Willow Glen Resident
News
Local water tests show no trace of drug exposure
By Stephen Baxter
Traces of prescription drugs have been found in some sources of Santa Clara County's water, but tests indicate that tap water is virtually free of those chemicals in Willow Glen, the Almaden Valley and some other San Jose neighborhoods.
The Santa Clara Valley Water District has released documents showing its most recent data--from 2002 and 2003--from San Jose's water sources.
Residents who live south of Curtner Avenue in Willow Glen, Cambrian and the Almaden Valley receive water from the Los Gatos Creek watershed and Lexington Reservoir. Tests of untreated water at the reservoir did not detect even traces of pharmaceuticals such as Ibuprofen, the anti-inflammatory drug Naproxen or 12 other drugs.
Researchers from Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley conducted the tests.
Residents who live north of Curtner Avenue in the Willow Glen, Rose Garden and West San Jose areas receive water from wells, which have not been tested for pharmaceuticals. A water district spokeswoman said it does not plan to conduct more research until it understands the chemicals' effects on human health.
"We're focused on what does it mean and how do we treat it," said Meenakshi Ganjoo, spokeswoman for Santa Clara Valley Water District. "Right now there are no standards, and [levels] are so minute that we don't know what it means."
The water district released its results after a March 9 Associated Press report revealed trace levels of prescription drugs in water in 24 major U.S. cities.
Humans absorb nearly all chemicals in prescription medicine, but very small amounts are passed to toilets and wastewater. Researchers do not fully understand the health risks associated with traces of drugs in drinking water, but the AP reported that recent research suggests alarming effects on wildlife and human cells.
The Santa Clara Valley Water District, a wholesale water provider to San Jose Water Co. and other companies, reported that source water for San Jose neighborhoods east of Highway 101 had trace levels of prescription drugs from its 2002 and 2003 tests. That water mostly comes from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.
Ganjoo said that part of the reason drug traces have been found is because new tests can detect chemicals in parts per trillion. One part per trillion is roughly one-twentieth of a drop of water in an Olympic-size swimming pool.
The water district is working with the Environmental Protection Agency and other Bay Area water authorities to study treatments to remove more contaminants.
The district's three water treatment plants recently upgraded to an ozonation process, which inactivates microbes that are resistant to other cleaning processes such as chlorination.
Some of the drug traces that were detected in the 2002 and 2003 study of Delta water include Estrone, a hormone used in birth control pills; Gemfibrozil, which helps reduce cholesterol; and Ketoprofen, used in arthritis medicine.
The Office of National Drug Control Policy is also asking residents not to flush prescription drugs down the toilet to help limit the spread of chemicals.
For more information on the water district's cleansing techniques and water sources, visit www.scvwd.com.
