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Water Quality Current News
LOS ANGELES, December 6, 2006 (Water Tech) – EPA orders Navy, contractor to reduce DBPs
BRISTON, CT, December 6, 2006 (Water Tech) — Homes' pipes, not city, likely cause of lead-laced water
MADISON, WI, December 11, 2006 (Water Tech) – WI utilities past due for radium compliance
LAS CRUCES, NM, December 12, 2006 (Water Tech) — Big NM groundwater plume has PCE
NEW YORK, December 13, 2006 (Water Tech) – Man sentenced for falsifying drinking water data
RIVERSIDE, CA, December 19, 2006 (Water Tech) – New grant for water virus test research
EPA orders Navy, contractor to reduce DBPs
LOS ANGELES, December 6, 2006 (Water Tech) – The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has ordered the US Department of the Navy and KBR Inc., the company that operates a drinking water treatment plant at the Naval Air Facility in El Centro, CA, to reduce disinfection by-products (DBPs) in drinking water treated at the facility, a December 5 press release issued by the EPA said.
Levels of trihalomethanes, a DBP found in drinking water treated at the Naval Air Facility plant, averaged 116 parts per billion (ppb), 36 ppb more than the amount allowed by federal drinking water standards, according to the report.
The EPA ordered the Navy to provide a written compliance plan by January 31, 2007, describing how it will meet federal drinking water regulations, the release noted.
The Navy must reduce total trihalomethane levels at the facility, which supplies drinking water to approximately 4,000 people, below federal standards by December 31, 2007, or face daily fines up to $32,500 per violation, the report said.
Homes' pipes, not city, likely cause of lead-laced water
BRISTON, CT, December 6, 2006 (Water Tech) — Elevated levels of lead found in 235 randomly selected home water samples is likely caused by the homes' plumbing and is not a municipal water problem, according to a December 5 story from The Bristol Press.
High lead levels, found last summer, prompted the city to test the water treatment process, the water chemistry, and the city's water sources, but no lead was found in any of those tests, the story said.
Officials at the Bristol Water Department think the lead is coming from homes built between 1982 and 1987 or in homes built before 1960, in which small connection pipes made of lead were used because they could bend in a way that iron pipes could not, the story reported.
Water tests will now continue indefinitely, with 60 homes being tested every six months; before the lead problems were discovered 30 homes were tested every three years, the story said.
WI utilities past due for radium compliance
MADISON, WI, December 11, 2006 (Water Tech) – More than two dozen public and private water utilities throughout the state are facing potential penalties for violating a state order to reduce radium levels in drinking water, according to a recent report in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) signed consent orders three years ago with 42 utilities that serve more than 400,000 customers, orders stemming from violations of federal safe drinking water standards for radium, the report noted.
The utilities agreed to comply with the US Environmental Protection Agency standards by December 7, 2006, or face prosecution by the state Department of Justice and fines of up to $5,000 per day, the story said.
As of December 7, 13 utilities were at or near full compliance, while the remaining 29 were sent letters asking them to report to the DNR on what is being done to comply with the consent order and how long it will take to reach full compliance, according to the article.
Radium, a naturally occurring substance found in groundwater, has been linked to bone cancer, the story noted.
Multi-Pure Commentary:
Multi-Pure’s MP750 Plus RO has been certified by NSF International, under Standard 58, to reduce Radium 226/228.
Big NM groundwater plume has PCE
LAS CRUCES, NM, December 12, 2006 (Water Tech) — Nearly 7.2 million gallons of water in a plume 400 to 600 feet below ground is contaminated with high levels of perchloroethylene (PCE), a problem that will take about 14 years to fix before it meets US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards, a December 11 Las Cruces Sun-News story reported.
The volume of contaminated water is equivalent to the amount the city uses in a year, although the city water supply itself, also groundwater pumped from nearby, continues to be safe to drink, officials were quoted as saying.
PCE was first discovered in the water in 1995 and seven city wells eventually were shut down to avoid mixing the contaminated plume with the city water supply, the story said.
The EPA has suggested building a $5.5 million air stripper to pump the contaminated water to the surface, exposing it to oxygen, according to the article.
The city and Dona Ana County are responsible for fixing the problem at a cost estimated at $13.7 million, the story reported. PCE is a solvent used in dry cleaning and metal degreasing.
Man sentenced for falsifying drinking water data
NEW YORK, December 13, 2006 (Water Tech) – A former New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) employee has been sentenced to two years probation for falsifying records on turbidity in drinking water throughout the city, a recent article in The Journal News said.
Daniel Storms, 32, pleaded guilty earlier this year to a felony charge stemming from entries he made in 2005 in a DEP log book that falsely indicated he had performed mandated turbidity tests on the drinking water, according to the article.
New grant for water virus test research
RIVERSIDE, CA, December 19, 2006 (Water Tech) – Scientists at the University of California Riverside have received a $600,000 grant form the US Environmental Protection Agency to continue research on an inexpensive testing procedure that quickly detects dangerous viruses in drinking water, the San Bernardino Sun reported recently.
The procedure, which has been in the works for two years, involves tagging viral components with fluorescent markers, the story said.
The tagged fragments can then be viewed through a microscope to see if they are incorporated by a virus that may be present in drinking water, according to the article.
Once finalized, the testing process may be used to help water agencies meet requirements of a rule recently published by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to protect groundwater supplies, the report noted.
The EPA's groundwater rule, which goes into effect December 1, 2009, is designed improve detection and treatment of viruses and microbes that can contaminate drinking water systems and cause illness.
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