This week's NEWS

Precautionary BWAs and AC pipe get attention in state primacy agency newsletters. Lead rears its ugly head again in D.C. schools. Manganese: Public health or aesthetics! Arsenic needs to not be above 0.010 ppm... yes, even 0.015 ppm is too high... and definitely not 700 ppm in bottled water. PPCPs pose uncertainty questions. Integrity in science is about more than potential conflicts of interest.

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State Updates

• Some states require reports beyond the CCR's and compliance with MCLs:
  • In Connecticut, the state is required to issue an annual Organics Report (PDF file, 250 K) on detections with risk and cost information
  • In California, larger public water suppliers must issue a triennial report on Public Health Goal "exceedance" and provide cost and risk information
• Florida's Floridan newsletter (PDF file, 4.36 MB)
  Commentary: Florida's guidelines for issuing "precautionary" Boil Water Advisories are featured as is the University of Florida's environmental training center... but nary a word about the Gators' "Repeat" at the big dance.
• Massachusetts's Winter In the Main quarterly newsletter (PDF file, 844 K) discusses potential problems with asbestos-cement pipe, including an assessment technique.
• We're #1! We're #1! Indiana Senate makes H2O the official state beverage
• Water systems get grants or loans in South Dakota and in Tennessee

Microbiological

• Was it the E. coli? The boil water thing? The lead paint? Massachusetts city goes for a new tank (Woburn Daily Times Chronicle, March 28)
• New WHO report: Combating Waterborne Disease at the Household Level

Water Treatment

• Vermont agency opts for second Lake Champlain intake for backup because of zebra mussels (Burlington Free Press, March 30)
• Pennsylvania city's water board authorizes watershed inventory (count and ID the trees!) and study of UV treatment (Bradford Era, March 27); they own the 12,000-acre forested watershed and have a "new" water treatment plant
• Wisconsin capital city has another chlorine-feed problem: This time it's too much; immediate corrective action minimized problem (Wisconsin State Journal, March 30)

Perchlorate

• California Representative's HR 1747 requires that EPA adopt an MCL for perchlorate (HR 1747 is not yet in print)  

Integrity in Science

• Editorial: Integrity in Science (Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology, March 2007)
  Commentary: Important issues including conflict of interest and falsifying data are covered.  The Editor says, "....the existence of a potential conflict does not translate into poor science. The transparency in funding and agency affiliation only allows the reader to consider all possibilities when judging the merit of the paper."

Annual Water Quality Report

• 'Tis the season to begin seeing water system's 2006 CCRs, aka AWQRs, including:
  • Asheville, NC (Asheville Citizen Times, March 30); the report from the city's website (PDF file, 711 K)
  • Illinois system's report will be published in the local newspaper but not delivered to consumers (Salem Times Commoner, March 30)

Iron/Manganese

• New Hampshire town has long history of "brown" water problems; cost to treat keeps going up (Laconia Citizen, March 30); high school students in mock city government get to the bottom line: Health issue or aesthetics? (Concord Monitor, March 30)
• Epi Study: Association between Manganese Exposure through Drinking Water and Infant Mortality in Bangladesh (Environmental Health Perspectives, March 27)
  Commentary: While the study suggests there might be an association, the authors appropriately discuss limitations of the study methodology and potentially confounding issues, and emphasize the need for confirmation through more studies. Some manganese levels were much higher than the WHO standard of 0.4 mg/l, which is eight times the U.S. secondary standard.

Arsenic

• New Mexico utility selects titanium-based media for arsenic removal (Market Wire, March 27)
• New report on the global impact of arsenic in drinking water (IRC International Water and Sanitation Center, March 27)
• Texas town's arsenic level sneaks above MCL; RO may be the answer? (KLBK, March 27)
• Michigan school district shuts off drinking fountains after high arsenic tests (Flint Journal News, April 3)
• Armenian-Americans defend bottled water: The high arsenic levels are still below the Armenian national standard of 700 ppm! (Los Angeles Times, April 2; free registration required)

Legal Issues

• Did Pennsylvania local water agency violate state open-meeting law in TCE discussion? (Pottstown Mercury, April 1)
• MTBE level in neighbor's well is now okay, but lawsuit continues (Kennebec Journal, March 29)
• Tampa Bay regional agency joins billion-dollar national MTBE lawsuit (Tampa Tribune, March 30)

Disinfection Byproducts

• Predictors of use and consumption of public drinking water among pregnant women (Abstract, Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology, March 2007)
  Commentary: Determining actual exposure via water use (drinking, bathing, etc.) is of utmost importance in epidemiological studies looking at possible health effects related to contaminants in water. This study should be helpful for future studies specific to DBPs and pregnancies.

Desalination

• Pilot seawater desalination plant moves ahead in Australia (Adelaide Advertiser, April 3)

Nitrate

• Canadian chicken manure "a matter of international concern" as it increases nitrates in aquifer that serves 100,000 in B.C. and U.S. (Vancouver Sun, March 29)
• California coastal city will use its desalination plant to avoid use of high nitrate wells... or to treat them along with seawater (San Luis Obispo Tribune, March 31)

NEWS CONTINUES BELOW

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Pharmaceuticals/Household Products

• Drugs and Household Products in the Water Supply - Does It Matter? (New York Times, April 3; free registration required)
  Commentary: Uncertainty is the key word in this thoughtful look at the issue of PPCPs getting in the drinking water. And the health-effects question definitely falls into that category: "...[it's] possible that some of the tens of thousands of chemicals that might find their way into water supplies are more dangerous in combination than they are separately... it’s perfectly possible that they counteract each other... assessing their risk in combination is a mathematical problem of impossible complexity. The combinatorics* of this are truly hopeless.” (*OED: The study of possible combinations or configurations)

Water Scams

• Australian officials warn consumers of door-to-door water scams precipitated by intense public debate on recycled water

Lead

• Three-fourths of D.C. schools have elevated lead levels in latest testing (Examiner, April 3)
• Durham, NC, cited for shortcomings in reporting of lead testing in 2006 (WRAL, March 28)
• Consumers advised that elevated lead was found in Minnesota town's 2006 water testing (WCCO, April 2); the city's notice on their website (PDF file, 65.4 K)

TCE

• Waterloo, Canada, provides bottled water after well water shows elevated TCE levels (Sherbrooke Record, March 26)

Atrazine

• Risk of breast cancer for women living in rural areas from adult exposure to atrazine from well water in Wisconsin (Abstract, Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology, March 2007)

Conferences

• AWWA's April 25 webcast on Riverbank Filtration
• AWWA's Annual Conference and Exposition is June 24-28 in Toronto
• 11th Annual Water Reuse Research Conference, June 4-5 in El Paso, TX

Water Reuse

• WateReuse Foundation adds another RFP
• Even in a drought, proposed gray water systems in California must jump lots of local government hurdles (Los Angeles Times, March 29; free registration required)
• $70 million project to recycle water for irrigation in Southern California desert area moves forward (Santa Clarita Signal, April 1)

Awards

• Maryland water system honored for regional drinking water project (USEPA Region 3 news release, March 28)
• South Dakota recognizes outstanding water system (Marshall County Journal, March 28)
• The Great American Water Taste Test is coming, and Missouri will be there (Springfield News Leader, March 28), as will Rhode Island (East Greenwich Independent, March 30) and Idaho (Twin Falls Times News, April 1), where even second place is celebrated (Twin Falls Times News, March 31) 

Perfluorochemicals

• 3M tells Minnesota legislators that PFCs are not a health concern, but it will take clean-up responsibility (Minneapolis Star Tribune, March 28)
• New research suggests PFCs get to Arctic via atmosphere (Environmental Science and Technology, March 29)

International

• New UN report on water quality and the environment: The Water Quality Outlook (PDF file, 1.4 MB)
• Victoria, AU's drinking water annual report
• British soldier credited with helping Iraqi community get safe drinking water (News Blaze, April 1)
• Water sources for 2.5 million Chinese are considered too contaminated for the existing treatment plants (China Daily, April 3)
• H2O Today: New Australian online radio program will cover all aspects of water
• U.S. and China sign an agreement to protect China's water resources (USEPA news release, March 30); the official MOU (PDF file, 49.1 K)
• WHO continues its rolling revision of the Guidelines for Drinking Water Quality with comments on a number of issues due by May 15: Levels of protection, Short-term exceedances for chemicals and emergency situations, Temporary water supplies; Rainwater harvesting; Waterborne pathogens; Water safety for travelers; Allocation factors for chemical guideline derivation; Household water; Radon; Vended water; Short-term exceedances for chemicals and emergency situations; Chemical hazards in drinking-water - pyriproxyfen

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