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Water Protection
updated: Aug 16, 2012, 11:38 AM

By Edhat Subscriber

Did anyone read the article in yesterday's local paper about water quality? SB County is one of 3 in southern CA in whose water Hexavalent Chromium has been detected. This is the industrial chemical that was so controversial in the movie "Erin Brokovich." So my question is, what is the source of origin of this pollutant in SB Country? And how can we protect ourselves, i.e. any water filtration suggestions? I'm not sure my carbon filter is up to it.

Comments in order of when they were received | (reverse order)

ROGER DODGER	2012-08-16 11:45 AM
Figures...
COMMENT 309028	2012-08-16 12:06 PM
Reverse Osmosis......Just read that Zerowater filter pitcher removes it......
COMMENT 309029	2012-08-16 12:08 PM
Sorry, I only read Edhat and can't help you out. I'm sure it's minimal and not a concern. Just walking the streets and smelling car fumes is probably more concerning.
COMMENT 309039	2012-08-16 12:18 PM
Get distilled water from the water store. Filter your shower water.
COMMENT 309061	2012-08-16 12:51 PM
Don't shower with tap water, drink only bottled deionized water. Avoid areas with wi-fi signals and\or smart meters.
COMMENT 309067	2012-08-16 01:03 PM
Don't drink the water---glad we buy bottled---much to the tsk-ing of our friends.
COMMENT 309068	2012-08-16 01:04 PM
Never ever drink tap water. Even if you buy a drink with ice, the ice is from tap water. The tap water in this area is notoriously polluted.
COMMENT 309075	2012-08-16 01:15 PM
Drink plenty of tequila.
SBROCKS	2012-08-16 01:22 PM
A brita water filter will remove the trace. An activated carbon filter will do the job as well as RO system.
BURNTTHISTLE	2012-08-16 01:35 PM
So where in the county was this chemical detected?
COMMENT 309101	2012-08-16 01:58 PM
309068 - are you a conspiracy theorist or just easily panicked? There is nothing wrong with tap water. In fact its tested at virtually every stage, very often. You may not like the taste but its very safe to drink. Bottled water is tap water filtered and is not regularly tested or required to be... for instance Dasani is Detroit tap water filtered. Aside from the water itself, you're consuming chemicals from the bottles and the bottling. Dont be a sucker.
COMMENT 309103	2012-08-16 02:00 PM
It's been over 10 years since Erin Brockovich highlighted Chromium-6, and the gov't is still wrangling over what should be the standard for a "safe" level. To this day there is no such level established. And that is why you are hearing about Chromium-6 in Santa Barbara County water because enviromental groups are suing CA for not setting a standard. You should know that these readings were taken over a 10 year span. It could very well be that the high levels found in Santa Barbara County were from 2000, and not from a recent sample. The story was very enviro-centric and definitely skewed / fuzzed the data for effect.
COMMENT 309108	2012-08-16 02:08 PM
309101 - You summarized everything in six words.... YOU MAY NOT LIKE THE TASTE Exactly. I HATE the taste of SB tap water. It smells like crap. I'll happily spend $3.99 + CRV for a case of Arrowhead bottles filled with water that doesn't taste like it was drained from a bilge. Who CARES if it won't hurt me. Who CARES where the bottled water comes from. To borrow from the Democrats...IT'S THE TASTE, STUPID.
COMMENT 309137	2012-08-16 02:34 PM
I would love to hear where in the county the water samples came from. Personally, I do not buy the bottled because I hate the trash that it creates-the business of selling water. I recycle, that is not my point. Just the volume of trash buying bottled water creates.
COMMENT 309149	2012-08-16 02:48 PM
When I worked at Berkeley National Lab a semi-famous chemist did a lunch presentation to us and he said that once you ran tap water through a charcoal filter and then spun it in a blender for a few minutes, the nasty metals and aromatic organics would be gone and it was fine to drink. He seemed to be an authoritative source for this so that's what I do.
COMMENT 309168	2012-08-16 03:10 PM
Activated carbon does not remove heavy metals. Reverse Osmosis is best. The old Applied Magnetics in Goleta is one of the culprits. Hex chrome in the groundwater near the railroad tracks.
COMMENT 309200	2012-08-16 03:56 PM
Wow, guess all you people don't like the environment as much as you'd like to claim. Bottled water is AWFUL for the environment, ignorance doesn't make you innocent.
COMMENT 309213P	2012-08-16 04:18 PM
Go look at the data. In all of Santa Barbara county, there is only ONE data point (@54 ug/l) over the current CDPH maximum contaminant level (MCL) of 50 ug/l. (FYI, the Fed EPA maximum contaminant level (MCL) is 100ug/l.) This is for total chromium, including chrome-6. That one data point was taken 10 years ago, and two years later data from the same well shows only 1.8ug/l concentration. The reason you are hearing about it is environmental groups are now pushing for a 20ug/l limit - and specific for chrome-6. Even at this proposed limit, there are only a handful of wells that showed any data above that limit over the last 10 years. And FYI all of them are in Santa Ynez - mostly little private water companies serving housing associations.
COMMENT 309230	2012-08-16 04:56 PM
I downloaded the current SB water quality report. It says Hex Chrome is in both surface and groundwater and gives the amounts detected. They are higher than the level proposed as safe, which is pending legislation as noted in a previous post. I've been drinking SB tap for years, albeit filtered with a carbon system. Probably doesn't do the job, so I'll be looking into alternatives. I agree, bottled water isn't the way to go.
COMMENT 309234	2012-08-16 05:05 PM
I also googled and found that Cr6 (hex chrom) is "naturally" occurring in the Lake Cachuma watershed. Add that to Hg (mercury) and you've got two good reasons to buy your own water. Question: can we sue the local water districts for not providing drinkable water? Even if it somehow meets the drinking water standards, no one wants to drink it so why don't we do something other than complain?
COMMENT 309247P	2012-08-16 06:09 PM
I drink **distilled water** in (purchased there) glass jugs** from the faucets at the Water Store on Hollister -- because when I moved to Santa Barbara in 1973 an allergy to fluoride popped-up. Never had a problem with tap water before (in Riverside) ... but the local SB water seemed to have a slightly higher concentration of natural fluoride. (?) A doctor diagnosed the fluoride-allergy. I also stopped using all fluoride toothpastes and told the dentist to stop using the fluoride cleaning paste. Haven't had a problem since diagnosis. (To: 309137) No trash using glass jugs at the Water Store.
COMMENT 309386P	2012-08-17 08:01 AM
If you look at the health stats for Santa Barbara, you will find Santa Barbara residents are generally healthier than the rest of the nation. Maybe it's in the water.
COMMENT 309420	2012-08-17 08:51 AM
I did not think anyone still drank tap water. Ever since I saw the first BMW driver drinking water from a bottle, talking on a cell phone and steering with her knees I saw the genesis of the bottled water craze. After that it became apparent that anyone who was really anyone had to be drinking their water from overpriced plastic bottles with fancy names or some special container they purchased to hold that precious sacred water. Therefore as to anything in ordinary tap water I say "No worries" only the riff-raff drink tap water.
COMMENT 309451	2012-08-17 09:27 AM
Hey! I'm not riff-raff! I've been drinking tap water here for more than 50 years. So has my 95-year-old parent!
COMMENT 309488	2012-08-17 10:12 AM
GWD will look into it... for a 900% rate increase.
COMMENT 309504P	2012-08-17 10:34 AM
My 90 year old mother and 60 year old sibling will not drink anything but tap water. I drink tap water filtered through a Brita filter. Except for my addiction to sugar, I'm pretty darned healthy. I have had a science education, have environmental ("responsible") proclivities, and am fed up with voluntarily ignorant people making public policy and encouraging others to subscribe to their wingnut theories. If you don't know what you're talking about, have the sense to either learn about it or shut up.

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