BIRMINGHAM, UNITED KINGDOM, June 3, 2008 (Water Tech) — Study links disinfection byproducts to birth defects

SOCORRO, NM, May 22, 2008 (Water Tech) — NM city considers arsenic removal options

OTTAWA, May 23, 2008 (Water Tech) — First Nations citizens ‘fear’ drinking water quality

WASHINGTON, May 27, 2008 (Water Tech) — National infrastructure bill gets support

HOT SULPHUR SPRINGS, CO, May 28, 2008 (Water Tech) — Seven weeks on a boil-water order for CO town

ODESSA, TX, June 2, 2008 (Water Tech) — More contaminants found in TX wells

Study links disinfection byproducts to birth defects

BIRMINGHAM, UNITED KINGDOM, June 3, 2008 (Water Tech) — A Birmingham University study published in Environmental Health on June 2 suggests that drinking certain tap waters while pregnant may double the risk of serious health defects in the unborn child, according to an article on www.dailymail.co.uk.

The study was conducted in Taiwan and included almost 40,000 babies. A clear link was found between trihalomethanes, disinfection products which form in chlorination, and a trio of birth defects, including holes in the heart, cleft palates and anencephalus, according to the article.

The article states that according to the study, up to one in six British citizens could be exposed to levels of trihalomethane even higher than those in Taiwan, with higher concentrations in the spring and autumn.

Principal Inspector of the UK Drinking Water Inspectorate Sue Pennison says there is no reason for people to be worried. She is quoted in the article as saying, “Chlorination is reliable and has been used for centuries. The only reason diseases like cholera and typhoid are not in our water supply is because of chlorination.”

NM city considers arsenic removal options

SOCORRO, NM, May 22, 2008 (Water Tech) — High levels of arsenic in the city’s public water system have officials here considering options that will help to bring the system into compliance with federal safe drinking water standards, according to a May 22 report in The Mountain Mail.

Mayor Ravi Bhasker told the Socorro City Council on May 19 that the city has been in violation of the US Environmental Protection Agency’s arsenic standards since the agency lowered acceptable levels from 50 parts per billion (ppb) to 10 ppb.

Options include construction of a new $1 million water treatment plant, which would cost several hundred thousand dollars to operate annually. Officials also are considering taking Socorro Springs, the source of the naturally occurring arsenic, offline.

Utilities Director Jay Santillanes said in the article, “Another alternative is to take the springs offline, and make up the difference with the new Evergreen Well. It could maintain the capacity, but we would have to start looking for a new well — one with low arsenic levels.”

First Nations citizens ‘fear’ drinking water quality

OTTAWA, May 23, 2008 (Water Tech) — First Nations communities in Canada report that their tap water is a “source of fear,” believing it is the common denominator in what is making many of their residents sick, according to a May 22 Canwest News Service report in the National Post.

That information is part of a report released May 22 by the advocacy group Polaris Institute, the Assembly of First Nations and the Canadian Labour Congress.

“The deplorable conditions that First Nation people live in would not be accepted in any other part of the country. For many, water has become a source of fear, and people have good reason to believe that what comes out of their taps may be making them sick. What is happening should be considered a violation of fundamental human rights in this country,” the report said. The report, which focused on six First Nations communities across the country, is co-authored by Andrea Harden and Holly Levaillant from the Polaris Institute.

The report says the situation has reached a crisis for many local residents. Phil Fontaine, national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, said in the report, “One of the problems that we face, of course, is that there is a tendency to blame us for the situation. Well in fact, we never polluted or contaminated our water, yet we’re being held accountable to make sure we fix this, and I think this is completely unfair.”

Fontaine added that some First Nations communities have water that is tainted by uranium and harmful bacteria, among other contaminants.

According to the report, about 100 aboriginal communities across the country remained on drinking water advisories as of April without adequate response from the federal government.

National infrastructure bill gets support

WASHINGTON, May 27, 2008 (Water Tech) — The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, (NARUC), an association representing state public service commissioners who regulate essential utility services, recently sent a letter expressing support for the National Infrastructure Development Act (H.R. 3896) to the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-CT.

H.R. 3896 is designed to promote efficient investments and financing of infrastructure projects and new job creation through the establishment of a National Infrastructure Development Corp., according to washingtonwatch.com.

Water committee chairman David King of New Mexico drafted the letter. He wrote, “Nowhere is this national crisis more acute than in the water and wastewater sectors that are so vital to the public health of American citizens. With increased environmental costs and more stringent clean water regulations on the horizon, cities, towns and utilities will face significant challenges over the next several decades replacing aging and deteriorating water infrastructure.”

Seven weeks on a boil-water order for CO town

HOT SULPHUR SPRINGS, CO, May 28, 2008 (Water Tech) — For more than a month, residents here have been boiling their tap water before drinking it and cooking with it, and the Colorado Department of Health and Environment is ready for that to change, according to a May 27 Sky-Hi Daily News article.

The state Department of Health and Environment this week is scheduled to issue an enforcement order to the town, seeking an outline of when Hot Sulphur Springs can safely lift its boil-water order and how it plans to maintain delivering safe drinking water, the article said.

The town’s water has high levels of turbidity, and its aging plant needs updating to properly treat the water. To address the issue, the town is updating its plant and building a new clear well with new pumps.

To pay for the water infrastructure project, the town is banking on a $200,000 relief check in June from the Colorado Department of Local Affairs in the form of a matching grant, and is considering rate increases, the article said.

More contaminants found in TX wells

ODESSA, TX, June 2, 2008 (Water Tech) — The US Environmental Protection Agency and the city of Odessa are joining forces to extend city water service to about 30 well users in an area found to have more groundwater contamination that previously thought, according to a May 30 article in Odessa American Online.

Above-average levels of the contaminants tetrachloroethene, trichloroethene and 1,2-dichloroethene were discovered in the groundwater in 2005. The Department of Health and Human Services and The National Toxicology Program have labeled two of these chemicals as probable carcinogens, according to the article.