This week's NEWS

Four large U.S. utilities can hit the security jackpot! Ontario, Canada, orders more cities to initiate lead sampling, but "five-minute flush" protocol is criticized. Hexavalent chromium causes concern in Los Angeles-area ground water as risk assessors ponder recent study results. UV may be the answer to California open reservoir compliance issue. Two chlorine gas seminars coming up. Water connoisseurs and sommeliers have one thing in common: A trowel!

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Federal Updates

• Final EPA Guidance Manual on simultaneous compliance with LT2ESWTR and Stage 2 DBP rule
• Uncle Sam wants you! ...for demonstration pilot projects on water quality security (Federal Register, May 29)
  Commentary: WANTED! Four public water systems serving >3/4 million people to cooperate in pilot security programs with funding from 3-12 million dollars. Twenty percent match is required. Surveillance of consumer complaints and disease occurrence are required components along with online water quality and enhanced security monitoring.
• SAB sets public meetings for its review of USEPA's 2007 Report on the Environment (Federal Register, May 29)

State Updates

• Who says there is no free lunch? Oklahoma schedules free operator certification renewal training

Disinfection Byproducts

• The Healthy Men Study: an Evaluation of Exposure to Disinfection By-Products in Tap Water and Sperm Quality (Environmental Health Perspectives, May 22)
  Commentary: This well-controlled study found no association between drinking water DBPs near or below MCLs and adverse sperm outcomes in humans.

Water Snobbery

• What does a "water connoisseur" think about... well, water?
  Commentary: See the comments posted after this article... they say it all. Dave Barry once described a "sommelier" as someone who has a God-given ability to lay it on with a trowel. A fit description for this so-called connoisseur!

Arsenic

• California city exceeds arsenic MCL by just a little; customers notified of progress toward treatment on 7 of 16 wells at about $1 million per well (Tri Valley Herald, May 27); Manteca's letter (PDF file, 48 K)
• Arsenic levels (above 7 ppb) result in Australian government determination that "the drinking water is not drinking water" (The Age, May 28); the official government notice (PDF file, 114 K)
• Arsenic Exposure and Cognitive Performance in Mexican School Children (Environmental Health Perspectives, May 22)

PCBs

• New York towns want safe water during GE's dredging of PCBs in Hudson River (Troy Record, May 25) 
  Commentary: Citizen concerns about resuspension of PCBs into drinking water from the Hudson River are heightened as GE falls short of everyone's expectations for preventative measures during the billion-dollar cleanup. Increased carbon usage is proposed but is not acceptable to local officials who want an alternate piped supply. And what's a few million dollars more?

Compliance

• Canadian water system fined for "technical" infractions in 2003-2005 (Timmins Daily Press, May 25)

Lead

• D.C.'s water utility settles with EPA; will pay $10,000 penalty for data/reporting problems in 2005 (USEPA news release, May 22)
• More on the lead issue in Canada:
  • 36 Ontario systems ordered to do lead sampling; opposition politicians cite 7-year-old post-Walkerton report's recommendation (Toronto Globe and Mail, May 24)
  • Conservative Party leader says testing is flawed: Not enough samples and only after five-minute flushing (Timmins Daily Press, May 28)
  • Hamilton ordered to test; 2001 tests showed 30% above lead limits but which testing protocol followed? (Hamilton Spectator, May 24)
  • Niagara Falls... the Canadian city... will voluntarily do lead sampling (Niagara Falls Review, May 24)
  • London schools change their mind; will test (London Free Press, May 25)
    Commentary: Hopefully, the London school boards are right in their prediction that the testing of many pre-1989 buildings (lead solder was banned that year) will NOT show lead problems because they have no lead service lines. But they must not have read about the experience of the Seattle school district.
  • Saskatchewan city's tests show only 2 of 50 above limit (Prince Albert Daily Herald, May 23)

Hexavalent Chromium

• Los Angeles shuts down well as chromium level increases; EPA and state criticized for no long-range solution to threat to city's major ground water source (Los Angeles Daily News, May 26)

Security

• California city looks at minor security breaches at water facilities (Whittier Daily News, May 29)

Manganese

• New Jersey town's leader doesn't accept utility's explanation for last month's brown water episode; will get a consultant (Bergen County Record, May 24); United Water's press release

TCE

• New York village shuts down well with 10 ppb TCE in "raw" water before treatment plant (New York Newsday, May 24)

NEWS CONTINUES BELOW

Malcolm Pirnie Membrane Filtration Services The promulgation of the Long-Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule (LT2ESWTR) established the first federal regulatory framework for membrane filtration, including microfiltration (MF), ultrafiltration (UF), nanofiltration (NF), and reverse osmosis (RO) systems applied for rule compliance. Many states are expected to adopt this framework for membrane regulation as well. Working in conjunction with the USEPA, Malcolm Pirnie has been involved in the development of the Membrane Filtration Guidance Manual in support of the LT2ESWTR. As a result, the company has in-depth expertise with respect to the new regulatory framework and how it will be applied to both new and existing facilities. Malcolm Pirnie can lend its unique experience to provide assistance throughout the project development process, including planning, piloting, equipment procurement, design, construction, and start-up, to ensure system compliance. For more information, please contact Brent Alspach at BAlspach@pirnie.com.

Nitrate

• Ground water nitrates from agriculture on Prince Edward Island get front-and-center attention in election (Epoch Times, May 24)

Water Treatment

• UV treatment for open distribution reservoir in Southern California gets state approval (North County Times, May 29)
• Solvent mistakenly injected into Montana Indian reservation water system; do-not-drink advisory issued (Billings Gazette, May 26); bottled water provided; conservation urged as flushing continues (Great Falls Tribune, May 27); flushing progresses and water may be okay by week's end (Great Falls Tribune, May 29)

Desalination

• GE teams with Poseidon on San Diego County desal plant; GE's UF membranes will be used (San Diego Union Tribune, May 25)

Legal Issues

• New Hampshire wins appeal on MTBE; case against oil companies will be tried in state court (Concord Monitor, May 25)

Water Reuse

• USGS studies attenuation of 60-year wastewater plume in Massachusetts ground water
  Commentary: Reuse advocates may react negatively to inclusion of this site under the reuse umbrella since the discharge and the treatment provided to the wastewater were designed to facilitate reuse.  But ground water recharge with treated wastewater is reuse, and the information derived from studies like this USGS project can enlighten future efforts. 
• Presentations from May 9 seminar: The Future of Water Reuse in the State of Maryland include a full-on advocacy slide show on micro issues (PDF file, 1.11 MB) by a Florida state environmental official

Microbiological

• Online preview of Journal of Water and Health features a number of drinking water-related micro issues

Webcasts

• AWWA June 6 Webcast - Chlorine Gas and Inherently Safer Technology, not to be confused with AMWA's June 19 seminar on chlorine issues (Note: The two are not mutually exclusive and will cover different aspects!)

Uranium

• Grand Rounds: Nephrotoxicity In A Young Child Exposed To Uranium From Contaminated Well Water  (Environmental Health Perspectives, May 22)

PFCs

• An excellent summary of research on PFCs in people and how it gets there (Environmental Science and Technology, May 23); do PFCs in Arctic animals come from current atmospheric or legacy oceanic sources? (Environmental Science and Technology, May 23)

Private Wells

• New York county board passes law requiring private well testing (Westchester News, May 26)
• Buried debris from hurricanes may pose risk to rural area wells (Biloxi Sun Herald, May 23)

General Water Reporting

• Understanding Vermont's and New Hampshire's water (Burlington Free Press, May 25)
• U.S. News and World Report's May 27 issue features "water problems:"
  • Analysis of U.S. "water woes" which pale alongside...
  • A look at worldwide problem

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