Summertime is synonymous with spending time outdoors ... just as ants are to a picnic. Which brings us to the subject of pesticides and your drinking water.

When the weather is nice, the outdoors is the place to be. Unfortunately, we have to share the outdoors with many uninvited guests ... who always seem to show up to our cookouts, picnics and parties. No, I’m not talking about crazy Uncle Gus ... I’m referring to the millions of flying, creeping and crawling pests that see us as the main course at the summer barbecue. To keep the bugs at bay, we usually arm ourselves with an assortment of repellents and insecticides--ready at a moment’s notice to defend ourselves against the insect onslaught.

While many of these pesticides are effective at killing bugs, they contain dangerous chemicals and we tend to overuse them (I’ve seen my wife spray half a can of Raid while chasing down a single wasp). We also tend not to think about where all the millions of gallons of pesticide residue end up in this country after spraying. Like most surface contaminants, pesticides are washed into our water supply when it rains. Add in seasonal flooding, and it isn’t hard to grasp that whatever is on the ground or in the soil will get washed into lakes, stream, reservoirs and underground aquifers.

Pesticide Spraying for Mosquito Control

In the last few years, many states began intense pesticide application in an attempt to control the mosquitoes that carry the West Nile Virus. A couple of years ago, lobster fisherman and shellfish harvesters noticed a huge decrease in their collective catch. These fishermen, along with many experts, are convinced that the West Nile pesticide spraying is to blame. This is just one example that illustrates just how big a threat pesticides can be to unintended targets.

Think about the thousands of tons of commercial-grade pesticides that are applied in farming, agriculture, lawn care, landscaping and other massive pest control efforts. All those toxins are destined to wind up in our water supplies, and then in our drinking waters and homes. If you visit the EPA’s Safewater Web site you can actually find a list of unregulated contaminants, meaning that there are no national standards or legal limits set for them in our drinking water. Many of these are pesticides, and if a contaminant has no standard, that means that water companies are not legally required to test for it (visit this EPA link for more information: http://www.epa.gov/safewater/dw_unregcontaminants.html).

Protect Yourself!

Certified testing is the only way to know what types of pesticides are in your tap water. Homes supplied by both "city water" and "well water" should conduct some level of water testing each year. As water quality is constantly changing, certified testing is the only way to determine not only your specific water quality, but also to see if your filter systems are working properly ... and if they are the right ones to remove the harmful contaminants that may appear in your water today.

Most pesticides are regulated in measured parts per billion, or micrograms. This means that these contaminants are so toxic and dangerous that even tiny traces could be dangerous to your family’s health. This also means that it is impossible for our senses of taste, smell or sight to determine if our water is contaminated with these chemicals.

Be safe this summer. Go easy with the bug spray ... and test your tap water regularly.