This week's NEWS

Private wells in Tahoe surveyed and the results aren't good. Canada wants your opinion on reclaimed water guidelines. Arsenic impact is global and researchers want to study impact on kids. South Carolina source water workshop is free!! How stringent should a perchlorate standard be?

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Federal Updates

• Louisiana water system owner is issued more administrative orders for SDWA non-compliance (USEPA Region 6 News Release, August 28)

State Updates

• Washington Fact Sheet: Transition from Stage 1 to Stage 2 Disinfection Byproducts Rule Monitoring
• Washington's September Water Tap newsletter (PDF file, 1.7 MB)

Water Reuse

• USEPA recognizes Cheyenne, WY, for its renovated water reclamation plant (USEPA region 8 News Release, August 24)
• Health Canada is looking for public comment on draft guidelines for household reclaimed water for use in toilet and urinal flushing; comment period ends November 9
• The WateReuse Foundation has two new research reports available

Disinfection Byproducts

• Research: Total Fluid and Water Consumption and the Joint Effect of Exposure to Disinfection By-Products on Risk of Bladder Cancer (Environmental Health Perspectives, August 29)
• Quarterly THM notice has Texas residents worried (Wichita Falls Times Record News, September 1)

NEWS CONTINUES BELOW

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MTBE

• Last payment from New York State Fund made to Nassau County to fund MTBE cleanup (New York Newsday, August 30)
• Maryland wells near a gas station tested as a precaution (Baltimore Sun, August 31)

Arsenic

• New research: Risk of arsenic-related skin lesions in Bangladeshi villages at relatively low exposure: a report from Gonoshasthaya Kendra (World Health Organization Bulletin, September 2007)
• Researchers find arsenic more widespread then previously thought – affecting over 137 million in over 70 countries (Royal Geographical Society media release, August 29)
• Texas water utility receives second notice from state of high arsenic level (The Monitor, August 30)
• Michigan kids add bottled water to school supplies in an area with arsenic problems (Flint Journal, September 3)
• California water system well slightly above the arsenic MCL (Maryville Appeal-Democrat, September 5)
• New England universities seek school board approval to study arsenic impact on children (Nashua Telegraph, September 5)
  Commentary: University of New Hampshire and Columbia are hoping to get at least 500 kids signed up for the continuation of this study that started last year with "dismal" (only 18 students) interest by parents and kids.

Lead

• Treatment changes bring lead levels down to safe level for North Carolina school (Winston-Salem Journal, September 1)
• Ontario, Canada, school board will continue to watch lead levels after early summer high levels (Woodstock Sentinel-Review, September 4)

Perchlorate

• Environmental groups want California perchlorate standard to be more stringent (Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, August 29)
• Feds and state may get more involved in Rialto, CA, perchlorate cleanup (Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, August 31)

Radium

• New York village shuts down well with high radium levels and looks for a treatment solution (Pawling News Chronicle, August 31)

Fluoridation

• Utah plant fluoride leak has advisory issued; spill contained and advisory lifted (Salt Lake Tribune, September 3)

NDMA

• Abstract: Estimation of the total daily oral intake of NDMA attributable to drinking water (Journal of Water and Health, Vol. 5, Number 3)

Desalination

• $500,000 desalination plant opens in South Australia (Adelaide Advertiser, August 24)

Microbiological

• Texas city council members want answers for all the water quality problems (KRIS TV, August 31)
• Massachusetts DEP warns residents to keep boiling water (New Bedford Standard-Times, September 5)
  Commentary: The source of E. coli that caused this seemingly endless disruption of a town's life (eight days of a boil water order) is not clear. The news story is a good description of how far-reaching the impacts are of a failure of the Total Coliform Rule. Who would have thought that the Dunkin Donuts store would be affected so drastically?
• Coliform in a Michigan school water supply has kids and staff drinking bottled water (Kalamazoo Gazette, September 4)
• New World Health Organization report: Legionella and the prevention of legionellosis
  Commentary: Download this interesting 276-page report for free! The 38 pages of references makes it worthwhile for all water quality folks to have this in their library. It contains more information on the superiority of chloramine disinfection – "Monochloramine is likely to be more effective for disinfection than free chlorine, because it is more resistant and a residual is more likely to persist to the point of delivery; also, it is more likely to penetrate biofilms." 

TCE

• Delaware community approves a referendum to fund water and wastewater improvements, including TCE treatment (Bethany Beach Wave, August 29)
• Wyoming community considers adding new source to water capacity – after it's treated for TCE (Wyoming Tribune-Eagle, August 31)

Source Water Protection

• USEPA's September Watershed News issue
  Commentary: Lots of interesting studies and resources available in this issue, including internet training classes for watershed management and free DVDs for school use of the TV special "After the Storm" on storm water management.
• South Carolina's free 2007 Source Water Protection Workshop will be September 27 in Columbia
• South Carolina watershed organization is one of the finalists to receive funding from USEPA's Targeted Watershed Grant Program (USEPA Region 4 News Release, August 28); the rest of the finalists

Private Wells

• Iowa officials investigate fish kill; nearby private well owners warned to avoid water (IA DNR news release, August 31)
• Private wells in South Lake Tahoe have high MTBE and PCE levels; local water supply is not affected (Tahoe Daily Tribune, September 3); expanded testing over the weekend finds more problems (Carson City Nevada Appeal, September 4)

International

• Australia's water minister says Sydney's blooming algae is not a health risk (Sydney Morning Herald, September 3)
• Massive growth of water hyacinth in China river threatens supply (Epoch Times, September 3)

Conferences

• The Association of State Drinking Water Administrators Annual Conference will be October 1-4 in Boca Raton, FL (PDF file, 2.31 MB)

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