Bacon's Rebellion

Democracy Thrives in Sunlight

Who’s Got the Best Water System?

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by

James A. Bacon
in ,

Data source: LawnStart

The City of Richmond has the best water system among the seven Virginia cities included in a LawnStarter ranking of 2021’s Best Cities for Water Quality. The City of Chesapeake had the worst.

LawnStarter, an online marketplace for lawn-care and landscaping services, ranked the 200 most populated U.S. cities based on metrics of consumer satisfaction with drinking water, environmental violations, regulatory compliance for plumbing and sewage, and infrastructure vulnerability.

By these measures, Columbus, Ohio, has the best water system of the 200 cities, Garden Grove, California, the worst.

Here are the “overall” rankings for Virginia cities:

Richmond — 11
Arlington — 25
Virginia Beach — 52
Alexandria — 85
Norfolk — 111
Newport News — 129
Chesapeake — 174

— JAB

 

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9 responses to “Who’s Got the Best Water System?”

  1. James Wyatt Whitehead Avatar
    James Wyatt Whitehead

    Alas! Richmond’s drinking water is indeed tainted. All of those rusty Confederate monuments under tarps are polluting the clean drinking water.
    https://www.dailypress.com/resizer/5_PHF9h6KgihXoFt5RzCPMqjJZs=/1200×800/top/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tronc/H7KRUBKQ3S3X55PAHLXF4MZ67E.jpg

  2. vicnicholls Avatar
    vicnicholls

    Chesapeake doesn’t surprise me. THANK YOU for bringing this up.

  3. James Wyatt Whitehead Avatar
    James Wyatt Whitehead

    There is an interesting connection between this post about the best water and the next post teaching STEM. One of the most overlooked STEM careers is becoming a licensed Waterworks Operator. I looked into this as a second career and toured the local waterworks to gain some insight. It is very technical and interesting. The skills require a mix of biology, chemistry, and mechanical ability. The job ranges from testing water, working with chemicals, rebuilding/maintaining pumps, and even mowing grass on the property. If STEM are serious they should immediately open a pipeline from high school to the Waterworks career world. All you need is a HS diploma, some classwork, clock time at a plant, a passing license test, and just like that you are on your way to a potential 6 figure salary in a few short years. Waterworks operators are in high demand in many areas.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKv5wDseLC8

    1. LarrytheG Avatar
      LarrytheG

      I agree and that’s the folly of an uber-Stem focus for education.

      Drinking water in most urban places is a chemical product – the result of an industrial-type process.

      In other places, like smaller towns or private water systems which are numerous – it’s often problematical and complaints can abound from both quality and cost.

      1. James Wyatt Whitehead Avatar
        James Wyatt Whitehead

        I see jobs like this as an example of STEM overlooked because it is not slick, fancy, and sophisticated. Same skills in use though.

        1. LarrytheG Avatar
          LarrytheG

          What we SHOULD be doing is telling kids how to get GOOD jobs FIRST if they are not sure about College as opposed to making them feel like they are second rate if they do not go to College.

          Totally wrongheaded. Some folks are just not set up for College but we more or less abandon them if they are not – depending on the school system. Many, many GOOD JOBS are out there just for a High School Diploma and and a 2 year cert.

          Let people succeed.. help them succeed.. don’t tell them they fail if they don’t make it to college.

  4. LarrytheG Avatar
    LarrytheG

    Oh my freaking GAWD! A pre-culture war blog Post! lordy.

    Oh wait… I bet this is going to go to Dem vs GOP cities…right?

    😉

  5. energyNOW_Fan Avatar
    energyNOW_Fan

    Timely topic because NoVA Drinking Water quality has been in the news, but I have not had a chance to make an article about it:

    https://www.npr.org/local/305/2021/03/10/975620689/high-levels-of-forever-chemicals-detected-in-northern-virginia-drinking-water

    I am not sure LawnStarter should be the definitive source of water quality rankings. I was involved in measuring groundwater contaminants in the late 70’s when we were just starting out. trying to learn the new analytical techniques.

    Prior to Fairfax, we lived in South Jersey and Baton Rouge, both of which use groundwater for drinking, which can be extremely “pure” if it is taken from a clean aquifer source. Even then we had (in Jersey) natural radium/radon in the water, which was something elected officials had to decide how to deal with, and naturally elected officials said the radon was totally “Safe” as long we blended it down.

    So NoVA is the first place we lived with treated surface water, which can be more challenging to purify. Also it is hard water, which means the soap comes off your body fast. In Baton Rouge the water was so soft, you could never get the soap off. Good drinking water too. Here we filter with Britta, and when we first moved here, we bought bottled water.

  6. WayneS Avatar
    WayneS

    This does not surprise me. Public Utilities might be the most competent department in the city of Richmond.

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