This week's NEWS

Disease outbreak in Colorado city attributed to salmonella bacteria in drinking water; boiling water is not the prime recommended approach. GAC gets the spotlight for PPCPs. Dutch university provides new free open-access online technical resource. World Water Day calls attention to difficult issues. (Special note to AwwaRF subscribers: Pharmaceuticals webcast TODAY!)

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Waterborne Disease Outbreak: Salmonellosis

• Colorado city water is contaminated with salmonella bacteria; number of cases increases; bottled water only is recommended:
  • State says tests for salmonella are positive (CDPHE media release, March 24)
  • State updates its "bottled water only" advisory (CDPHE media release, March 21) following its initial advisory (March 19)
  • City of Alamosa website provides updated information 
  • Origin of salmonella contamination is still unknown, but distribution sources are suspect (Associated Press, March 22)
  • Governor commends city; seeks federal funding to address the "jumped to" conclusion that "dilapidated" piping caused the problem (Denver Post, March 23)
  • Number of sick persons goes over 200 (Denver Post, March 23) and probably has not yet peaked, in part due to secondary person-to-person transmission (Pueblo Chieftain, March 25)
  • High chlorine levels (25 ppm) will be used to flush system; almost zero use of water mandated (Denver Post, March 25); city outlines its multi-stage process, which will take several weeks
  • Salmonellosis info from CDC
    Commentary: The city serves drinking water to about 10,000 people from five wells pumping from an apparently deep, protected aquifer. The well water is not chlorinated. While salmonella infections are much more likely to be from food rather than from drinking water, the state's epidemiological assessment that the outbreak, which may have started March 8, was likely waterborne was confirmed by positive salmonella tests conducted by CDC. The state took a conservative approach in advising no drinking of the city water even after it was boiled (although the recommended minimum boiling time of 15 seconds is less than the norm used by most health agencies in emergencies or where positive coliform bacteria tests have occurred). The high chlorine dosages now being used for flushing make the non-use advisory appropriate.

Federal Updates

• USGS' proposed budget: Sacrificing water quality for quantity (Environmental Science and Technology, March 20)

State Updates

• Idaho's March Drinking Water Newsletter includes a "Records Retention Reminder" (PDF file, 691 K)
• Massachusetts is very busy with:
  • The In The Main newsletter featuring alum residuals (PDF file, 720 K); and its chapter-by-chapter update of important guidance for Public Water systems with new chapters on:
    • Updated ground water supply (PDF file, 353 K)
    • Treatment guidelines (PDF file, 271 K)
  • They also have a new policy under which water system modifications require a permit (PDF file, 30.9 K)
• Nebraska's newsletter,The Water Spout, highlights biofilm and coliform

Water Treatment

• Laverne, CA's new 3.7-MGD ion exchange facility will remove nitrate and perchlorate from ground water (Laverne press release, March 16)
• California state bond funds improvements including a new water treatment plant (reverse osmosis to reduce elevated TDS in ground water) (Ventura County Star, March 21)

PPCPs

• Cincinnati's GAC treatment very effective in removing contaminants (PDF file, 32.6 K)
• USEPA FAQs on PPCPs
• AwwaRF Webcast on endocrine disruptors and pharmaceuticals in drinking water will be replayed on March 26 (Subscribers only)

Fluoridation

• Pending legislation in Nebraska would mandate drinking water fluoridation for all systems serving over 1000 persons (PDF file, 7.22 K), and Hastings City Council endorses the legislation (KHAS News, March 25) [Editor's note: Over 120 Nebraska water systems (PDF file, 383 K) either already fluoridate or have adequate natural fluoride including the largest cities.]
• One of the last municipalities in Colorado without drinking water fluoridation will vote on the issue by mail soon (Boulder Daily Camera, March 24)
• Southampton, UK, begins "consultation" process required before fluoridation can be decided (Basingstroke Gazette, March 25)
• Major expansion of fluoridated water likely for Victoria, AU, region (The Age, March 26)
  Commentary: A study and report by the government of Victoria, apparently for the Melbourne area, "...calculated that, for a cost of $51 million, fluoridation has produced a financial benefit of $646 million over 25 years — mainly from reduced dental care costs and fewer working hours lost due to dental problems."

Fluoride (Naturally Occurring)

• Texas health agency revokes approval of city's new wells when tests show high fluoride (>4 ppm) (Lubbock Avalanche Journal, March 25)
• Maryland water agency threatens to sue state to get approval for two high-fluoride wells; state wants reverse osmosis treatment (Salisbury Daily Times, March 22)
  Commentary: The level of fluoride in the wells is not specified in the article but appears to be below the USEPA primary MCL of 4 ppm and above the secondary "goal" of 2 ppm. The basis for the lawsuit would be that the state cannot enforce a "goal." An NRC expert panel concluded that the federal MCL is too high, but emphasized that their finding did not pertain to the levels (around 1 ppm) used when fluoride is added for dental health.

Arsenic

• Illinois village considers $1+ million loan for well and arsenic treatment; residents want hook-up alternative evaluated (Ottawa Times, March 20)
• 100-plus-year-old mining legacy in Montana's "A River Runs Through It" country lives on; ground water in area impacted with arsenic; dam removal is double-edged sword (Yahoo News, March 18)

NEWS CONTINUES BELOW

Malcolm Pirnie's Granular Activated Carbon Treatment Experience GAC treatment is a viable treatment barrier against emerging contaminants such as pharmaceutically-active compounds and endocrine disruptors and is highly effective for removing volatile and synthetic organic chemicals from ground and surface waters. In addition, GAC treatment removes taste and odor causing compounds such as 2-methylisoborneol (MIB) and geosmin and can thus improve (and protect) the aesthetic qualities of a water supply. Malcolm Pirnie's GAC solutions provide the highest level of performance at the lowest cost. Our experience can help you deal with the issues of implementing a GAC process in a new or existing facility, including: Incorporating the GAC facility within the hydraulic profile Designing the facility to accommodate GAC loading and unloading Management of recycle flows from the GAC process Process optimization once operations commence For more information, meet our experts, George Maseeh and Brian Leto.

TCE/PCE

• Bioreduction of Trichloroethene Using a Hydrogen-Based Membrane Biofilm Reactor (Environmental Science and Technology); university scientists develop process in laboratory to address TCE in water (ASU Web Devil, March 20)
• Puerto Rico site added to EPA's Superfund list; city's drinking water sources threatened (USEPA region 2 media release, March 19)

MTBE

• California city faces ticklish question on MTBE: Is any amount too much, even if it helps cleanup the ground water? Chevron doesn't think so (Capistrano Dispatch, March 20)

Perchlorate

• In Massachusetts, perchlorate follows "preferential pathways" down Snake Hill and into private wells at above-MCL levels; the monitoring program history (Westford Eagle, March 20)

Publications

• Delft University of Technology provides unique "open access" online scientific journal on drinking water: It's FREE for readers because the author pays; it is now available: Drinking Water Engineering and Science; one example is a paper on HPC in microbial monitoring

Desalination

• $4 million, 72,000-gallon-per-day ocean desalting pilot plant is up and running in California coastal city (Santa Cruz Sentinel, March 21)
• Desalination gets a serious look in Nevada (Las Vegas Sun, March 21)
  Commentary: For an "inland state" to talk about seawater desalination seems, at first, passing strange. But, the idea of trading desalted water for some (or all?) of California's share of the Colorado River flow stimulates discussion. And the discussion isn't confined to the news reporter, as the extensive and diverse comments on this article indicate. 
• Strict boron limit is one of many factors affecting desalination options in drought-suffering Cyprus (Cyprus Mail, March 24)

Source Water Contamination

• "Harmless" red dye discharged in North Carolina into river source leads to temporary shutdown of South Carolina water treatment plant (Spartanburg Herald Journal, March 20)
• Carbaryl (Sevin) insecticide, related to fruit-tree spraying, detected by bio-tox type source monitoring of Colorado district's source (Frisco Summit Daily News, March 25)

Legal Matters

• Litigation continues on interesting Florida ground water contamination with benzene related (?) to mining (Miami New Times, March 20)

World Water Day

• UN Secretary-General: Lack of political will is the culprit! (United Nations media release, March 5)
• World Water Day: Providing a Sanitary World to Live In (CDC, March 24)
• High and dry (Pasadena Weekly, March 20)
• On World Water Day, a mighty global thirst (Christian Science Monitor, March 20)

Bottled Water

• Australian Water Association urges consumers to stop using bottled water on World Water Day (AWA media release, March 20)
• Bottled water industry group says bottled water has a place in World Water Day (IBWA media release, March 19)
• Tapping into greener dining, eateries table bottled water (Boston Globe, March 22)
• Rising sales of bottled water trigger strong reaction from U.S. conservationists (International Herald Tribune, March 23)
• Bottled water: The new social evil? (Sydney Morning Herald, March 21)

Water Reuse

• New Jersey's proposed new waste discharge permitting rules will tighten standards and encourage reclaimed water use (New Jersey DEP media release, March 20); those who want to know what the new standards are will have to check the 543-page proposed rule (PDF file, 1.25 MB)

International

• Official says China "has solved most of the safe drinking water problems" in rural areas (China Daily, March 23)
  Commentary: Is this new math? Or....just bad reporting? "China has ...made safe drinking water available to 97.48 million people in rural areas... [it aims] to solve the safety of drinking water in rural areas by 2015... make safe water available for another 160 million rural residents... still has about 200 million rural people who do not have access to safe drinking water."
• Mexico plans to invest $21 billion in water projects (International Herald Tribune, March 25)

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