TURN ON THE TAP - News - ReviewJournal.com

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Jun. 20, 2008
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

TURN ON THE TAP

Las Vegas Water District says it's safe and cheap to drink the water

By HENRY BREAN
REVIEW-JOURNAL

REPORT ON THE WAY

Copies of the 2008 Water Quality Report are now being mailed to some 486,000 residences served by the valley's largest water utility. Those who do not receive the report by July 1 can get one from the Las Vegas Valley Water District's Web site, www.lvvwd.com, or by calling 258-3930.

Las Vegas Valley Water District research chemist Oscar Quinones prepares to test a water sample Wednesday. Water District officials want the public to know that tap water delivered to homes continues to meet or exceed all standards set by the federal Safe Drinking Water Act.
Photo by Craig L. Moran.

Graphic by Mike Johnson.

Every year at about this time, the valley's largest water utility sends local residents a detailed analysis of what comes out of their taps.

But the 2008 Water Quality Report from the Las Vegas Valley Water District also includes something a little different: a sales pitch.

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Mixed in with the usual references to clarity and concentration are colored bubbles containing reasons for residents to "turn on the tap."

One reason: Tap water is tested daily while the U.S. Food and Drug Administration examines bottled water once a week, the report said. Another reason: Tap water is thousands of times less expensive per gallon than the bottled stuff.

The blurbs were included in the report in part as a response to unscrupulous tactics being used by some vendors of home water filtration systems, said water district spokesman J.C. Davis.

A few vendors are lying about what's in local tap water in order to make a sale, he said.

Ultimately, water district officials don't really care whether or not people drink tap water.

"We care a lot whether or not they feel comfortable drinking tap water," Davis said. "We just want people to make their choice based on preference, not out of concern for safety."

With that in mind, this year's water quality report is titled "Turn on the Tap with Confidence."

The 12-page report, which began hitting local mailboxes last week, found that water delivered by the district continues to meet or exceed all standards set by the federal Safe Drinking Water Act.

About 90 percent of the valley's water comes from Lake Mead. The regulated contaminants most commonly found in local tap water are byproducts of the water treatment process.

The district's water quality figures are based on tens of thousands of samples taken from the valley's two treatment facilities.

Under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, utilities nationwide are required to report their water quality test results once a year.

This year's numbers echo those reported last year, with a few small variations.

"We're detecting stuff at really, really small levels so you're going to see some flux," Davis explained. "This is a good example of how you're chasing technology around a little bit."

Until last year, for example, the district's lab could not detect selenium in concentrations of less than 5 parts per billion so the pollutant did not appear in the water quality report. Now it does show up because district equipment can finally detect it at 2.7 parts per billion.

The EPA limit for selenium is 50 parts per billion.

In another change from last year's report to this one, the level of perchlorate in valley tap water rose from less than 2 parts per billion to about 3 parts per billion, roughly the same level reported in 2006.

The increase is roughly equivalent to one extra drop of water in an Olympic-sized swimming pool, an amount so small its hard to be sure of the cause, Davis said.

Despite the slight uptick in perchlorate, he said the state's program for keeping the rocket-fuel ingredient out of Lake Mead and the local water supply is going "screamingly well."

As recently as 2004, valley drinking water contained about 10 parts per billion of perchlorate.

There is no federal safety standard for the chemical, but Nevada has adopted an advisory standard of 18 parts per billion.

But just because the valley's tap water is safe, that doesn't mean it tastes good.

It's flavor can be off-putting to some people because of the amount of chlorine used to disinfect it, Davis said.

And since most of the water used in the valley washes down from the Rocky Mountains and comes here by way of the silt-laden Colorado River, Las Vegas has some of the "hardest" water in the country, as measured by its mineral content.

There isn't much the water district can do about that. The prospect of trying to soften the entire supply by removing the dissolved calcium and magnesium was rejected long ago because the process is expensive and produces no real health benefits.

It also would be inefficient since so little of the valley's tap water winds up in drinking glasses. Roughly 70 percent of it is used instead to water lawns and other landscaping.

Contact reporter Henry Brean at hbrean@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0350.

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Please enter your name Name: Please enter your email Email: Please enter a comment COMMENTS : (word count limit is 300) You have reached the maximum number of words allowed Current Word Count: Note: Comments made by reporters and editors of the Las Vegas Review-Journal are presented with a yellow background. jm wrote on June 20, 2008 04:18 PM: After my son spend six months in college in Colorado (we're from Pa) he developed a terrible rash all over his body. When the doctors could not figure out what was causing the rash, which was constantly getting worse, I decided to use a process of elimination to determine what was going on. As a last resort I told him to stop drinking the water. After a few days the rash subsided. He is allergic to the heavy metals. He has been living in Las Vegas for 10 yrs and as long as he stays away from drinking the water he is fine. He does not put ice cubes in drinks, uses bottled water in recipes, cooking pasta and making coffee, etc. Yes, I have heard of reverse osmosis, but choose not to drink any of the local water. I hope these comments are helpful to others. Fairydust wrote on June 20, 2008 03:44 PM: LV water tastes like angel tears compared to LA water. doggy dog wrote on June 20, 2008 03:25 PM: Thunks cackle.... RX WATER, gulp, gulp, gulp.... why didnt someone tell me sooner! Is that why im chasing this lil lady around with viagra on? i feel like a pup again! 2zero wrote on June 20, 2008 01:43 PM: small print.....don't tell them what we "did not test for!" Lake Mead water has been used and reused multiple times before it even gets to us. Our own sewer system and the vegas wash dump right into the same bay as our drinking water intakes are! Levels of urinated prescription medications are showing up in the drinking water...so if you feel a little too happy thank your neighbor, or if you got hair growing where it should not blame your neighbor..... Cackle wrote on June 20, 2008 01:34 PM: @ doggy dog! Funniest post du jour thus far! Cackle! doggy dog wrote on June 20, 2008 01:20 PM: The tap water tastes the freshest in the toliet anyways... mmmmmm RandolphRed wrote on June 20, 2008 10:47 AM: dosboot said "Back East, the municipalities do not permit internal combustion engines to be used in the water supply" Where did you come up with that bullcrap statement? There might be a limit on the size of the motors, some-places. And some water sources have no watercraft allowed at all. But they are the exception rather than the rule. Also the bottled water comes from the same tap as the TAP water. The worst tasting tap water comes from the coastal towns north and south of Myrtle BeachSC. But it's better than it was 40-50 years ago. Las Vegas water tastes good. Although most of bottles in Las Vegas were filled in Kentucky :) Noel wrote on June 20, 2008 09:36 AM: the most foulest water i have ever smelled or tasted was in chicago, smelled like an open sewer when you turned on the taps, it was horrible to take a shower in too Boater wrote on June 20, 2008 09:22 AM: Actually contaminates from the boats themselves is not as much a concern for me as is the contaminates from the BOATERS! How many hundreds of thousands of people visit that lake each week, and with only TWO outhouses out there (on the beaches)!!!! ;) dosboot wrote on June 20, 2008 07:39 AM: Las Vegas has got to have the foulest water that I ever tasted. In that 90% of the water comes from Lake Mead, why not ban all motor boats/jet skies from the Lake. Back East, the municipalities do not permit internal combustion engines to be used in the water supply. For the record, I am not a Gorebot, own an SUV etc. Read All Comments