State of Cancer: With public water, ‘failure is not an option’ but private well tests are up to owners
Smoking, alcohol abuse, exposure to radon, diet.
These are some of the major risk factors that public health and medical experts in Iowa know play roles in Iowa’s continuing high rate of new cancer cases.
But there are other potential factors that may not be as clear, like water quality.
There are chemicals, including nitrates, that are linked to the disease. These are substances that public water systems extensively test for and work to remove from drinking water.
“There is a lot we know about cancer, and there is a lot we still have to discover, including all the reasons we might be No. 2 (for new cancer cases) in the country,” said Kelly Wells Sittig, the executive director of the Iowa Cancer Consortium in Iowa City.
Des Moines Water Works CEO Ted Corrigan turns on the faucet in his home when he needs a drink of water.
“I’ve dedicated my career to drinking water,” he said. “We have an entire team of people here who have dedicated their lives to making sure that we have clean, safe drinking water.”
Public water systems part of the public health system
The Des Moines and Raccoon rivers serve as two of the primary water sources for hundreds of thousands of Central Iowans.
Corrigan considers his work to be part of the public health business.
He’s in charge of the operation that provides water to hundreds of thousands of Central Iowans.
“This water goes through extensive testing every single day,” he said. “Failure is not an option here.”
There are hundreds of tests performed each day at different stages of treatment, even before. Water Works contains its own onsite lab with scientists.
“Nitrate is our biggest challenge, but we’ve got the facility. It’s been in place for over 30 years, and we’ve never exceeded the standard in all of those years,” Corrigan said.
vlog Investigates got a look at the nitrate removal system inside the Fleur Drive plant and other areas of the plant recently. The nitrate system was in operation that day as spring runoff is a key driver for nitrate concentrations, Corrigan said.
The system only runs when nitrate levels reach a certain threshold.
“The drinking water standard is 10 milligrams per liter. And so if we see nitrates in our water start to go above 8 or 9, then we’ll turn on the facility so we can stay safely below 10.”
This was just the 11th time this year the nitrate levels had been high enough.
The Environmental Protection Agency sets the standard. The state’s public water systems are responsible for staying below that threshold.
Corrigan said it’s not often the Des Moines Water Works even gets close. “Last year, we ran the facility for 30 or 40 days,” he said.
Research shows nitrate levels below what the EPA deems acceptable may cause health issues.
According to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, which tracks Iowa’s public systems and reports to the EPA, 97 percent of them met all current health-based standards in 2023, the latest data that was available.
These systems represent 99.5 percent of the state’s 3.2 million residents served by a public system.
Corrigan and other water experts stand by the work and drink tap water.
“Tap water, like served the Water Works, is about as regulated as it comes, and they’re doing everything they can to lower (health risk) as much as possible,” said David Cwiertny, a professor at the University of Iowa and the director of the Center for Center for Health Effect of Environmental Contamination.
Cwiertny said that public water systems deliver the most cost-effective, safe options.
But there is a segment of the population he thinks could be at risk: Iowans on private wells, Cwiertny said. “The consumers of drinking water that are most at risk are going to be folks on private wells. So if you’re served a city, you fall under the Safe Water Drinking Act,” he said. “On a private well, you fall outside that.”
Private well owners advised to test every year
About 7 percent of Iowans get water from a private well on their property. Public health leaders recommend getting such wells test once a year.
A study released in 2022 by the Iowa State University Extension and Outreach says only 10 percent of households on wells do test. Even though there are programs that provide the testing for free.
Research shows 10 percent of private wells exceeded the EPA’s nitrate drinking water standard, said Catherine DeLong, water quality program manager at the Iowa State University Extension and Outreach.
“I’ve heard a lot of folks say, ‘It hasn’t killed me yet,’” she said.
If a private well is shallow, less than 100 feet in depth, it can be at higher risk, especially for nitrates, DeLong said. “If it goes through enough, rich soil can filter out a lot of those nitrates. But if you have a shallow well, it might not filter all of that out.”
Private wells can also be susceptible to elevated bacterial and arsenic levels. Arsenic could also be tied to increased cancer risk.
“Test your water. Iowans should be testing their water every single year,” DeLong said.
EPA is keeping an eye on nitrates
vlog Investigates contacted the EPA to see if they are currently evaluating the nitrate standard. It was set in the 1990s because of what is known as “blue baby syndrome.”
The EPA said it reviews drinking water regulations every six years. It completed the most recent review last year.
The agency determined that the nitrate standard was not a candidate for revision at that time.
EPA did say it is conducting an updated health assessment on nitrates. It will evaluate whether a revision of the rule is appropriate once the health assessment is available.
This is the first part in a two-part series on water quality and cancer risks. Part 2 can be found here.
»
» Download the free vlog app to get updates on the go: |