Sewer Water Contaminates North Carolina Water Lines

I live in a suburb of Washington and every once in a while I get a pamphlet in the mail stating the quality of my city's water. Mostly, I just glance at it and throw it away. Why? As an American, I assume the water I drink, bathe and wash my clothes in is clean. I trust the regulations set up by the EPA to be enacted by local officials and ensure that what's flowing through my tap is not contaminated and is ready for consumption. Yet, recent news shows that this type of trust may be faulty.

The Jain family of Cary, North Carolina moved into their new home four months ago and immediately noticed that the water had a funny taste. Priyanka Jain brushed it off, but her husband kept complaining about it. She ultimately told him that his 'taste buds were too sensitive', but later found out that they were right on the money. The Public Works in their area had accidentally switched their drinking water with the treated water from the sewer lines.

Priyanka Jain is beside herself. She now realizes that all of the food she's prepared with that water is contaminated along with her family's clothes. She also has to think about the fact that her children complained about their tummy's aching a few times. So it's probable that the dirty water they'd been drinking made them ill. However, for now, her main question is how could Public Works make this kind of error?

Public Works officials in the area have no answer for the Jain family. For now, they are focusing on making sure all of the tap water in the area is clean. Since they've identified the problem, they've gone to five hundred homes (door-to-door) testing the water. So far, only one other family has been found to be using contaminated, sewer water. Unfortunately, they have a small child and a baby on the way. They've also been living in the area under this type of condition longer than the Jain family.