Inequities in Drinking Water Quality Among Domestic Well Communities and Community Water Systems, California, 2011‒2019

2022 ◽  
Vol 112 (1) ◽  
pp. 88-97
Author(s):  
Clare Pace ◽  
Carolina Balazs ◽  
Komal Bangia ◽  
Nicholas Depsky ◽  
Adriana Renteria ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Drinking Water ◽  
Universal Access ◽  
Water Systems ◽  
Human Right ◽  
Water Contaminants ◽  
Drinking Water Contamination ◽  
Community Water Systems ◽  
Community Water ◽  
Regulatory Standards

Objectives. To evaluate universal access to clean drinking water by characterizing relationships between community sociodemographics and water contaminants in California domestic well areas (DWAs) and community water systems (CWSs). Methods. We integrated domestic well locations, CWS service boundaries, residential parcels, building footprints, and 2013–2017 American Community Survey data to estimate sociodemographic characteristics for DWAs and CWSs statewide. We derived mean drinking and groundwater contaminant concentrations of arsenic, nitrate, and hexavalent chromium (Cr[VI]) between 2011 and 2019 and used multivariate models to estimate relationships between sociodemographic variables and contaminant concentrations. Results. We estimated that more than 1.3 million Californians (3.4%) use domestic wells and more than 370 000 Californians rely on drinking water with average contaminant concentrations at or above regulatory standards for 1 or more of the contaminants considered. Higher proportions of people of color were associated with greater drinking water contamination. Conclusions. Poor water quality disproportionately impacts communities of color in California, with the highest estimated arsenic, nitrate, and Cr(VI) concentrations in areas of domestic well use. Domestic well communities must be included in efforts to achieve California’s Human Right to Water. (Am J Public Health. 2022;112(1):88–97. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2021.306561 )

scholarly journals National trends in drinking water quality violations

2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (9) ◽  
pp. 2078-2083 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maura Allaire ◽  
Haowei Wu ◽  
Upmanu Lall
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Drinking Water ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Hot Spots ◽  
The United States ◽  
Water Systems ◽  
Drinking Water Quality ◽  
Vulnerability Factors ◽  
Community Water Systems ◽  
Community Water

Ensuring safe water supply for communities across the United States is a growing challenge in the face of aging infrastructure, impaired source water, and strained community finances. In the aftermath of the Flint lead crisis, there is an urgent need to assess the current state of US drinking water. However, no nationwide assessment has yet been conducted on trends in drinking water quality violations across several decades. Efforts to reduce violations are of national concern given that, in 2015, nearly 21 million people relied on community water systems that violated health-based quality standards. In this paper, we evaluate spatial and temporal patterns in health-related violations of the Safe Drinking Water Act using a panel dataset of 17,900 community water systems over the period 1982–2015. We also identify vulnerability factors of communities and water systems through probit regression. Increasing time trends and violation hot spots are detected in several states, particularly in the Southwest region. Repeat violations are prevalent in locations of violation hot spots, indicating that water systems in these regions struggle with recurring issues. In terms of vulnerability factors, we find that violation incidence in rural areas is substantially higher than in urbanized areas. Meanwhile, private ownership and purchased water source are associated with compliance. These findings indicate the types of underperforming systems that might benefit from assistance in achieving consistent compliance. We discuss why certain violations might be clustered in some regions and strategies for improving national drinking water quality.

scholarly journals Trends in microbiological drinking water quality violations across the United States

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (11) ◽  
pp. 3091-3105
Author(s):  
Senne Michielssen ◽  
Matthew C. Vedrin ◽  
Seth D. Guikema
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Drinking Water ◽  
The United States ◽  
Water Systems ◽  
Drinking Water Quality ◽  
Community Water Systems ◽  
Regulatory Changes ◽  
Community Water ◽  
Disproportionate Burden ◽  
The U.S

Trends in microbiological drinking water quality violations in the U.S. indicate that very small and transient non-community water systems bear a disproportionate burden exacerbated by recent regulatory changes.

scholarly journals Assessment of contaminants in California drinking water: analyses by region and water system size

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Komal Bangia ◽  
Laura August ◽  
Andrew Slocombe ◽  
John Faust
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Water Contamination ◽  
Water System ◽  
System Size ◽  
Water Systems ◽  
Disinfection Byproducts ◽  
San Joaquin Valley ◽  
Drinking Water Contamination ◽  
Community Water Systems ◽  
Community Water

Abstract BACKGROUND While research has shown that small community water systems in the San Joaquin Valley, an agricultural region in California, experience a disproportionate amount of drinking water contamination, little is known about the extent of contamination in other California regions. Additionally, state-wide research on drinking water contamination in areas not served by community water systems (mostly private domestic well users) and research comparing contamination across system size are also limited.METHODS Using a novel method to assign drinking water and groundwater contaminant data to community water system service areas and areas outside of service area boundaries, we conducted a spatial analysis to estimate concentrations of thirteen contaminants and two drinking water standard violations by system size and California region. We developed a cumulative ranking method to evaluate which regions or system size category are most burdened by multiple drinking water pollutants. A trend test was also used to evaluate the influence of system size on contaminant concentrations.RESULTS The San Joaquin Valley, areas not served by community water systems, and small water systems had the highest cumulative rank for multiple high contaminant concentrations, most notably arsenic and nitrate. Large systems and the South Coast region, which includes Los Angeles, had the highest levels of disinfection byproducts and industrial contaminants like tetrachloroethylene. Violations, arsenic, lead, and cadmium had negative trends as system size increased (p<0.05). Industrial contaminants and disinfection byproducts had positive trends as system size increased (p<0.05).CONCLUSIONS Few large-scale studies have examined how geographic region or system size impact drinking water quality. Although not indicative of violating drinking water standards, our results show where efforts for specific contaminants can be targeted in specific regions. The results presented here can help understand where contaminant levels might be elevated, both from an individual contaminant perspective as well as where multiple elevated contaminant levels accumulate.

Associations of Community Water Lead Concentrations with Hemoglobin Concentrations and Erythropoietin-Stimulating Agent Use among Patients with Advanced CKD

2021 ◽  
pp. ASN.2020091281
Author(s):  
John Danziger ◽  
Kenneth J. Mukamal ◽  
Eric Weinhandl
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Drinking Water ◽  
Kidney Disease ◽  
The United States ◽  
Water Systems ◽  
Adverse Outcomes ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Community Water Systems ◽  
Community Water ◽  
Lead Levels

BackgroundAlthough patients with kidney disease may be particularly susceptible to the adverse health effects associated with lead exposure, whether levels of lead found commonly in drinking water are associated with adverse outcomes in patients with ESKD is not known.MethodsTo investigate associations of lead in community water systems with hemoglobin concentrations and erythropoietin stimulating agent (ESA) use among incident patients with ESKD, we merged data from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Safe Drinking Water Information System (documenting average 90th percentile lead concentrations in community water systems during 5 years before dialysis initiation, according to city of residence) with patient-level data from the United States Renal Data System.ResultsAmong 597,968 patients initiating dialysis in the United States in 2005 through 2017, those in cities with detectable lead levels in community water had significantly lower pre-ESKD hemoglobin concentrations and more ESA use per 0.01 mg/L increase in 90th percentile water lead. Findings were similar for the 208,912 patients with data from the first month of ESKD therapy, with lower hemoglobin and higher ESA use per 0.01 mg/L higher lead concentration. These associations were observed at lead levels below the EPA threshold (0.015 mg/L) that mandates regulatory action. We also observed environmental inequities, finding significantly higher water lead levels and slower declines over time among Black versus White patients.ConclusionsThis first nationwide analysis linking EPA water supply records to patient data shows that even low levels of lead that are commonly encountered in community water systems throughout the United States are associated with lower hemoglobin levels and higher ESA use among patients with advanced kidney disease.

scholarly journals Inorganic contaminants in Canadian First Nation community water systems

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 728-740
Author(s):  
Kaycie Lane ◽  
Benjamin F. Trueman ◽  
Javier Locsin ◽  
Graham A. Gagnon
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
First Nations ◽  
Water Systems ◽  
Sampling Frequency ◽  
First Nation ◽  
Inorganic Contaminants ◽  
Community Water Systems ◽  
Community Water ◽  
Regulatory Guidelines ◽  
Sampling Procedures

Abstract While previous Canadian studies have examined microbiological water quality in First Nations, there is little published information on inorganic contaminants. In Atlantic Canada, the lead, manganese, and arsenic content of First Nations’ drinking water has been measured for more than a decade, but the data have not been analyzed comprehensively. These contaminants are linked with health problems, and high levels in drinking water are a cause for concern. We examined 12 years of data from 47 First Nation community water systems to identify systems experiencing difficulties meeting sampling frequency or regulatory guidelines. While most contaminant concentrations were below guideline values, we identified elevated concentrations and issues with sampling frequency. No system met both sampling frequency requirements – a minimum of one sample per year per analyte – and regulatory guidelines. Exceedance rates for lead, manganese, and arsenic were high in some systems. Moreover, current sampling procedures for lead specify that taps be flushed prior to sampling, which is known to underestimate lead exposure. We find that a switch to random daytime sampling would at least sometimes yield higher estimates of lead at the tap. Our analysis demonstrates the need for increased monitoring and updated sampling procedures to better characterize inorganic contaminant occurrence in First Nations.

The effects of drinking water service fragmentation on drought-related water security

Science ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 368 (6488) ◽  
pp. 274-277 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan Mullin
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Water Security ◽  
The United States ◽  
Water Systems ◽  
Drought Vulnerability ◽  
Water Insecurity ◽  
Community Water Systems ◽  
Systems Research ◽  
Community Water ◽  
Water Provision

Drought is a critical stressor that contributes to water insecurity. In the United States, an important pathway by which drought affects households’ access to clean, reliable drinking water for basic needs is through the organization and activities of community water systems. Research on the local political economy of drinking water provision reveals the constraints on community water systems that affect their performance when confronting drought hazards. Fragmentation in responsibility for drinking water contributes to disparities in drought vulnerability, preparation, and response across households and across communities. The nature and extent of these disparities require further investigation to identify strategies for expanding water security in the face of drought and other water hazards.

scholarly journals Analysis of Cumulative Cancer Risk Associated with Disinfection Byproducts in United States Drinking Water

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (6) ◽  
pp. 2149
Author(s):  
Sydney Evans ◽  
Chris Campbell ◽  
Olga V. Naidenko
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Cancer Risk ◽  
Water Systems ◽  
Disinfection Byproducts ◽  
Haloacetic Acids ◽  
Risk Assessments ◽  
Lifetime Cancer Risk ◽  
Community Water Systems ◽  
Community Water ◽  
The U.S

Hundreds of different disinfection byproducts form in drinking water following necessary treatment with chlorine and other disinfectants, and many of those byproducts can damage DNA and increase the risk of cancer. This study offers the first side-by-side comparison of cancer risk assessments based on toxicological and epidemiological studies of disinfection byproducts using a comprehensive contaminant occurrence dataset for haloacetic acids and trihalomethanes, two groups of disinfection byproducts that are regulated in drinking water. We also provide the first analysis of a new occurrence dataset for unregulated haloacetic acids that became available from the latest, fourth round of the U.S. EPA-mandated unregulated contaminant monitoring program (UCMR4). A toxicological assessment indicated that haloacetic acids, and in particular brominated haloacetic acids, are more carcinogenic and are associated with a greater number of attributable cancer cases than trihalomethanes. Based on the toxicological analysis, cumulative lifetime cancer risk due to exposure to trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids for community water systems monitored under UCMR4, estimated with standard default parameters for body weight and water intake, corresponds to 7.0 × 10−5 (3.5 × 10−5–1.3 × 10−4). The same analysis conducted with age sensitivity factors to account for elevated risk in infants and children yielded a cumulative risk estimate of 2.9 × 10−4 (1.7 × 10−4–6.2 × 10−4). Epidemiological data suggest that lifetime cancer risk from disinfection byproducts for the U.S. population served by community water systems is approximately 3.0 × 10−3 (2.1 × 10−4–5.7 × 10−3), or a lifetime cancer risk of three cases per thousand people. Overall, this analysis highlights the value of using human data in health risk assessments to the greatest extent possible.

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