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The December 2000 EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) Report titled, America's
"Children and the Environment" states the following, "the contaminants in drinking water are quite
varied and can cause a range of diseases in children, including cancer, developmental effects such as learning
disorders, and acute diseases such as gastrointestinal illness."
The CDC (Center for Disease Control)
estimates that more than 1 million Americans become ill annually from a variety of biological contaminants carried in
the water supply (reported by ABC News October 25, 2001).
Let's learn from the past. In the summer of
1993, the City of Milwaukee had a major water contamination incident. The microorganism Cryptosporydium was found to
have passed through the city's water treatment facility. The population had a week of exposure before the problem
was recognized and identified. By the time the incident subsided almost 400,000 Milwaukee residents had become ill
due to this exposure. Many required hospitalization. More than 100 died.
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