City of Colonial Heights

Why are there contaminants in my ingesting water? Drinking water, including bottled water, may also moderately be anticipated to incorporate as minimum small amounts of some contaminants. The presence of contaminants does now not necessarily suggest that water poses a fitness chance. More records about contaminants and potential fitness effects may be acquired with the aid of calling the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Safe Drinking Water Hotline (800-426-4791). The sources of consuming water (each tap water and bottled water) encompass rivers, lakes, streams, ponds, reservoirs, springs, and wells. As water travels over the surface of the land or via the ground, it dissolves certainly occurring minerals and, in some cases, radioactive material, and might select up substances due to the presence of animals or from a human hobby. Contaminants that may be found in supply water include • microbial contaminants, inclusive of viruses and bacteria, that may come from sewage treatment plants, septic systems, agricultural cattle operations, and the natural world. • inorganic contaminants, along with salts and metals, which can be going on or result from urban stormwater runoff, industrial, or domestic wastewater discharges, oil and gasoline production, mining, or farming. • pesticides and herbicides, which may come from an expansion of resources together with agriculture, city stormwater runoff, and home uses. • organic chemical contaminants, together with artificial and unstable natural chemical substances, which are byproducts of business approaches and petroleum manufacturing, and also can come from gas stations, city stormwater runoff, and septic systems. • radioactive contaminants, which can be certainly going on or be the result of oil and gasoline manufacturing and mining activities. To ensure that faucet water is secure to drink, EPA prescribes policies that restrict the number of positive contaminants in water provided utilizing public water structures. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidelines set up limits for contaminants in bottled water which must offer equal protection for public health. MCLs are set at very stringent ranges by using the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In developing the requirements EPA assumes that the average adult drinks 2 litres of water every day for the duration of a 70-12 months2 lifespan. EPA commonly sets MCLs at degrees as a way to result in no adverse health consequences for some contaminants or a one-in-ten-thousand to the 1-in-a-million risk of having the defined fitness effect for other contaminants..

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