The wetland effect.
 

Scientists in California are experimenting with wetlands to help purify the water which runs off from the agriculture intensive land into drinking water sources.

There the high level of nitrates is a special concern.

It is heartening to note that there are folks out there who are still trying to keep drinking water clean.

Do not assume your drinking water meets acceptable standards. :D

http://america.aljazeera.com/article...urnstoxic.html

Nothing like good old Capitalism at work. Make money raping the environment producing and using the poison. Then even more cleaning up the mess.........

When an average six year old would just say "why use the stuff in the first place?"



Barney

The problem cited by the article is also particularly acute in the Chesapeake Bay.

Fortunately our water comes from 300 feet down below our front lawn. It is acid but we have a neutralizer that takes care of that. We do not use fertilizers so there are no phosphates from us polluting the Chesapeake. ANd no phosphates from the laundry as they don't get past the septic system.

Our water comes from an artesian well but still comes from somewhere else. Cities around are having severe problems with lawn care and automotive chemicals getting into rain runoff contaminating the watershed. The local government pay little attention to the chemicals used by farms or the huge chicken and hog operations and their contamination of ground water.


Barney

Here in New York there is strong activism about drinking water. Recently the
Governor was pushed by activists to ban fracking.

Successfully pushed.

John

What is frighten - as was indicated in the above article - Boiling the water has
little effect on some of the bad stuff.

Actually, in the case of nitrates, boiling increases the concentration.

John

The Chesapeake's pollution can largely be traced to the huge poultry industry on Maryland Eastern Shore (e.g., Purdue), but poultry is a big, powerful industry and Americans have a soft spot in the hearts for farmers, even to their own detriment and even if the so-called farmers are large industrial operations.