scholarly journals An evaluation of the readability of drinking water quality reports: a national assessment

2015 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 645-653 ◽  
Author(s):  
Siddhartha Roy ◽  
Katherine Phetxumphou ◽  
Andrea M. Dietrich ◽  
Paul A. Estabrooks ◽  
Wen You ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Environmental Protection Agency ◽  
Grade Level ◽  
Tap Water ◽  
Scientific Information ◽  
The United States ◽  
Regulatory Compliance ◽  
Accurate Information ◽  
The Public ◽  
Quality Reports

The United States Environmental Protection Agency mandates that community water systems (or water utilities) provide annual consumer confidence reports (CCRs) – water quality reports – to their consumers. These reports encapsulate information regarding sources of water, detected contaminants, regulatory compliance, and educational material. These reports have excellent potential for providing the public with accurate information on the safety of tap water, but there is a lack of research on the degree to which the information can be understood by a large proportion of the population. This study evaluated the readability of a nationally representative sample of 30 CCRs, released between 2011 and 2013. Readability (or ‘comprehension difficulty’) was evaluated using Flesch–Kincaid readability tests. The analysis revealed that CCRs were written at the 11th–14th grade level, which is well above the recommended 6th–7th grade level for public health communications. The CCR readability ease was found to be equivalent to that of the Harvard Law Review journal. These findings expose a wide chasm that exists between current water quality reports and their effectiveness toward being understandable to US residents. Suggestions for reorienting language and scientific information in CCRs to be easily comprehensible to the public are offered.

scholarly journals Picking Up Where the TMDL Leaves Off: Using the Partnership Wild and Scenic River Framework for Collaborative River Restoration

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 1878
Author(s):  
Alan R. Hunt ◽  
Meiyin Wu ◽  
Tsung-Ta David Hsu ◽  
Nancy Roberts-Lawler ◽  
Jessica Miller ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Environmental Protection Agency ◽  
Bacterial Contamination ◽  
Resource Constraints ◽  
Clean Water Act ◽  
The United States ◽  
Clean Water ◽  
Private Land ◽  
The Public ◽  
Wild And Scenic Rivers

The National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act protects less than ¼ of a percent of the United States’ river miles, focusing on free-flowing rivers of good water quality with outstandingly remarkable values for recreation, scenery, and other unique river attributes. It predates the enactment of the Clean Water Act, yet includes a clear anti-degradation principle, that pollution should be reduced and eliminated on designated rivers, in cooperation with the federal Environmental Protection Agency and state pollution control agencies. However, the federal Clean Water Act lacks a clear management framework for implementing restoration activities to reduce non-point source pollution, of which bacterial contamination impacts nearly 40% of the Wild and Scenic Rivers. A case study of the Musconetcong River, in rural mountainous New Jersey, indicates that the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act can be utilized to mobilize and align non-governmental, governmental, philanthropic, and private land-owner resources for restoring river water quality. For example, coordinated restoration efforts on one tributary reduced bacterial contamination by 95%, surpassing the TMDL goal of a 93% reduction. Stakeholder interviews and focus groups indicated widespread knowledge and motivation to improve water quality, but resource constraints limited the scale and scope of restoration efforts. The authors postulate that the Partnership framework, enabled in the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, facilitated neo-endogenous rural development through improving water quality for recreational usage, whereby bottom-up restoration activities were catalyzed via federal designation and resource provision. However, further efforts to address water quality via voluntary participatory frameworks were ultimately limited by the public sector’s inadequate funding and inaction with regard to water and wildlife resources in the public trust.

scholarly journals Historical Assessments of Inorganic Pollutants in the Sinkhole Region of Winkler County, Texas, USA

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (13) ◽  
pp. 7513
Author(s):  
Joshua Lozano ◽  
Joonghyeok Heo ◽  
Mijin Seo
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Environmental Protection Agency ◽  
Water Contamination ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Anthropogenic Activities ◽  
Inorganic Pollutants ◽  
Safety Standards ◽  
The Public ◽  
West Texas ◽  
Contamination Levels

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the public water contamination levels of Winkler County, in West Texas. With water scarcity becoming more prevalent in arid climates like West Texas, it is important to ensure the water quality in these areas. The Dockum and Pecos Valley aquifers were analyzed for inorganic pollutants that could inhibit the water. The parameters such as copper, lead, arsenic, nitrate, chloride, and chromium level reports were provided from 1972 to 2018 to analyze and compare to other studies such as the ones conducted in the Midland/Odessa area. The results were compared to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) safety standards, and conclusions were made for the safety consumption of water within the county. We found that inorganic pollutants resulted mainly from the mobilization of the contaminant from anthropogenic activities such as chemical fertilizers, oil and gas developments. This research provides important information for inorganic pollutants in the sinkhole region of Winkler County and contributes to understanding the response to the aquifers. The significance of water quality in West Texas is now more important than ever to ensure that everyone has clean drinking water.

scholarly journals How Perceptions of Trust, Risk, Tap Water Quality, and Salience Characterize Drinking Water Choices

Hydrology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 49
Author(s):  
Madeline A. Grupper ◽  
Madeline E. Schreiber ◽  
Michael G. Sorice
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Drinking Water ◽  
Risk Perceptions ◽  
Anthropogenic Impacts ◽  
Tap Water ◽  
Water Utilities ◽  
Global Changes ◽  
Water Utility ◽  
The Public ◽  
Water Behavior

Provision of safe drinking water by water utilities is challenged by disturbances to water quality that have become increasingly frequent due to global changes and anthropogenic impacts. Many water utilities are turning to adaptable and flexible strategies to allow for resilient management of drinking water supplies. The success of resilience-based management depends on, and is enabled by, positive relationships with the public. To understand how relationships between managers and communities spill over to in-home drinking water behavior, we examined the role of trust, risk perceptions, salience of drinking water, and water quality evaluations in the choice of in-home drinking water sources for a population in Roanoke Virginia. Using survey data, our study characterized patterns of in-home drinking water behavior and explored related perceptions to determine if residents’ perceptions of their water and the municipal water utility could be intuited from this behavior. We characterized drinking water behavior using a hierarchical cluster analysis and highlighted the importance of studying a range of drinking water patterns. Through analyses of variance, we found that people who drink more tap water have higher trust in their water managers, evaluate water quality more favorably, have lower risk perceptions, and pay less attention to changes in their tap water. Utility managers may gauge information about aspects of their relationships with communities by examining drinking water behavior, which can be used to inform their future interactions with the public, with the goal of increasing resilience and adaptability to external water supply threats.

scholarly journals Assessing clarity of message communication for mandated USEPA drinking water quality reports

2015 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 223-235 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine Phetxumphou ◽  
Siddhartha Roy ◽  
Brenda M. Davy ◽  
Paul A. Estabrooks ◽  
Wen You ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Drinking Water ◽  
Environmental Protection Agency ◽  
Water System ◽  
System Size ◽  
The United States ◽  
National Sample ◽  
Evaluation Tool ◽  
Index Index ◽  
State Of The Science

The United States Environmental Protection Agency mandates that community water systems (CWSs), or drinking water utilities, provide annual consumer confidence reports (CCRs) reporting on water quality, compliance with regulations, source water, and consumer education. While certain report formats are prescribed, there are no criteria ensuring that consumers understand messages in these reports. To assess clarity of message, trained raters evaluated a national sample of 30 CCRs using the Centers for Disease Control Clear Communication Index (Index) indices: (1) Main Message/Call to Action; (2) Language; (3) Information Design; (4) State of the Science; (5) Behavioral Recommendations; (6) Numbers; and (7) Risk. Communication materials are considered qualifying if they achieve a 90% Index score. Overall mean score across CCRs was 50 ± 14% and none scored 90% or higher. CCRs did not differ significantly by water system size. State of the Science (3 ± 15%) and Behavioral Recommendations (77 ± 36%) indices were the lowest and highest, respectively. Only 63% of CCRs explicitly stated if the water was safe to drink according to federal and state standards and regulations. None of the CCRs had passing Index scores, signaling that CWSs are not effectively communicating with their consumers; thus, the Index can serve as an evaluation tool for CCR effectiveness and a guide to improve water quality communications.

scholarly journals Post-Truth: Hegemony on Social Media and Implications for Sustainability Communication

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 2120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cecilia Jaques ◽  
Mine Islar ◽  
Gavin Lord
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Scientific Information ◽  
The United States ◽  
Marxian Theory ◽  
The Public ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
The One ◽  
Science In Society

Contrary to what practice suggests, social media platforms may not be an appropriate forum for communicating with civil society about sustainability issues such as climate change. Misinformation campaigns are distorting the line between fact and falsity on social media platforms, and there has been a profound shift in the way that social media users consume and interact with information. These conditions have been popularly labeled as the post-truth era. Drawing from Neo-Marxian theory, we argue that post-truth can be explained as a new iteration of ideological struggle under capitalist hegemony. We substantiate this claim through a mixed methods investigation synthesizing corpus-assisted lexical analysis and critical discourse analysis to evaluate 900 user-generated comments taken from three articles on socioenvironmental topics published on Facebook by news organizations in the United States. The results showed that the nature of this struggle is tied explicitly to the role of science in society, where the legitimacy of science is caught in a tug-of-war of values between elitism on the one hand and a rejection of the establishment on the other. It follows that presenting truthful information in place of false information is an insufficient means of coping with post-truth. We conclude by problematizing the notion that Facebook is an adequate forum for public dialogue and advocate for a change in strategy from those wishing to communicate scientific information in the public sphere.

scholarly journals Determination of N-Nitrosamines by Gas Chromatography Coupled to Quadrupole–Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry in Water Samples

Separations ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benigno José Sieira ◽  
Inmaculada Carpinteiro ◽  
Rosario Rodil ◽  
José Benito Quintana ◽  
Rafael Cela
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Environmental Protection Agency ◽  
Ion Trap ◽  
Solid Phase ◽  
Classical Method ◽  
Tap Water ◽  
Time Of Flight ◽  
The United States ◽  
Mass Analyzer

An analytical method based on high-resolution quadrupole–time-of-flight (QToF) mass spectrometry has been developed as an alternative to the classical method, using a low-resolution ion trap (IT) analyzer to reduce interferences in N-nitrosamines determination. Extraction of the targeted compounds was performed by solid-phase extraction (SPE) following the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) -521 method. First, both electron impact (EI) and positive chemical ionization (PCI) using methane as ionization gas were compared, along with IT and QToF detection. Then, parameters such as limits of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ), linearity, and repeatability were assessed. The results showed that the QToF mass analyzer combined with PCI was the best system for the determination of the N-nitrosamines, with instrumental LOD and LOQ in the ranges of 0.2–4 and 0.6–11 ng mL−1, respectively, which translated into method LOD and LOQ in the ranges of 0.2–1.3 and 0.6–3.9 ng L−1, respectively. The analysis of real samples showed the presence of 6 of the N-nitrosamines in influent, effluent, and tap water. N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) was quantified in all the analyzed samples at concentrations between 1 and 27 ng L−1. Moreover, four additional nitrosamines were found in tap and wastewater samples.

Journalists and Public Health Professionals: Challenges of a Symbiotic Relationship

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pauline Lubens
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
The United States ◽  
Accurate Information ◽  
Symbiotic Relationship ◽  
Public Health Response ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
The Public ◽  
Health Goals

AbstractJournalists and health professionals share a symbiotic relationship during a disease outbreak as both professions play an important role in informing the public’s perceptions and the decisions of policy makers. Although critics in the United States have focused on US reporters and media outlets whose coverage has been sensationalist and alarmist, the discussion in this article is based on the ideal—gold standard—for US journalists. Journalists perform three primary functions during times of health crises: disseminating accurate information to the public, medical professionals, and policy makers; acting as the go-between for the public and decision makers and health and science experts; and monitoring the performance of institutions responsible for the public health response. A journalist’s goal is to responsibly inform the public in order to optimize the public health goals of prevention while minimizing panic. The struggle to strike a balance between humanizing a story and protecting the dignity of patients while also capturing the severity of an epidemic is harder in the era of the 24-7 news cycle. Journalists grapple with dueling pressures: confirming that their information is correct while meeting the demand for rapid updates. Just as health care professionals triage patients, journalists triage information. The challenge going forward will be how to get ahead of the story from the onset, racing against the pace of digital dissemination of misinformation by continuing to refine the media-science relationship. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2014;0:1-5)

scholarly journals A sea change ahead for recreational water quality criteria

2008 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandria B. Boehm ◽  
Nicholas J. Ashbolt ◽  
John M. Colford ◽  
Lee E. Dunbar ◽  
Lora E. Fleming ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Environmental Protection Agency ◽  
Quality Criteria ◽  
The United States ◽  
Water Quality Criteria ◽  
Recreational Water ◽  
Research Needs ◽  
Recreational Water Quality ◽  
Epidemiology Studies ◽  
New Criteria

The United States Environmental Protection Agency is committed to developing new recreational water quality criteria for coastal waters by 2012 to provide increased protection to swimmers. We review the uncertainties and shortcomings of the current recreational water quality criteria, describe critical research needs for the development of new criteria, as well as recommend a path forward for new criteria development. We believe that among the most needed research needs are the completion of epidemiology studies in tropical waters and in waters adversely impacted by urban runoff and animal feces, as well as studies aimed to validate the use of models for indicator and pathogen concentration and health risk predictions.

scholarly journals Phosphate Level in Some Selected Surface and Ground Water Bodies of Rajshahi City Corporation

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 129-133
Author(s):  
MA Habib ◽  
MA Hoque ◽  
MS Islam ◽  
MM Islam ◽  
MN Islam
Keyword(s):  
Ground Water ◽  
Environmental Protection Agency ◽  
Tap Water ◽  
Good Health ◽  
The United States ◽  
Water Bodies ◽  
Protection Agency ◽  
Tube Well ◽  
Surface Water Bodies ◽  
Rajshahi City

Optimum PO4-P level in surface and ground water is essential for maintaining good health and environment. In this study, the PO4-P level was measured for 148 different water samples collected from ponds, supply tape and tube-well of 8 different areas of Rajshahi City Corporation. All the sites of surface water bodies crossed the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) criterion of 0.01-0.03 mg L-1 PO4–P to be free from eutrophication. Among the samples, 4.2% were within the range (0.025-0.1 mg L-1) of onset of eutrophication while 95.8% crossed the hyper-eutrophication level (> 0.10 mg L-1). However, most of the ground (83.1%) and tap (92.7%) water were excellent in quality for drinking with respect to PO4–P level (<1 mg L-1). Only 15.3% of ground water and 7.3% of tap water were good quality and a negligible amount (1.6%) of ground water was fair quality.J. Environ. Sci. & Natural Resources, 8(1): 129-133 2015

scholarly journals Establishing Climate Change Resilience in the Great Lakes in Response to Flooding

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (01) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gwendolyn E Gallagher ◽  
Ryan K Duncombe ◽  
Timothy M Steeves
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
United States ◽  
Water Quality ◽  
Great Lakes ◽  
Environmental Protection Agency ◽  
High Water ◽  
The United States ◽  
Water Levels ◽  
Storm Events ◽  
Freshwater Resource

Over the past decade, both the average rainfall and the frequency of high precipitation storm events in the Great Lakes Basin have been steadily increasing as a consequence of climate change. In this same period, cities and communities along the coasts are experiencing record high water levels and severe flooding events (ECC Canada et al. 2018). When cities are unprepared for these floods, the safety of communities and the water quality of the Great Lakes are jeopardized. For example, coastal flooding increases runoff pollution and contaminates the freshwater resource that 40 million people rely on for drinking water (Lyandres and Welch 2012, Roth 2016). Since the Great Lakes are shared between two nations, the United States and Canada, the region is protected by several international treaties and national compacts, including the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA) and the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI). In order to increase climate change resiliency against flooding in the region, we recommend the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) work with Environment and Climate Change Canada to relocate the GLRI under the GLWQA in order to guarantee consistent funding and protection efforts. We additionally recommend expansion of both agreements in their scope and long-term commitments to engender cooperative efforts to protect the Great Lakes against climate change.

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