This week's NEWS

Massachusetts city gets an offer they can't refuse re: WTP compliance. Coffee, Tea or........more bad news for airlines drinking water There are interesting twists to communities addressing radiological water quality issues. A water-industry viewpoint on recent EPA guidance. Water bottlers in UK are offended and they may have a point! Yuck, yuck, double-yuck....in the micro news.

Quick Links Navigation:

Federal Update

• AWWA provides detailed comments to USEPA:
  • AWWA's comments re: GWR guidance (PDF file, 15 pages) Here is the Draft USEPA GWR Implementation Guidance (PDF file, 142 pages)
  • AWWA's comments on the LCR guidance (PDF file, 11 pages) Here is the Draft USEPA LCR Guidance (PDF file, 66 pages)
• USEPA provides two new reports related to public water system sustainability (USEPA news release, February 14) The reports are:
  • USEPA National Capacity Development Strategic Plan (PDF file, 32 pages) and
  • DWSRF Set-Asides: Promoting Capacity Development (pdf file, 2.9 M)
  Commentary: When EPA talks about "capacity development" and "TMF" and "sustainability", the tendency of most in the drinking water field is to say "Yeah, those small water systems need that stuff." And, certainly Congress in its SDWA deliberations was focused on small water systems. (A giveaway is that these documents are all situated on EPA's Small Water System website.) But, these new documents make it clear again that TMF capacity applies to ALL public water systems. What is not clear is how, or if, EPA and the state primacy agencies envision that larger systems will ever be covered & assessed....or even if they ever should be, given the higher priority workloads of overworked primacy agencies. (Note: 97% of all PWS serve 10,000 persons or less; the largest 8% of PWS serve about 83% of the population.)

State Updates

• Kentucky's statewide Water/Wastewater Agency Response Network is up and running...with "unbridled spirit"

Water Treatment

• Massachusetts offers city an offer they can't refuse.....cut fines in half if new WTP brought into compliance promptly (Andover Eagle Tribune, February 16)
  Commentary:  Lawrence's situation encapsulates a number of the issues facing many public water systems: need for new facilities, start-up problems, union-represented public employees vs. private contract operation, plant security.  The city's troubled WTP went on line, obviously prematurely, in early 2007 & has had compliance issues since.
• State-required temporary switch to free chlorine begins in North Carolina (Fayetteville Observer, February 17)
• Construction of Mississippi city's RO WTP is on schedule (Mississippi Press, February 19)

Arsenic

• Arizona utility raises rates 25% to pay for "unfunded mandate"....federal arsenic MCL compliance (East Valley Tribune, February 16)
• Australian research group says arsenic "poisoning" is major threat to global health via water and food (Science Alert, February 18)
• Groundwater arsenic in rural North Dakota blamed on 1930's use of arsenic-pesticides to kill grasshoppers The Forum, February 13)
• State tells New Hampshire town: No new wells without treatment plant....old wells are grandfathered? (Portsmouth Herald News, February 19)

Microbiological

• Revised Recommendations for Responding to Fecal Accidents in Disinfected Swimming Venues (MMWR, February 15)
  Commentary:  (Warning!!! This item has a high YUCK rating!) While the recommendations in this update from CDC are specific to recreational waters, PWS micro-folks may find the info interesting. The essence is that "....diarrheal fecal accidents, which are thought to represent a higher infectious-disease transmission risk than formed-stool accidents, are based on the potential presence of the chlorine-resistant parasitic protozoa of the genus Cryptosporidium. New data indicate that the recommended CT inactivation value (or contact time)* is higher than previously published........"
• Report: Cause of the 2007 contamination event in Massachusetts town's system that resulted in BWA is....unknown! (Wareham Courier, February 14)
• And...speaking of YUCK: Canadian man knows it when he sees it! Liquid manure comes out of his tap (Montreal Gazette, February 18)

Water Legalities

• Association of state regulators of investor-owned utilities may ask state legislatures to provide "safe harbor" from lawsuits (Water Technology News, February 14)
  Commentary:  (The subject proposed resolution is on p. 33)  The thrust of the resolution is not to let utilities off the hook for meeting all rules/standards but would "....provide a 'safe harbor' from liability for any water purveyor operating in the State that provides water in compliance with federal and State safe drinking water standards and suitable for all household purposes."
• Poor farm-workers in central California sue state pollution control agency for failing to regulate dairy waste resulting in groundwater nitrate (Sacramento Bee, February 16)

Fluoridation

• Queensland, AU premier moves to mandate fluoridation for all systems serving more than 1000 persons; AU$35 million will be provided (Queensland news release, February 12)
• Fluoride confusion in Corning (News 10 NY, February 16)
• Mississippi community asks for citizens' opinions on fluoride (Biloxi Sun Herald, February 18)

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.

Radiological

• California mountain water system notifies customers about high uranium levels; private well owners urged to test their wells also (Sierra Star, February 16)
• Illinois district moves forward on water treatment plant with $11.5 million grant from industry involved in tritium groundwater issue (Joliet Herald News, February 18)
  Commentary: While some would call it "slow", the district is doing their due diligence and surmounting all of the hurdles to build a water system.  And........in a fiscally responsible manner: They have paid all of their bills for legal, engineering, etc., and have made $200,000 to boot!
• City of Waukesha, WI covets "radium-free" water under the Town of Waukesha......plans to buy property there for wells (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, February 19)

Water Bottles & Environment

• UK Environment Minister says bottled water is "daft" and borders on immoral (London Times, February 17) Bottled water a £2bn drain on nation's pockets (UK Telegraph, February 18)
  Commentary: The bottled water industry is outraged, demands a retraction, and points out that the Minister ".....did not seem to think that bottled water was 'morally unacceptable' when the Government was desperate for supplies during last year's floods."

Iron and Manganese

• New wells may not be the solution for iron and manganese problems in Indiana (New Albany Tribune, February 16)

MTBE

• Maryland school faces 10 more years of high MTBE in groundwater & operating a water treatment facility; hookup to public system is 300 yards away but it's hamstrung by bureaucracy (Baltimore Sun, February 17)

TCE

• Arizona utility will stop using & disconnect the well & water treatment plant that is cleaning up Motorola's groundwater contamination; water treatment plant failures caused citizen outrage (Arizona Republic, February 15)

Desalination

• Research on Long Beach, CA's dual-stage nanofiltration process to desalt water continues (Long Beach Press Telegram, February 15)
  Commentary: The 10-year, $20 million research project is pointing at a possible 30% more energy efficient process and will look at unique "under ocean floor" method to return reject water to the ocean.  A decision on building a full-scale plant using the technology may come in 2012-13.
• Opinion: Nevada's future water supply must be "Mag-Lev"ed 100s of miles over hill and dale....from the Pacific Ocean (Nevada Appeal, February 17)
• Maintenance of Saudi desal plant results in temporary water shortage (Khaleej Times, February 17)
• Legal challenge to Victoria, AU pilot desalination plant (The Age, February 18)

Source Water Issues

• Southern Nevada regional water agency will sample & treat former missile base wells prior to pumping groundwater to Lake Mead (Las Vegas Review Journal, February 18)
• USEPA's February Watershed News
• Idaho's 2007 report on its nonpoint source program (PDF file, 15 MB)
• Pennsylvania community moves ahead with Wellhead Protection Plan (Johnstown Tribune Democrat, February 19)
• Private wells impacted by highway salt use in Massachusetts (Springfield Republican, February 17)

Airline Water Contamination

• Is this a new story? Or a chance to re-use a catchy headline: Coffee, Tea or......Contamination? (KGO San Francisco News, February 14)
  Commentary: What is new is the ABC station's Freedom Of Information Act investigation which shows what appears to be foot-dragging and slow compliance by airlines with EPA orders on water sampling and results of sampling from 2006-2008. This data does not seem to be available on EPA's website. This issue received extensive coverage in previous years and EPA is "working on" developing regulations including a 2007 workshop. (PDF file, 52 pages)

International

• Canadian federal government will provide an additional C$50 million for Ontario Potable Water Program (Canada Newswire, February 15)
• Scottish Water's long-term improvement plan will address "rusty water" problems in Shetland Islands (Shetland Times, February 15)
• First major national survey of sanitation in rural China shows over 40% of drinking water in rural areas is unhealthy (China People's Daily, February 18)
• Oil spill in Chinese river causes 100,000 to temporarily stop using water for drinking (Reuters, February 18)
• Residents of Finnish city are still leery of drinking water after sewage contamination several months ago (Helsingin Sanomat, February 19)

Relevant Links

To post a job on Job Reservoir, please visit the following address:
http://www.jobreservoir.com/postajob.html

For feedback or a news story suggestion, please visit the following address:
http://www.safedrinkingwater.com/contact/feedback.htm

To recommend safedrinkingwater.com NEWS to a colleague, please visit the following address:
http://www.safedrinkingwater.com/contact/sharenewsletter.htm

For e-mail delivery problems, please send an e-mail to info@safedrinkingwater.com.

To view the staff for safedrinkingwater.com NEWS, please visit the following address:
http://www.safedrinkingwater.com/about/staff.htm

To subscribe to safedrinkingwater.com NEWS, please visit the following address:
http://www.safedrinkingwater.com/subscribe/subscribe.htm