Water makes up more than 50% of our bodies. So, how do we know if the water we’re drinking is safe?
“We spend a lot of effort making sure that treatment systems address whatever is in the water, that can end up in your body,” said State Health Officer Dr. Jimmy Guidry.
Right now there are no known immediate threats to our more than 1,400 water systems in Louisiana. Dr. Guidry said officials check them by doing chemical tests, every one to three years, depending on the type of water.
Dr. Guidry said just because water is clear doesn’t always mean it’s clean.
“Sometimes people get really concerned about the color of water. Those aren’t the things that really impact your health as much as some of the chemicals you don’t see, such as lead,” Dr. Guidry said. “So monitoring and taking samples, and looking at those levels is critical.”
Over the past couple of years, Louisiana has seen it’s share of water scares, with the brain-eating amoeba outbreak in some southern parishes, including St. Bernard, where officials had to perform a 60-day chlorine burn to clean it out.
Environmental Advocate and Retired Army Lieutenant General Russel Honore said Louisiana could see a similar situation as Flint, Michigan, if we aren’t careful.
“Our legislature, Exxon and Georgia Pacific yield 44 million gallons of water a day out of the aquifer, this will force Baton Rouge to use river water,” Honore explained. “We’re going to have to same problems as in Flint, because the Mississippi River water is full of toxins and lead and fertilizer. “
Dr. Guidry said it’s best to keep lead levels to a minimum because it can have some serious health effects, especially in children.
If you want to learn more about how your water is tested, just head to the link below:
http://dhh.louisiana.gov/index.cfm/page/963