Nashville, Tennessee…
The Hollywood of toe-tappin country music and a hotbed of hipsters chasing the American dream.
It’s also known for some serious water quality challenges.
Here’s the down-low on drinking water in this southern jewel:
Several organizations work together to oversee Nashville's water quality, including:
Here’s what Metro Water Services found in their latest water quality report:
Every year, Metro Water Services partners with the Tennessee Department of Environmental and Conservation to publish their annual Consumer Confidence Report.
The report evaluates the city’s source water, compliance with regulations, and tap water test results.
In their latest report, Nashville’s water met or exceeded all national and state regulations for water quality. Yippee!
Nashville also has a knack for winning awards...
They were a 2020 Readiness Award Winner for minimizing the impact of urban flooding (one of Nashville’s biggest water quality challenges).
Is Nashville’s water perfect?
By all means, no… but they sure as heck work hard to overcome challenges.
Next, we’ll see what the Environmental Working Group has to say about Nashville’s tap water:
The Environmental Working Group (EWG) is a non-profit organization that publishes reports on water quality and consumer food products.
It’s fair to say that the EWG’s health standards are a lot stricter than the EPA’s.
In their latest report, they found 8 cancer-causing contaminants above healthy limits, including:
Most of these compounds aren’t regulated by the EPA.
However, laboratory tests show they can still have negative effects on living organisms, including human cells.
So which report should you listen to?
The MWS Consumer Confidence Report or the EWG?
Ultimately, it’s up to you to decide which guidelines to follow.
Keep reading to discover more nitty gritty details about Nashville’s tap water...
Nashville gets its drinking water from Cumberland River.
As far as rivers go, the Cumberland River is exposed to a lot of contamination from manufacturing and industry, but more on that in a sec…
After it leaves the river, Nashville’s raw water heads to treatment plants to get squeaky clean.
The entire process includes over 3,000 miles of pipes, 56 water pumping stations, and 37 storage reservoirs. That's a whole lotta infrastructure!
Next, we'll take a closer look at Nashville’s water treatment process:
Like most cities, Nashville thoroughly filters and treats its water with disinfectants to kill bacteria and remove pollutants.
Here’s what the process looks like in a nutshell:
And viola! The water is finally ready to leave the plant.
It travels through distribution pipes to businesses and homes throughout Nashville and Davidson County.
Metro Water Services tests for 105 substances in Nashville’s drinking water.
They even test for contaminants not regulated by the EPA, like microplastics and PFAS.
PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are nicknamed “forever chemicals.”
That's because once they enter the water supply they’re extremely hard to remove.
Worst of all, early exposure to PFAS can lead to health problems like:
Luckily, 2020 testing found zero microplastics and only extremely low levels of PFAS.
Phew, that was a close one!
As Nashville’s source water travels through groundwater, lakes, streams and rivers, it has plenty of opportunity to pick up pollutants.
Potential contaminants include:
Some people are more vulnerable to contaminants than others, especially the elderly, young children, cancer patients and people with immune system disorders.
If this sounds like you, ask your doctor for advise about water quality safety.
Chances are, they’ll recommend installing an NSF-certified water filter in your home, but more on that later...
For now, let’s see what Nashville is doing to protect you from one country's of the most common contaminants: lead.
Reducing lead exposure is a core part of Metro Water Services’ mission for cleaner water.
Lead is a toxic heavy metal that can cause serious health problems, like heart disease, cancer, birth defects and learning disorders.
Unfortunately, lead has a nasty habit of sneaking into tap water.
Lead pipes and service lines were common up until the mid-1950s.
Although they were federally banned in 1986, many of Nashville’s homes still contain lead plumbing.
So what is the city doing about it?
The process seems to be working…
Results show that Nashville is better than 90% of the country when it comes to lead control.
If you think your home might contain lead pipes, you should have your water tested by a state-certified lab.
In the meantime, here’s a few tips to reduce your risk of lead exposure:
Unfortunately, Nashville has even worse problems than lead...
The Cumberland River has a long history of industrial pollution.
At the heart of the problem is Tennessee's six coal-fired power plants.
Take the Gallatin plant, for example — it produces roughly 235,000 tons of toxic coal ash every year.
Although the plants store the ash in wet-storage ponds, it might still seep into groundwater and release toxic waste into the Cumberland River.
The of course there's PFAS pollution from the 3M industrial plant...
To take a stand, the Tennessee River Keepers activist group recently filed a lawsuit against 3M.
It's no secret that Nashville has a problem with floods.
When the Cumberland River floods, it spreads pollutants like wildfire.
This is why Nashville takes such great steps to protect your drinking water from flooding, like:
2021 was another rough year for Middle Tennessee.
That year, a major flood killed at least four people and threatened the city's water supply.
The city faced 39 water-related emergency repairs, including 22 water mains, 10 service lines and 7 fire hydrants.
How will your tap water hold up in the next flood?
Flood or not flood, a high-quality water filter is the best way to ensure safe drinking water for you and your family.
Not all filters are created equal, though...
Some are great for improving smell and taste, but only a few can remove up to 99.9% of all contaminants. Reverse osmosis (RO) systems do just that!
They combine sediment filters, activated carbon filters, ion exchange resins, RO membranes and polishing filters to remove lead, PFAS, bacteria and anything else the water gods throw your way.
Cloud Water Filters even use built-in software to monitor your water quality 24/7.
It’s delicious, pure, and best of all, safe!
Click here to learn more.
