County Not Ready for Toilet to Tap

The Manatee County Board of Commissioners will soon consider approval of a Comprehensive Plan amendment, requested by the city of Bradenton, that would allow the discharge of treated wastewater effluent as recycled water into the Evers Reservoir watershed.  This amendment should be denied as it is contrary to public health protection.

Manatee County’s Comprehensive Plan prohibits discharges of treated wastewater in drinking water watersheds.  This stipulation was adopted based upon the public good at the time, and is even more relevant given recent research on the types of chemicals that are present in the drinking water, even after treatment.  While the City of Bradenton promises that the water will be highly treated, many contaminants are not tested, and escape both the wastewater and the drinking water treatment systems.

Since 2004, testing by water utilities has found 315 pollutants in the tap water Americans drink, according to an Environmental Working Group drinking water quality analysis of almost 20 million records obtained from state water officials.

More than half of the chemicals detected are not subject to health or safety regulations and can legally be present in any amount. The federal government does have health guidelines for others, but 49 of these contaminants have been found in one place or another at levels above those guidelines, polluting the tap water for 53.6 million Americans. The government has not set a single new drinking water standard since 2001.

Where to do these chemicals come from?  A lot of them come from wastewater.  EWG's analysis found that 42 pollutants in drinking water are residues of water treatment, including chemical byproducts of water disinfection.  Many of them are pharmaceuticals and personal care product chemicals.  Those enter the wastewater when they are excreted in human urine or discarded down the drain. Many are not eliminated by standard treatment processes at wastewater treatment plants. Treatment facilities aren't required to test for pharmaceuticals or filter them out.  A landmark study released by the USGS in 2008 found that many of these chemicals also resist removal at tap water treatment plants (Kingsbury 2008).

An Associated Press study in 2008 found a vast array of pharmaceuticals — including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones — in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans.   A 2008 research report by George Washington University, citing concerns about the long-term consequences of individual chemicals, and combinations of chemicals, says, “Neither the steps in place to treat wastewater before it is discharged into waterways, or drinking water before it gets to the tap, are adequate to eliminate them entirely.”

In response to the concerns raised about drugs in drinking water, the Environmental Protection Agency has recently said that it will start regulating these residues, and has already listed some candidate medications (MSNBC 2009). That being the case, in the near future water treatment plants may have to retrofit to reduce or eliminate these chemicals from the water supply.

When the Manatee County Comprehensive Plan was created, out of an abundance of caution, the commission disallowed recycled water to be used in drinking water watersheds of our county.  Now, with more information on the presence and risks of contaminants in the end product of wastewater, it would seem even more important to keep this restriction.

If the City of Bradenton is allowed, out of a wish to sell its recycled water, to use it in the reservoir watershed, you may be exposing citizens to harmful substances, without knowing what the long or short term effects may be upon their health.  You will also have to allow other water suppliers do the same.  The economic advantage of selling recycled water in these areas may be outweighed by added costs for filtering out these substances, which perhaps now are not present in amounts that may soon trigger regulatory action.

Citizens concerned about the public water supply and this change to the Manatee County Comprehensive Plan should contact their commissioners since a vote will be held this month.