Contaminated water still plagues airlines

0 Comments | USA TODAY, January, 2005 | by Elizabeth Weise

Random tests of the water aboard 169 U.S. passenger planes conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency in November and December found contamination by fecal coliform bacteria on about 17% of them -- almost 5% more than was found in tests done in August and September.

And there's a clue to a possible source of the contamination: Only 4.8% of the faucets in airplane galleys produced contaminated water, but 15.5% of the lavatory faucets did.

"It's not hard to speculate why the bathrooms might be dirtier than the galleys," says Tom Skinner of the EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance.

The EPA is investigating the sources of the contamination. Among the possibilities: local water supplies, unsanitary water-hose nozzles, incorrect tank-filling...