I take trips up to Santa Barbara and Carpinteria periodically, both for work and for pleasure. Last year sometime I recall spotting a news item in a local paper about water quality problems in Carpinteria. Here's the water quality report that details it. This was a serious problem that actually necessitated mailing notices to all residents in February of 2006, notifying them that the Carpinteria Valley Water District had been in violation of recently changed state water standards for the last quarter of 2005...
Ahem! The first thing I thought was...great, so the people drinking the water that violated state standards got notified from the water district a couple months after the fact about the violation. Meanwhile, residents in the area, in good faith, were trusting that the drinking water was safe and that surely someone would notify them right away if there was a problem.
I really felt for the people who live in Carpinteria who couldn't perhaps even afford at least a Britta filter, or the water machines where you fill up your jugs. What were they supposed to do? THMs (Trihalomethanes) are classified as a contaminant and monitored for a reason - they are toxic. THMs are a DBP (disinfection by-product) and result when chlorine or chloramine combines with organic materials. We do need disinfection of our water supply, but we also need to avoid contaminating ourselves in the process.
Then when I researched it a bit, I found out something that really freaked me out. Results of a study in 2005 showed that your body will take in the most THMs not from drinking chlorinated water, but by showering, bathing or doing the dishes (by hand)...in short, letting it touch you. THMs have been connected with bladder and rectal cancer, as well as an increased chance of miscarriage in pregnant women.
Carpinteria has indeed reduced the level of THMs to below the maximum contaminant limit of 80 since then. I think they were only in violation for one quarter. The July 2006 report states that they are measuring 62-69 now. Hopefully for the residents of Carpinteria, that does not mean it will just take longer for them to get cancer.
This, of course, makes it more important than ever to have a point of entry water filtration system so that all the water in your home is THM-free. ECOsmarte Water point of entry systems remove all THMs from your water, and we have the lab tests to prove it. Someday, point of entry water purification systems will be standard in all houses, and be as assumed as a stove or refrigerator. Then we can all stay in the shower as long as we want to without envisioning those THMs soaking into our bodies!
