The Human Costs of Contaminated Drinking Water

Cost to clean contaminated water in San Joaquin Valley would be over $150M
Mark Grossi, Fresno Bee, March 16, 2011

A new study, The Human Costs of Nitrate-Contaminated Drinking Water in the San Joaquin Valley, a collaboration of the Pacific Institute, Community Water Center, Clean Water Fund, and California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation, focuses on the household costs of avoiding nitrate-contaminated drinking water connected to community water systems and the costs to these systems of removing or avoiding nitrates.

The study reports that families in the San Joaquin Valley of California are paying more than $100 a month for both water service and bottled drinking water because local drinking water is often contaminated with nitrates and other harmful chemicals.

Tulare County, one of the most productive farming counties in the country, is the epicenter of the problem, the study says. The state tested 181 drinking water wells in 2006, finding more than 70 tainted with nitrates.

The study also suggests key policies and further research needed to better understand and resolve the situation.

Read the complete Fresno Bee article here.