Region officials attest to safety of tap water

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Policy-makers for the D.C. region sought and received assurances from water treatment officials yesterday that the area’s tap water is safe to drink.

The discussion followed an Associated Press investigation into the presence of trace amounts of pharmaceuticals in drinking-water supplies across the country.

The investigation found that the water supplies of at least 24 major metropolitan areas had tiny amounts of drugs in them. In the District, six drugs were found in the tap water. They included caffeine, painkillers, an antibiotic and an anti-seizure and mood-regulating medication.

It’s not known whether such tiny amounts of pharmaceuticals ” measured in parts per billion or parts per trillion ” have any effect on human health.

“We’re concerned about pharmaceuticals because they’re designed to have an effect on health,” Dr. Tee L. Guidotti, chairman of the department of environmental and occupational health at George Washington University, told the board of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments. “The real issue is are they biologically active at the concentrations” at which they have been found in drinking water.

The five-month-long inquiry by the AP found that while some suppliers screen water for drugs, they usually don’t tell customers about medication they found.

Thomas P. Jacobus, general manager of the Washington Aqueduct ” the federally owned agency that produces drinking water for the District and parts of Northern Virginia ” assured the board that the area’s water is safe to drink.

“If we believed there was a risk to the public, we would turn off the water,” he said.

He said the aqueduct and other regional water agencies will continue to study the issue.

Pharmaceuticals typically get into the water supply because people take medication, but not all of it is absorbed by the body; the rest passes through and is flushed down the toilet. Although water is treated, most treatments do not remove all drug residue.

Some drugs don’t even pass through the body before landing in the toilet because many people dispose of unused pharmaceuticals that way.

Dr. Guidotti said that from an environmental standpoint it’s better to dispose of drugs in the trash. Establishing programs through which pharmacies take back unused medications likely would be an even better course, he said.

The board resolved to continue studying the issue and what actions the region should take and to discuss it again in June.