My curiosity was piqued by this discussion, so wanted to do at least a simplified, back of the envelope calculation as to the potential danger to public health from elevated levels of sodium in groundwater in Lincoln. Some quick Google and use of a calculator resulted in this:
"Sodium and chloride occur naturally in groundwater, but levels can increase from road salt, water softeners, natural salt deposits, sewage and fertilizers. High sodium in well water can be a concern for people on low sodium diets." "While there is no drinking water standard for sodium, state and federal agencies recommend sodium levels in water not exceed 20 milligrams per liter (mg/L) for people on very low sodium diets and 270 mg/L for people on moderately restricted sodium diets. Most of the salt we consume comes from food. In fact, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services, most people get about 3,400 milligrams per day from the food they eat." --NYS Dept of Health https://www.health.ny.gov/environmental/water/drinking/salt_drinkingwater.ht m "Food is the main source of daily exposure to sodium, primarily as sodium chloride. The estimation of daily intake from food is difficult because of the wide variation in concentrations and the fact that many people add salt to their food. In western Europe and North America, the estimated overall consumption of dietary sodium chloride is 5-20 g/day (2-8 g of sodium per day), the average being 10 g/day (4 g of sodium). People on a low sodium diet need to restrict their sodium intake to less than 2 g/day (9). The consumption of drinking-water containing 20 mg of sodium per litre would lead to a daily intake of about 40 mg of sodium." --World Health Organization, https://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/dwq/chemicals/sodium.pdf So let's do the math for the worst case scenario. Per the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, men drink about 3.7 liters (15.5 cups) per day, while women drink about 2.7 liters (11.5 cups). Let's use men for this calculation, since they drink more water (and are more likely to be on sodium-restricted diets). At 3.7 liters per day - heck, let's round up to 4 liters, so a guy would obtain 80 mg of sodium from drinking water daily, assuming that the "normal" level is at the very top end of the recommended sodium levels in drinking water of 20 mg of sodium per liter. If we assume, for the purpose of this hypothetical, we have very elevated levels of sodium in the water of, say, 80 milligrams of sodium per liter, that would raise daily intake to 320 mg from drinking water. That's an additional, marginal 240 mgs of sodium per day. For the small minority of folks on low sodium diets, and who consume all of their liquids from tap water rather than bottled water or other beverages, that would be 240mg out of 2 grams per day, or 12% of their recommended maximum daily sodium intake. For those of us NOT on low sodium diets, drinking solely tap water with very high levels of sodium, that would be 7% of our daily sodium intake. Consider that the difference in sodium levels between "regular" ground water, at 20 mg/liter, and my hypothetical super elevated sodium level of 80 mg/liter, the difference per day is about 1/3rd of one slice of pizza, or about a bite out of a slice of ham. Just to put things into context. I am quite curious, though, about the impact of elevated levels of sodium in groundwater upon wildlife, which could be more significant. HTH, --Dennis
-- The LincolnTalk mailing list. To post, send mail to [email protected]. Search the archives at http://lincoln.2330058.n4.nabble.com/. Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/. Change your subscription settings at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln.
