The Biggest Problem with Your Drinking Water

How much attention do you pay to the water quality reports your community sends out?

If healthy, clean drinking water is important to you — and why wouldn’t it be? — these reports are worth keeping an eye on. That’s especially true given the situation in Flint, Michigan, and other places.

Between 1991 and 2006, more than 617,000 older Americans were hospitalized after falling ill from infection with three common bacteria.

There are aging, corroding pipes in every corner of this country that deliver water to our homes, businesses, gathering spaces, and schools. Possibly inside them are unhealthy levels of various toxins that can be dangerous to our health, including drug-resistant bacteria, according to Dr. Jeffrey Griffiths, a professor of public health and medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston.

The bacteria found in a recent study led by Griffiths include legionella, which causes Legionnaires’ disease; pseudomonas, which can trigger pneumonia; and mycobacteria, which can cause tuberculosis and other illnesses.

While these bacteria thrive in many environments, “they can survive on tiny amounts of nutrients found in water,” explained Griffiths in the report. An analysis of 100 million Medicare records found that between 1991 and 2006, more than 617,000 older Americans were hospitalized after falling ill from infection with these three common bacteria — which are often found in plumbing, healthday.com reported.

Conditions like pneumonia, tuberculosis, and Legionnaires’ disease typically affect the elderly and people with compromised immune systems.

It’s important to note the results of this study, said Hans Plugge, a senior toxicologist with 3E, a Washington, D.C.-based global company that helps companies comply with Environmental, Health, & Safety regulations. But it’s nothing to get too excited about.

He said it is possible that bacteria from aging water pipes contribute to the incidence of infectious diseases in the elderly, or those over 65. No causal one-to-one connection has ever been established. In other words, there may be a risk — but it’s slim.

“Most people can handle large quantities of bacteria from various sources — our skin and gut have high bacterial loads,” Plugge told LifeZette.

[lz_ndn video=31422125]

“The theory behind this paper, while unproven, is that exposure to some kinds of bacteria might trigger diseases more readily in the elderly, which is a commonly established scientific opinion. But there is no evidence if and how much of that is derived from the public water supplies.”

While water pipes and the entire infrastructure are aging, Plugge said nearly all water supply systems have some degree of filtration systems to take out bacteria before they enter the public water supply.

“Having said that, human error is always a possibility, although it is unclear whether the Flint system actually had higher bacterial loads.” The legionella outbreak, Plugge added, occurred in Genesee County (which includes Flint), but it was never linked to drinking water quality.

Griffiths’ team isn’t sold, stating chlorinated water often travels far to reach homes, hospitals, and other buildings after it leaves the treatment plant. By that point, its chlorine content is so depleted it may no longer kill the bacteria lurking in pipes.

That’s how harmful bacteria can enter drinking water, or even daily showers, where it can be inhaled in the shower spray, he told healthday.com.

Related: What You Must Know About Your Water

The recent water crisis in Flint, Michigan, highlights the problem, he argued.

While Griffiths’ study estimates that more than 600,000 Americans are sickened each year by the types of bacteria often found in water pipes, he believes the number may be even higher — as most people who are infected don’t end up in the hospital, so their cases aren’t recorded.