By Richard Mesquita, AquaMD

Water companies have used chlorine as their main disinfecting strategy for almost a century. In the early years of the 20th century, chlorination of water was used in Great Britain in an attempt to stop typhoid fever. Due to some success in Great Britain -- and because chlorine was so inexpensive -- the chlorination of water began in the United States in Jersey City, N.J., in 1908, and hasn't stopped since!

Chlorination virtually eliminated waterborne diseases such as cholera, typhoid, dysentery and hepatitis. Today, utility companies still use chlorine to prevent and kill bacteria that might otherwise be present in water supplies. Over the last 30 years, however, a growing body of research has shown chlorine and its assorted byproducts are very harmful to your health.

For example, when chlorine interacts with organic matter in water, it forms disinfection byproducts (DBPs). Two primary DBP categories are trihalomethanes (TTHMs) and haloacetic acids (HAA5s).

These DBPs have been linked to damaging effects to heart, lung, kidney and central nervous system as well as cancer. Even worse, the Environmental Protection Agency recent lowered the level of TTHMs they will permit in the water supply to 80 ppb (parts per billion).

All about the Money

As always, cost is one reason -- and probably the sole reason -- water companies prevented this standard from being reduced even further. Water companies felt it would cost too much to remove a greater amount of these DBPs from their water, so they pushed for an elevated standard. Nevertheless, it's telling the EPA sets the goal for some of these byproducts at 0 because they are so dangerous (unfortunately the EPA goal is not enforceable).

Water companies do conduct some testing for DBPs in their water supply and provide the results to their customers. But, for the sake of your family's health, here's what they aren't telling you:

• Levels of these DBPs vary depending on where you are located on their network. Hence some customers are exposed to much higher levels.
• Each individual reacts differently to DBPs. Some people are affected more than others.

There are times during the year when levels of DBPs increase dramatically due to the increase of organic matter in the water supply. But if the average of all the tests a water company conducted in a year is below the EPA standard, utilities can claim their water is safe.