This week's NEWS

Fuel price increase = transportation cost increase = rise in cost of treatment chemicals! How to instill consumer confidence? Have them read their drinking water CCR and not the stock market report. Help is on the way: Understanding the Ground Water Rule. Who should bear the cost of cleaning up ground water contamination: The guys that made the money using the chemicals... or the government that told them how to do it? The clock is running... TCR group meets again... and again! Bunny rabbit gets the blame for crypto outbreak.

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Federal Update

• The Ground Water Rule: USEPA has new quick reference guides and fact sheets to assist state primacy agencies and public water systems
• Total Coliform Rule Distribution System: Federal Advisory Committee will meet again July 30-31 in D.C. (Federal Register, July 11)
  Commentary: The amount of information covered in the presentation at the June meeting (PDF file, 121 K) of this FAC is an indication of the size of the task, the progress being made, and the need for additional meetings as the committee approaches the endgame. There is a teleconference call on July 18. The rapid pace has overwhelmed the Federal Register, as they moved the next meeting backward... to June 31!!!

State Updates

• Annual 2007 PWS compliance reports:
  • Colorado (PDF file, 67 K)
  • Connecticut (PDF file, 1 MB)
  • Iowa (PDF file, 750 K)
  • Mississippi (PDF file, 46 K)
  • Nebraska (PDF file, 378 K)
  • New York
• Ohio proposes to add recent EPA-approved analytical methods; comments due by August 13 (PDF file, 17 K)

Water Treatment

• Michigan city's cost of water treatment chemicals doubles (Bay City Times, July 11)
  Commentary: The rising cost of water treatment chemicals, attributed largely to transportation fuel costs, is impacting water utilities nationwide. The opportunity for Bay City's water superintendent to talk about the issue occurred because the city had issued its CCR with the theme "Only Tap Water Delivers" (PDF file, 1.39 MB)
• Los Angeles' efforts to control DBPs and meet SWT Rules run into neighborhood concerns about views of open distribution reservoirs (Bloomberg, July 10)
• Treatment plant breakdown leads to Wichita, KS, water restrictions (Wichita Eagle, July 10), and... they got a fast contractor: The water treatment plant is back in business
  Commentary: The news reporter did a good job in turning arcane water treatment tech-talk into something the readers could understand: "The breakdown at the plant involved a clarifier, a large metal contraption that rotates at the bottom of a large pool to push sediment down for removal... will pull the clarifier from a 15 million-gallon-per-day pool and put it in the larger pool."  
• Pennsylvania township residents can't wait for their new water filtration system to take the "brown" out of their water (Allentown Morning Call, July 11)
• Canadian town's residents happy to finally see "inside" its new water treatment plant, but some not happy about the doubled cost of the plant (Sault Star, July 12)
• PENNVEST provides $64 million for water infrastructure, but only about 20% is for drinking water

Disinfection Byproducts

• Increase in Missouri city's TTHMs explained... and reasons explored (Columbia Tribune, July 11)
• In response to THM violation and state fine, California water system will use PAC temporarily until switch to chloramines complete (Patterson Irrigator, July 12)

Legal Matters

• Lockheed lawsuit: U.S. should help pay the costs of TCE and perchlorate cleanup at California facilities where the government "made 'em do it"  (San Bernardino County Sun. July 11)
• Industries named as perchlorate polluters sue to keep California agencies from being judge and prosecutor in cleanup enforcement (San Bernardino County Sun, July 10)

Microbiological

• Massachusetts town chlorinates after positive total coliform samples (Republican, July 12)
• Backflow may have been the cause of North Carolina utility's fecal coliform incident; utility tries to learn from incident (Greenville Daily Reflector, July 14)
• Rabbit blamed for Cryptosporidium contamination at United Kingdom water treatment plant; 13 illnesses confirmed (Northampton Chronicle, July 15)
• Wisconsin families deal with contaminated private wells (Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter, July 15)

Water Quality Reports

• Newspaper ignores the good news in Brevard County, FL, utilities' CCRs and focuses on the more flamboyant "what-isn't-tested" aspect (Melbourne Florida Today, July 13)
  • Brevard County CCR
  • Titusville CCR (Winston The Water Dog says RUFF) (PDF file, 1.57 MB)
  • Palm Bay CCR (Water quality information doesn't show up until page 11?) (PDF file, 1.38 MB)
  • Melbourne CCR
  • Cocoa CCR
• South Dakota city's CCR sends clear message: "Is the water safe to drink? Absolutely!"

Public Notification

• Pennsylvania water authority initiates rapid alert system (Connellsville Daily Courier, July 12)
   

NEWS CONTINUES BELOW

Malcolm Pirnie Water Resources Management Services Malcolm Pirnie offers clients assistance in developing strategies to protect, enhance, and secure water resources. Malcolm Pirnie's staff has extensive practical experience in the development of ground water storage and conjunctive use programs, water management, and incentive programs. Our staff also has a wide range of experience as facilitators in helping utilities to develop strategic and water resources plans through consensus-based decision-making processes. For questions regarding any of these services, please feel free to contact Jim Scholl, or visit our website.

Source Water Protection

• Massachusetts water district will present the results of its wellhead protection monitoring program (Wareham Courier, July 11)
• USEPA's July Watershed News

Aesthetics

• Minneapolis increases permanganate and PAC dosage to address algae-related taste and odor problem (Minneapolis Star Tribune, July 11)

Invasive Species

• USEPA's self-labeled "stopgap" plan for addressing invasives in Great Lakes is critiqued; Congressional action is pending (Associated Press, July 11)

Arsenic

• Study finds arsenic threats in Southeast Asia (Associated Press, July 12); Predicting groundwater arsenic contamination in Southeast Asia from surface parameters (Abstract, Nature Geoscience, July 11)

Lead

• Missouri town finds slightly elevated lead levels (Branson Daily News, July 10)

Fluoridation

• CDC says almost 70% of U.S. populace is getting fluoridated water (CDC press release, July 10); Report: Populations Receiving Optimally Fluoridated Public Drinking Water – United States, 1992-2006 (MMWR Weekly)
• Fluoridation is imminent for Australian town (Lithgow Mercury, July 13)

PPCPs

• USGS publishes analytical method for certain PPCPs in several types of water samples

Perfluorochemicals

• Minnesota health officials seek participants for PFC bio-monitoring study (Minnesota DEP news release, July 9)

Nitrate

• Report says that solving Prince Edward Island ground water nitrate problem will take decades (CBC Canada, July 9)
• Idaho wants public input on nitrate management plan for one of 25 impacted areas (Twin Falls Times-News, July 10)

International

• Report looks at water quality issues related to home storage of drinking water in Ecuador (Environmental Health Perspectives, July 7)
• West Africa's Benin looks to a simple solution: Sunshine + plastic bottle = clean water (United Nations IRIN, July 10)
• Moscow says its drinking water quality is improving (Moscow Times, July 10)
• UNICEF/WHO to release major report with new sanitation and water information
• Turkish cities struggle with water shortages and water quality problems (Today's Zaman, July 12)

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