TOXIC CHEMICALS AND DRINKING WATER

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There's little doubt that a properly used, highquality treatment system will offer some protection against toxic chemicals in your drinking water, but it's no guarantee of safety. And to be effective against even the treatable pollutants, the system must not be overloaded (GAC, for example, requires at least a half-hour of contact to be effective against some chemicals), and it must be properly maintained.

PREVENTION

The regulations and the intent of the Clean Water Act have done a great deal to begin the process of cleaning up our lakes and streams. Anyone who's sniffed — or even just looked at — the Hudson in New York, the Cuyahoga in Ohio, or the Missouri along its course in recent years can't help but tell the difference from the conditions these waterways were in two decades ago. Unfortunately, these sensory improvements are far from adequate, since some of the "sophisticated" contaminants that are just now being recognized are both clear and odorless. Therefore, we have a new lesson to learn about water: Looks aren't everything.

Furthermore, the provisions of the Clean Water Act are of little help in protecting ground water ... the pollution of which, many scientists believe, is one of our most serious environmental problems. Because ground water moves so slowly (the period required for complete volume replacement of the liquid in an aquifer is roughly 120 years), contamination may take decades to show up. And once it's fouled, there's little that can be done to clean up ground water. (For example, the EPA has actually "written off" the Mill Creek Aquifer in Jefferson County, Kentucky because of iron and nitrates!) Since about 50% of the U.S. population depends on ground water for drinking supplies (and the percentage is increasing), preserving its quality should be a top priority.

USING THE LAW

Obviously, federal regulations and agencies aren't doing an adequate job of protecting our water resources, and the present administration has yet to offer any real hope for an increase in the EPA's effectiveness. There are, however, a number of already available statutes that can be put to good use by concerned citizens.

THE CLEAN WATER ACT. Also known as the Water Pollution Control Act, the CWA's stated goal is to make all surface water "fishable and swimmable" by 1983 (oops!) and to eliminate all discharge of pollutants by 1985. The EPA implements this act with the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, and issues permits based on discharge standards. Largely as a result of public interest group lawsuits, the EPA designated 129 "priority pollutants" in 1976 ... but, to date, standards have been established for only eight of them.

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