For ten years, a chemical not approved by the EPA has been in the drinking water in the town of Denmark, South Carolina. The chemical being used is HaloSan. The state government started using it in Denmark in 2008. Their goal was to try and regulate natural occuring bacteria that can leave red stains or rust-like deposits in the water. The problem was that they didn't get HaloSan approved by the US Environmental Protection Agency to disinfect drinking water. After the town had been using HaloSan for 10 years, a resident called in samples the residents collected were checked. They think that the chemical is potentially the reason for the illnesses and diseases affecting the people living in Denmark. As of right now, the problem is not resolved, but it hopefully will be soon.
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1. If you were the mayor, and you got a call saying that your town's water wasn't safe to drink, how would you repond?
I would try to find a way to provide the people with safe drinking water that was either bottled or checked for chemicals. Then, I would try to find someone that could fix the water problem.
2. Do you think it's possible that the people in Denmark are getting sick from the HaloSan?
I think that it is a very high possibility that people are getting sick from drinking the water with HaloSan in it. Any chemical is most likely going to make someone sick. Plus, there have been numerous cases of the same illness during the last 10 years.
Replies
Well done Olivia!
I wouldn't go as far and say what they are doing is incorrect, because obviously they have the people in mind when doing this, because clean water is always a must for first world countries. Though it is immoral to do this without the consent of the federal government. Obviously the state government just need to get this re-evaluated, because if they have been doing it for this long with no malfunctions, then the EPA would more than likely legalize it.
I didn't even think about that, but now that I think about it, we shouldn't even be having this problem because America is supposed to be the strong country with all the solutions/answers. However, I disagree that the EPA would likely legalize it, I think they didn't know about it so they didn't look into it, but it they had known about it, they would have most likely stopped it because of it's potential harm.
Bringing tankers in from other places is a good idea I think, but you wouldn't even have to bring them in from other states, they could be from another town in South Dakota too.
I would warn the people and try to find a way to fix the problem. Also, I would give some botteled water to the people so that they can affort not drinking the other water. I think it could be, but people need to research it more and find a solution.
You're right about warning the people and fixing the problem in my opinion. I think telling people about the situation instead of trying to fix it without them knowing is better so they can figure out their own solution to the problem. Giving bottled water to people is also a good idea, plus they don't have to pay for it.
I would put out a public notice, or just shut off the water all together, while finding an alternative source. Like getting it from another city, or trucking it in, or putting an order out for multiple gallons of water. If the tests come back and they say that the water was the issue, then yes, it is possible.
I think that shutting the water off altogether would not help much because they have absolutely nothing to drink and you can die from lack of water in like 2 days. And it might work to find an alternative source to use in the meantime, but that would take a lot of extra work I think.
I would feel very worried about why is wasn't safe to drink because there is probably a lot of people who got sick from it but didnt know why. I do think people could have gotten sick from this because water is in everything.
I know what you mean, it would be hard to know why a bunch of people in the town were getting sick without knowing the reason. If it were me, and I was getting sick a bunch for no reason really, I would be kind of suspicious.
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