Drugs in treated water are raising concerns

Jim McCleary picked up Hector for a good price this month and hopes the young steer packs on the pounds over the summer.

Just as McCleary will harvest the vegetables from his garden, at some point Hector will head off to the butcher and return to McCleary's freezer.

But McCleary worries about a plan to divert treated wastewater into his canals at his place in Daniel, Wasatch County, the same canals he draws water from for the pasture, his yard, and his garden.

"I know it has to go somewhere, that's not the point," McCleary said. "It has been filtrated, but the one thing they can't get out of the water is the residue from the pharmaceuticals — aspirin, ibuprofen, hormones. They go right through somebody's body and then go out in the waste. Right now it is probably not going to be a problem, but what about the long-term impacts?"

McCleary's concerns and that of many other canal users in Wasatch County underscore a problem that has been percolating internationally for decades but is increasingly commanding state and national attention from scientists, water regulators, consumers and industry.

Results released just Wednesday from an Environmental Protection Agency pilot study found that fish caught near treatment plants serving five major U.S. cities had residues of pharmaceuticals in them, including medicines to treat high blood pressure and bipolar disorder.

Closer to home, the Snyderville Basin Water Reclamation District in Park City conducted its own series of tests on fish last fall and did sampling of wastewater discharges into East Canyon Creek and Silver Creek.

The wastewater tests revealed the presence of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) — which are natural or synthetic chemicals that interfere with or mimic hormones responsible for growth and development of an organism.

The trace amounts of the EDCs found in the wastewater are miniscule amounts — parts per trillion — or equivalent to one second of time in 320 centuries or one drop of water in 20 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

"The quantities found in the water are many thousands times below what would be considered a therapeutic dosage of these pharmaceuticals," said Snyderville's district manager Mike Luers. "You would have to drink literally thousands of gallons to get a therapeutic dose."

Luers said many of the EDCs have been in water all along but recent advancements in technology are allowing scientists to detect the ultra-low levels.