This week's NEWS

Are public notices with mandatory health-effects language a service to consumers or "reckless"? A plethora of issues in the world of water microbiology. Bottled water comes out in second place at 9000 feet. Major prize goes to chemistry professor for simple, affordable arsenic treatment technology. Treatment technologies for complying with California reclaimed water requirements are listed. 

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Federal Updates

• U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee sets its subcommittee membership including the SDWA oversight subcommittee; its counterpart in the House of Representatives is a subcommittee of the Energy and Commerce committee 

State Updates

• Ohio's Drinking Water Source Protection Update outlines 2006 accomplishments
• Vermont outlines water quality monitoring schedules for water systems for 2007
• Washington's February Water Tap newsletter features DWSRF (PDF file, 703 K)

Microbiological

• Indiana microbiologist sentenced in federal court in Vermont for producing false scientific data to USEPA (Rutland Herald, February 1)
• AWWA publication: Rapid Screening of Pathogens in Water
• Journal of Water and Health features articles on a variety of water-related microbial issues, including A Comparison Study of Ten USEPA-approved Total Coliform/E. coli Methods (Abstracts, Journal of Water and Health, 2007)
• The Program for Monitoring Emerging Diseases (ProMedMail) is a valuable source of infectious disease reporting worldwide; one example: A water-related outbreak of tularemia in Georgia (not the USA)
• Vermont assesses school disinfection needs - Is this the GWR at work? (Addison Independent, February 5)

Fluoridation

• Florida system gets fluoride shipment and treatment is back online (Palm Beach Post, February 1)
• Vote on a Massachusetts town's fluoridation is not likely (Attleboro Sun Chronicle, February 2)
  Commentary: A primer on local government in Massachusetts is needed when reading about the disputes that rage over fluoridation. The idea of "electing" members of a Board of Health is foreign to many in other states where health panels are populated by health professionals. And the concept of a local Board of Health suing a town's public works department... well, that's just plain un-American... isn't it?
• Oregon lags behind other states in drinking water fluoridation... but controversy is not unique there (Oregonian, February 1); an interesting graphic on fluoridation in the USA (PDF file, 396 K)

Bottled Water

• Salem, OR, may bottle its "award-winning" water for promotional purposes (Salem Statesman Journal, February 5)
• Bottler blames public water system for its coliform problems, but state says "not so" (Denver Post, February 5); bottled, tap water subject to different regulations (Denver Post, February 5)
  Commentary: The small, innovative water bottler BIOTA (Blame It On The Altitude) loses in its "blame it on the town" approach when the state regulators not only say the town water is completely safe but that they "prefer" to drink it. But, give BIOTA credit for their biodegradable bottles and for trademarking the phrase "The Protected Source" referencing the town's 9000-plus-feet-high spring.

Perfluorochemicals

• Minnesota disposal site is focus of state order for study of "pump and treat" operation by 3M (Minneapolis Star Tribune, February 2)
• Public information meetings for communities affected by perfluorobutanoic acid (PFBA) ground water contamination and Minnesota provides detailed information on PFCs
• DuPont plans to eliminate making or using PFOA by 2015 (Associated Press, February 5)

Perchlorate

• Iowa town faces perchlorate dilemma! (Iowa City Press Citizen, February 6)
  Commentary: The question for Hills, IA (Where Town and Country Meet!): Should the approximately 90% of families with deeper wells (and no perchlorate) bear the cost of a new PWS because of the 25-30 homes with perchlorate-contaminated shallow wells? While there likely are other good reasons for a town water system, they may not be strong enough to get people to give up their wells in exchange for a $50/month water bill and restrictions on water use.
• Conflict between regulatory boards = hearing officer resignation = cloud over ground water cleanup in Southern California (San Bernardino County Sun, February 2), so it is back to Plan A: State board will hear case to avoid charge of bias (San Bernardino County Sun, February 6)
• Another look at the perchlorate standard-setting conflict (LA Daily News, February 5)

Disinfection Byproducts

• Ohio city's TTHM MCL exceedance results in notice; city official says mandated language is "reckless" (WTOV 9, February 2) (Note: click on "Video: water warning" to see how TV coverage raises the decibel level!)
  Commentary: The quarterly test results showed that TTHMs were at 139 ppb. The city's CCR shows the maximum TTHM levels in 2005 were about 60 ppb. The city's new water treatment plant features Superpulsator technology (PDF file, 97.2 K) but it is not clear if the new plant is now operating. (An interesting history of the early 1800s system and the 1915 treatment plant (PDF file, 178 K) is on the city's website.)

Arsenic

• NAE awards prizes for solutions to arsenic problems (National Academies Press Release, February 5); GMU chemistry professor, who is a native of Bangladesh, had the $1 million answer (Washington Post, February 1)
  Commentary: The awards are for "effective techniques for reducing arsenic levels in water. The systems must be affordable, reliable, easy to maintain, socially acceptable, and environmentally friendly. All of the winning systems meet or exceed the local government guidelines for arsenic removal and require no electricity."  
• Canadian town faces $6 million cost to meet new arsenic guideline (Orangeville Citizen, February 1)
• New Hampshire town shuts down its standby well with slightly elevated arsenic (Exeter Union Leader, February 2)
• Prescott, AZ, rides to the rescue: Low arsenic water is flowing but private owner is still not showing... a good plan to state regulators (Prescott Daily Courier, February 5)

NEWS CONTINUES BELOW

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BTEX

• Decreased levels of benzene may enable Florida agency to reactivate well field (Miami Herald, February 3)
• New York school system's wells are toluene-free... so where is it coming from? (Poughkeepsie Journal, February 4)

Desalination

• AWWA publication: Desalination of Seawater and Brackish Water
• Marin, CA, report: "Seawater desalination can be a viable, reliable and drought-proof drinking water source;" projected costs are higher (Marin Independent Journal, February 5)

Radium

• Joliet, IL, commits to $50 million, 10 treatment facilities on wells to reduce radium by end of year (Chicago Tribune, February 2)

MTBE

• Gas station with checkered past linked to MTBE leak that caused New York water district to notify customers (Newsday, February 6)
• USEPA has an MTBE brochure for private well owners (PDF file, 357 K)

Source Water/Watershed Protection

• Delaware citizens' group struggles with property rights and other issues re: county ordinance to protect ground water recharge areas (Lewes Cap Gazette, February 5)
  Commentary: The conflicts prompted "exasperated committee member Mable Granke of Rehoboth Beach to say, 'We’ve been replowing ground here till the furrows have to be 10 feet deep.'”
• USEPA's February Watershed News
• Watershed management conference by ASABE (American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers), March 11-14 in San Antonio

Water Reuse

• State health department updates list of filtration and disinfection systems that have been approved to meet California requirements: Treatment Technology Report for Recycled Water (PDF file, 226 K)
• Editorial: "Political stunts" and "glib opposition proposals" = cheap rhetoric that muddies the recycling discussions (Sydney Morning Journal, February 5)  
  Commentary: The editorial begs the question "Just how strong can the 'shandy' be?"  But that presumes some understanding of the word. Searching lists of unique Australian idioms and slang did not help. The Oxford English Dictionary defines shandy as "wild, boisterous, empty-headed, half-crazy." Its usage suggests it refers to the amount of dilution, but that just might be an empty-headed guess!

Conferences

• AWWA's Membrane Technology Conference, March 18-21 in Tampa, FL

Private Wells

• Lower nitrate levels may be transitory for some well owners in Michigan (Traverse City Record Eagle, February 4), and in some Michigan counties, residents can get free water-quality risk assessments and nitrate screenings (Battle Creek Enquirer, February 5)
• Bottled water provided to Pennsylvania well owners with TCE contamination (Hagerstown Herald Mail, February 2)

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