This week's NEWS

There is still time to get in on the TCR preparatory webcast by NOON today. Is this the way to notify customers of elevated nitrate levels? Lake Okeechobee's size and lack of depth aggravate water quality problems for Florida system. Excellent training opportunities are coming up on GWR and other SDWA issues. How are state drinking water regulatory programs funded? Arkansas provides an example. Results of perchlorate testing in crops grown with Colorado River water makes farmers happy.

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Federal Updates

• Webcast on Total Coliform Rule revisions is TODAY, Wednesday, January 17 at 2 pm EST. You can register up until noon EST. There are lots of background documents at this site.
• USEPA's Drinking Water Academy has a number of good webcasts coming up on Stage 2 DBPR and LT2ESWTR, Risk Communication, Sanitary Surveys

Regulatory Training

• February 2, AWWA seminar on ISDE required under Stage 2 DBPR
• February 7, AWWA webcast: "Ground Water Rule and Its Impacts"

State Updates

• Arkansas' Winter Drinking Water Update (PDF file, 903 K) discusses proposed PWS fee increase (PDF file, 57.3 K)
• California's updated guidance for 2006 Consumer Confidence Reports (PDF file, 1.22 MB)
• Colorado's draft Stage 2 D/DBPR and Long Term 2 ESWTR; public comment by February 16
• Connecticut has issued a Call for Projects for its 2007 DWSRF program
• Louisiana wants proposals for its Compliance Initiative Program (PDF file, 157 K)
  Commentary: The CIP is a program for providing assistance and training for public water systems to help with compliance with the SDWA.
• Washington water use efficiency rule to become effective January 22
• Current issue of Wyoming's Environmental Assistant newsletter (PDF file, 782 K)

Water Treatment

• Austin, TX, selects site for new $250 million water treatment plant, but not everyone is happy with the choice! (Austin American Statesman, January 12)
• New regional water treatment plant will wean Florida community off of huge, shallow Lake Okeechobee and high chemical costs... residents are thrilled! (South Florida Sun Sentinel, January 16); Palm Beach County Water Utilities Department has four existing water treatment plants
• Pennichuck WW, Inc., completes second phase of $40 million water treatment plant improvement project in New Hampshire (Portsmouth Herald, January 13)
• UF membrane treatment installed to remove iron in Illinois system (Chicago Daily Herald, January 14)

Invasive Species

• Hitchhiking shrimp invades Great Lakes (Environment Report, January 8); more on the bloody red mysids (Lobster Fact Blog, January 2)
• Zebra mussel makes it over the Continental Divide: Not welcome in Lake Mead (Las Vegas Sun, January 11); editorial: All-out assault is needed! (Las Vegas Sun, January 12); the good news AND the bad news about the invaders! (Las Vegas Sun, January 13)

Microbiological

• Symposium on microbial detection in soil and water, January 30 in Savannah, GA  (Note: This is part of the larger USDA-CREES Water Quality Conference; see Source Water Protection below)
• Frozen water gage results in outage; outage results in BWA in California town (ABC 30 News, January 12)
• New Mexico town lifts BWA issued after corrective measures resolve E. coli detection (Portales News-Tribune, January 11)
• Fallon, NV, issues all-clear; earlier coliform findings not related to recent replacement of arsenic water treatment plant backwash tank or main break (Lahontan Valley News, January 11)

Radium

• South Carolina town may have received its last notice on high radium (Aiken Standard, January 13)
  Commentary: Since 1999, the town of Aiken, SC, has been notifying residents that their water contained excessive radium levels. But now they have a new well and hope their problem is gone. The town deserves The Courageous Optimist medal for drilling their new well along Atomic Road!

Lead

• Massachusetts city advises customers to replace service lines because of elevated lead results (Malden Observer, January 12); The City of Malden's public notice
• Followup sampling at University of Colorado hospital facilities does not confirm earlier "non-standard" sampling results (UCHSC, January 12)

Perchlorate

• Lower Colorado River Basin crops fare well in perchlorate testing (Western Farm Press, January 11)
• Perchlorate plume from fire training center is "manageable," says Massachusetts county official (Barnstable Patriot, January 12)
• Regulatory board sets hearing on large Southern California perchlorate plume (Riverside Press Enterprise, January 12)

Cross-Connection Control

• Nebraska city requires all customers to answer survey on cross-connections (Beatrice Daily Sun, January 11)

Arsenic

• Idaho city sets pecking order: New well and arsenic treatment trump City Hall, which then trumps the Fire Department (Twin Falls Times News, January 12)
• Arizona private water company appeals state's order to provide bottled water and address arsenic non-compliance (Prescott Daily Courier, January 13)
• Pakistan survey targets low-cost treatment and small arsenic labs (Pakistan Daily Times, January 15)
• Environmental Health Perspectives: New Abstracts
  • Health Effect of Exposure to Natural Arsenic from Groundwater and Coal in China: An Overview of Occurrence
  • Water Arsenic and Fluoride Exposure and Children’s Intelligence Quotient and Growth in Shanyin County, Shanxi, China
  • Urinary Arsenic Metabolites in Children and Adults Exposed to Arsenic in Drinking Water in Inner Mongolia, China
  • Pulmonary Biomarkers Based on Alterations in Protein Expression Following Exposure to Arsenic

   

NEWS CONTINUES BELOW

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Miscellaneous

• Editorial: New council chair forms Drinking Water Oversight Committee to "restore" public confidence in Leominster, MA, water (Fitchburg Sentinel, January 10)
• Residents of small British Columbia, Canada, MHP want improvements (Williams Lake Tribune, January 11)
  Commentary: Picky, picky, picky! Consumer complains about a little "debris like twigs, wood mulch, tree needles and small pebbles" in the water.

Fluoridation

• One customer's letter prompts New Hampshire city councilman to ask for review of city's longtime fluoridation (Laconia Citizen, January 10)
• Yarmouth, MA, starts down the rocky road toward fluoridating drinking water with health board's recommendation (Yarmouthport Register, January 10)
• Wisconsin health officials push for fluoridation startup in several cities' fluoridation (Ironwood Daily Globe, January 11)
• Florida water district can't stop fluoridation; county ordinance requiring it takes precedence (Treasure Coast Palm, January 12)
• Florida city's fluoridation treatment facilities are in place... but activation awaits vote by residents (Treasure Coast Palm, January 13)
• Oregon dental and public health groups optimistic that fluoridation-mandate legislation will pass (Mail Tribune, January 14)

Water Violations

• Massachusetts water system fined for failure to install well treatment (Mass DEP News release, January 12)

Nitrate

• Nitrate levels drop below MCL in Ohio town's tap water (Marietta Times, January 13)

MTBE

• Controversy about ground water cleanup creates snag for New York water utility's plans for air-stripping treatment facility (White Plains Journal News, January 15)
• Nine years after gasoline spill, MTBE still lingers in Massachusetts ground water (Lowell Sun, January 9)
• Cancer study stirs concern in Massachusetts neighborhood impacted by gasoline spills (Westford Eagle, January 10)
• Lake Tahoe gas station owner ordered to continue MTBE cleanup... maybe down to the last part per billion? (Tahoe Daily Tribune, January 15)
• Oregon school well tainted with MTBE; public utility may provide solution (KOIN News 6, January 16)

Source Water Protection

• USDA-CSREES' National Water Conference (1/28 to 2/1 in Savannah, GA) is filled with source water presentations
  Commentary: ...not the least of which is the "First Record of Troglobitic Isopods Inhabiting Non-Karstic Drinking Water Wells in Georgia."
• USEPA's January Watershed News

Private Wells

• Three Illinois private wells contaminated with vinyl chloride (Northwest Herald, January 13)

Water Reuse and Desalination

• Recycling bill would boost California water supply (Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, January 12) ; H.R. 122 introduced by Congressman Dreier (PDF file, 38K)
• New homes in Melbourne, AU, area will have "mandatory" water recycling systems for non-drinking water uses (ABC Australia, January 15), and Victorian government switches gears and moves toward $1 billion desal plant (Australian, January 16)
• Latest issue of Water Reuse News

International

• Health Canada's draft technical document on chloral hydrate in drinking water is available for public comment until February 21
• Israeli residents notified of elevated nitrates in drinking water (Haaretz, January 11)
• Northern Marianas Island city's wells and treatment interrupted by thefts of copper wire (Saipan Tribune, January 11)
• Salt "intrusion" forces South China cities to go upstream for water (Planet Ark, January 16)

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