CHRISMAN, Ill. - There's been a nitrite-in-the-water warning issued by the city of Chrisman in Edgar County as it pertains to their drinking water.
Here's what the city released on their Facebook page, and which a lot of other media outlets have picked up (because really, it is rather important to let as many people know as is possible):
DRINKING WATER ALERT:
Chrisman Water has high levels of NITRITE
DO NOT GIVE THE WATER TO INFANTS UNDER 6 MONTHS OLD OR USE IT TO MAKE INFANT FORMULA
Water sample results received Feb. 5 showed nitrite levels of 2.4 mg/L. This is above the nitrite standard, or maximum contaminant level (MCL), of 1 milligram per liter (mg/L). Nitrite in drinking water is a serious health concern for infants less than six months old. What should I do?
• DO NOT GIVE THE WATER TO INFANTS. Infants below the age of six months who drink water containing nitrite in excess of the MCL could become seriously ill and, if untreated, may die. Symptoms include shortness of breath and blue baby syndrome. Blue baby syndrome is indicated by blueness of the skin. Symptoms in infants can develop rapidly, with health deteriorating over a period of days. If symptoms occur, seek medical attention immediately.
• Water, juice, and formula for children under six months of age should not be prepared with tap water. Bottled water or other water low in nitrites should be used for infants until further notice.
• DO NOT BOIL THE WATER. Boiling, freezing, filtering, or letting water stand does not reduce the nitrite level. Excessive boiling can make the nitrites more concentrated, because nitrites remain behind when the water evaporates.
• Adults and children older than six months can drink the tap water (nitrite is a concern for infants because they can’t process nitrites in the same way adults can). However, if you are pregnant or have specific health concerns, you may wish to consult your doctor.
What happened? What is being done? Nitrite in drinking water can come from natural, industrial, or agricultural sources (including septic systems and run-off). Levels of nitrite in drinking water can vary throughout the year. [We’ll let you know when the amount of nitrite is again below the limit].
We continue to backwash the filter media and flush water mains as often as possible to correct this issue. Seasonal weather conditions such as heavy rain may affect the levels of Nitrite in our water. Nitrite is not normally an issue with our water and we expect to be back to normal within the next month.
For more information, please contact Matthew Shelato at (217)269-2214 or 222 W. Madison, Chrisman, IL 61924.
Please share this information with all the other people who drink this water, especially those who may not have received this notice directly (for example, people in apartments, nursing homes, schools, and businesses). You can do this by posting this notice in a public place or distributing copies by hand or mail.
This notice is being sent to you by the Chrisman water department.
Water System ID# IL0450100 Date distributed: Feb. 7, 2019.
Note that while this announcement gives lip service to what causes elevated nitrites in the water ("natural, industrial, or agricultural sources"), it fails to mention that FLOODING is usually the main reason why nitrite levels elevate in drinking water supplies. Down in Lawrence County, for example, the nitrite situation is usually elevated because their water wells (which are pumped in to the city's treatment facility) sit in the fields where anhydrous ammonia is applied every year as fertilizer. Anny creates the nitrite situation, more than "natural" sources like sewage (it'd take a LOT of raw sewage to create the kind of nitrite situation that just a little anhydrous does). When there's a big flood, there's usually a nitrite alert because of the runoff of fertilizer in the field, even months after application. Folks aren't notified of the increase in nitrites immediately, however, as it takes a few days for test results to get back. Unfortunately, infants have died from what's usually termed "crib death" in Lawrence over the years, and generally before people find out that they have elevated nitrite levels.
The release also doesn't explain what nitrites do to infants (as well as others; small and/or unhealthy children are susceptible to it, as are adults who are infirm, and the elderly). In very simplified terms, nitrites in water are oxygen-robbers in humans. They actually build up in the blood and deplete oxygen levels within red blood cells. Literally, a person's blood cannot take up enough oxygen when breathing and the person "suffocates" due to lack of oxygen when nitrites overwhelm the system. Deaths from nitrites oftentimes look like "natural causes" because it's really difficult to get accurate blood gas measurement from someone who's not breathing, and most local authorities don't ensure as thorough an autopsy as would reveal such a thing. Put simply, healthy older kids, teens and adults can withstand a basic nitrites increase in water. Babies can't; it's not that they're weaker, it's that nitrite levels that would cause some discomfort for a healthy 200-pound farm boy are going to be deadly for ten-pound infants. It's not the level of the poison; it's how the poison distributes once it's ingested.
So yeah, a nitrites increase is cause for concern. Lawrence County has been dealing with it for years; you can see clearly what's happening there: Cancer rates are off the charts, people behave irrationally, etc. It's not a matter of a treatment facility; it's very difficult to treat water for nitrites, especially those that come from fertilizer. Upgraded treatment facilities can knock the nitrite levels back, but when the water supply is awash in it, it simply doesn't "filter out" easily. The time to get nitrites out of the water supply is when application of farm fields is going on. Drainage is constantly being altered by ever-increasing tiling, which is causing flooding in places and in scale that are unprecedented. There needs to be careful examination of drainage, and how contaminated water is getting into the watershed. Short of stopping the subsidy-sucking farmers from applying anhydrous or charging the water customers out the wazoo for a new, state-of-the-art water treatment facility, that's all that can be done.
By the way...nitrates and nitrites are roughly the same thing and do pretty much the same damage to the human body. Take a look at your food - especially the garbage "meat" products most people consume, like hot dogs, bacon, lunchmeat, prepackaged meat products like frozen burritos or "breakfast bowls" etc - and your body wash/shampoo products, toothpastes, even laundry products. They are saturated with nitrates. Combine all this with what you're drinking, bathing in...and there's little wonder there are so many very sick people in the area, sick with vague and diffuse symptoms that make a person miserable: Aches and pains, headaches, cardiopulmonary symptoms (short of breath), gut issues. Our water is good. What's getting into the water supplies, however, is not. And remember...you're paying for it, because all those farmers that put all that anny on those fields are getting regular paychecks funded by we the taxpayer in the form of subsidies. If you want something done about it, that's where you should start.