Kidsdata.org offers one water quality measure that includes both the number of maximum contaminant level water quality violations and the number of monitoring and recording violations.

Note: The information presented for this topic is not exhaustive of all relevant data, and has limitations. Kidsdata.org offers these and other data to draw attention to the environmental influences on children's health and to encourage exploration of the issues. These indicators will be revised as new data emerge from initiatives such as the National Children's Study and are updated in the California Environmental Health Tracking Program site.

Clean, safe drinking water is essential to child health and learning. Access to quality drinking water in the home, school, and child care facilities limits exposure to harmful toxins and also increases child consumption of water, promotes healthy habits, and helps children stay mentally focused and physically fit (1, 2).

Exposure to high levels of contaminants in drinking water can result in numerous adverse health effects for infants and children, including developmental delays, heart defects, liver or kidney damage, stomach and intestinal issues, respiratory infections, cancer, and neurological damage (2, 3). Studies have shown that communities of color, low-income communities, and rural areas are more likely to be exposed to contaminated drinking water (4, 5, 6).

Levels of contamination that exceed the maximum allowed for drinking water, and documented failure to monitor drinking water contamination, indicate a higher risk of exposure to toxic levels of bacteria, metals, and chemical residue (7).

For more information on water quality, see kidsdata.org’s Research & Links section.

Sources for this narrative: 

1. Braff-Guajardo, E., et al. (2012). Policy brief: fulfilling the promise of free water in K-12 schools. California Food Policy Advocates. Retrieved from: http://cfpa.net/ChildNutrition/Water/CFPAPublications/PolicyBrief-FreeWater-2012.pdf
2. United States Environmental Protection Agency. Drinking water in schools and child care facilities. Retrieved Nov. 2012 from: http://water.epa.gov/drink/info/lead/schools_index.cfm
3. United States Environmental Protection Agency. Basic information about regulated drinking water contaminants. Retrieved Nov. 2012 from: http://water.epa.gov/drink/contaminants/basicinformation/index.cfm
4. Community Water Center. (2012). Water & health in the valley: nitrate contamination of drinking water and the health of San Joaquin Valley residents. Retrieved from: http://www.communitywatercenter.org/files/PDFs/2011%20Nitrate%20Health.pdf
5. Harter, T. & Lund, J. (2012). Addressing nitrate in California’s drinking water. Center for Watershed Sciences, U.C. Davis. Retrieved from:  http://groundwaternitrate.ucdavis.edu/
6. Pacific Institute. (2011). The human costs of nitrate-contaminated drinking water in the San Joaquin Valley. Retrieved from: http://www.pacinst.org/reports/nitrate_contamination/
7. California Department of Public Health, Division of Drinking Water and Environmental Management. (2009). Annual compliance report 2009. Retrieved from: http://www.cdph.ca.gov/certlic/drinkingwater/Pages/Publications.aspx

Access to quality drinking water is critical to child health and well being. Contamination of drinking water often occurs as a result of human activities that pollute groundwater, including industrial practices, agricultural use of pesticides and fertilizers, and animal waste (1, 2, 3). In addition, aging plumbing systems and corroded lead pipes can contaminate drinking water (4).

According to research and experts, program and policy options to improve children’s access to safe, clean drinking water include: 

• Sampling drinking water in schools and child care facilities per Environmental Protection Agency guidelines to determine contamination levels and whether water outlets should be closed (4)
• Replacing lead pipes, plumbing systems, and point-of-service outlets in schools or installing corrosion control and filtering devices to prevent lead contamination in drinking water (4)
• Educating school officials about Chapter 558 of the Statutes of 2010 (Senate Bill 1413, Leno), which requires school districts to provide access to free, fresh drinking water during meal times (8)
• Educating residents and community-based groups in areas without safe drinking water on what they can do to keep their family safe in the short term (2, 5)
• Connecting small systems without safe drinking water to larger, nearby systems with more reliable and affordable sources (2, 5)
• Constructing new water systems, including water treatment plants, for communities with contaminated ground water (5, 6, 7)
• Identifying solutions and funding sources to better manage and monitor groundwater, prevent groundwater contamination, and clean up or treat contaminated groundwater (2, 5, 6, 7)

For more policy ideas on water quality and access, see Environmental Protection Agency, California Department of Public Health, Community Water Center, Pacific Institute, and California Food Policy Advocates.

Sources for this narrative:

1. Community Water Center. (2012). Water & health in the valley: nitrate contamination of drinking water and the health of San Joaquin Valley residents. Retrieved from: http://www.communitywatercenter.org/files/PDFs/2011%20Nitrate%20Health.pdf
2. Harter, T. & Lund, J. (2012). Addressing nitrate in California’s drinking water. Center for Watershed Sciences, U.C. Davis. Retrieved from:  http://groundwaternitrate.ucdavis.edu/
3. Pacific Institute. (2011). The human costs of nitrate-contaminated drinking water in the San Joaquin Valley. Retrieved from: http://www.pacinst.org/reports/nitrate_contamination/
4. United States Environmental Protection Agency. Testing schools and child care centers for lead in the drinking water. Retrieved Nov. 2012 from: http://water.epa.gov/drink/info/lead/testing.cfm
5. Community Water Center. The problem & solutions. Retrieved Nov. 2012 from: http://www.communitywatercenter.org/water-valley.php?content=The+Solutions
6. Freeman, C. (2010). Liquid assets: improving management of the state’s groundwater resources. Legislative Analyst’s Office. Retrieved from: http://www.lao.ca.gov/reports/2010/rsrc/groundwater/groundwater_032410.aspx
7. State Water Resources Control Board. (2012). Communities that rely on contaminated groundwater. Draft report to the Legislature. Retrieved from: http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/gama/ab2222/docs/cmntes_rely_gw.pdf
8. Braff-Guajardo, E., et al. (2012). Policy brief: fulfilling the promise of free water in K-12 schools. California Food Policy Advocates. Retrieved from: http://cfpa.net/ChildNutrition/Water/CFPAPublications/PolicyBrief-FreeWater-2012.pdf

In 2009, California counties were issued 1,730 violations for contamination in public drinking water exceeding public health limits, an increase from 921 violations in 2005. Risk of childhood exposure to harmful chemicals through drinking water varies widely across California counties. Among the 52 counties with available data in 2009, only one had no contamination violations, while seven counties had 100 or more violations each. These data do not indicate the severity of the violation.

Drinking water monitoring and recording violations occur when public water systems fail to meet water testing requirements or to report test results correctly. California counties received 1,472 such violations in 2009, a decline from 2008, but fairly similar to prior years. Among the 52 counties with available data on this measure, the majority had fewer than 20 monitoring and recording violations each in 2009, while four counties had more than 100 such violations each.

Note: Children’s environmental health is an emerging area of research, and the data currently available give a limited picture of how children in California are faring. In many cases, county-level data are not specific enough to inform conclusions about children’s health risks, but they can spark further inquiry.

• America’s Children and the Environment
• California Communities Environmental Health Screening Tool, California Environmental Protection Agency & the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment
• California Environmental Health Tracking Program, California Department of Public Health
• California Food Policy Advocates: Water in Schools
• Center for Health and the Global Environment, Harvard Medical School
• Children’s Environmental Health Network
• Environmental Health Perspectives
• Environmental Protection Agency: Children’s Health Protection Program
• Environmental Protection Agency: Water Home
• Healthy Homes Initiative, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• National Environmental Public Health Tracking Network, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health

• A Decade of Children’s Environmental Health Research, 12/2007, Environmental Protection Agency & Children’s Health Protection Program
• America’s Children and the Environment, Third Edition, 2013, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
• Children’s Exposure to Elemental Mercury: National Report of Exposure Events, 04/2009, The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry & Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Fourth National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals, 2012, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Reducing Environmental Cancer Risk: What We Can Do Now (2008–2009 Annual Report), 2010, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health & National Cancer Institute, President’s Cancer Panel
• The Children's Health Study, California Environmental Protection Agency
• The Human Costs of Nitrate-Contaminated Drinking Water in the San Joaquin Valley, 2011, Pacific Institute
• The Water We Drink: What Is California Doing to Ensure Its Water Is Safe?, 05/2011, California Senate Office of Research

• The Human Costs of Nitrate-Contaminated Drinking Water in the San Joaquin Valley, 2011, Pacific Institute

add your report to kidsdata.org

Do you have a local or regional report relevant to a topic on kidsdata.org? If you’d like to add it to our research and links section, please send it to us at kidsdata@lpfch.org.