| 9/12/2006
Gasoline
Additive (MTBE) Found In Elementary School Drinking Water
Supplies
An elementary
school in Hartford County Maryland reported shockingly high
levels of the gasoline additive MTBE, in the school’s
tap water.
The problem
first came to light last Spring when the school reported levels
of MTBE in their drinking water of 13.6 ppb (parts per billion)
in one well and 4.6 ppb in another well.
Now, new tests
have shown the gasoline additive has spiked to 66 ppb in one
well and 101 ppb in another well. The EPA has yet to agree
on the amount of MTBE they feel can be in drinking water for
it to still be considered safe, but the push is to set the
level at 20 ppb.
The levels in
these water wells are many times higher than even that high
safe drinking water standard.
What Is MTBE
And How Does It Get Into Your Tap Water?
MTBE is a gasoline
additive that is used as an octane enhancer to reduce carbon
monoxide caused by auto emissions. It has replaced lead as
an additive in gasoline since 1979.
MTBE contaminated
water supplies are growing at an alarming rate.
MTBE makes it
way into drinking water supplies from leaking underground
storage tanks and pipelines, fuel spills, marine engines discharging
the additive into lakes, reservoirs, and so forth.
For more information
on MTBE visit the EPA’s web page at:
http://www.epa.gov/safewater/mtbe.html
What Are Potential
Health Effects Of MTBE From Drinking Water Supplies?
MTBE has been
linked to causing cancer, organ damage, central nervous system
problems, and birth defects.
Is MTBE In
Your Drinking Water?
It very well
could be. The only way to know for sure is to have your water
analyzed.
Even at the
dangerous levels found in the elementary school cited above,
you cannot smell, taste, or see the MTBE in the water.
Only laboratory
water tests were able to find it.
And in addition
to MTBE, there could be other toxins in your water.
First you need
to find out exactly what is in your water. Once you know,
you can install the water filter that is made to remove those
contaminants in your water.
Remember, the
fact is that there does not exist one water treatment system
that can remove all contaminants from water. That’s
why it is so important to first find out which contaminants
are in your tap water.
To determine
the quality of your water, why not use our Water
Testing Diagnostic Service.
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