What Should We Expect from Municipal Water Providers?

When thinking of what kind of protection our municipal water filtration is providing us, always remember and trust that in most cases your municipal treatment facility, because it has invested heavily in filtration, laboratory equipment, and professional operators is always your best first line of defense against unwanted contaminants.

Also remember that treatment plants depend on human operation, mechanical equipment, and chemical products. None of these factors are 100% flawless and reliable.

Yet another good point to remember that water is the most unstable, widely-fluctuating necessity in our lives. What works to treat water on Monday, may not be effective on Tuesday.

Most of our water treatment plants were built decades ago. Many of our modern-day contaminants didn’t even exist when our plants were built. Expecting total and effective removal of these contaminants is unrealistic.

Regardless of how responsible we are, we cannot prevent our water sources from becoming increasingly contaminated. Increasing population, litter, and stormwater contamination from farms, roads and even from our own yards are all depositing more fresh contaminants into our water than we have time, resources or money to stop. Rain polluted by air from all parts of the world is another ominous problem that we can do little about.

The takeaway? At some time in the future municipal treatment plants will no longer guarantee safe, potable water, but instead will provide water that is fine for non-critical uses. The homeowner of tomorrow will have the responsibility of taking tap water and polishing it up to drinking water standards.