Fall 2003 Edition 

Water   By Philip M. Plotch, Fair Lawn News Editor   Should you drink Fair Lawn’s water without a filter?  The experts disagree.   Ken Garrison, Fair Lawn’s Borough Engineer, is responsible for the water we drink. He says the water is fine. – it meets or exceeds all the standards set by the state and the federal governments.  Several times a day, Garrison walks over to the water fountain in the Municipal Building and fills up his mug with Fair Lawn's water.   Dr. Brian Buckley, a Rutgers University professor and Executive Director of Labs and Facilities at the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, thinks many municipalities in the state (including the borough of Fair Lawn) should take steps to improve their water. He also thinks it's a good idea for Fair Lawn residents to use a filter for their drinking water.  Garrison disagrees.  He says the use of these types of filters are subjective and mostly used for taste considerations and not quality.  Garrison says "the use of the filters if not properly maintained may do more harm than good."     Instrument used to test quality of Fair Lawn's water.      Dr. Buckley working with the state recently released a study examining the presence of previously unidentified chemicals and compounds in New Jersey drinking water supplies that come from ground water.  Using new testing techniques, their four years of study identified minute traces of hundreds of compounds in water systems all over New Jersey.    A total of  164 potential contaminants were found in Fair Lawn's water samples.    Dr. Buckley said the results of testing water around the state indicate “there are many more chemicals that are involved with our daily lives than anyone may have previously realized."  In Fair Lawn's water, the chemicals found included food additives and substances used to manufacture soaps, lubricating oils, plastics, lacquers, and rubber."   NJ Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Commissioner Bradley M. Campbell says that there is no evidence that these contaminants are harmful.  However, he did say that current water treatments and testing methods, throughout the state, need to be evaluated.   Both Garrison and Dr. Buckley say the testing results may change depending on the day and even the hour that the state sampled the water for his laboratory.   Garrison said “the study is nothing more than a snapshot of what occurs at any given instance.”    Garrison also said the detection of these compounds “may be altered by various treatment techniques. In our case, the addition of chlorine for disinfection. Chlorine may react with a number of other naturally occurring compounds that may produce other compounds.“  Although 164 compounds were detected in the water, he said “this number represents those compounds detected in our raw or untreated water. Our treated water detected approximately 30 compounds in the treated or finished water. A great reduction realized through the treatment process.”  He noted the compounds that were detected were very low in concentrations, most being below a part per billion. (the equivalent of 1 second in 32 years) .”   According to Dr. Buckley, the testing clearly shows that many municipalities need to more effectively clean their water.  "No carcinogens were found in Fair Lawn.  Of the many substances detected in the study, most were present in minute concentrations, occurring at concentrations of only a few parts per billion   He said "scientists have absolutely no idea what the compounds in the water can and cannot do.  I don't know if there are any health risks associated with these compounds.  No one does.  There are 25 million compounds out there and we only know the effect of about 1,000 of them."     He said "If I lived in Fair Lawn, I would use a carbon filtration system to eliminate compounds found in the testing.  I wouldn't worry about brushing my teeth or bathing in the water. "  He noted that boiling the water would not eliminate the chemicals.    Dr. Buckley said the borough of Fair Lawn tests for volatile compounds, those that boil at low temperatures and "evaporate" more readily into the air.  Dr. Buckley's new testing methodology, sponsored by the NJ DEP, focused on non-volatile compounds, which include some pharmaceuticals, dyes and inks, that evaporate much more slowly or not at all.     Dr. Buckley said that many towns like Fair Lawn, need to do active carbon filtration".    Garrison says that Fair Lawn is taking steps to improve the quality of its water.   He said Fair Lawn tests for a variety of volatile organics as well as organics, inorganics and some pesticides.   The compounds were found in trace amounts, and there's no sign that any are harmful, researchers say. But DEP Commissioner Bradley M. Campbell says more study is needed just the same.  “The results need to be followed up not merely by further studies but by a closer look at whether current treating and testing methods are adequate to protect public health.”    He added "we have technological capabilities that were not available even one year ago.  With the emergence of more sensitive testing for other chemicals, we can more accurately assess the safety of our drinking water to take all appropriate steps to protect public health."