from Tufts University
Several recent reports raise concern about the
quality of drinking water in some communities.
One of those reports, from Tufts University,
links disease-causing bacteria which can live
inside drinking water distribution systems,
including household water pipes, to rising
healthcare costs for infections. State and
federal agencies have ensured generally safe
public drinking water, but pipes and fixtures in
homes and buildings that transport water are
largely unregulated and could harbor what
researchers call premise plumbing pathogens.
This group of bacteria thrive on the inner
surfaces of pipes and become resistant to
disinfectants. Tufts researchers reveal rising
healthcare costs for infections associated with
this source of bacteria, perhaps as much as six
hundred million dollars a year.