New Tests Show 17 Percent Of Planes Still Contaminated

Far from improving, it appears the drinking water on board commercial passenger aircraft is actually getting worse. Now, the EPA is warning passengers with "compromised" immune systems: Don't drink the water.

New EPA tests show 17.2 percent of the drinking water on board passenger aircraft is contaminated with coliform bacteria, often found in the intestines of humans and other mammals.

That's up from the 12.7 percent found contaminated during a similar study in August.

We didn't think the numbers would be that high," said Cynthia Bergman, the EPA's press secretary, who was quoted by the Los Angeles Times. "The numbers raised our concern. It warrants continued scrutiny."

Two of the aircraft tested in August showed positive for the deadly E. Coli bacteria, considered much more dangerous. Back then, airlines agreed to not only test the drinking water on board their planes, but to placard systems found unsafe and to either remove the contamination or pull the aircraft from service.

ATA Response

The Air Transport Association cast doubt on the EPA findings Wednesday, saying the EPA's failure to find additional instances of E. Coli contamination shows the drinking water aboard commercial passenger aircraft is indeed getting safer.

"They found no harmful bacteria in the second round of tests," said ATA spokesman Doug Wills in an interview with the Times. "We believe this underscores what we've been saying all along: Airline drinking water is safe, and the public shouldn't be alarmed."

"Once again, the EPA chose to include samples from aircraft lavatories, which are essentially public restrooms, where there’s a high potential for cross-contamination of samples," said Nancy Young, ATA’s managing director of environmental programs and associate general counsel. "We’re also concerned that many of the samples came from international carriers that the agency does not regulate."

The Times, however, asked the EPA's acting chief of enforcement, Tom Skinner, whether he would drink the water aboard a passenger aircraft. No way, Skinner said. He won't even brush his teeth with it.

FMI: www.epa.gov, www.airlines.org