Outrage in Iowa–Residents demand action to clean up dangerously polluted water

by Carey Gillam

DES MOINES, Iowa — Several hundred Iowa residents gathered in the state capital this week, calling on public officials – and each other – to take swift action against dangerously polluted water supplies that are closely linked to the state’s powerful agricultural industry.

Some attendees drove for hours from rural farmsteads for the Aug. 4 event, squeezing into a packed auditorium on the campus of Drake University to listen to a team of  scientists detail new research showing how multiple harmful pollutants flowing through Iowa watersheds are jeopardizing public and environmental health.

The crowd cheered and applauded loudly as speakers outlined a need for new regulations on farm pollution, while discussion of moves by public officials to slash funding for water quality monitoring devices drew a chorus of boos. Organizers counted more than 600 attending in person and said more than 230 participated online.

The forum focused on data in the research report, which was commissioned by Polk County officials in Des Moines and released by county commissioners last month. It adds to years of mounting evidence that pesticides, fertilizers, manure and other contaminants from Iowa farms and livestock operations are contaminating waterways used for drinking water, fishing and swimming, and likely contributing to the rising cancer rates that are impacting families across the state.

“Where do we want the state to be in 25 or 50 years?” Larry Weber, a University of Iowa scientist who helped author the water report, asked the audience.  “When are we going to start to make the choices that put us in a position that moves us in the right direction?”

Seeking a “course correction”

Iowa has the second-highest rate of cancer in the nation, and has become one of only two US states where cancer overall is increasing. Leukemia, as well as cancers of the pancreas, breast, stomach, kidney, thyroid and uterus, are among the different cancer types on the rise across Iowa, according to the National Cancer Institute.

Many of the chemicals and other pollutants contaminating water sources are scientifically linked to these cancers as well as other health problems.

“Where do we want the state to be in 25 or 50 years?” – Larry Weber, University of Iowa

Nitrates, generated by fertilizer and manure, are a particular concern, routinely found in Iowa waters at levels above the 10 milligrams per liter federal regulators set as a safe standard. Babies are at risk for severe health problems when consuming nitrates in drinking water, and exposure to elevated levels of nitrates in drinking water has been linked by researchers to cancers of the blood, brain, breast, bladder, and ovaries.

Nitrate levels this summer in Iowa have been so far above federal standards that the utility serving 600,000 people in and around Des Moines restricted water use because the utility could not safely clear the high levels.

Though the restrictions recently eased, the day after the forum laboratory testing by the Central Iowa Water Works in Des Moines still showed unsafe high levels of nitrates in water samples from the Raccoon River, one of the two main rivers that supplies the area’s drinking water.

State officials generally point the finger at smoking, alcohol use and other factors as driving the cancer rates, and have been reluctant to look too hard at agriculture, according to Adam Shriver, director of wellness and nutrition policy at the Harkin Institute at Drake who helped lead the drinking water forum this week.

“That part of the conversation [agriculture] oftentimes gets pushed down and pushed away,” he said. “Iowa has a long history of basically putting the thumb on the scale when it comes to looking at issues related to agriculture and public health.”

But public support for new regulations on agriculture appears to be growing, Shriver said.

“People want a course correction. They are not satisfied with what is being done now,” he said. “They’re tired of being told ‘oh yeah everything is fine, don’t worry about it.’”

“Something in the water”

Angela Connolly, a Polk County supervisor who has served in office since 1998 and who attended the Monday evening meeting, is among those whose patience has run out when it comes to Iowa’s water pollution problems.

“This was the largest crowd I’ve ever seen on a single subject,” she said. “We have to show the political will. We have to go to the state house and demand change for water quality.”

Connolly said her 47-year-old daughter-in-law has suffered from breast and colon cancer, and she knows of several other people in their 40s also suffering from cancer.

“I truly believe that there is something in the water and I want something done about it,” she said.

With nearly 87,000 farms, Iowa is a key producer of many agricultural products, ranking first in the production of corn, pork and eggs, and within the top five states for growing soybeans and raising cattle. Of Iowa’s 35.7 million acres of total land, roughly 31 million is devoted to farming. Agriculture contributes close to $160 billion to the state’s economy – roughly one-third of the state’s total economic output, according to the Iowa Farm Bureau.

“We have to show the political will. We have to go to the state house and demand change for water quality.” – Angela Connolly, Polk County official

Many farmers are among the voices calling for changes to help mitigate the pollution fouling the waterways. Those relying on private well water say they feel at particular risk from pollutants that are so prevalent in rural areas.

Seth Watkins, who traveled 120 miles from his farm west of Des Moines to attend the drinking water forum, said he has altered his farming practices to reduce contributing contaminants to the watershed, but still worries about the water – not just for his family, but also for his livestock.

He questions whether the chemicals contaminating the area contributed to the fact that both his children were born with health challenges.

“It would be great if we could do this voluntarily, but I don’t know any society in the history of mankind that has actually protected our natural capital without some level of enforceable regulation,” Watkins said.

“Going backwards”

A particular point of concern when it comes to water contamination is the abundance of large concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) across the state that regularly generate large quantities of manure, and related agricultural businesses such as slaughterhouses.

Despite pleas from environmental groups, state officials have shown continued support for the animal operations.

The state has ordered the company to pay a $50,000 penalty and given it until the end of 2026 to come into compliance. The action by the state came after a local nonprofit sued Agri Star for allegedly violating water quality laws.

In another agricultural contamination case, NEW Co-op is paying a $50,000 fine for an ammonia nitrogen release last year that caused a “significant” fish kill along 48 miles of the Nishnabotna River that flows as a tributary of the Missouri River in southwestern Iowa.

As part of the settlement with the state, the company agreed not to violate Iowa’s water quality laws for three years.

The fertilizer spill that caused the fish kill sparked farmer Denise O’Brien, who lives with her husband on the farm he grew up on in Atlantic, Iowa, to join with others in her area to start the Nishnabotna Water Defenders. The nonprofit focuses on monitoring and protecting the water quality in their region and is training people to test water and push for polluter accountability.

O’Brien said her mother and sister died of cancer and several neighbors suffer from ovarian, breast and pancreatic cancers as well as Parkinson’s disease. She and her husband drove with neighbors an hour and a half to attend the water forum.

“Our public officials don’t have a political will,” she said in an interview following the forum. “There’s a lot of groundwork to do, not only testing water, but encouraging people to be involved politically, because people are just giving up … we’re going backwards now.”

In concluding the forum, organizers asked attendees to sign up for training to help with both water quality monitoring and with public advocacy efforts, and an environmental group offered free water testing kits for people to collect nitrate readings in their communities. The audience responded with a standing ovation. The song “Bridge over troubled waters” played as they trailed out of the auditorium.

Source: The New Lede

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By Christian Bonawandt

For a planet that is 71% water, Earth is in a shockingly short supply of drinking water sources. Freshwater comprises only about 3% of all water, and less than half of that is accessible to humans. New research published in the journal Science Advances reveals that this meager quantity has been rapidly dwindling for more than 20 years due to a combination of factors related to both climate and direct human activity. Using NASA Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite data, the research shows that areas experiencing drying have been expanding at a dangerous rate since 2002, depleting available drinking water for 75% of the world’s population and contributing to rising sea levels.

According to the report, the single largest threat to terrestrial water storage (TWS) in non-glacial regions is groundwater depletion. Over-pumping of groundwater accounts for 68% of TWS losses, which exacerbates the impacts of rising temperatures, aridification, and extreme drought events. This is especially noticeable in California’s Central Valley, the southern Ogallala Aquifer, the Northwestern Sahara Aquifer System, the Arabian Aquifer System, and the Tarim, Indus, Ganges-Brahmaputra, and North China Aquifer Systems. In many areas, groundwater is being depleted at unsustainable or even increasing rates. “It’s like this sort of creeping disaster that has taken over the continents in ways that no one was really anticipating,” Jay Famiglietti, one of the study’s co-authors, told ProPublica.

Even worse, much of the extracted groundwater is discharged back into the ocean. Not only does this make it harder to use for drinking water, but it is also contributing to rising sea levels. Since 2015, freshwater discharges have become the primary source (44%) of rising sea levels, surpassing the melting ice sheets in Greenland (37%) and the Antarctic (19%).

But irresponsible handling of groundwater is far from the only factor impacting existing and potential drinking water supplies. High-latitude water losses, particularly in Canada and Russia, are happening due to rising temperatures and declining precipitation. The study shows that these areas are warming at approximately four times the global average rate, leading to drying of subarctic lakes and persistent drought in regions like the Canadian prairies. Extreme drought events in Central America and Europe over the past several years have been another significant driver. These include catastrophic droughts in Europe — some of the worst in 2000 years — that are influenced by climate change, as well as widespread drying across North Africa. The same factors causing extreme drought are also causing declines in surface water, such as rivers and lakes, which account for 18% of TWS losses. The result is what the authors call “mega-drying regions”, which have been spreading across Earth’s mid-latitudes. These are areas where drying hot spots have overlapped, accelerating the problem for all those who live in and around them. The study has identified one or more mega-drying regions on nearly every continent.

Looking ahead, the authors foresee concerning conditions. The report predicts the rates of continental drying will increase in the coming decades, leading to an accelerated decline in freshwater availability. Moreover, there is little indication that these trends will reverse, and there are currently no natural or man-made mechanisms that can replenish water resources before they run out.

That doesn’t mean humanity is doomed, however. Instead, the authors suggest that local, national, and global communities prioritize groundwater sustainability. This includes both slowing rates of groundwater extraction and facilitating large-scale groundwater recharge programs. In addition, the authors call for major coordinated transdisciplinary efforts. The goal is raise awareness and motivate action around continental drying and decreasing freshwater availability, bringing them to the same level of global attention and policy focus as the carbon cycle.

Source: Water Online.

Versatile 4.5″ X 20″ Filter Cartridges with Housing and Accessories

Description and Pricing.

Please note that this is not an E-Commerce page. Products must be ordered by phone.  The easy way to order is with the Pure Water Products part number provided. Order at 888-382-3814, or address email questions to pwp@purewaterproducts.com.

Compact Whole House Filter without Cartridge. $121. This housing accepts all standard 4.5″ X 20″ filter cartridges.  Depending on the cartridge supplied, it can treat sediment (sand, rust, particulate in general), chlorine, chloramine, VOCs. PFAS, organic chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, taste and odor, iron, low pH, hardness and more. — This product can be ordered by phone.  The part Number is WH209.

For details about the filter cartridges listed below, go here – Filter Cartridges, 20″ X 4.5″ (Size 4) .  Any cartridge listed on the page will fit the WH209 housing shown above.

You can design your own whole house filter by using the WH209 filter with any cartridge shown at Filter Cartridges, 20″ X 4.5″ (Size 4) .

Here are some examples total cost for the housing plus a single cartridge.

With CTO Carbon Block, FC403. –  $189.

With CTO+ Carbon Block, FC401. – $210

With Pentek High Performance Chloramine Cartridge, FC412. — $307.

With Chlor Plus 20BB Pentek Chloramine Cartridge — $340.

With Pentek Iron Removal Cartridge. FC410 – $254.

With 5 micron wound string sediment cartridge, FC453  — $153

Don’t hesitate to call if there are questions.

The Reverse Osmosis Flow Restrictor

The flow restrictor is located in the yellow drain line of your Black and White reverse osmosis unit. The number indicates its output in mg/L.

The flow restrictor’s function is to regulate the flow of brine, or reject water, leaving the RO membrane housing. It is an essential part of the reverse osmosis process. If the restrictor allows too much water to exit the housing, the RO unit will not produce enough water; too little flow through the restrictor will damage the membrane and lower the quality of the water produced.

The number printed on the restrictor indicates its approximate output in mg/L. Actual output can vary and is influenced by such factors as inlet water pressure, water temperature, and general water quality.

To test the restrictor, turn off the storage tank valve and open and leave open the ledge faucet. When a small stream or fast drip of water is coming from the faucet, it means the unit is making water. Remove the drain line from the undersink drain saddle. There should be a small stream flowing from the drain tube. Catch the stream in a measuring cup that measures milliliters and time for one minute.  The output should be more or less the same as the number printed on the restrictor. If the actual output is in the ballpark of the number printed on the restrictor, all is well. If it’s way off, the restrictor should be replaced.

Be sure to replace the restrictor with the size that matches your membrane. See our Reverse Osmosis Parts page for replacement restrictors.  Make sure you get the restrictor that matches you membrane size, as explained on the page.

Water News for July 2025

Gazette Introductory Note: This article underlines how impractical it is to believe that that regulation will assure water that’s safe to drink from the tap. In this case, a point of use drinking water filter that removes lead makes a lot more sense than waiting for the city to replace lead pipes.

Water Online

Gazette Fair Use Statement

Water News for June 2025

40% of Glaciers Are Doomed 

Almost 40% of glaciers in existence today are already doomed to melt due to climate-heating emissions from fossil fuels, a study has found. The loss will soar to 75% if global heating reaches the 2.7C rise for which the world is on track. The massive loss of glaciers would push up sea levels, endangering millions of people and driving mass migration.  The Guardian.

Crypto Outbreak in Devon

BBC reported that in Devon a cryptosporidium outbreak, which contaminated the local water supply and lead to hospitalizations and more than 100 reported cases of illness, caused significant financial loss to the water supplier. BBC.

De Not Eat Warnings for Fish in Michigan

Amid evidence that PFAS is far more dangerous than previously thought, state officials have revised statewide guidelines for eating contaminated fish.

Michigan health officials have dramatically reduced the amount of PFAS-tainted fish they consider safe to eat, tripling the number of water bodies where anglers are warned against eating their catch.

Ninety-eight water bodies are now subject to “do not eat” advisories because fish are contaminated with the so-called “forever chemicals,” up from 33 last year. Hundreds more advisories suggest that Michiganders limit meals of certain fish species to anywhere from 16 servings a month to six a year.

Officials with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services announced the change Monday while publishing the annual Eat Safe Fish Guide, a document that identifies waterways where fish are contaminated with unsafe levels of toxic chemicals. Bridge Michigan

Diesel Spill in Baltimore

A leak of some 2000 gallons of diesel at Johns Hopkins Hospital in East Baltimore traveled through storm drains for more than a mile to the harbor. The impact on drinking water quality is still unclear. Newsweek  

Salmonella Traced to Cucumbers Grown in Contaminated Irrigation Water

A salmonella outbreak tore through the country last spring and summer, infecting more than 550 people and sending 155 to the hospital.

The likely culprit wasn’t raw eggs or undercooked chicken but an innocuous salad staple: cucumbers.

One year later, cucumbers are once again making people sick — and federal officials say that one of the same Florida farms is once again involved. Forty-five people in 18 states recently contracted salmonella in an outbreak linked to cucumbers from Bedner Growers in Palm Beach County, setting off a widespread recall that has affected everything from California rolls sold at Target to banh mi sandwiches served at a North Carolina high school.

The Food and Drug Administration has yet to explain how the cucumbers linked to the current outbreak became contaminated; the investigation is ongoing. But last year, the agency found that Bedner Growers had used untreated canal water for irrigation — and that the water was contaminated with one of the salmonella strains that had made people sick.

Cucumbers and other fresh produce may be a surprising source of salmonella, which can cause diarrhea, stomach cramps and fever, as well as more serious health problems that can turn fatal. Heat from cooking can kill the bacteria, but fruits and vegetables that are eaten raw, like cucumbers, can be unsafe once they are contaminated. That means it’s particularly important to protect fresh produce from pathogens lurking in water used for irrigation or washing.   NBC News.   

Contaminated Water Blamed for Elephants’ Death

The unexplained deaths of hundreds of elephants near watering holes across the Okavango delta in May 2020 alarmed conservationists. Nearly five years later, scientists finally published a paper indicating what they believe to be the reason behind the deaths: toxic water caused by an algal bloom.  The Guardian  

National Hydration Day

National Hydration Day was June 23. As far as we can determine, not a single business or government office anywhere closed to honor the holiday.

The World’s Worst Case of PFAS Contamination

When residents in a small Swedish town discovered their drinking water contained extremely high levels of PFAS, they began blood testing. They had no idea what it would mean for their health and their children’s future.  Read the Guardian report:   Poison in the water: the town with the world’s worst case of forever chemicals contamination.

Water Treatment Employee Dies in Water Tank

In Ottawa County Ohio, a water treatment employee was found dead inside a water tank, prompting a boil advisory in multiple areas in the state.

According to WTOL, citing a report from the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office, authorities responded to the Ottawa County Regional Water Treatment Plant on Monday and discovered a night shift employee floating face down in a tank filled with water.  WKRC – TV

Expectant Mothers Advised to Drink Filtered Water

Pregnant women have been advised to use water filters by experts who spoke to Newsweek after a study found levels of arsenic in water systems considered safe are impacting birth outcomes.

A national study led by researchers at Columbia University evaluated risks from 13,998 pregnancies across 35 cohort sites participating in the National Institutes of Health’s Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) program, and published its findings on the medical journal site JAMA Network last week.

The researchers discovered that prenatal exposure to arsenic was associated with a higher likelihood of babies being born preterm with lower birth weights, factors that they said are important “predictors of infant mortality and morbidity across the life span.”

This was the case even at the level of exposure the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) currently deems safe, 10 micrograms per liter, a regulation that was established in 2001 and has not been changed since.  Newsweek. Full article.

How to Disinfect a Well

Information from National Testing Laboratories.

To disinfect a private well . . .

1. Remove well cover. Pour the required amount of bleach into the well. See the list below.

2. Run ALL faucets in the house, one at a time, until you smell the chlorine at the faucet. This ensures that the whole system will be disinfected

3. Connect a garden hose to an outside tap or an indoor tap with the correct thread fitting. Put the other end of the hose into the well, turn on the faucet, and from time to time move the hose so that the chlorinated water bathes the sidewalls of the well casing. Do this for at least six hours. Turn off tap and remove the hose from the well.

4. Replace the well cover

5. DON’T USE THE WATER for at least twelve hours. Forty-eight hours in optimal.

6. Run the water to waste but NOT INTO THE SEPTIC SYSTEM for several hours, or until the chlorine taste is dilute enough to be unobjectionable. The best way to run the water to waste is to use the garden hose mentioned above (item 3). Direct the hose into an area where the chlorinated water will not cause environmental damage or affect the water supply of others. For a typical well, this may take 3-4 hours. NOTE: To avoid pump overheating and possible damage, turn off the water when flow is at a trickle and wait at least 15 minutes before turning on the pump again

7. After a week of use, retest for bacteria.

8. In some cases, one chlorination treatment WILL NOT be sufficient. Repeat disinfection procedures as needed.

Water Tests for Your Home

The exceptional value of a good water test and how to understand what it means

For some years we been offering high quality water tests to our customers provided by National Testing Laboratories of Cleveland. General information and pricing for these excellent tests can be found here on our website.

The lab offers a comprehensive test (Watercheck) as well as specific city water and well water versions. A number of individual analytes not included on the standard tests (iron bacteria, for instance) can also be added if needed.

How It Works

The test is ordered from our website. Upon receipt of the order, we send you a test kit. You then take samples of  your water, as directed in the kit, and overnight the samples to the NTL laboratory in Cleveland. The lab reports the results to you in an easy-to-understand format and also sends us (Pure Water Products) a copy of the results so we can help with interpretation and recommendations for treatment if you ask us.

The lab also makes available valuable online information to help with understanding the test result. Here are a couple of valuable reference guides provided.

Analyte Reference Guide 

A comprehensive chart giving detailed information about water contaminants such as commons sources of the contaminant in drinking water, the allowable amounts, the treatments required for removal with very helpful color coding for classification of the contaminant.

Corrective Actions Brochure

An informative brochure telling how to deal with water issues revealed by testing.

Please visit our website for more information:

Professional Water Test (from National Test Laboratories)  — Information and ordering from our website.

Which drink is best for hydration? Hint: It isn’t water

by Lisa Drayer

When you’re thirsty and in need of a drink, which beverages are best at keeping you hydrated?Sure, you can always reach for a glass of water — but plain H20 isn’t the most hydrating beverage around, according to a study from Scotland’s St. Andrews University that compared the hydration responses of several different drinks.The researchers found that while water — both still and sparkling — does a pretty good job of quickly hydrating the body, beverages with a little bit of sugar, fat or protein do an even better job of keeping us hydrated for longer.

The reason has to do with how our bodies respond to beverages, according to Ronald Maughan, a professor at St. Andrews’ School of Medicine and the study’s author. One factor is the volume of a given drink: The more you drink, the faster the drink empties from your stomach and gets absorbed into the bloodstream, where it can dilute the body’s fluids and hydrate you.

Milk is more hydrating than water

The other factor affecting how well a beverage hydrates relates to a drink’s nutrient composition. For example, milk was found to be even more hydrating than plain water because it contains the sugar lactose, some protein and some fat, all of which help to slow the emptying of fluid from the stomach and keep hydration happening over a longer period.Milk also has sodium, which acts like a sponge and holds onto water in the body and results in less urine produced.

The same can be said for oral rehydration solutions that are used to treat diarrhea. Those contain small amounts of sugar, as well as sodium and potassium, which can also help promote water retention in the body.“This study tells us much of what we already knew: Electrolytes — like sodium and potassium — contribute to better hydration, while calories in beverages result in slower gastric emptying and therefore slower release of urination,” said Melissa Majumdar, a registered dietitian, personal trainer and spokeswoman for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics who was not involved in the study.

Sugar in moderation

But here’s where it gets tricky: Beverages with more concentrated sugars, such as fruit juices or colas, are not necessarily as hydrating as their lower-sugar cousins. They may spend a little more time in the stomach and empty more slowly compared to plain water, but once these beverages enter the small intestine their high concentration of sugars gets diluted during a physiological process called osmosis. This process in effect “pulls” water from the body into the small intestine to dilute the sugars these beverages contain. And technically, anything inside the intestine is outside your body.Juice and soda are not only less hydrating, but offer extra sugars and calories that won’t fill us up as much as solid foods, explained Majumdar. If the choice is between soda and water for hydration, go with water every time. After all, our kidneys and liver depend on water to get rid of toxins in our bodies, and water also plays a key role in maintaining skin’s elasticity and suppleness. It’s the cheapest moisturizer you’ll find.While staying hydrated is important — doing so keeps our joints lubricated, helps prevent infections, and carries nutrients to our cells — in most situations people don’t need to worry too much about how hydrating their beverages are.“If you’re thirsty, your body will tell you to drink more,” Maughan said. But for athletes training seriously in warm conditions with high sweat losses, or for someone whose cognitive function may be negatively impacted by working long hours without beverage breaks, hydration becomes a critical issue.

Can beer and lattes keep me hydrated?

Alcohol acts as a diuretic, which causes you to pass more urine, so when it comes to alcoholic beverages hydration will depend on a beverage’s total volume. “Beer would result in less water loss than whiskey, because you are ingesting more fluid with beer,” Maughan said. “Strong alcoholic drinks will dehydrate, dilute alcoholic drinks will not.”When it comes to coffee, how well your java hydrates you will depend on the amount of caffeine you consume. A regular coffee with about 80 milligrams of caffeine — roughtly what you would find in 12 oz. of Folgers’ house blend – would be pretty much as hydrating as water, according to Maughan’s research.Consuming more than 300mg of caffeine, or about 2-4 cups of coffee, could cause you to lose excess fluid as the caffeine causes a mild, short-term diuretic effect. This is more likely to happen with someone who doesn’t typically consume caffeine, and it could be offset by adding a tablespoon or two of milk to your cup of joe.

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