We drink it, we wash with it, we cook with it—but do we ever really think about it? Vassar’s water supply and chemical components are not really topics pondered by Vassar students, but maybe they should be.
Recent accusations made by New Yorkers for Pure Water, along with a profusion of other organizations around the country, have pointed to a chemical called chloramine as a potentially toxic component that has been introduced to the water of certain regions, including the City and Town of Poughkeepsie.
“I was immediately affected by the integration of chloramine into our water system in October 2006,” said Chris Merando of New Yorkers for Pure Water. “I got a blistering, painful rash, and the steam from my shower made it hard for me to breathe,” she added. Merando’s symptoms went away when she stopped using Poughkeepsie water. Though there are no recognized scientific studies on chloramine, the chemical potentially causes respiratory, skin, digestive and dental problems. It has also been shown to leech lead, a carcinogenic element, from piping into water.
“Chloramine has been added to water systems because it’s a cheap way to do a difficult job,” said Vermonters for a Clean Environment Executive Director Annette Smith. Basically, chloramine is introduced into water to get rid of disinfection byproducts (DBPs) caused by chlorine, a chemical that has long been in the water system. DBPs are potentially toxic chemicals formed by the combination of a disinfectant (chlorine) and organic material or other chemicals in the water.
“The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations say that in the U.S. you have to remove two of the disinfection byproducts that chlorine causes, due to potentially carcinogenic effects,” explained Merando. “However, some of the DBPs that chloramine itself creates are much more toxic than any that chlorine creates.” Currently, 22 states use chloramine in their water. Meanwhile, Environment Canada, the Canadian equivalent of the U.S. EPA, has stated that the chemical is toxic to the environment.
“What’s terrible is that doctors have no scientific research on chloramine, so they can’t diagnosis patients correctly when they show symptoms,” said Smith. “When people get a skin rash after a shower, or their eyes start burning, no one thinks to fault the water,” she continued. Though New Yorkers for Pure Water have reported 32 stories from affected people in the Poughkeepsie area alone, concerns about the area’s water are not being met with much vigor. According to Stephen Capowski, who is the Director of Environmental Health Services at the Dutchess County Health Department, all grievances have been sufficiently addressed. “Side effects are minimal, and when there are complaints, they are investigated,” said Capowski.
Merando, however, is dissastisfied with the way his campaign has been handled thus far. “I spoke to the Water Board, the Health Department and the Community Council of Poughkeepsie. No one wanted to hear the negatives of chloramine, so we went to the Dutchess County Legislature” said Merando. The Legislature made a resolution that the Health Department had to research chloramine and determine exactly why it was deemed safe. “Months later, they ended up just using the minimal research already cited. They had done nothing further,” Merando stated.
The length of time chloramine has been in use could explain why health officials are so hesitant to delve into its negative aspects. “This is not a new process. It’s been around since after World War II,” said Capowski.
“They say it’s ‘time-tested,’” said Smith, “but really, this clearly isn’t enough.”
Vassar’s Director of Fire and Safety Jim Kelly also had strong opinions. “If you treat it with chlroamine you can make things like chloraform go away.One of the ways to treat this is to treat it with chloramines. It works very well and has a long residual power so it keeps the water clean longer, even with water distribution systems such as those Poughkeepsie has. Sometimes the long lines of pipe the water is staying still for long periods of time and chloramine keeps it clean.”
Kelly felt that the Town has a definite responsibility to make sure “every single site” has safe drinking water. “The issue can be controversial. Whether its chloraform or chloramines…from my perspective, the most important thing is to have safe drinking water.”
It is proven that chlorine has a detrimental effect on human health but can be removed by use of water filters and Vitamin C showerheads, devices that remove chlorine from water and replace it with Vitamin C. “To the best of my knowledge there have been no significant scientific studies that it has neg. effect on human health however, it can affect aquatic organisms,” noted Kelly. According to the minimal research that has been conducted, chloramine, on the other hand, cannot be removed by means of typical filtration. “They think they are doing a good thing by protecting people from chlorine, but at least with chlorine, people know how to protect themselves,” said Smith.
A number of alternative suggestions have been put forward to fix the chloramine problem. One idea is to use a filtration system for the organic material with which chlorine interacts. “If there isn’t any chemical interaction, there aren’t any byproducts. In this way, the filtration could be followed by ultraviolet light and small amounts of chlorine. Chloramine wouldn’t be needed at all,” said Merando.
Little is currently being done to remove chloramine from the water. “It’s time for everyone to get their heads out of the sand and realize chloramine is a poor choice,” said Smith.
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