Sport-SOS Takes Action on Emerging Drinking Water Issues
ATLANTA - January 6, 2010 --- Sport-SOS urges student athletes and coaches to address with urgency the emerging drinking water issues at schools.
In a study released by the Associated Press in September 2009, the AP reports that contaminants have surfaced at public and private schools in all 50 states — in small towns and inner cities alike. Roughly one of every five schools with its own water supply violated the Safe Drinking Water Act in the past decade, according to data from the Environmental Protection Agency. The latest studies show that up to one in six Americans might be ingesting some level of pharmaceuticals in their drinking water.
Over the last decade, the drinking water at thousands of schools across the United States has been found to contain unsafe levels of lead, pesticides and dozens of other toxins. The contamination is most apparent at schools with wells, which represent 8 to 11 percent of the nation's schools. Roughly one of every five schools with its own water supply violated the Safe Drinking Water Act in the past decade, according to data from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Because contaminant levels in water can vary from drinking fountain to drinking fountain, and different children drink different amounts of water, epidemiologists often have trouble measuring the potential threats to children's health. But children have suffered health problems attributed to school water. The contaminants are especially dangerous to children, who drink more water per pound than adults and are more vulnerable to the effects of many hazardous substances.
It is increasingly clear that lack of access to safe drinking water at schools can be a health risk to students. In many schools, students fear getting sick from the drinking fountain. Experts and child advocates complain that responsibility for drinking water is spread among too many local, state and federal agencies, and that risks are going unreported. The problem has gone largely unmonitored by the federal government, even as the number of water safety violations has multiplied.
Finding a solution, would require a costly new national strategy for monitoring water in schools. The government has gradually adopted stricter standards for contaminants such as arsenic and some disinfectants. Many of the same toxins can also be found in water at homes, offices and businesses.
Treatment systems can help schools provide safer water for students. Experts urge school administrators to look into point-of-use filtering systems that provide the highest technology available to treat drinking water. Less than two percent of all water consumed is ingested by humans, making these “point-of-use” systems the most cost-effective and environmentally friendly available. Filtering systems act as a final contaminant barrier and can further purify water for drinking.
Sport-SOS is committed to help correct this widespread problem. The concrete target is to educate individuals about simple steps they can take to mitigate drinking water risk and to stay healthy. Sport-SOS calls on youth sports community to take a number of actions in their local communities, including working more actively with students and schools, through education initiatives such as the www.LetCleanWatersFlow.com or simply donating a point-of-use treatment system to a local school.
The importance of achieving safe and clean drinking water for all students at schools across the U.S. will help ensure that allocations for point-of-use drinking water treatment systems will increase and that associated risks will decrease.
“We are pleased that schools have taken this drinking water issue seriously. Increasing demand for clean and safe drinking water also represents the fact that today’s problems demand collective and coordinated action and an appeal for public and private partnership in every community. Sport-SOS program is designed to help introduce and implement effective point-of-use drinking water filtration systems in sports facilities. We not only teach the student athletes how to make positive choices, but we give them the resources to take action in their own community", said Denise Simone, VP of Corporate Communications, H2OAlliance Global.
