I decided to do my article as a separate post this week. Since we're talking about drinking water this week, I thought this was quite appropriate. This article from the LA Times reports that chemicals that are used in household goods and manufacturing have been found in hundreds of wells in California that supply water to millions of Californians. After learning about ground water this week, this makes it abundantly clear how important it is to keep our ground water clean and free of contamination. Areas of southern California have had to shut down wells due to high levels of contamination with potentially cancer-causing substances. The "forever chemicals" the authors refer to in the article are PFAS, which have been linked to certain types of cancers and other chronic disorders. They refer to them as forever chemicals because they tend to accumulate in the human body and remain there indefinitely. Many water providers in California have not yet tested for these specific chemicals, making me wonder how many more people are being affected than reported in this article.
https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2019-10-10/california-finds-widespread-contamination-of-chemicals
My home in Northern California was on a well that was shared between two houses. The water was sometimes a yellowish color, especially when the well water was low. We also had a filter and water softener, but when we changed the filter (usually after 30 days), the contents looked like a brown colored paint and was of the same consistency. Gross! Dr. Rick Blodgett, an epidemiologist and water testing expert in the area tested our well every 6 months for many different chemicals and bacteria since we were on 10 acres. Also, we had a septic tank and after learning about hazardous chemicals in water, it is clear that the septic tank may be full of HDs and other harmful chemicals that can leech into the water stream.
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