It is true that paying for water is a rather new phenomenon, something our grandparents did not grow up with. That doesn’t mean that the water they were drinking back then was healthier, or was it? Water sources were not generally tested in those days for contamination as they are today. Firstly, we now have much more detailed and thorough methods of testing just as medicine has more efficient testing for bacteria such as strep. In your grandmother’s days, if a child complained about a sore throat and the doctor saw that it was red, he would prescribe an antibiotic without any taking of a throat culture. In fact, if there was a high fever accompanying the sore throat the doctor would take out the dreaded penicillin shot.

It All Started with a Bottle of Water

My niece walked into Aunt Hannah’s house as I was visiting carrying a half empty bottle of water. “What are you carrying?” asked Aunt Hannah of my niece Alycia. Aunt Hannah then went into a diatribe of the nonsense of bottled water. She claimed that when she was bringing up her children water was drunk when you were hot and thirsty and not just carried around in all seasons. There were water fountains in the park and tap water in the sink at home. For those who could not afford juice and soda there was a plastic pitcher of tap water waiting in the fridge for those who were thirsty.

Aunt Hannah tragically spent time during World War II in a concentration camp and was lucky to have a cup of water to drink at all. One time an inmate was caught using their precious water to wash their hands and was punished severely. When Hannah came to America, she was so thankful that she had running water on her tap. But, to pay for water? That idea was as foreign to her as the amount of garbage here in America. In Europe almost every piece of so-called “garbage” had a purpose such as vegetable peels given to the animals or the paper surrounding the fruit used as toilet paper.

Another point that Aunt Hannah emphasized was that when she was raising her children, they played outside most of the day or when they were finished with school. Yes, they got dirty, and some babies even put dirt in their mouths! She believed that germs bolstered her children’s immunity and called this generation, a bunch of “marshmallows”.

Alycia countered with facts and figures about how contaminated tap water is and how many diseases are caused by bacteria and other pollutants in the water. She lectured Aunt Hannah about oil spills, garbage thrown into the ocean and other toxins that make tap water undrinkable.

Aunt Hannah, in turn, rebutted Alycia’s arguments by stating that she is already in her nineties and has been drinking tap water since she was a child. It is quite difficult for a person of Aunt Hannah’s age and background to comprehend paying for a bottle of water. The spring water industry has risen from one that was enjoyed by wealthy health enthusiasts to virtually every person from different walks of life and financial straits. Just as cell phones are used by all, from immigrants to company CEOs, so too bottled water is used by all.

It adds such class to a store when you walk in and there are small bottles of water in a fridge for the taking. Standing online in Costco, it is truly amazing to see the quantities of bottled water that are being purchased at one time. Sometimes it looks like they are reselling them on the road to parched drivers but most of the time they are being bought for home use with people using several bottles a day.

It cannot be denied that tap water has taken a dive in the last fifty years as cars and factories emit dangerous pollutants into the air which in turn taints the reservoirs where our water comes from. Now there is a new source of concern which has been named forever chemicals.

What are Forever Chemicals?

These chemicals are called PFAS or polyfluoroalkyl substances which are added to everyday products such as stain resistance, non-stick coatings and waterproofing additives. Additionally, they are used by fire departments in the foam that is sprayed by the firemen to extinguish fires. Drinking water that has been tainted with PFAS has been consumed by millions of Americans on a daily basis. In fact, about ninety- eight percent of Americans already have forever chemicals present in their bodies. Flame retardants and non- stick products are effective in their purpose because PFAS have a permanent resistance and this same quality that makes these products so effective keeps the PFAS in the body forever, thus they have been named “forever chemicals”. Unlike other contaminants that leave the body via excretion, these chemicals stay in the body because they do not break down. PFAS have been associated with different types of cancer, thyroid disease, children’s immunity issues and even infertility.

How are Different States Tackling the Forever Chemicals Matter?

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) now asserts that forever chemicals are so toxic that there is no safe exposure level unlike other toxins. The new standard of the EPA today is to test public water systems for at least six PFAS chemicals in our drinking water which hopefully will reduce thousands of deaths in millions of people. Although the EPA has invested billions of dollars in the treatment of public water utilities by a law instituted in 2021 (Bipartisan Infrastructure Law) it will be hard to eliminate these toxins because their chemical bonds are so strong. One billion dollars has been offered to each state for the treatment and sampling of each state’s water system.

How Are Different States Handling the Forever Chemicals Problem?

It is very complicated to totally remove forever chemicals from a state’s drinking water. Even with intricate, expensive, and sophisticated filters, all the toxins cannot be removed. Similarly with home or office water filters. You can see a lot of dirt in the filters, however, when tested, the water still has up to fifty- percent contaminants remaining.

Delaware: For almost ten years New Castle County in Delaware has been known to have very high levels of PFAS. New Castle has two main water utilities which have extensive filters that purify water before it enters citizens’ homes. If these filters are not updated by 2029 the county will be liable for illegal levels of PFAS. There is a controversy with this county with the website removing test results taken by the Office of Drinking Water. According to the Philadelphia NBC News affiliate station, Delaware is presently trying to update their filtering systems to a product called hybrid filtration model but experts are skeptical about this model because besides being extremely costly they are not certain that they will eliminate the forever chemicals.

New Jersey: There is a serious problem in Brooklawn New Jersey which began in 2022 when the Brooklawn town officials applied for a one-million-dollar grant to buy a PFAS removal filtration system. The Brooklawn managers were confident that by 2023 the problem with forever chemicals in the water would be resolved. Unfortunately, that did not happen, and citizens of this community have taken it upon themselves privately to purify their home water systems.

Pennsylvania: Emmaus, a small town in Pennsylvania, knew nothing about the danger of forever chemicals that polluted their water system until fall of 2021 when they found out that their water contamination was ten times more than the federal recommendation limits at that time. The well that was tested was shut down but the second contaminated well had to be left open to prevent a water shortage. Even with a newly purchased filtering system they have not yet solved this awful problem. Even the school systems in Pennsylvania must be tested but they have still not come to a viable solution since as stated previously these chemicals are “forever” and must be beaten with brand new technology.

What is the Federal Government Doing to Eliminate Forever Chemicals from the Water Supply?

As of February 29, 2024 the FDA has put into law that no PFAS may be used as grease proof products for food packaging in the United States. The delicious popcorn that you often make in your microwave is stored in bags that contain PFAS, and this has been eliminated as we write. The wrappers that your fast-food burgers are sold in have also been changed so that they contain no forever chemicals. Amanda Loudin, writing for WebMD, calls forever chemicals, everywhere chemicals, since they are present in makeup, sunscreen and even pizza boxes.

Citizens must fight and advocate to make sure the above products that they purchase and use should be free of forever chemicals and if they do find out that these products do contain PFAS to make sure to protest by not buying those tainted products.

New Innovations to Destroy Forever Chemicals

A new Princeton University research group has discovered a common bacteria named Acidimicrobium A6, present in soil specimens that they took from New Jersey wetlands. They looked at these bacteria and applied it to forever chemicals and were able to disintegrate up to sixty percent of the PFAS after one hundred days. If this success continues this treatment will turn forever chemicals into benign end products. This is going to revolutionize the way forever chemicals are treated and then hopefully they will no longer be called forever chemicals.

Another innovation in combating PFAS is coming out of The University of California at Riverside. In 2022, a group at this university was able to use a technique called blasting wastewater. By blasting the water with ultraviolet short waves, they were able to disintegrate the strong attachments of the forever chemicals. This procedure utilizes the salt that is found in wastewater as the key to breaking the strong bonds of the forever chemicals. The salt in the wastewater helps the UV light to work much faster.

Final Words

It would be dreamy to be able to go back to the innocence of Aunt Hannah when it comes to drinking water. Some people are going back to tap water with filters on their spouts or under their sinks. However, even if these filters do improve the water they only eliminate at most half of the contaminants from drinking water. So far, the safest bet is still spring water that is taken from places far from contamination and pollution. Let’s hope that with the right research such as in Princeton University and The University of California, common folks will be able to tap into their tap water safely, but until then we must be very careful that these chemicals do not get into our blood and lungs causing serious diseases.