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 [...]
Hi all…tucked away on page 11 in this ‘Pediatrics’ journal Policy Statement is a recommendation by the American Pediatric Society that: “State and local governments should take steps to ensure that water fountains in schools do not exceed water lead concentrations of 1 ppb (1 µg/L).” It seems this is attracting media attention south of [...]
Hi all…an open access paper published today in PNAS reports that studies of deep groundwater indicate “that California’s Central Valley alone has close to three times the volume of fresh groundwater and four times the volume of underground sources of drinking water (USDWs) than previous estimates suggest.” Great news, but they then point out that [...]
Hi all…a two part paper on the presence and fate of 220 emerging contaminants in two Windsor Ontario wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and one drinking water treatment plant (WTP) has just been published. Part I provides drinking water professionals with additional information on what compounds may be present in source waters as well as some performance [...]
Hi all…The Water research Foundation (WRF) has announced that an updated 6 min video to help Canadian water utilities communicate about emerging contaminants is now available at no cost. The video, Protecting Our Drinking Water, is geared toward Canadian audiences and is available for Canadian utilities to link to or to post on their own [...]