of prescription drugs being a problem for someone drinking from a water source of some sort, this is just something that I believe has to be put to the side of issues around the globe.
ReplyDeleteExpansion: Referring to the question about whether we should handle the issue now, I think that I have already stated my opinion, but I would just like to add that there are far more issues, just in drinking water, that we face now, and so far with the other blogs posted, I think we have more important issues dealing with water that are very concerning. This one could be, but only possibly in the future.
As Lisa said, Horsham has flouride in our water, but we don't seemed to be harmed by this. I think it could become a problem later just as you said, but isn't in need of immediate attention. The reason for their secrecy could be a law, or maybe they just don't want us to know. Either way I think even if it's "harmless" we should be allowed to have that particular information. No, we don't own a water purifier. Nothing has happened to any of us so how much harm could this really do? It would be a waste of money, and we usually buy water bottles to make it easier on the go. We do have refillable water bottles for sporting events, but I buy a water bottle at school just about every other day. I taste a little bit of difference in the water, but I still don't find it to be a huge problem.
ReplyDeleteMatthew Newman
ReplyDeleteOpinion/ Reflection:
Even though I first thought that any drugs found in water would be a bad thing, I realize not that some drugs in water are good. For instance, fluoride in water is good like Lisa and Mara said. My Dad grew up in Philadelphia which could be part of the reason that he does not have any cavities. I on the other hand was not as lucky because I had to take fluoride vitamins because the water in Ambler does not have fluoride. I also feel that we should be more up to date and better informed on what contaminates may or may not be in our tap water so we can decide if it is something that we want to drink.
Answer to question one:
I think that this topic needs to be handled immediately so that everyone is aware of what it is their water. It would also allow us to know what bad drugs are in our water which may make it unhealthy to drink.