Hi all…The USEPA recently released its Lead and Copper Rule Revisions White Paper. The goals of the LCR revisions are to identify new strategies to further reduce lead and copper exposure, as corrosion control treatment may not be effective enough in all drinking water systems. The 18 page document is available for free download at: [...]
Hi all…The US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) released a toolkit in June of this year to “provide an easy-to-understand interpretation of ASHRAE Standard 188 to help building owners and managers evaluate the water system and devices in their building(s) to see if they need a (Legionella growth and spread) program, and then develop an [...]
Hi all…despite the fact that it’s almost November, a cyanobacterial bloom generating microcystin recently occurred in a small lake near Waterloo. It is fitting then that a perspective “on the rise of toxic cyanobacteria” published earlier this year in the Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences is predicting cyanobacterial blooms are most likely to increase [...]
Hi all…I’ve come across another study which most drinking water/public health providers will never see but it contains an extremely important finding. Previous watershed surveys have revealed that E. coli O157/E. coli O157:H7 are detected relatively infrequently (less than 5% of samples). While it is not typically present it would nonetheless be expected that disease outbreaks would [...]
Hi all…despite 125 positive tests for E. coli, a Campylobacter outbreak affecting thousands, and 3 associated cases of Guillain-Barre Syndrome attributable to contamination of Christchurch's drinking water in the past four years, the city's water supply will not be chlorinated (or otherwise treated). In fact, one report has the Medical Officer of Health saying "it was "not surprising" that E. coli was detected from [...]
Hi all…the Water Research Foundation and AWWA have just released a report entitled “Managing Cyanotoxins in Drinking Water-A Technical Guidance Manual for Drinking Water Professionals.” The authors state that the this report “is intended for users working for or with water utilities that have already been determined to be at risk of having cyanobacteria and [...]
HI all…with comments due to Health Canada on ‘Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA) and Perfluorooctane Sulfonate (PFOS) in Drinking Water’ guidelines on Sept 2, a new article reveals that two reported potential health effects of these compounds (early menopause and reduced kidney function) are actually a result of having those conditions rather than being the cause. This isn’t [...]
Hi all…lead continues to be the drinking water issue of 2016 as evidenced by the attention it is receiving in the media and will be at the upcoming 17th National Conference on Drinking Water and CWWA’s 2nd National Water and Wastewater Conference. Another interesting article by Graham Gagnon’s research group at DalTech has just appeared in Environmental [...]
Hi all…with the 2016 cyanobacteria season now occurring I suspect that many of you have wondered what happens to cyanobacteria when they are trapped/settled out in drinking water treatment plants/reservoirs. An article has recently been published reporting that unfortunately “it was shown that cyanobacteria can proliferate in the conditions manifest in a sludge treatment lagoon, [...]
Hi all…the authors of this just published ‘Journal of Water Supply: Research and Technology – Aqua’ paper conducted a demonstration project to evaluate a range of sampling methods and supporting techniques for tackling lead in drinking water in Alberta, with the cities of Calgary and Edmonton as case studies. The sampling protocols specified by Health [...]