SEATTLE, October 23, 2009 (Water Tech) — ID district, EPA settles regarding SDWA violations

ROCKY MOUNT, VA, October 26, 2009 (Water Tech) — More frequent Crypto testing ordered for town

DES MOINES, IA, October 27, 2009 (Water Tech) — Nitrates, other pollutants dumped in IA waters

BURNSVILLE, MN, October 28, 2009 (Water Tech) — Odor, high chlorine levels in water worry residents

SALISBURY, NC, October 30, 2009 (Water Tech) — Research continues on arsenic-diabetes link

TRUCKEE, CA, November 3, 2009 (Water Tech) — High levels of arsenic plague community’s well

HINDMAN, KY, November 6, 2009 (Water Tech) — Undrinkable water still flows from KY taps

COSHOCTON, OH, November 11, 2009 (Water Tech) — OH city identifying sources of mercury in effluent

ID district, EPA settles regarding SDWA violations

SEATTLE, October 23, 2009 (Water Tech) — A water district in northern Idaho will do an equipment rehab and a cleanup and pay a $5,000 penalty to settle a federal complaint about non-compliance with drinking water regulations, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said in an October 21 news release.

The East Shoshone County Water District in Wallace, ID, will rehabilitate a water filtration plant and distribution system, perform a $20,000 mine adit (tunnel) cleanup, and pay the penalty. The release said the district failed to comply with a Safe Drinking Water Act Compliance Order issued in March of 2000.

According to Ed Kowalski, Director of EPA’s Enforcement Office in Seattle, this is a major step forward toward providing safe water for Burke Canyon residents, who comprise a portion of the district’s service area.

The district operates three separate water systems that serve about 3,200 customers in the communities of Wallace, Mullan and Burke, in Idaho’s panhandle. The Burke system, located near the city of Wallace, has about 21 service connections that regularly serve approximately 45 people.

The announced settlement, under an EPA Consent Decree, requires the district construct and operate a filtration system for water customers in Burke Canyon at an estimated cost of $600,000; rehabilitate the existing distribution system; comply with maximum contaminant levels, monitoring, reporting and public notice requirements for coliform bacteria; and spend approximately $20,000 to modify the discharge from the nearby abandoned mine. The district has also agreed to pay a $5,000 cash penalty.

The filtration project is required for the Burke system because it draws its raw water from Sawmill Gulch Creek, and there is the potential for contamination by Cryptosporidium or Giardia. The district currently chlorinates the water prior to providing it to customers, but, according to the EPA, the chlorine treatment alone is insufficient to eliminate the threat from these disease-causing organisms.

Multi-Pure Commentary:
Multi-Pure Drinking Water Systems have been certified by NSF International, under Standard 53, to reduce Cryptosporidium and Giardia (Cyst).

More frequent Crypto testing ordered for town

ROCKY MOUNT, VA, October 26, 2009 (Water Tech) — This town soon will begin more frequent testing of its river supply for Cryptosporidium, to remain in compliance with federal safe drinking water regulations, The Franklin News-Post reported October 26.

Bob Deitrich, water plant superintendent, is quoted saying that the tests cost $400 apiece, and the town is required to collect 24 samples over a two-year period. The town draws its drinking water from the Blackwater River.

Deitrich also noted that due to the complexity of the test, no local or regional labs are offering the service.

The town is slated to begin the sampling by February 2010.

Multi-Pure Commentary:
Multi-Pure Drinking Water Systems have been certified by NSF International, under Standard 53, to reduce Cryptosporidium (Cyst).

Nitrates, other pollutants dumped in IA waters

DES MOINES, IA, October 27, 2009 (Water Tech) — The two main water sources for this city, the Des Moines and Raccoon rivers, in 2007 received more than 700,000 pounds of toxic chemicals, including high levels of nitrate compounds, according to a report released October 21 by environmental advocacy organization Environment Iowa.

According to the report, Wasting Our Waterways: Industrial Toxic Pollution and the Unfulfilled Promise of the Clean Water Act, industrial facilities dumped a total of nearly 3.5 million pounds of toxic chemicals into Iowa’s waterways.

The organization said the pollutants have contributed to the ill health of the state’s waterways, noting that in September, the city of Des Moines was forced to stop drawing drinking water from the Raccoon due to a toxic algae bloom that was at least in part due to high levels of nitrates in the water.

Eric Nost, state associate with Environment Iowa, said in an October 21 press release about the report that Tyson Fresh Meats in Perry released 391,300 pounds of toxic chemical waste directly into the Raccoon River. The report said that overall, Tyson Fresh Meats released 1,388,270 pounds of toxic chemical waste into the Iowa and Cedar rivers at Columbus Junction, qualifying the plant as the largest reported polluter of toxic chemicals in the state in 2007.

Multi-Pure Commentary:
Multi-Pure’s MP750 Plus RO has been certified by NSF International, under Standard 58, to reduce Nitrate/Nitrite.

Odor, high chlorine levels in water worry residents

BURNSVILLE, MN, October 28, 2009 (Water Tech) — In response to multiple complaints from residents here about a foul odor in tap water, the city has hired a consultant to determine the source of the problem, 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS reported October 28. Resident Deb Moran said the water “smells like chlorinated dirty smelly scummy pond water.”

Moran said she took a sample of her tap water to a pool supply shop for testing and was told the “chlorine was off the charts.”

5 EYEWITNESS NEWS said it then took its own sample to a pool expert, who confirmed chlorine at 0.7 parts per million and said it’s about the same as the chlorine level in a swimming pool.

City officials confirmed the safety of the drinking water, and noted that the cause is a build-up of algae-caused organic compounds.

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

Research continues on arsenic-diabetes link

SALISBURY, NC, October 30, 2009 (Water Tech) — A University of North Carolina toxicologist on October 29 spoke to a group at Catawba College’s Center for the Environment on the link between arsenic-in-water and diabetes, referencing recent research he has been conducting in Mexico, according to an October 29 Salisbury Post story.

Dr. Miroslav Styblo, an associate nutrition professor at UNC’s Gillings School of Global Public Health, noted that he has conducted studies on arsenic’s potential to cause diabetes using both mice and human cell cultures. He said the human studies took place in three communities in Mexico. In those areas, arsenic levels in the drinking water reached between 10 parts per billion (ppb) up to 800 ppb.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s maximum contaminant level is 10 ppb. The goal of the studies: “We hope to get to the point of prevention," Styblo is quoted as saying.

Multi-Pure Commentary:
Multi-Pure’s MP880 Series has been certified by NSF International, under Standard 53, to reduce Arsenic V.

High levels of arsenic plague community’s well

TRUCKEE, CA, November 3, 2009 (Water Tech) — The Truckee Donner Public Utility District recently has informed its water customers that one of its 11 wells has violated the drinking water standard for arsenic, according to a November 3 Reno Gazette-Journal story. According to the story, “Utility officials said the violation is not an emergency.”

The well in question has had four consecutive quarters of arsenic test results to indicate that the current running annual average level for the well is near 12 parts per billion (ppb). The US Environmental Protection Agency enforces a maximum contaminant level of 10 ppb for arsenic in public drinking water.

The utility said in the letter that it is examining options — changing pumping rates, blending with water from other wells, treatment, or a well shutdown — that would bring it into compliance with the arsenic standard.

Multi-Pure Commentary:
Multi-Pure’s MP880 Series has been certified by NSF International, under Standard 53, to reduce Arsenic V.

Undrinkable water still flows from KY taps

HINDMAN, KY, November 6, 2009 (Water Tech) — Some residents in this Knott County community are still awaiting drinking water from the new county water treatment plant while neighbors nearby who are not in Hindman already are sipping their tap water, WYMT News reported November 5.

The plant, located at Carr Creek, is fully capable of providing water to the city of Hindman, too, Knott County Judge Executive Randy Thompson said in the article. He said the county is waiting for action by city officials.

Meanwhile, some residents, such as John Shroll, pastor at Hindman United Methodist Church, have expressed frustration. He said in the report: “You pay the water bill, and yet, you can’t drink it much of the time. And, you can’t wash your clothes in it. So, I’m not sure what we’re paying for.”

OH city identifying sources of mercury in effluent

COSHOCTON, OH, November 11, 2009 (Water Tech) — This city has applied for a variance from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency that would allow it extra time to comply with more stringent mercury discharge standards, according to a November 11 article in the Coshocton Tribune.

The discharge level for bodies of water in Ohio other than the Great Lakes region is 12 parts per trillion (ppt), and accounts for a mixing effect. However, the mixing effect will be removed from the standard in November 2010, Aaron Pennington of Ohio EPA’s Division of Surface Water explained in the article.

What that means for Coshocton is that the discharge from its plant, which currently is at 79 ppt for mercury, will exceed the stricter standard. In exchange for the variance, which would be in effect until 2012 if granted, the city needs to identify and reduce sources of mercury. City Councilman Dave McVay said the city already has begun trying to identify sources of mercury in the city’s waste stream. “Once we’ve found those sources, we would hope to be able to meet those levels. But it takes time,” he added.

Ohio EPA is accepting written comments about the variance request before deciding whether to grant it.