• In some areas, the toxic substances in tap water pose an obvious and serious health threat.
• In other areas, where the tap water is better, the health threat still exists but is harder to pin down. However, all drinking water that is consumed straight from the tap does pose a health threat to some degree.
• This alone is a good enough reason to be concerned about your drinking water.
Q: How can there be polluted water in areas with no history of toxic substance use?
• There is no way to know for sure whether toxic substances have been used in a given area.
• The water may originate from another area where toxic substances have been used.
• Some of the chemicals used to treat water and make it safe are themselves harmful, and water pipes within and outside of the house can also deposit pollutants into the water.
Q: What kind of pollutants are in our water?
There are five types of health-threatening water pollutants:
• Micro Organisms. These include harmful bacteria, viruses and parasites that are resistant to chlorine treatment. They include Giardia and Cryptosporidium and they can cause such diseases as typhoid, cholera, hepatitis and the flu.
• Toxic Minerals and Metals. Minerals in drinking water are not good for you! Our bodies need minerals but only in their organic state. They must first pass through the roots of plants and become organic minerals before our bodies can assimilate them. There is a big difference between drinking dissolved inorganic iron filings in water and consuming the organic iron in plants, vegetables and fruits.
• Organic Chemicals. There are roughly 100,000 different manufactured, or synthetic, organic chemicals in commercial use today. They include synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, paints, fuels, plastics, dyes, flavorings, pharmaceuticals and preservatives, to name a few. Many of these chemicals are toxic, and thousands of them have been found in public water supplies.
• Radioactive Substances. Man-made sources of radioactive minerals in water are nuclear power plants, nuclear weapons facilities, radioactive materials disposal sites and docks for nuclear-powered ships. Radon, a colorless, odorless, naturally occurring gas is present in all water in minute amounts. It is a known cancer-causing agent.
• Additives. Chlorine is used to treat your drinking water for deadly micro organisms. But chlorine combines with other organic chemicals in your tap water to form a category of toxic pollutants called THM's (trihalomethanes). THM's are known carcinogens-substances that increase the risk of getting cancer and they are present a varying levels in all tap water.
Q: What is TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) in our drinking water?
• TDS in your tap water includes any harmful substances such as inorganic minerals, heavy metals, chemicals, and human and animal feces.
Q: What are some of the pollutants released in Hawaii?
• MAJOR POLLUTANTS RELEASED IN HAWAII (hit the back button to return to this site)
Q: Facilities in Hawaii that release pollutants:
• FACILITIES RELEASING POLLUTANTS - OAHU, MAUI, HAWAII (BI), KAUAI
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Q: Are there any major contaminated sites in Hawaii? YES!
• PEARL HARBOR COMPLEX
• DEL MONTE CORP. PLANTATION
• NAVAL TELECOMMUNICATION AREAS (hit the back button to return to this site)
