MONTEREY, CA, March 1, 2011 (Water Tech) — Partially treated wastewater discharged into Carmel Bay

WASHINGTON, March 4, 2011 (Water Tech) — EPA proposes 30 currently unregulated contaminants for monitoring

HINKLEY, CA, March 9, 2011 (Water Tech) — Hinkley once again being tested for toxins

SUGARLAND, TX, March 10, 2011 (Water Tech) — City to change source of potable water

KINSTON, NC, March 14, 2011 (Water Tech) — Chloramines supposedly behind increased degradation of pipes

SAN ANTONIO, March 15, 2011 (Water Tech) — Survey: Consumers willing to pay more for safe drinking water

Partially treated wastewater discharged into Carmel Bay

MONTEREY, CA, March 1, 2011 (Water Tech) — About 300,000 gallons of partially treated wastewater was accidentally discharged into Carmel Bay on Sunday, The Monterey County Herald reported.

A chain of equipment and alarm failures was blamed for the accident, the article stated. The wastewater had undergone all treatment stages at the Carmel Area Wastewater District’s plant except for chlorine injection, according to the story.

“We don't think the impacts will be major,” said District Manager Barbara Buikema.

EPA proposes 30 currently unregulated contaminants for monitoring

WASHINGTON, March 4, 2011 (Water Tech) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed 30 currently unregulated contaminants for monitoring in water systems, according to a press release.

The Safe Drinking Water Act requires that EPA identify up to 30 unregulated contaminants for monitoring every five years.

This current proposal is the third Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Regulation (UCMR 3) and includes requirements to monitor for two viruses and 28 chemical contaminants that could be present in drinking water and do not currently have health-based standards, the release stated.

EPA is requesting public comment on the proposed list of 30 contaminants until May 2, 2011.

“Ensuring clean and safe drinking water for all Americans is a top priority for EPA,” said Nancy Stoner, acting assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Water. “In keeping with the Safe Drinking Water Act, we are submitting for public comment and input our proposed next round of currently unregulated contaminants for monitoring. Learning more about the prevalence of these contaminants will allow EPA to better protect people’s health.”

Hinkley once again being tested for toxins

HINKLEY, CA, March 9, 2011 (Water Tech) — Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) is once again in hot water as testing in Hinkley provides evidence of more water pollution, abcnews.com reported.

As many know, this was the issue on which the film “Erin Brockovich”, based on the 1993 water incident, according to the story. Despite PG&E’s attempts to quell the problem, the chromium pollution is estimated to be twice as bad as the company had first anticipated. Some areas are even 400 times larger than the national standard, the article stated.

“Our concern first and foremost is for the community of Hinkley,” PG&E spokesman Jeff Smith said. To which Roberta Walker, a victim of the original incident in 1993, replied by saying: “Their main concern is for the community of Hinkley? It’s not true; they’re just saying what you want to hear.”

The current incident began back in November of 2010, and continued on until now.

Multi-Pure Commentary:

Multi-Pure’s MP750 Plus RO has been certified by NSF International, under Standard 58, to reduce Hexavalent Chromium and Trivalent Chromium.

City to change source of potable water

SUGARLAND, TX, March 10, 2011 (Water Tech) — A new surface water treatment plant is underway that will reduce the city of Sugar Land’s reliance on groundwater, according to the Houston Chronicle.

The $69 million plant, which is expected to be completed in early 2013, will produce nine million gallons of drinking water each day from Oyster Creek, the story stated.

The project was initiated in response to a state law requiring a reduction in the reliance on groundwater, which has traditionally been the city’s primary water source, the story noted.
According to Doug Adolph, spokesman for the city of Sugar Land, this is one of the municipality’s largest and most complicated capital improvement projects to date.

Once the plant is operational, the city of Sugar Land will be cutting its groundwater usage by 30 percent in 2013 and by 60 percent by 2025, the story added.

Chloramines supposedly behind increased degradation of pipes

KINSTON, NC, March 14, 2011 (Water Tech) — Customers of the Neuse Regional WASA plant are reportedly seeing increased cases of rust in pipes and need for new hot water heaters, enctoday.com reported.

This is supposedly due to the plant’s decision to use chloramines, which are said to be less expensive and more effective than chlorine; however, they are known to have corrosive effects on certain pipes and hot water heaters, according to the story.

While WASA has done nothing unethical or illegal, the city has ordered them to switch back to chlorine for approximately four weeks, starting tomorrow, the article stated.

“The city’s constantly flushing their mains to help alleviate the problem, but it’s just something that you’re going to have to deal with,” said Ricky Stroud, a local plumber and owner of Ed Phillips Heating, AC & Plumbing of Kinston. “The state’s the one that mandated that you can’t pump (water) out of the ground anymore so you’re just going to have to deal with it until it’s gone.”

Multi-Pure Commentary:

Multi-Pure Drinking Water Systems have been certified by NSF International, under Standard 53 to reduce Chloramines and Chlorine.

Survey: Consumers willing to pay more for safe drinking water

SAN ANTONIO, March 15, 2011 (Water Tech) — An independent survey released last week at WQA Aquatech USA 2011 found that more than half of Americans have concerns about the quality of their water, according to a press release.

The random sample survey, conducted by Applied Research-West Inc., also found that a majority of consumers are willing to pay more for the elimination of contaminants from their water and nearly 25 percent of consumers say that have a primary responsibility in their home for quality water.