Carbonate aquifers low in contaminants: USGS
WASHINGTON, June 26, 2009 (Water Tech) — Carbonate aquifers, which provide more groundwater for drinking water than any other type of bedrock aquifer in the United States, are typically low in contaminants, the US Geological Survey (USGS) reported in a June 26 press release summarizing the results of a new USGS study.
Carbonate aquifers are underground rock layers typically consisting of limestone or dolomite, and some can contain caves or cause sinkholes. Much of Florida, for instance, is underlain by these aquifers, and the large Edwards-Trinity aquifer is beneath Texas. Carbonate aquifers supply 20 percent of the groundwater used for drinking in the United States.
The USGS noted that radon and nitrate were among the few contaminants with elevated concentrations in samples taken in its study from water wells drilled into carbonate aquifers. Nitrate was the most commonly detected contaminant sampled in these aquifers at concentrations above its federal maximum contaminant limit (for nitrate: 10 parts per million), the USGS said. Nitrate exceeded that standard in 5 percent of sampled wells.
USGS said the types of contaminants found in carbonate aquifers are closely related to land use, such as the use of fertilizers, pesticides and volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
Multi-Pure Commentary:
Multi-Pure Drinking Water Systems have been certified by NSF International, under Standard 53, to reduce VOCs.
UNC clean drinking water program gets boost
CHAPEL HILL, NC, June 29, 2009 (Water Tech) — A University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) project dedicated to bringing clean drinking water and improved sanitation to homes in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam has received an award worth up to $8.5 million, which will be used to expand the program, according to a June 29 Triangle Business Journal report.
The program — Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Enterprise Development (WaterSHED) — is a joint effort between UNC’s Gillings School of Global Public Health, the Kenan-Flagler Business School and the Kenan Institute-Asia.
The university said its researchers will look for ways to increase the use of water filters in homes that lack potable water, in an effort to reduce the incidence of death from water-related diseases. The release said they also will look for ways to achieve financially sustainable, scaled-up access to safe water sources, including harvested rainwater.
Cancer cluster raises questions about wells
PALM BEACH COUNTY, FL, July 2, 2009 (Water Tech) — Contamination of residential well water and groundwater has been a concern for residents in The Acreage community here in the wake of dozens of people living within close proximity being diagnosed with brain cancer, local news reports said.
The potential cancer cluster has affected many children. It was resident and mother Jennifer Dunsford who first noticed the coincidences. Dunsford’s 5-year-old son had a brain tumor removed, The Palm Beach Post reported June 21.
Tests on Dunsford’s residential well failed to detect a contamination link; other residents also are wondering if their well water may be contributing to the community’s high cancer rate. Attention is being given to pesticides used on nearby orange groves and potential groundwater contamination, the newspaper said.
US Sen. Bill Nelson, D-FL, asked the Obama administration on June 25 for an immediate federal investigation into the situation, where at least five children have been diagnosed with brain cancer and at least 40 families have been affected, the Naples Daily News reported June 29.
Birds Eye seeks to remedy well contamination
FENNVILLE, MI, July 2, 2009 (Water Tech) — Birds Eye Foods Inc. has announced a plan to expand Fennville’s public water system to private well owners whose water may have been contaminated by excess iron, manganese and arsenic from the company’s wastewater, WLNS.com reported July 2.
The company has been allowed by the state to dispose of its process wastewater onto fields near the wells. The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality said recently that metals from the wastewater have seeped into groundwater, as WaterTech Online® has reported.
Multi-Pure Commentary:
Multi-Pure’s MP880 Series has been certified by NSF International, under Standard 53, to reduce Arsenic V.
EPA revises Stage 2 DBP Rule
WASHINGTON, July 6, 2009 (Water Tech) — The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has made several minor corrections to the Stage 2 Disinfection Byproducts Rule that was promulgated January 4, 2006, according to the June 29 Federal Register notice.
According to the notice, a requirement for groundwater systems serving 500 to 9,999 people was unintentionally excluded from the final rule. As a result, the rule allowed for less routine compliance monitoring than intended for this category of public water systems (PWSs).
“These PWSs should have been required to monitor for both total trihalomethanes (TTHM) and haloacetic acids (HAA5) concentrations at two locations. Due to the error, they were only required to monitor for either TTHM or HAA5 at two locations,” the notice stated.
Small system’s radium levels concern customers
WOODLAND PARK, CO, July 8, 2009 (Water Tech) — Residents living at the Alpine Village Mobile Home Park are concerned that their drinking water is dangerous to their health, according to a July 7 krdo.com report.
The wells that supply the small system have tested high for levels of combined radium, according to a recent letter sent to residents from the Colorado Division of Water Resources.
One resident, who declined to be identified “over concerns with management,” is reported saying that residents were first notified of the problem last summer. The recent water quality notice was the second notice received.
A representative from Alpine Village told KRDO that he was aware of the problem and that engineers were working to determine how the radium is getting into the water. He said the issue should be resolved within 60 days.
Multi-Pure Commentary:
Multi-Pure’s MP750 Plus RO has been certified by NSF International, under Standard 58, to reduce Radium 226/228.
Tracing nitrates from groundwater to Chesapeake Bay
ANNAPOLIS, MD, July 13, 2009 (Water Tech) — A new report from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation has found that high levels of nitrates, responsible for ill health if ingested, also are contributing to the ill health of Chesapeake Bay, the group reported in a July 7 press release.
The Foundation’s report, Bad Water 2009, The Impact on Human Health in the Chesapeake Bay Region, said that in the Lower Susquehanna region, 20 percent to 60 percent of drinking water wells exceed the federal nitrate limit.
The report details a case study involving a family in York County, PA. The family’s residential well water contained more than twice the level of nitrates allowed by the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) maximum containment level for public drinking water supplies.
According to the Foundation, nitrates in groundwater move into rivers and the Bay, fueling the growth of algae there, the release said. It noted that in 2008 the US Geological Survey reported that almost a third of Microscystis blooms around the Bay contained toxins in levels sufficient to make the water unsafe for children to swim in.
The Foundation’s report calls on the EPA to “act now to reduce that pollution and the potential threats to human health,” the release said.
Multi-Pure Commentary:
Multi-Pure’s MP750 Plus RO has been certified by NSF International, under Standard 58, to reduce Nitrate/Nitrite.
Stimulus funds slated for arsenic removal
TORNILLO, TX , July 14, 2009 (Water Tech) — High levels of arsenic in this west Texas town’s drinking water have qualified the town to receive stimulus funds for two water infrastructure improvement projects, KFOX News reported July 13.
The town of 2,000 has received about $6 million in Recovery Act funds: Almost $4 million will be used for a filtration system and $2 million for an arsenic-removal system, the report said.
Tornillo resident Angelina Garcia said that for the past 26 years she and her family have worried about their tap water. “Every month we get a notice in the mail as a reminder not to use the tap water. … [An upgrade system] would be life-changing because we live with concerns about the water,” she is quoted saying.
Multi-Pure Commentary:
Multi-Pure’s MP880 Series has been certified by NSF International, under Standard 53, to reduce Arsenic V.
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