This week's NEWS

USEPA kicks off the new year with LCR, TCR, IRIS, and a new pinup poster. Ohio breaks the mold on BWAs? State regulators get guidance on implementing new LCR short-term revisions. Distribution systems focus research on microbiological issues. Choice of conference in late January may depend on skiing preference: Snow or water?

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Federal Updates

• Lead and Copper Rule: USEPA provides state primacy agencies a draft of regulatory guidance on recent amendments
• TCR/DS Advisory Committee will meet again: January 16 and 17 in Washington, D.C. (Federal Register, December 21)
• USEPA announces its 2008 agenda for IRIS – Integrated Risk Information System (Federal Register, December 21)
• Useful USEPA poster: Removing Multiple Contaminants in Drinking Water (PDF file, 366 K)

State Updates

• Nebraska's December Water Spout focuses on training and needs survey (PDF file, 501 K)
• California's IESWTR is effective January 12 (PDF file, 245 K)
• Minnesota's latest list of draft health risk limits for ground water
• Updated OpCert info for California: Treatment exams are changing in 2008
• New Year's Resolution for Ohio: Don't take tap water for granted! (Port Clinton News Herald, December 26)

Lead and Copper

• USEPA's draft guidance documents on new "short-term" changes to LCR available for public input until January 31
  Commentary: The short-term revisions relate primarily to public education and lead line replacement for systems that EXCEED an Action Level, but every utility should review the changes as there are nuanced revisions, such as required notification even when Action Levels are not exceeded. Appendix D (PDF file, 322 K) is a helpful version of the LCR with changes noted in red for easy assessment.
• New Jersey regional system notifies consumers of slightly high lead levels (West Paterson Herald News, January 1); Passaic Valley Water Commission notice indicates actions taken by the utility
• Old Missouri mining site leaches lead into local private wells; bottled water provided (St. Louis Post Dispatch, December 31)

Arsenic

• Small Michigan city contracts to have water treatment plant installed... by July 1 (Hillsdale Daily Times, December 28); New Hampshire city puts $10 million treatment facility on ballot (Hampton Union, December 28)
• "Largest micro filter arsenic removal facility in the world" to be dedicated in New Mexico (MSN News, December 31)
• Nitrate levels add to California town's plans to fix arsenic problem (Manteca Bulletin, December 20)

Compliance

• State places small Arizona system with water quality problems under control of larger utility (Nogales International, December 28)
  Commentary: When a system does not have the TMF (Technical, Managerial, Financial) capacity required under the SDWA, regulators sometimes must find a competent entity to operate the system and must provide it with the means to do so.
• Indiana town cited for forgetting to take DBP samples (Muncie Star Press, December 25)

NDMA

• Research report: Estimation of the total daily oral intake of NDMA attributable to drinking water (Health Streams, December)

Microbiological

• Retrospective study shows that coagulation/filtration reduced the incidence of cryptosporidiosis in Loch Lomond, Scotland (Emerging Infectious Diseases, January 2008)
• Wisconsin city increases chlorine levels as precaution against possibility of viruses in ground water (Madison Commons, December 21)
  Commentary: Some would say that this article represents much ado about nothing. The chlorine residual increase reported is from 0.2 to 0.3 ppm. The TTHM levels are in the 10-to-20-ppb range.
• Main breaks have Ohio city folks boiling their water (Akron Beacon Journal, December 24) (Editor's note: See Ohio under State Updates above)
• Rhode Island city issues BWA because of main break and revokes it three days later (Rhode Island Dept of Health Media Releases, December 26 and 28)
• Reports on research into distribution system micro issues:
  • Contamination of Potable Water Distribution System by Multi-Antimicrobial Resistant E. coli (Environmental Health Perspectives, December 21)
  • Distribution system health study (Health Streams, December)
  • Prevalence of bacterial pathogens in biofilms of drinking water distribution systems (Health Streams, December)
  • Implications of biofilm-associated waterborne Cryptosporidium oocysts for the water industry (Health Streams, December)

Cross-Connection Control

• Gastrointestinal illness linked to contamination of drinking water with partially treated wastewater via cross-connection in Netherlands, 2001 (Health Streams, December)

Water Research

• AwwaRF has revised guidelines for unsolicited research proposals (PDF file, 124 K)

Fluoride

• New treatment system to address high (5.5 ppm) natural fluoride levels in small Virginia community (Virginian-Pilot, December 24)

Fluoridation

• Small Florida city gets state grant to re-build and re-start its fluoridation operation (Emerald Coast news, December 27)
• Fluoridation supporters in Utah county win for the third time; county officials put anti-fluoridation measure on ballot illegally (Salt Lake Tribune, December 27)
• Missouri anti-fluoridation crusader gives up fight (Rolla Daily News, December 27)

NEWS CONTINUES BELOW

UV Disinfection Services With finalization of the Long-Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule (LT2ESWTR), ultraviolet (UV) disinfection can be one of the most cost-effective treatment methods to ensure continued regulatory compliance. To help you decide if UV disinfection is right for your water system, Malcolm Pirnie, Inc. can provide assistance throughout the design process, from technology evaluation to construction and startup assistance. Because of our long-time involvement with regulatory agencies, Malcolm Pirnie offers in-depth understanding and expertise in research projects, regulatory compliance, and design of UV disinfection facilities for drinking water and wastewater facilities. We recognize that resources are limited and can help you find alternative sources of funding, the right equipment procurement strategy, and innovative approaches for retrofitting or upgrading existing facilities. For more information, visit our website to meet the UV disinfection experts: Christine Cotton and Sam Jeyanayagam.

Invasive Species

• Quagga mussels found in fifth San Diego reservoir (San Diego Union Tribune, December 25); mussels originating in Colorado River system are now in a number of Southern California reservoirs (Los Angeles Times, December 31); USGS fact sheet on Quagga mussels

Radiological

• Wisconsin utilities making progress toward compliance with radium regulation (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, December 31)

Perchlorate

• Northern California city will stop treating water with perchlorate levels below state's 6-ppb MCL (Morgan Hill Times, December 29)
• Southern California city nears resolution in conflict with county over ground water perchlorate (Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, December 21) but isn't happy with state regulators (Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, December 30)

PFOA

• Ohio residents still uneasy after two years on bottled water (Marietta Times, December 26)

Source Water Protection

• State tells Delaware county to improve well protection in its proposed ordinance... or else! (Cape Gazette, December 28)

Nitrate

• New York town will pilot-test micro-filtration system to remove nitrate (Hudson Valley Journal News, December 23)

MTBE

• Massachusetts town will net $500,000 in oil company settlement; one of 80 in state to benefit (Attleboro Sun Chronicle, December 21)

Chlorine Safety

• Chlorine leak at Arizona water treatment plant is contained with no public exposure (East Valley Tribune, December 29)

Private Wells

• TCE and PCE: Responsible parties step up to the plate to provide safe water alternatives to affected residents in North Carolina (Ashville Citizen Times, December 24) and in Indiana (Terra Haute Tribune Star, December 27)
• Fly ash: Barrier walls a possibility to protect Maryland wells (Annapolis Capital, January 1)
• Nitrate: Recent testing shows nitrate still a problem for California community (Desert Dispatch, December 23)

Publications

• The December issue of Australia's Health Stream

Water Reuse

• Use of reclaimed water expands in Southern California (LA Daily News, December 20), and in Florida county where it's called "Purple Rain" (Tampa Tribune, December 22), but maybe not in Northern California city (San Jose Mercury News, December 31)
• Orange County, CA's giant reuse project ready to go (LA Times, January 2), while San Diego leadership is divided even though millions of dollars are available (San Diego Union Tribune, January 1)

International

• New Zealand announces new standard to protect sources of drinking water (Scoop Independent News, December 21)
• Canadian province's premier promises new focus on water improvements (CBC News, December 28)
• Phenol found in Irish water supply (Irish Independent, December 30)

Conferences

• AWWA's Inorganic Contaminants Workshop, January 27-29 in Albuquerque, NM
• AWWA's Micro- and Ultra-filtration Workshop, January 28-29 in Fort Lauderdale, FL

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