This week's NEWS

The P's have it: PPCPs, PFOA, PCBs, pCBSA, perchlorate, and Pithy... Posters and essays on Tap vs. Bottled waters. Where to put that excess CO2? Sequester it! Free seminars on security coming to a city near you... if you live near one of the five host cities! How'd the crypto bunny get in the treatment plant? New in the water vocabulary: Bowsers and veligers!

Quick Links Navigation:

Federal Updates

• USEPA's pre-publication of new rule on geologic sequestration of carbon dioxide under the UIC Program (PDF file, 588 K); fact sheet on the proposal (PDF file, 59 K); USEPA website: Geologic Sequestration of Carbon Dioxide
• AWWA gives EPA the benefit of their comments with:
  • Kudos: Draft Lead and Copper Rule guidance manual (PDF file, 46 K), and
  • Pans: Ground Water Rule corrective actions guidance (PDF file, 92 K)

State Updates

• Colorado's July Aqua Talk newsletter (PDF file, 407 K)
  Commentary: AquaMan returns with a hot tip, and the guidance on routine coliform sample collection are on target (Why can't the kitty drink from the tap?); and a state view of implementing the GWR.
• Connecticut's July H2Operator newsletter (PDF file, 381 K)
• Mississippi's "minimalist" 2007 report on water system compliance (PDF file, 46 K)

Water Treatment

• AWWA August 20 webcast: Chlorine Gas: Balancing Public Health and Security
• Wisconsin village installs UV on ground water sources after study suggests potential risk (Sauk Prairie Eagle, July 17)
• Kentucky water district celebrates new water plant (Maysville Ledger Independent, July 18)
• California water treatment facility clogged by debris from flooding (Bakersfield Now, July 17)

Microbiological

• Distribution storage "service" tanks in Wales, UK, have E. coli hits (Western Mail, July 17)
• Was water bugs bunny planted deliberately? (Lutterworth Mail, July 17); water company dismisses rabbit 'planted' theory (Northampton Chronicle and Echo, July 21)
• Virginia town's boil water advisory is lifted (Delmarva Daily Times, July 18)
• Other Arizona cities testing swimming pools for Cryptosporidium in public water after Phoenix pool closures (Arizona Republic, July 22) (NOTE: This story relates to recreational water, not drinking water)

Security

• FREE security workshops coming up in five cities... first is on August 5 (ASCE)

Disinfection Byproducts

• South Carolina town's residents get TTHM notice and start to worry... about washing their blueberries! (WCNC, July 18)

PPCPs

• Michigan Congresswoman introduces legislation to deal with pharmaceuticals in drinking water; HR 6451–The Drug Free Water Act of 2008 (PDF file, 34 K)

Water Quality Reports

• California desert district's CCR "reveals" minor bacti monitoring violations (High Desert Star, July 19)

PCBs

• Stilwater runs deep? New York village's wells near Hudson River positive in PCB test but below MCL (Albany Times Union, July 22)

Chromium

• Hexavalent chromium found in Southern California ground water not at level of health concern (Riverside Press Enterprise, July 17)

Perchlorate

• California risk assessors will re-look at perchlorate risk level with new study in mind (Riverside Press Enterprise, July 17)

NEWS CONTINUES BELOW

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Arsenic

• After two-year delay, Maryland town will get new well because of arsenic concerns (Baltimore Sun, July 18)
• North Carolina county gets grant for centralized water system to address arsenic (Rocky Mount Telegram, July 18)
  Commentary: And what is there not to like about this logic: "The more grant money you get, the less you have to borrow."
• Forum discusses Vietnamese arsenic contamination (Vietnam Bridge, July 20)
• Turkish professor-politician proposes arsenic water map and caution in dealing with arsenic-contaminated waters (Turkish Daily News, July 22)

Nitrate

• California community issues rapid notice on potentially high nitrates (Riverside Press Enterprise, July 17)... and then gives the all-clear notice (Riverside Press Enterprise, July 19)

Tritium

• Illinois village gets new wells and treatment... free! (Morris Daily Herald, July 18)
  Commentary: Maybe it was a "blessing in disguise" as the industry responsible for tritium getting into the ground water, after delaying notice of the contamination for ten years, stepped forward and provided over $11 million for a community distribution system, source, and treatment. New, deep wells will replace 11-20-foot-deep "sandpoints," and treatment will be provided as needed despite the fact that tritium has not been found in the shallow wells. Free bottled water continues to be provided to the village.
• New Jersey town's belated notice of radium test results causes concern and confusion (Trenton Times, July 19)

PFOA

• NIEHS schedules brief seminar on PFOA health studies

pCBSA

• pCBSA detection in Michigan town's water may be harbinger of worse things to come (Mt. Pleasant Morning Sun, July 18)

Source Water Protection

• NESC's summer 2008 Pipeline newsletter covers septic systems and source water protection (PDF file, 859 K)
• North Carolina county task force making progress despite criticism from press (Fayetteville Observer, July 20)

Bisphenol-A Plastic

• NTP's board reviews draft report on BPA

Fluoridation

• Nebraska town likely will put fluoridation question to vote in November (Ashland Gazette, July 16)
• Louisiana city considers drinking water fluoridation (Lafayette Daily Advertiser, July 19)
  Commentary: The Louisiana law mandating drinking water fluoridation requires that the state provide the funding for the treatment. It allows agencies to opt out if there is a citizen-petition and a vote of the electorate.
• Recent CDC study provokes discussions in Houston, TX, about impact of bottled water use on dental health (Houston Chronicle, July 20)

Invasive Mussels

• Western states stay on mussel watch:
  • Colorado: Veligers, the larval stage of the quagga mussel, were found in Lake Granby earlier this month and genetically confirmed (Pueblo Chieftain, July 16)
  • Arizona-Utah: More funding needed to keep invaders out of Lake Powell (Lake Powell Chronicle, July 16)
  • New Mexico: State prepares preventative plan (KDBS, July 17)
  • Nevada-California: Lake Tahoe boat surveys going well (Nevada Appeal, July 22)

Aesthetics

• Fort Wayne, IN, experiences taste and odor problems from flooding and algae; PAC treatment increased

Tap vs. Bottled

• Massachusetts students show their aqua knowledge in water-agency-sponsored "Tap vs. Bottled" contest (Wakefield Observer, July 17)

Private Wells

• Wyoming residents anxious about oil and gas operations impacting private wells

Desalination

• Academic economists say Sydney, AU's desalination plant is a "billion-dollar bungle" (Sydney Morning Herald, July 18); government minister says the economists' proposed "scarcity pricing" just won't work (Sydney Morning Herald, July 21)

Water Reuse

• Another Southern California agency proposes to "drought-proof" their ground water basin with reclaimed wastewater (Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, July 19)

International

• New WHO report: Progress on Drinking Water and Sanitation: Special Focus on Sanitation
• World Water Week (August 17-23) in Stockholm - Where the Water World Meets
• Severn Trent, UK, water bowsers still missing (Gloucestershire Echo, July 16)

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