School Drinking Water Unsafe
Picture: To the left the picture is taken in Cauchero
of 2 bowls of
water. The bowl to the left is the
school water and the water to the right is bottles water. You can see how the bottled water is much
clearer then the school water.
Summary: In the last decade, the drinking waters at many
schools across the country have had unsafe levels of lead, pesticides and
dozens of other toxins. An Associates
Press investigated both private and public schools in every state in the U.S.
and found that contaminants have surfaced in small towns and inner cities
alike. Most of the appearances of
contaminants occur at schools that have their own water wells but this is 8 to
11 percent of schools all around the nation.
About every 1 and 5 schools with their own drinking water have violated
the Safe Drinking Water Act in the past decade, according to the data from the
Environmental Protection Agency analyzed by the AP. Some schools in California with their own
wells have such contaminated water from pesticides that children stuff their
backpacks with water bottles so they don’t have to drink from the water
fountains from fear of getting sick. But
not only schools with wells have contaminants, but schools that draw water from
public utilities, in schools with lead-soldered pipes, and schools that get
water from local utilities. All of these
can also be very hazardous and can contaminate the water. This also affects children much more than it
would to adults. The contaminants found
in the water is especially dangerous to the children because children need more
water per pound than adults and they are much more vulnerable to the substances
and the substances will have a much more hazardous effect on them. The water in 100 school districts and 2,250
schools breached the federal safety standards.
Opinion/Reflection: After reading this article it really shocked
me. I never knew that there could be so
much contaminants in the water I drink every day and that is very
concerning. To know that the water in
our schools might not be safe for us is scary.
When learning that they have conducted research is all 50 states and
finding contaminants in the waters for each state is very awful and something
needs to be done about it. This is a
very personal topic for me and I can really relate to it because I go to school
every day and drink the water there and never thought twice about it. But now after reading this article it made me
much more cautious to drink the water and now I will be much more hesitant to
drink it. I hope soon they will eradicate
this problem so that parents and children won’t have to worry about getting
sick from the water.
Questions:
1. Do you think this problem will ever be
fixed? Why?
2. Do you think there is enough being
done to prevent the contaminants getting in the water?
3. After reading this article has it
made you more hesitant to drink the water in your school? Why?
4. Why do you think this problem hasn’t
been taken care of before?
Opinion/Reflection:
ReplyDeleteThe picture is shocking and it is sad to know that some people have to drink this water everyday. Just looking at the picture makes me not want to drink it. This article makes me lucky that I am able to go to school with my drinking water not as bad at the one in Cauchero. However, I don't know the amount of contaminants in the water at school so it still good have a low amount of contaminants. 1 out of every 5 schools is a lot and this needs to be taken care of because this will hurt the children. These children will be the future and not doing anything to the water is killing our future. This is scary and hopefully the issue will be resolved soon.
Answer to question #1:
I do believe that this issue will be fixed one day. However, I believe it will be fixed after it had gotten worse. The government probably won't take much action until it becomes a big problem. We definitely have the technology to uncontaminated the water but it is also all about cost. But I do think the problem will be fixed.
Opinion: This article really surprised me. As Grant said above, i feel very lucky to be able to drink clean water. I feel really bad for all these people that are drinking water that is unsafe. People really need to step up and help because it is already having a negative affect and it will only get worse. 8 to 11 percent of schools have contaminated water and this is ridiculous. People know about how it is affecting children and people across the nation but not enough is being done about it. I really hope, in the near future, that this problem will be fixed.
ReplyDeleteAnswer to question 3: Yes, it has made me hesitant to drink the water in my school. You never really know until it is tested if the water is contaminated or not. It is not fair for young children to be exposed to this unsafe water. Hopefully, nobody will have to worry about drinking water in schools soon.
Opinion: This article amazed me. I agree with Grant and Justin that we are very fortunate to have clean and safe water all the time. It is scary that kids can't drink form their own schools water fountains. I can't believe they have to bring their own water from home. After reading this article it makes me wonder if the water im drinking is safe. I get drinks from the water fountain all the time. Many kids drink a lot of water from their school's fountain and I hope to see improvements soon.
ReplyDeleteAnswer to number three: Yes, I am more hesitant to drink our schools water. I have confidence that it is safe but you never know. I am considering bringing bottles from home. This way I dont even have to worry.
Opinion/Reflection: Wow! This article really shocked me! That is so surprising that the water quality is so poor in many schools across the country. More surprising to me though, was the picture attached to the summary. The school water has a gross looking color to it. I have never feared sickness from drinking the water at our school. Usually, I do not drink water from the water fountains at our school because I drink bottled water instead, but it is still scary to think that the water the people in my school are drinking could potentially be harmful. I agree with Ryan when he says that something needs to be done to decrease the contaminated water in schools because when they conducted research in all 50 states, each state had a school with contaminated water. Before this article, I had no idea that there could potentially be lead, pesticides and dozens of other toxins in our school’s drinking water. In class, I remember reading Horsham Quality Water Reports and there was not a high level of contaminants in the drinking water. This hopefully means that our school is not one of the schools with unhealthy drinking water. After reading this article, I will definitely be more cautious about drinking water from the school water fountain.
ReplyDeleteAnswer to Question #3: I believe I will be much more hesitant to drinking the school’s water. Until the water is tested, you never know what contaminant is in it and this disgusts me. I never thought of how unsafe our water could be, but clearly it can be very unsafe. I hope our water is not one of the schools in the United States with unhealthy drinking water, but I will take much more precautions to assure myself that I will not get sick from drinking a lot of our school’s drinking water.