by Playfuls Staff |
19th February 2007
Climate change might produce more challenges than the U.S. water supply infrastructure can withstand, says a [more] Michigan water expert.
Joel Rose, of Michigan State University, says the nation must develop better ways of monitoring the safety of its drinking water.
"Outbreaks of waterborne illness are like the plane crashes of the water industry," Rose said. "They're the big events that get people's attention. But there are other things going on. Beneath the big outbreak, we could have 5 percent of people getting sick and it wouldn't even be reported. It can be below our radar screen, but a sign of trouble."
Rose says there is too much emphasis being placed on water treatment and not enough on watershed protection for providing safe water. Focusing solely on treatment, he said, puts the water systems in peril from both overwhelming weather events and contaminants that resist conventional treatment.
Rose detailed the problem Sunday in San Francisco during the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
© 2007 UPI
