WASHINGTON, April 13, 2007 (Water Tech) — The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has made a preliminary determination not to regulate 11 contaminants on the second drinking water contaminant candidate list (CCL), according to an April 12 press release.

EPA concluded that two other contaminants — perchlorate and MTBE — require additional investigation to determine total human exposure and health risks, according to the press release.

For perchlorate and MTBE, EPA is providing a summary of current health, occurrence and exposure information and is seeking comment and additional information to help its evaluations, said the press release.

According to the press release, a regulatory determination is a formal decision on whether the EPA should require a national primary drinking water regulation for a specific contaminant. The Safe Drinking Water Act requires the EPA to issue a CCL every five years for at least five contaminants from the most recent CCL; the EPA published in 2005 the second CCL of 51 contaminants.

SAN LUIS VALLEY, CO, April 16, 2007 (Water Tech) — About 70 percent of the residents in this small community took steps to treat their well water after what the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) calls a successful program of free sampling and analysis, according to a recent EPA press release.

As a result of the program, EPA on April 12 presented six community leaders with its US EPA Friends of Environmental Protection Award for "outstanding environmental stewardship and outstanding environmental education in a rural setting," the release said.

The community project is the first regional project to provide free sampling and analysis of drinking water from private wells, EPA said.

Since mid-2005 the EPA has been working in partnership with San Luis Valley residents, about 30 percent of whom have household wells for drinking water, to ensure clean, safe drinking water, according to the press release.

Test results indicated that nearly 30 percent of household wells were positive for bacteria, nearly 12 percent for arsenic, and more than 1 percent for nitrates, lead, uranium and fluoride, the press release said.

EPA estimates that of the 400 households which participated in the San Luis Valley Drinking Water Well Project, more than 70 percent have taken steps to treat their water.

Project participants were provided information on point-of-use water treatment systems and were instructed on how to apply shock chlorination, according to the press release.

GRAND RAPIDS, MI, April 16, 2007 (Water Tech) — Trace amounts of pharmaceutical drugs that pass through the wastewater treatment plant have been found in the city's drinking water, a new government study says, according to an April 14 article in The Grand Rapids Press.

A state grant funded research that found traces of birth-control hormones, caffeine and the anti-seizure medication carbamazepine in treated water at the Grand Rapids water filtration plant, according to the article.

Amy Perbeck, a state Department of Environmental Quality toxicologist, said in the article that the biggest concern these emerging contaminants present has to do with fish living in the waters to which wastewater treatment plants discharge.

WaterTech Online™ recently reported that the Water Quality Association is addressing the issue of emerging contaminants and that it is aware that the public and its water suppliers likely will look to the water treatment industry to develop technology to remove these contaminants either at the municipal or point-of-use/point-of-entry level.

SAN FRANCISCO, April 25, 2007 (Water Tech) — The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on April 23 that it ordered the US Navy to comply with the Safe Drinking Water Act at its naval auxiliary landing field on San Clemente Island, located off the coast of San Diego, according to an EPA press release.

The order requires the Navy to reduce levels of the water disinfection byproduct trihalomethane in the drinking water system that serves about 700 people on the island, according to the press release.

Between July 2005 and April 2006, drinking water at the naval auxiliary landing field averaged 0.099 milligrams per liter (mg/L) of total trihalomethanes, according to EPA; federal drinking water standards are 0.080 (mg/L).

The Navy is required to provide EPA with a written compliance plan that describes how it will meet federal water regulations by June 30; by December 31, 2008, the Navy is required to reduce its total trihalomethane levels to below federal standards, the press release stated.

Failure to comply with the EPA could result in penalties for as much as $32,000 per day per violation, according to the press release.

APPOMATTOX, VA, April 25, 2007 (Water Tech) — This town is looking to ban copper pipes in new buildings in an effort to reduce the amount of total recoverable copper in water discharges from one of its treatment plants, following a mandate from the state's Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), an April 25 story in The News & Advance reported.

The town's water, which has naturally occurring amounts of copper, is allowed to have 21 parts per billion (ppb), the story said.

In 2004, the town's water tested at 200 ppb, but after a furniture plant replaced its copper pipes with plastic ones, the levels of copper dropped, the story said.

The town has to submit a final action plan to the DEQ by May 7 or the town could face legal action, the story said.

Multi-Pure Commentary:

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

OTTAWA, April 26, 2007 (Water Tech) — Canadian federal agency Health Canada has proposed a measure calling on provinces and municipalities to test for lead in drinking water at the tap, according to an April 26 article in The London Free Press.

The London Free Press reported on April 20 that recent test results showed elevated levels of lead in the tap water of many homes in older areas still served by lead water intake pipes.

According to the article, the proposed Health Canada guidelines adopt an approach used in the United States: All homes at high risk of lead are tested.

The Health Canada recommendations are not law; it is up to provinces and cities to choose whether to adopt them, according to the article.

DOVER, NH April 27, 2007 (Water Tech) — Groundwater monitoring wells have been installed here after city officials learned that methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) will contaminate one of the city's major sources of drinking water within two years, according to an April 24 Foster's Daily Democrat article.

As part of remediation efforts, the state Department of Environmental Services (DES) put the city's water plant has been put on notice to investigate treatment possibilities.

DES also is recommending an overall increase in monitoring efforts of the drinking water source take place as well as the installation of in-ground treatment equipment, the article said.

MTBE has been seeping into the ground toward the city's Griffin Well from the site of a former scrap metal business that sits uphill from the site of the well, according to the article.

RICHLAND, GA, April 30, 2007 (Water Tech) — This former railroad town of about 1,700 residents is facing the costly problem of replacing asbestos-and-cement pipes in its water system, according to an April 29 article in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Richland Mayor Adolph McLendon said the pipes have caused the city’s water to consistently exceed US Environmental Protection Agency standards for asbestos for the past five years, and in December 2003, a water sample showed asbestos fibers at 3,132 times the federal standard, according to the article.

State Rep. Bob Hanner, D-Parrot, who represents Richland, said the city already spends nearly half of its $1 million annual budget on water system maintenance and cannot afford to fix the system.