Water Quality Report from the City of Surprise Arizona

Water Quality Report from the City of Surprise Arizona

For this assignment, I obtained a water quality report from the city of Surprise, Arizona, where I live, and analyzed it. The report included data on where the water is sourced from and what is in it. Accordingly, from the report, I found a few issues with the water that should be brought to the public’s attention. First of all, several toxins were detected in the water. These toxins included arsenic, bromide, pentachlorophenol, dibromo methane, and picloram, just to name a few. Notably, the main toxin highlighted in the report was arsenic. Further, the report indicates that these toxins did not exceed the allowed legal limit, but it is wise to note that legal does not mean healthy. In addition, the report also indicated that there is an increase in water hardness.

As mentioned above, several toxins found in the water in Surprise City pose potential harm to human health, specifically cancer, neurotoxicity, and cardiovascular diseases. The presence of these toxins, such as arsenic, in water mainly results from agriculture and industrial activities. Notably, another report published earlier in 2020 indicated that the arsenic levels in both ground and surface water in some areas across several counties in Arizona, including Surprise, exceeded the limits set by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (Jones et al., 2020). As such, the presence of arsenic in water cannot be attributed to only industrial and agricultural use. The main source of arsenic poisoning is from natural occurrence. Arizona, or rather the South West of America, is known for its rich iron-sulfur-bearing rocks and extensive mining operations, all of which bring about arsenic mobilization into the environment.

Further, the urban centres in Arizona may not face many risks of toxin poisoning due to water treatment. However, this is not the case for the larger population living in the rest of the state, designated as rural (Jones et al., 2020). These individuals rely heavily on private wells and other water hauling practices, which happen to be unmonitored or unregulated, placing these individuals at risk of consuming toxins in their water.

The legal limit of arsenic in water is about 0.010 mg/L (10 ppb)  as directed by the federal government back in 2001. However, it is worth noting that these guidelines were given over twenty years ago, meaning these levels might be too high for someone living in today’s environment. Secondly, this guideline does not protect people from consuming small amounts of arsenic over time. The human body can metabolize arsenic; however, it accumulates in various organs, including the heart, lungs, kidney, and liver bringing about progressive damage. Eventually, there is enough bioaccumulation of these toxins in the body, which has been linked to illnesses like diabetes and cancer in the multiple organs mentioned above. Notably, these toxins are not only found in water; some plants, for instance, rice, take up these toxins from water, which are later transferred to the person who consumes the rice. The symptoms of long-term exposure to arsenic differ from one individual to another, making it challenging to assess its effect on health.

Nevertheless, according to statistics, in Arizona, approximately 1,016 die from cancer every month, while 2,793 are diagnosed with cancer monthly (AZDHS: Public health statistics – cancer registry. n.d). Cardiovascular disease in Arizona also has high rates, with over eighty per cent of the deaths of individuals over sixty-five being from heart diseases. Further, according to the CDC, heart disease and cancer are Arizona’s leading causes of death (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2018). Looking at this data and taking into account that arsenic which is found in Arizona happens to cause these diseases, it is safe to assume a connection between the two.

Regarding the environment, not much research has been done on arsenic’s effects on nature. However, marine animals like fish have been shown to contain approximately a hundred times more arsenic than that absorbed by plants. Arsenic is absorbed by living creatures, including plants and animals, from their surroundings, particularly water. Absorption of arsenic and other toxins can take place through direct absorption from the water or air, or it can also be done via food chains when predators feed on their prey, whether animals or plants. When this happens, there is a strong possibility that the organism’s health might suffer in the long term, as arsenic is a toxin (Sodhi, Kumar, Agrawal & Singh, 2019). Food chains then create cycles where toxins are transferred from one species to another, creating a poisoned ecosystem, which understates the effects of arsenic in the environment.

One strategy that can be used to mitigate water pollution is by well testing all the wells in Arizona and then marking the ones that contain high arsenic levels and other harmful pollutants. This will help warn residents of the water pollution, encouraging them to switch to other wells with lower concentrations. The second strategy that can be used is simple and straightforward, including sand filters, solar disinfection, and hand pumps (Chen & Costa, 2021). The third strategy that can be applied involves using more sophisticated toxin elimination methods, for example, oxidation and reduction, absorption, ion exchange, coprecipitation, reverse osmosis, membrane filtration, and microorganism oxidation.

References

AZDHS: Public health statistics – cancer registry. Arizona Department of Health Services. (n.d.). https://www.azdhs.gov/preparedness/public-health-statistics/cancer-registry/index.php

Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. (2018, April 13). Stats of the state of Arizona. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/states/arizona/arizona.htm

Chen, Q. Y., & Costa, M. (2021). Arsenic: a global environmental challenge. Annual Review of Pharmacology and Toxicology, 61, 47-63.

Jones, M. C., Credo, J. M., Ingram, J. C., Baldwin, J. A., Trotter Jr, R. T., & Propper, C. R. (2020). Arsenic concentrations are in ground and surface waters across Arizona, including native lands. Journal of Contemporary Water Research & Education, 169(1), 44-60.

Sodhi, K. K., Kumar, M., Agrawal, P. K., & Singh, D. K. (2019). Perspectives on arsenic toxicity, carcinogenicity and its systemic remediation strategies. Environmental Technology & Innovation, 16, 100462.

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Write a 750-1,000-word essay about water quality in your community that addresses the following points:

Obtain a water quality report from your local municipality within the last two years and discuss what you found in the report. ****(Arizona water quality report)***

Identify a water quality issue happening in your community and where the pollution comes from. This includes point sources (for example, water discharge from a factory; or contamination from a Superfund site), non-point sources (for example, agricultural runoff), and natural sources.
Describe how the pollution source is impacting the environment and human health in your community, and provide two examples of each.
Identify three management practices to minimize water pollution.