To The Honorable Board Members of Marin Municipal Water District,

Cynthia Koehler

Jack Gibson

Armando Quintero

Liza Crosse

Larry Russell

Krishna Kumar – General Manager

WHEREAS water, our most precious resource, is essential to all and the public water supply should be safe for all to drink, and

WHEREAS our water is treated with chloramine which is cheaper than chlorine, but may contain higher concentrations of unregulated disinfection byproducts which are 10,000 times more toxic than chlorine, and

WHEREAS when chloramine comes into contact with water pipes it raises the amount of lead that leaches into the water from lead pipes, and

WHEREAS no scientific studies on chloramine’s effects on the skin or respiratory tract via inhalation (such as exposure during a shower or bath) have been conducted, and

WHEREAS chloramine is toxic to frogs and other amphibians, reptiles, fish and other aquatic and marine life, and

WHEREAS trihalomethanes (THMs), one of the most common disinfection byproducts of chloramine, are Cancer Group B carcinogens, meaning they’ve been shown to cause cancer in laboratory animals. They’ve also been linked to reproductive problems in both animals and humans, such as spontaneous abortion, stillbirths, and congenital malformations, even at lower levels, and

WHEREAS because of chloramine’s corrosive nature, it has been linked to pinhole pitting in copper water pipes, which can lead to small water leaks and mold growth in our homes;  Chloramine also corrodes rubber toilet flappers and gaskets, rubber hoses, and rubber fittings in dishwashers and water heaters, leading to costly home repairs;  Chloramine de-elasticizes PVC pipes, making them brittle and accelerating the leaching of possible carcinogens from the plastic into drinking water, and

WHEREAS the MMWD is potentially subjecting itself to costly litigation because of health damages and plumbing and building repair costs by continuing to use chloramine in our water, and

WHEREAS many citizens think Marin’s water does not smell or taste good and leaves our skin dry and irritated, and

WHEREAS fluoride costs us, the water rate payer, $155,535 annually which would be better spent to pay for safer ways to disinfect the water than chloramine, such as ultra-violet light and/or micro-filtration with granular-activated carbon, or at the very least returning to the use of chlorine; therefore

We the undersigned citizens of Marin respectfully DEMAND that the MMWD Board Members use safer disinfection alternatives to chloramine such as ultra-violet light and/or micro-filtration with granular-activated carbon

or

At the very least return to using chlorine.

The water treatment plant in Albemarle County in Central Virginia recently dropped the use of chloramine after negative public feedback -- and is now looking at the use of granular-activated carbon as a secondary water disinfectant.