Tapping into the quality of
water
at European military bases
By Kevin Dougherty,
Stars and Stripes
Michael Abrams / Stars and Stripes
Joshua Shafe, 4, stands next to his family's stockpile of bottled water at their Travis
Housing Area apartment in Aschaffenburg, Germany. |
Teresa Shafe knows the military. She has never worn the uniform, but
her father did, her husband does and her teen-age son might.
So she took notice when letters were circulated a year ago informing
some military housing residents that their tap water wasn’t up to standard. Until
matters were resolved, the Army would provide free bottled water, residents were told by
the 233rd Base Support Battalion in Darmstadt, Germany.
“They don’t give something for nothing,” she deduced.
Shafe said she never trusted the water from her tap, and she had been
spending a small fortune on bottled water for more than a year. Now, she and other
residents would get it for free.
Since that April 2000 notice, Shafe has claimed every bottle of water
due her family of six.
“When my uncle was here visiting,” Shafe said from her home
in Aschaffenburg, a small town in northern Bavaria, “he asked me if I was preparing
for war.”
In a way, she is.
And there are thousands more like Shafe: Water warriors worried
— in most cases, unjustifiably — about the fluid flowing from the faucets. At
military commissaries, exchanges and shoppettes, many families spend hundreds of dollars
each year on bottled water because they suspect the worst from their tap water.
For more than a year, the European Stars and Stripes periodically
examined the quality of tap water on military facilities. The primary focus has been on
lead and copper, since those elements can pose a risk to pregnant women, infants and
children. But there were other ingredients and issues — from fecal matter and other
chemicals in the water to aging pipes and faucets — that commanded attention.
Stars and Stripes hired Chemisch Analytisches Laboratorium in
Darmstadt, Germany, to help in the review. It also interviewed U.S. military personnel in
Europe, some of whom make their living safeguarding the very water they drink.
Water samples were drawn from 10 military housing areas in four
countries on Army, Air Force and Navy bases. The amount of lead and copper in 30 samples
was analyzed, and the levels of other elements, such as zinc, were measured at other
times.
Off-base areas were not part of the test due to logistics and cost.
Taking just 30 samples from the thousands of government-owned
apartments across the theater amounts to nothing more than a snapshot of the situation.
But as Walter Hempe, one of the lab’s partners, pointed out, any exercise of this
nature cannot give an exact measure because it’s impossible to test every household.
‘It’s a priority’
Nonetheless, there is value in taking a clinical look at random
samples of tap water throughout the U.S. European Command. Not only does it give people a
rough idea of quality, but it gets officials talking about the delicate issue and
heightens consumer awareness of water, the most essential liquid known to humans.
“It’s got to be a priority,” said Heiko Welp, the
chief bioenvironmental officer at Ramstein Air Base, Germany.
Michael Abrams / Stars and Stripes
Teresa Shafe holds a voucher card that allows her to get free bottled water at the
Aschaffenburg Commissary. |
Of the 30 samples, just one showed lead levels higher than the
minimum standard, or action level, set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
That sample, which barely exceeded the limit, was drawn from Building
2012 on the Naples Support Site compound in Italy.
None of the samples came close to breaching the acceptable level for
copper.
“Overall,” Hempe said, “I don’t think there is
any lead or copper problem” at the U.S. installations tested.
But this doesn’t mean there aren’t water problems or
concerns.
U.S. military officials in Europe readily admit the water quality at
housing units and office areas isn’t pristine. Test results and summary reports
provided by the military allude to many of the deficiencies, though some are beyond its
range of control.
A sampling of the challenges and problems:
The primary water supply system used by Keflavik Naval Air Station
in Iceland lies in “a seismically active region.” Because the region is
susceptible to tremors, or even mild earthquakes, “there is a high potential for
disruption of the water supply to the Station,” according to a June 2000 summary
report. An emergency plan is in place.
In recent years, the Naples and Sigonella communities in Italy have
been plagued by water shortages. Naples also has experienced elevated levels of nitrate
and E. coli bacteria, which suggest the presence of fecal contamination. This has led
officials to frequently institute bans and water-rationing measures.
Air Force officials in Izmir, Turkey, recently announced they found
elevated levels of lead at the child development center and at a Department of Defense
Dependents School. They cited plumbing problems as the cause.
A few years ago, bioenvironmental engineers at RAF Mildenhall,
England, found fuel in the ground water. The problem has since been remedied.
Government tests at RAF Lakenheath, England, and Sembach Air Base,
Germany, have revealed high levels of nitrates. Meanwhile, old pipes and warm temperatures
were behind a 1999 outbreak of coliform at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany. Coliform often
indicates fecal contamination of water supplies.
Last year, elevated levels of lead were detected at Mark Twain and
Patrick Henry housing areas in Heidelberg, Germany, where U.S. Army Europe is
headquartered. The lead apparently came from faucet fixtures in the housing areas. An
effort is under way to replace the taps.
There are at least half a dozen U.S. Army housing areas in Germany
where residents are advised to let the cold water run for a minute or two before using it
for drinking or cooking.
In light of these deficiencies, it’s imperative to put them in
perspective.
Most problems are minor
While there are some noted cases, such as the chemically contaminated
water wells at Camp Lejeune, N.C., the vast majority of problems at U.S. military
installations in Europe are relatively minor and of a short duration.
“It’s not like we are in Africa, where drinking the water
may give you cholera,” said Maria Shaw, the Landstuhl (Germany) Regional Medical
Center spokeswoman. The center is the primary health care facility for U.S. personnel in
Europe. “We may have a few problems here and there, but it’s not a major concern
for us.”
Shaw said she consulted with a couple of doctors, and they knew of no
recent incident in Europe in which U.S. personnel either died from or contracted a serious
illness from drinking water.
The guidelines the U.S. military follow for testing drinking water
mirror the EPA standards and take into account the host nation’s criteria. The end
result is a set of rules called the Final Governing Standards, which can vary from country
to country, although the EPA guidelines factor heavily into the aquatic equation.
“Is the water safe?” Manfred Exner, the utility engineer at
Ramstein Air Base in Germany, said. “Sure, it is safe. I’ve been drinking it for
50 years.”
The guidelines for lead and copper contaminants don’t mandate
100 percent purity. One failed test out of 10 — or a 90 percent success rate —
won’t put a system on notice. However, two or more trigger a succession of steps that
could include tests every six months until the water is brought into compliance. Two
consecutive passing grades of 90 percent or better qualify a system for reduced
monitoring.
Lead and copper typically enter a water system by way of corrosion in
the plumbing. Soft (or acidic) water can hasten corrosion, especially when a system has
lead pipes or lead solder, a metallic compound once commonly used to seal joints.
“The biggest problem is [water] stagnation,” said Air Force
Lt. Col. David Winkler, commander of the 786th Civil Engineering Squadron at Ramstein.
However, Winkler added, “one sample of lead is not going to kill you. It’s
[exposure] over a long period of time.”
When it comes to biological bacteria, such as E. coli, the testing
scheduled is much more aggressive.
Army bioenvironmentalists, for example, typically conduct random
tests at common-use areas once a week, according to Lt. Col. Laurie Cummings. She heads
the environmental engineering division for the U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and
Preventive Medicine in Europe.
“The engineering division’s No. 1 priority is the
surveillance effort for drinking water,” Cummings said. “It’s a phenomenal
organizational effort.”
Looks aren’t everything
But that monitoring effort isn’t obvious to apartment dwellers
in government housing who have little choice but to live with what comes out of their
faucets. Some complain about the odor. Many wonder why the water is so cloudy (the term is
turbidity).
“The water stinks,” said Shafe, the Aschaffenburg resident.
“It looks bad, and it tastes terrible.”
Military officials maintain that cloudy, smelly or foul-tasting water
doesn’t necessarily mean it’s unhealthy.
“I’m sure there’s nothing toxic about it,” said
Jessica Caver, who lives in the Smith Housing area in Baumholder, Germany, “but it
tastes like crap.”
Other residents across the theater have similar comments.
In some cases, especially at larger installations, steps can be taken
to improve both the integrity and appearance of the water. And yet, in some communities,
there are limits to what can be done, especially when the provider is a local utility.
In Aschaffenburg, the problems stem partly from the high level of
nitrates in the soil. Farms are prevalent in the area. Additionally, like the rest of
Germany, the city plant doesn’t fluoridate its water and chlorination standards are
lower than in the United States.
“I’m not trying to slam my command,” Shafe said,
“but there’s got to be something wrong with [the water], or they wouldn’t
be giving us so much bottled water.
“But this is not a military housing problem,” she added.
“It’s a citywide problem.”
Relief seems to be in sight.
The city of Aschaffenburg opened a new water treatment plant last
fall. U.S. Army Maj. Jeffrey Lee, the 233rd BSB public works director, expects the water
quality to improve as the year goes on.
“We don’t believe the water poses a major health
threat,” Lee said, “because soldiers only stay a few years and move on.
Long-term exposure is the key.”
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