safedrinkingwater.com NEWS -- July 14, 2004 -- Vol. 5, No. 28

July 14, 2004 -- Vol. 5, No. 28

This week's NEWS

MTBE is in the news........everything, everywhere! Should small private water systems write their own exemptions? Sydney and crypto are back in the news......but it isn't bad news! Perchlorate report group says watch out for selective extracting from report for self-serving reasons. Significant court decision in California on fluoridation. Would EPA already have the answers to lead-compliance questions if new data reporting/management system were in place? Millions of CCRs flow out the taps of water utilities...........is anyone reading them? It's a dog's life when you try to explain chloramine switchover.

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Quick Links Navigation:
• Federal Update • Small Water System Legislation • State Updates • Microbiological • Arizona Links • Water Quality Reports • Arsenic	• Water Treatment • MTBE • Lead • Capacity Development: TMF • C8 • Nitrates • Chromium • Perchlorate	• Radioactivity • Fluoride • TCE • Water Reports • General • Desalination • Pesticides • International

Federal Update

New effort boosts direct electronic reporting of lab data to states and state data to EPA. Five states are working on environmental data exchange project
Commentary: WARNING! Do not read the info in these two links........unless a) You know what a schema is; b) You are licensed to talk IT language; c) You care about the concept of accurate, reliable, timely transmission of WQ data from labs and water utilities to state primacy agencies and ultimately to EPA so that incomplete/inaccurate downloads of info from the infamous SDWIS can be avoided.
USEPA provides comprehensive Implementation Guidance for the Filter Backwash Recycling Rule and has issued the official definition of "significant non-compliance" under the FBRR (PDF file, 2 pages)

Small Water System Legislation

H.R. 4717, the "Small Community Options for Regulatory Equity Act of 2004", was introduced June 25th by Representative Otter (PDF file, 3 pages)
Commentary: The stated purpose of this bill is misleading in only three major respects: First, the bill does not cover all small PWS........only "private, non-profits" (What is up with that?); second, it doesn't just allow small PWS to "request an exemption," it forces states to issue exemptions requested... no matter what; third, it is not just for naturally occurring contaminants since exemptions for DBPs are allowed. Otherwise, the one sentence purpose is right on target. Oh, yes........each non-profit system gets to make up its own definition of "not economically feasible."
NRWA supports H.R. 4717 and provides other back-up information (PDF file, 1 page)

State Updates

"Safe Drinking Water is what we SPOUT about" says Nebraska's July 2004 Water Spout newsletter
2003 Annual Compliance Reports for Idaho, Iowa, North Carolina (PDF file, 10 pages), North Dakota, Pennsylvania
Commentary: Each of the states' reports has slightly different areas of emphasis and ise enlightening. The PA report has a very comprehensive section on filter plant performance and gives a heads-up on what's coming: "These rules are just the leading edge of a tsunami of new regulatory initiatives that are being implemented as a result of the 1996 Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) Amendments. Systems should expect to see at least a dozen new regulations over the next five years."
Massachusetts and Rhode Island get EPA nod on several new SDWA rules (Federal Register, July 9)

Microbiological

Sydney, AU officials confident drinking water will be safe despite potential for cryptosporidium organisms in drought-impacted catchment areas (ABC Science, July 12)
New Australian research may provide faster oocyst viability determination (ABC Science, July 13) Abstract (International Journal of Parasitology, July 2004)

Arizona Links

Benefits of ozone for T&O control at Arizona WTPs weighed against drought-related bromate concern and power demand (Arizona Republic, July 11)
Yuma poised to start voter-approved drinking water fluoridation (Yuma Sun, July 9)

Water Quality Reports

CCR's issued by New Jersey utilities - but, is anybody reading them?? (Gloucester County Times, July 12)
Commentary: Utilities continue to get criticized by some environmental advocacy groups for complying with the SDWA CCR provisions the groups claim credit for getting passed. Whatever happened to the common-sense dictum about "leading a horse to water but you can't........make customers read about it." And is it the fault of two utilities that the "investigative reporter" says they "exceeded the (non-existent) MCL for sodium"?

Arsenic

USEPA's Small System Arsenic Removal research has 30 new sites nationwide for 2004
300 villages in Bangladesh will get arsenic-free water (Financial Express, July 13)

Water Treatment

Colorado water system switches to chloramines (Montrose Press, July 9)
Commentary: A water manager uses canine analogy as he tries to make chlorine-chloramine chemistry accessible to the lay public. How'd he do? "Chlorine attaches to organic material in the water and it's as effective as a pit bull because it destroys it all, but that makes the trihalomethanes," Waldman said. "The chloramines are more like a German shepherd; they will attack just the live viruses, but they won't continue on chewing up the organic matter and creating trihalomethanes."

MTBE

Alaska Senator trying to broker compromise over MTBE liability in the Energy Bill (Fairbanks Daily News-Minor, July 12)
No MTBE, no BTEX?.......let's go jet skiing at Northern California water district's reservoir (Morgan Hill Times, July 9)
Finally......the end is in sight! Maine gives another community a water system to resolve MTBE problem....... it's been a long, winding road (Portland Press Herald, July 11) But, questions flow about the high cost of the project and its impact on emergency fund (Portland Press Herald, July 11)
Moratorium on new gas stations considered in one Maryland county (Baltimore Sun, July 11)
Upstate New York MTBE plume doesn't threaten town's wells........NYC is not concerned about the plume affecting surface water source (Journal News, July 13)
Rhode Island town's MTBE-contaminated groundwater considered possible "test aquifer" for clean-up research (Woonsocket Call, July 13)
Microbes used to create "string of pearls...biobarriers" to combat MTBE at CA navy base (Baltimore Sun, July 12)

Lead

Seattle schools accused of being too slow to notify parents of lead levels....who is responsible for making them do it? (Seattle Press-Enterprise, July 7) Parents are mad as heck.......school attorney oversees lead testing? (Seattle Press-Enterprise, July 8) School board says no to investigation of 10-year long lapse in action on lead testing (Seattle Press-Enterprise, July 10)
Lansing, MI agrees to replace lead service line......discovered by Washington Post reporter (Lansing State Journal, July 11)

Capacity Development: TMF

Hawaii's 2004 Capacity Development Strategy (PDF file, 7 pages)
Commentary: Hawaii's triennial report provides insight into what TMF (Technical, Managerial, Financial) capacity means on the ground as states struggle to address the issue of under-funded, under-managed and understaffed water systems, usually very small ones.

USEPA will seek "millions of dollars" in fines from Dupont for violating reporting requirement (Ventura County Star, July 9 - free registration required) But locals would rather see money go for environmental cleanup, not to EPA (Marietta Times, July 9) Volunteers for independent health effects study sought (Marietta Times, July 7)

NEWS CONTINUED BELOW

Is Your Utility Considering a Switch to Chloramines?

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Nitrates

Some in small central California town say they didn't get nitrate notices sent by water district (Bakersfield KERO News, July 9)

Chromium

Clean-up of chromium contaminated groundwater at Texas natural gas plant continues (Odessa American, July 11)

Perchlorate

UC-Irvine's Urban Water Research Center issues stern disclaimer re: its recent perchlorate report
Commentary: "A number of organizations and news media outlets have received a press release from the Council on Water Quality. It is important for anyone receiving such a release to know that the excerpts extracted by the Council from this report are self-serving to the Council's own viewpoint and do not reflect the true content of the report."
New England town doesn't have an answer to its low-level perchlorate problem (The Republican, July 11)
Perchlorate clean-up funding bill moving in Congress (Press Enterprise, July 8 - free registration required)
Olin must continue to provide bottled water...even where wells test below California goal (Gilroy Dispatch, July 9)

Radioactivity

Missouri customers notified about radioactivity levels: "The water didn't change...the law did" (Columbia Daily Tribune, July 9)

Fluoride

California court rules that state law trumps local anti-fluoride ordinance (Santa Cruz Sentinel, July 7) Editorial says the judge is right-on! (Santa Cruz Sentinel, July 11)
Canadian town may vote on stopping fluoridation after 47 years (Daily Herald-Tribune, July 8)
Pinellas County, FL stands by fluoridation decision despite anti-F group's protest (St. Petersburg Times, July 9)
Juneau, AK's task force wants to review NAS panel's report before it makes a recommendation on continuing fluoridation (Juneau Empire, July 11)
Voters in Manchester, NH area will vote on continuing fluoridation in September (Union Leader, July 13)
UK doctor makes "sensational" claims connecting fluoridation and obesity (Sunday Mercury, July 11)

TCE

Pennsylvania residents with TCE-contaminated wells want hookups, bottled water...faster (Pottstown Mercury, July 9)
State and the industry alleged to have contaminated Cadillac, MI's drinking water wells trying to reach agreement (Cadillac News, July 12)

Water Reports

General

What smart young parents will spend their time worrying about........... instead of chlorinated drinking water (New York Times, July 13 - free registration required)

Desalination

Northern California water district considers a pilot desal plant (Marin Independent Journal, July 12)

Pesticides

Rhode Island wells, some with nitrate problems, will be tested for Dacthal (ABC 6, July 12)

International

England and Wales water gets a high grade (BBC, July 7) Drinking Water Inspectorate Press Release and The detailed reports

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