About

   Having been a resident of Michigan, USA and an avid fisherman most of my life, I have a strong affinity to the water. I went into Water Treatment several years ago and found my calling. I help Families and Business's to correct problems in their water. From aesthetic problems, to man made, and naturally occurring contaminates. I can help them to achieve safe clean water for their homes and customers. I strive to educate any who will listen about the contaminates in their water as well as the emerging contaminates that are being discovered.

   I wrote a brief article which follows, should you care to read. Some younger readers may not be aware of these things but I remember and so do others!

Extremist? Perhaps....

• Published on September 26, 2016
•  
• 

  Terry Hughes CWS, CI, UV-CI

  Water Specialist at Culligan of Denver a Div. of Hall's Water

  As some have noted, some of the articles or comments I've posted have been extremist.

  Maybe so... But, please read on.

  Some readers may remember the days when our Dad or Grandfather got done changing the oil on the car, or cleaned the paint brush with turpentine, then tossed the liquids on the driveway to "keep the dust down". This same irresponsible behavior has been magnified a thousandfold by manufacturers since the 1900's. At one time many of our water ways had raw sewage dumped in them. Manufacturers dug open unlined pits and dumped their industrial wastes into them or directly into the river.

  Some readers may remember in the 60's when some of America's rivers caught fire! In downtown Chicago; the Chicago River would catch fire on a regular basis, it was a spectator event! Shortly after the fire on the Cuyahoga River, the Rouge river in Detroit caught fire. It ran red, and stunk so bad of chemicals, when it caught fire the flames were 50ft. high and the dense smoke shrouded I-75.

  Across the country Paper mill's would use various chemicals for processing wood pulp or bleaching process's and to the lake or river they went. In spite of clean-up efforts:

  • the Fox River, Manistique, MI. used PCB's from 1957-1971 approx. 125 tons were dumped into the river system. Approx. 40 tons remain in the sediment and approx. 600 lbs. migrate to Lake Michigan each year. By the way PCB's research indicates they affect the Nervous, Immune, Circulatory, and Hormone Systems. Also affecting the Liver, Brain, Skin disorders, and the Food Chain!
  • Lake Manistee, MI. is dealing with Dioxin's, Salts, and Oil's from the Paper mill, Refractories, and Salt plant that used to be located on it's shores. They too would discharge their unwanted wastes into the Lake or dump them into unlined pits near the Lake from about 1900-1970. By the way Dioxin's cause Birth Defects and Cancer!

  Now let's fast forward a little bit:

  • 2007: Rhode Island, MTBE's banned in 2007 have now contaminated 1 out 5 private wells. The state of Rhode Island is currently filing a lawsuit against 34 Oil Manufacturers claiming they were aware that MTBE's could leach from their storage tanks and cause contamination. By the way MTBE's may cause Kidney and Liver damage, Nervous System Disorders, likely Cancer. It is unknown as to concentration and length of exposure.
  • 2008: Colorado River, Grand Canyon Region, a USGS team tested the water and the fish and found high concentrations of Mercury and Selenium. While it is considered the Mercury comes from air born sources (burning of coal as an example) possibly from a thousand miles away, and the Selenium from irrigation of Selenium rich soils of the Upper Colorado River Basin. By the way Mercury affects the Nervous System, and Brain. While an excess of Selenium can cause Hair and Nail loss, Deterioration of the Joints, Excessive Tooth Decay, and effects on the Heart, Liver, and Kidney's.
  • 2008 - Present: More than 16 million Americans get their drinking water from public systems contaminated with industrial chemicals known as PFASs or PFCs, and at levels high enough to concern the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency because of the risks to public health.Although the problem is spread across 30 states (and three territories), three-fourths of the contaminated systems are in just 13 — including Minnesota. For more than 6 million people, the concentrations are at or above the EPA's recommended safety maximum. By the way PFOA's can cause damage to Liver and Kidney's.
  • 2014: Baltimore, MD. The streams around the Maryland city that supply their water are polluted with high levels of Amphetamines. The concentrations are high enough to alter the Food Web Base. Causes; Consumers flushing Medications down the toilet and limited waste water filtration.
  • 2015: Animas River, CO. While attempting to clean-up a Toxic Dump site at the Gold King Mine in Silverton, CO. The EPA allowed a spill of 3 million gallons of wastewater containing heavy metals, including Lead and Arsenic into the River turning it a murky Orange/Yellow. By the way, the River runs through Utah to Lake Powell.
  • 2016: Pacific Ocean, PCB's polychlorinated biphenyls and PBDE's polybrominated diphenyl ether's; both of these carbon based compounds are hard to break down and are used in plastic's and flame retardants. A research team from Scotland's University of Aberdeen, discovered high concentrations of human created organic pollutants in Crustacean's from two deep ocean trenchs. The two trench's are the Mariana in the Pacific Ocean and the Kermadic near New Zealand.

  And let's not forget Fracking! Though we are told it is completely SAFE???? If so, why in Michigan did several neighbors who had lived in their homes for over twenty years suddenly have their water BURN??? Several years after Fracking operations started, Methane permeation occurred to the degree the water emitted enough flammable gas to ignite! And there are homes across America that have the same problems. Oh, and in Oklahoma they deal with about 2-3 earthquakes a day. Based on the State web site (earthquakes.ok.gov/what-we-know/), in 2013 there were 109 earthquakes recorded, 2014 - 585 quakes, and in 2015 - 907 quakes. By the way, years past may have had one or two earthquakes a year.

  Think about it. If we pump thousands of gallons of waste fluids, mixed with God knows what, we fracture and lubricate the very shale and bedrock beneath us(where we have known geologic faults), should we be surprised by the results. What about when all the fractured strata resettles, could it force the wastes back into our aquifer's. It is possible. We don't have any models that proves it can't.

  I won't even bring up climate shifts here!

  Every State, Country, and Nation have their own stories to tell. The proofs of Human folly are all around us. As we become more aware of what we've done to our Environment, and the increasing Biochemical effect it has on us, we need to demand transparency and accountability of our Governments and Industries. From the Air that we breath, to the Water we drink, and the ground our food is grown, it is all laced with Contaminates. We can't rely or trust our Governments to be honest with us (Flint, MI. comes to mind). Nor should we rely on others for our own safety and health. While we strive to improve the conditions of our environment; the fact remains, we messed things up pretty bad! Now we start to see just how bad; with emergent contaminates on the rise. With better testing methods, identification, and hopefully notification we may have chance to protect ourselves.

  This article is intended to be thought provoking. I hope the reader considers the one thing they do have a measure of control over, their water and food sources. Water is treatable, and your food sources organic and hormone free!

  By, Terry Hughes CWS,CI, UV-CI

  Water Specialist

Information

• Email: tehughes11@hotmail.com
• Website: https://www.facebook.com/waterpro.ofcolorado/
• Location: Denver, United States
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/terry-hughes-cws-ci-b3827228/

Industry experience

Education: High School

Seniority: Expert, Engineer, Consultant

Years of experience: 10 to 20 years

Taxonomy

• Job Function
• Solutions & Services
• Organization Type
• Water
• Public Health
• Treatment
• Purification
• Technology
• Chemicals
• Construction
• Consulting & Services
• Consumer Goods
• Education
• Food & Beverage
• Health Care