Students wonder about the safety and purity of Lawrence tap water
--about once every two weeks, a delivery truck pulls up in front of Julie Eberle and Rebecca Ulanoff's house. A man hops out and carries two containers of drinking water to the door.
The scene may look like a milkman making a delivery 20 years ago, but Eberle and Ulanoff prefer to pay the extra expense of $50 per month to have purified drinking water delivered to their home instead of drinking tap water.
Tap water's funny taste and sometimes murky appearance make Eberle and Ulanoff thankful for having bottled water in their home, they said.
"I'm not totally against tap water," Eberle said. "But it's so nice to have fresh water."
"The water in Lawrence is not what you want to drink." Ulanoff said.
said. Like Eberle and Ulanoff, many Lawrence residents are drinking bottled water because of health concerns.
because of manfacturer However, Don Whittemore of the Kansas Geological Survey said concern about Lawrence drinking water may have come from a misleading national study of surface water.
The study ranked Kansas' surface water as the worst. But the ranking resulted from exceptionally thorough testing conducted by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, he said.
grows. Ihnen
"There's been a tremendous increase in bottled water sales over the last five years," he said. "If you had told us 10 to 15 years ago that we would have sold that much water, we'd have fallen over backwards."
but despite the reassurance of public officials, many Lawrence residents continue to drink bottled water.
Many grocery stores provide dispenser systems to fill containers and also sell prebottled distilled water.
Ken Keefer, director of advertising and public relations for Dillons, said he was surprised that bottled water sales had grown so much.
"Other states have not done such a good job," he said. "So when they compared the studies it made it look like Kansas was the worst. Yes, we do have our share of problems obviously, and we are working on them. But if you looked factually over the United States, I don't think Kansas would turn out to be the worst."
Bud Wolgan, water plant manager at Hickley and Schmitt in Kansas City, Kan., said business was booming.
"A lot of people have started to taste the chlorine in the water," he said. "It's being put in there in heavier doses all the time."
However, despite these claims, many Lawrence residents continue to put their faith in tap water.
Nora Sommers, Towanda senior, said she drank tap water, but worried about its quality because of negative information she has heard.
"You hear all these bad things about the water in Lawrence and Kansas in the newspapers," she said. "But it doesn't look funny or smell funny, and there's not something obviously wrong. I don't think I've ever heard anything good about the water here."
about the water here.
Chris Stewart, water systems engineer at the Lawrence Water Treatment Utility Administration, 720 W. Third St., said Lawrence tap water was extracted from either the Kansas River or Clinton Lake reservoir and then put through a lengthy filtration process in filtration plants. The water is allowed to settle so that large impurities can be removed. Then it is run through carbon and anthracite filters to remove smaller impurities. Finally, chlorine is added to disinfect the water.
Stewart said water was tested daily for chloroforms, pH level, chlorine residue and turbidity, which is a measure of the water's clarity.
Lawrence drinking water must meet federal drinking water standards and state contaminant levels that are higher than or equal to federal levels, he said.
Physicians say the strict standards for tap water prevent adverse health effects.
Because of strict limits on the amount of harmful substances in tap water, people are unlikely to consume enough harmful substances to cause any health problems, Yockey said.
Tockey said, "It's amazing how resistant the human body is," he said. "The parts per billion that are allowed in that stuff are so much lower than the contamination in some medications and food that they're not even in the same league."
Charles Yockey, former chief of staff at Watkins Memorial Health Center, said he didn't know of any health problems resulting from tap water consumption.
same league. One health benefit of tap water is additional fluoride, which is not found in bottled water. Many municipalities, including Lawrence, add fluoride to water to aid in
Joe Gatti, Lawrence dentist, recommends that children get fluoride from drinking water until they reach 12 to 14 years of age.
the growth of children's teeth
Stephen Pite, Lawrence graduate student and father of a 5-year-old, said he didn't worry about fluoride content or quality of water because the water tasted fine. Instead, his main concern is cost.
"When I lived in L.A., I drank bottled water because it was fashionable," he said.
"But when I started to go to school here, I just didn't have enough money to spend $30 a month on bottled water."
Esther Leek, Olathe senior, agreed, despite a recent bad experience with Lawrence tap water.
In the summer of 1905, Leek filled a glass with water from her faucet. When she tilted the glass, a strange smell hit her. After taking a sip and discovering that the taste was just as bad as the smell, Leek called the Lawrence Water Treatment Utility Administration.
The bloom, they told her, was caused by a long period of high temperatures, during which algae grew on the surface of the river.
"They told us that there was an algae bloom on the river, and we just had to wait until it went away," she said.
"It kind of made me ill," Leek said. "We had to wait a couple of weeks before we could drink the water."
Despite the experience, she still drinks tap water.
"It's cheap, and you don't have to drive to the store to get it," she said.
Not all bottled waters are created equal
or cola drinkers, there are really only two choices - Coke or Pepsi. But for bottled water drinkers, there are Evian, Naya, Perrier, Haqua, Mendota Springs and many others.
In the past few years, the bottled water industry has grown at an amazing rate because of health and fashion reasons.
Once only a drink of the fashionable, bottled water sales in the United States have doubled during the past 10 years, said an industry report.
But is there really any difference between the different types of bottled water?
A recent Food and Drug Administration report said that the answer was a resounding yes. Bottled water must be classified according to mineral contents and bottling procedures as artesian water, distilled water, purified water, spring water, well water or mineral water.
Jason Williamson, Quincy, III., junior,
said he usually ignored the different
types of bottled water at the grocery
spore and just grabbed one.
"I'll just take whatever is cheapest and in easiest reach," he said. "I figure anything is better than tap water."
Selena Schrimple, Chicago, Ill., sophomore, said she carried a bottle of water with her on campus for the convenience of having water at any time. But the quality of the water is not a major concern, she said.
"I just refill the bottle from drinking fountains," she said.
But some students, like Meredith Ward, Kingman freshman, don't want to carry around a bottle of water all day.
"I don't have a bottle of water because there are drinking fountains in all the buildings," she said.
fire builings, she said
Dickie Heckler, produce manager at
"I'll just take whatever is cheapest and in easiest reach. I figure anything is better than tap water."
Jason Williamson Quincy, Ill., junior
Community Mercantile, 901 Mississippi St., said if customers wanted truly "pure" water, they could get it from a steam filtration dispenser at Community Mercantile.
Bud Wolgan, water plant manager at Hinckley and Schmitt in Kansas City, Kan., said the recent increase in the popularity of bottled water was a result of municipalities being forced to dump large amounts of chemicals into the drinking water. Although the chemicals are meant to reduce pollution in the water, some people do not like the taste.
being abducted "When a big winter storm occurs, Lincoln or another big city on the Missouri River will dump about 100,000 or a million tons of raw sewage into the river," Wolgan said. "They've got to put in something to take care of that."
Wolgan said that people disliked the heavier chlorine and ammonia that is being added to tap water
WEDNESDAY
Big Rig, 10 p.m. at The Jazhuas of Lawrence, 926 1/2 Massachusetts St. Cost: $2.
The Deal, 9:30 p.m. at The Granada, 1020 Massachusetts St. Cost $3 and $4.
Groove-a-Licious, 10 p.m.
at The Bottleneck, 737 New
Hampshire St. Cost: $2.
THURSDAY
Little Brian and the Zydeco Travelers, 10 p.m. at The Jazzaus of Lawrence, 926 1/2 Massachusetts St. Cost: $4.
Beau Soleil, 8 p.m. at Liberty Hall, 642 Massachusetts St. Cost $12.50.
Rubber, 10 p.m. at The Bottleneck, 737 New Hampshire St. Cost: $5.
FRIDAY
Shaking Tree, 10 p.m. at the Jazzhaus of Lawrence, 926
1/2 Massachusetts St. Cost:
$3
■ Goldfinger, 10 p.m. at The Bottleneck, 737 New Hampshire St. Cost: $3.
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
Mango Jam, 10 p.m. at The Bottleneck, 737 New Hampshire St. Cost: $5.
Sun of Starchid, 10 p.m. at The Jazzhaus of Lawrence, 926 1/2 Massachusetts St.
Cost: $4.
The Swans, 10 p.m. at The Bottleneck, 737 New Hampshire St. Cost 88.
**Tricky, 8 p.m. at The Granade, 1020 Massachusetts St. Cost: $12.50 advance tickets.**
MONDAY
Open Mic, 8 p.m. at The Bottleneck, 737 New Hampshire St. Free.
TUESDAY
Malachite Papers, 9:30 p.m.
At the Granada, 1020 Massachusetts St. Cost: $2.
Einstein, 10 p.m. at The Bottleneck, 73rd New Hampshire St. Cost: $4.