PONTIAC - Flushing old pharmaceuticals down the drain can endanger the drinking water supply, and a Pontiac teacher and his students want people to do something about it.

Pontiac Township High School science teacher Paul Ritter and his ecology class students presented information on the subject Wednesday to area pharmaceutical retailers and city officials.

"Water is so precious and we need to make sure that we can take care of it," Ritter said. "There are so many people around the world who don't have good drinking water and I think we take it for granted.

"Like the saying says, we will never know the value of water until the well runs dry."

While people worry about contaminants like arsenic, mercury and asbestos, drugs also can pollute the water supply, they said. They cited studies linking contaminants to animal mutations, such as hermaphroditic fish, and even the possible development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Ritter would like to see people bring their unused or expired medications back to the retailers or manufacturers for disposal. A program could be put into place by January, Ritter said.

"When we came into the meeting, we were all very unsure of what was going to happen and we tried to put our best foot forward to get something done positively," he said. "I think we will see a lot of good come out of it."

Local representatives from Walgreen, Wal-Mart Supercenter, Sartoris Super Drugs, Kmart, Illinois American Water Co., the Pontiac wastewater treatment plant and Pontiac city government attended.

"What I like about this is that you are taking a proactive stance in taking action and not just complaining about things," Pontiac Mayor Scott McCoy said. "That's what the world needs is people doing something about what we have and not placing blame."

Ritter said that he would continue to talk with the various organizations next week to see if the program could be set up.