Tokyo Water Supplies are Starting to Glow – But do we Know What is Happening Here in the United States?

As Japan reels from a three-fold disaster with the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis, the effects of radiation are beginning to show up in the water supplies of five cities around the damaged plants. Rising levels of radioactive iodine 131 are now being detected in tap water in Tokyo; levels that are deemed unsafe for infants but still fall below amounts considered “safe” for adults.

Bottled water is selling quickly in convenience stores, and shortages are becoming apparent. Because this is a new situation for humans and the earth, it is hard to guesstimate what the end result will be for the region. As the power company Tepco struggles to get the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant under control, radiation continues to make its way into not only the water supplies, but also the vegetables and soil in the proximity of the plant.

In the United States, we have radioactivity challenges with our water supplies too, with one source specifically caused by a process known as “fracking” or “hydrofracking” that is being used to extract natural gas.
The Homeland Security Newswire (HSNW), in an article critical of the process, talks about our EPA’s knowledge of radioactive contamination, and its inability or unwillingness to take any action. Apparently the EPA did not anticipate the scope of toxic byproducts generated from the process, and after learning of the problem, they have looked the other way by are not testing for radioactive pollutants. In some cases it appears that contaminated water has been hauled away by the billions of gallons, and actually discharged into rivers that supply drinking water.

Locally in California, we have radioactive contaminants in some of our LA and Orange County water, including Costa Mesa and Newport Beach. In fact, some radioactive contaminants occur naturally according to our water districts Consumer Confidence Reports (Water Quality Reports).

So we need to come to grip, as the human race, with the effects of our methods for generating power and collecting fuel sources. Whole-house water filtration can be fabricated with special resins that will reduce radioactive contaminants in small levels; reverse osmosis technology has some effect on these contaminants, although limited, and distillation can also have a beneficial effect. The question of the day is: Once these contaminants are removed from the water, WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO WITH THEM?

Source: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-japan-tokyo-water-20110324,0,7951826.story