Pharmaceuticals in Water

• Pharmaceuticals that are excreted or merely flushed in a toilet are detectable in water treatment facilities and in tap water. A study published in the May 2011 issue of "Chemosphere" investigated the presence of 33 pharmaceuticals in rivers and tap water samples from Madrid, Spain. The authors reported that caffeine and an anticonvulsant medication, carbamazepine, were detected most often in the water samples. The study concluded that many of these compounds pose a hazard for those consuming tap water and for wildlife living in the rivers and streams.
  
  

Nitrates

• The funding for public water treatment facilities are derived from taxes from the communities that they serve. An article in the June 2011 issue of "Environmental Health Perspectives" compared socio-economic parameters to the quality of tap water for several communities in California. The authors found that an increased level of nitrates, derived form the decomposition of organic material, was detected in communities with higher minority residents and lower home-ownership. Specifically, nitrate levels were increased in areas serving larger Latino communities, who were more likely to rent their homes as opposed to own them.
  
  

Pesticide and Metal Contamination

• Development has serious impacts on water quality of rivers and lakes. A report appearing in the May 2011 issue of "Environmental Monitoring Assessment" investigated the concentrations of pesticides and metals in two lakes in Santa Catarina, Brazil, a developed region, and compared them to an undeveloped lake in a natural reserve area. The researchers captured fish from the three lakes and analyzed tissue samples from the animals. Their results showed that tissue samples from the fish inhabiting the developed lakes had decreased liver enzymatic activities and increased lesions in liver samples, which was consistent with exposure to pesticides and metals.
  
  

Mines and Quarries

• Water located in the vicinity of mines and quarries often have increased amounts of heavy metals that leach into the waterways from the facilities. A study published in the June 2011 issue of the "Journal of Environmental Science" documented the amounts of heavy metals in water samples from areas surrounding the abandoned Tuba City uranium mine in northeast Arizona. The researchers found that manganese was 71-fold higher than amounts set by the Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency and chromium, iron and arsenic were 17.5-, 7.4- and 5.2-fold higher, respectively. The study concluded that electrochemical treatment was an efficient method to remove these materials for the purification of drinking water.