How Is Tainted Groundwater Affecting You?

By Author: William Hauselberg
Total Articles: 816
Comment this article

When you go to enjoy a cool glass of water, do you ever find yourself wondering what might be in there? After all, it's clean, clear, flavorless and odorless, and it seems rather harmless. Unfortunately, that isn't always the case. Sometimes, municipal drinking water supplies can become contaminated. The usual suspects that can be involved in groundwater contamination include radiation, toxic chemicals, pesticides and bacteria laden substances.

These things usually enter the groundwater by being spilled, deliberately dumped, or breaching their containment barriers. As it rains, they get rinsed into the soil where they become part of the groundwater. This water might then end up becoming part of your town or city's drinking water supplies where it can make a lot of people very sick.

The Effects of Tainted Groundwater

Tainted groundwater is dangerous, carrying with it a host of possible health problems. These can include cancer, birth defects, hormone disruption and bacterial illnesses. The elderly, babies and children and the immune deficient face a more significant risk than healthy adults, and are more ...
... likely to die from the effects.

Benzene is a contaminant commonly found in groundwater, and it presents a risk of leukemia, neurological damage and kidney problems. Another is arsenic, which has been liked to cancers of the lungs, skin and bladder, heart and chromosomal damage and birth defects. Pesticides may be a particularly likely hazard, especially in agricultural towns. Pesticides are well known to cause a number of problems, and can be blamed for diseases and disorders of every system in the body.

Contaminants of the living variety, such as e-coli, salmonella and parasites may seep into groundwater in the form of runoff from the factory farms that produce animals for food. Sometimes, commercial vegetable plantations are watered with this contaminated water. When this produce has not been properly washed or cooked, serious illness may result.

Using Experts to Solve Disputes

Sometimes, people take companies to court over the safety of groundwater. In this case, a groundwater expert witness may be hired from a groundwater dispute resolution service. These professionals are highly knowledgeable regarding hydrology (the study of water), common groundwater contaminants and its causes and effects. A groundwater expert witness duties include consulting with clients to make sure safety measures are met, as well as testifying in court on cases involving tainted groundwater. Enlisting the expertise of a groundwater dispute resolution service can help keep people safe.

The author has an immense knowledge on groundwater expert witness. Know more about groundwater dispute resolution service related info in his website.