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More chloramine problems reported
Nearly a dozen Mountain View residents now say tap water disinfectant is harmful

by Daniel DeBolt

News coverage by the Voice and other local papers since last summer has caused a significant number of Mountain View residents to come forward with health problems they say are caused by the region's chloraminated tap water, according to a local group which tracks the issue.

Citizens Concerned about Chloramine says that so far 11 complaints have been reported in Mountain View alone, up from zero about eight months ago. The group says hundreds of people have reported problems — from mild to severe — on the Peninsula.

One of the new reports came from Beth Wilson, a swimmer and Mountain View resident who says she has coughing spells after breathing tap water vapors.

"Either we're the canary in the mine or we're just more sensitive," said Wilson, 46, who is also worried about increasing respiratory problems with her children. "I can't believe it affects someone as healthy as I am. It's hard for me to believe it's not affecting the general population."

A day after Wilson and her family moved to Mountain View, the long-time distance swimmer developed a hoarse voice and a very deep cough that sounded like a "seal bark" she said.

Wilson searched for a solution to her respiratory problems for three months until she read an article about chloramine and called her doctor in Boulder, Colo. The doctor guessed right away that chloramine was the problem, she said.

Wilson said anyone who doesn't believe her can watch her run the dishwasher without a door or window open. The water vapors will put her into a coughing spell, she says.

Mountain View resident Bijan Haghighi told the Voice that his wife has similar reactions while the coffee machine runs in their kitchen.

Respiratory problems and dry, bleeding skin have been reported by hundreds of Peninsula residents since 2004, when the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission replaced chlorine with chloramine — a chemical consisting of chlorine plus ammonia — to meet more stringent EPA water disinfection standards.

Wilson, who was a competitive swimmer throughout much of her life, travels to Morgan Hill regularly to shower and swim in that area's non-chloraminated water. She said she's never had a problem with straight chlorine in a pool, but once ammonia is added to make chloramine, the problems emerge.

Once in a while Wilson forgets while brushing her teeth and puts her toothbrush under running tap water. The next day, she said, she'll have a stomach ache.

Gunjan Chakravarty, a former San Jose State University physicist, told the Voice that her 8-year-old daughter has had to steer clear of chloraminated water or suffer from dry, bleeding skin. She and her husband also get red skin after bathing, she said, but the symptoms are not as bad their daughter's.

She added that the family has had the problem while living in two different residences in Mountain View.

State Assembly member Ira Ruskin, who represents several mid-Peninsula cities, plans to author a bill this year that would pay for a study on the human health effects of choraminated tap water.

"I'm concerned about the people who have relayed the difficulties they have had as a result of the water," Ruskin said two weeks ago. "My research shows there have not been sufficient studies of this."

E-mail Daniel DeBolt at ddebolt@mv-voice.com