Comment submitted by Rachel Elkins
AnonymousSupportIndividual
Summary: Rachel Elkins requests that the agency include mycobacteria on the Drinking Water Contaminant Candidate List. She argues that current water treatments do not kill these bacteria and that they pose a significant health risk to susceptible individuals.
Please include mycobacteria on the list of contaminants when checking our drinking water. When making water safe for drinking, the E. coli and other bacteria are killed and as a result the mycobacteria is free to grow. The treatments used do not kill the mycobacteria. Some people are susceptible to the mycobacteria and their lungs become infected. It often takes months to be treated with powerful antibiotics, and most are still not cured. Please make it a requirement to test our household water for these mycobacteria and to use the appropriate means to kill them. Thank you, Rachel Elkins