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Pesticides Found in Drinking Water

Although pesticides can be found in municipal water, they pose the greatest threat to well water. Established water stations process and treat city water, identifying and removing contamination risks. However, pesticides used in farming or other agricultural applications accumulate in groundwater and then steadily seep into the well water. Chemically treating surface waters can be more difficult than isolating treatment problems at municipal water stations.

  1. A Pesticide by Any Other Name...

    • Figuring out which pesticide is in drinking water can be difficult. Pesticides are made up of chemical, biological and organic matter, amalgamated into one product. Testing water for biological pesticides could be inaccurate, since the water may be full of similar elements normally. Pesticides chemical in nature are easier to identify, since they are defined by certain compositions.

    Federal Regulation

    • In 1974, the Safe Drinking Water Act was passed by Congress and signed into law. Public support for the bill was fueled by continuing reports that the nation's water supply was polluted. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was given primary responsibility for cleaning up the nation's water supply. This act was the first federal law requiring certain minimum standards for all public drinking water in the United States. However, this law only applied to the public water supply, not to private wells. Over time, the act was amended to mandate cleanup of surface waters and streams, which had a strong residual impact on private wells.

    Specific Pesticides

    • The generic term "pesticides" include four types -- herbicides, insecticides, nematocides and fungicides. Because of the rate at which they dissolve, some pesticides get into the drinking water supply at a faster rate than others. Pesticides can get into the drinking water through the improper disposal of pesticides, water runoff, rain, and melting ice and snow. The most common herbicides that appear in drinking water are alachlor, atrazine, cyanazine, dacthal, dinoseb, diuron, mecoprop, metolachlor, simazine and 2, 4-D. Typical insecticides that might be found in drinking water are carbofuran and trichlorofon. Nematocides occasionally found in drinking water are 1,2-dichloro-propane and ethylene-dibromide. The only fungicide sometimes found in drinking water is ethylene thiourea.

    Testing and Prevention

    • Many water quality test kits are available in retail and specialty stores, and are extremely easy to use. Testing your home drinking water supply is the best first step to protecting your family. Water filters are available for purchase that can either attach to a sink nozzle or filter water using a pitcher. Bottled drinking and cooking water can also be purchased.

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