Stay in the know on all things drinking water
Dr. William B. Anderson is a Research Associate Professor and the Associate Director of the Water Science, Technology & Policy Group at the University of Waterloo. He has been active in drinking water quality and treatment research for more than 40 years, recently focusing on pathogen identification/removal/inactivation, assessment of adsorbed and desorption of contaminants on microplastics, better understanding of the role of colloidal nutrients on cyanobacterial growth in drinking water reservoirs, perfluorinated compounds, and biological filtration.
The past 15 years, Bill has maintained an email service drawing attention to items of interest to drinking water professionals including, for example, the latest research articles, regulatory updates, outbreak reports, topical issues, and media stories. Bill’s email service has expanded over time to include all interested individuals. These emails are now also archived here in a blog format as they are released, which can be explored by category or simply by scrolling through the posts below.
If you would like to join Bill’s email list for updates straight to your inbox, you can send an email to Bill to be added to the list.
Two papers-Application of UV-LED to Full-Scale Drinking Water Disinfection—-UV LED Water Disinfection-Validation and Small System Demonstration
Two papers on full-scale/demonstration-scale evaluations of UV-LED for disinfection have been recently published (below). Both tested the world's first commercial UVC LED water disinfection reactor (the PearlAqua by Aquisense) and successfully demonstrated “proof-of-concept for the application of UVC LEDs for municipal water treatment.” UV LED technology continues to be a promising alternative to UV mercury lamp-based systems.
Sink to River – River to Tap – A review of potential risks from nano-particles & microplastics
Hi all…following up from the WHO report on microplastics that I recently circulated, the UK Water Industry Research Limited has just released a report entitled “Sink to River - River to Tap - A review of potential risks from nano-particles & microplastics.”
Microplastics in drinking water-new WHO report
Hi all…the WHO has released a lengthy report entitled ‘Microplastics in Drinking Water’. It is a good compilation of potential issues associated with microplastics and is available for free download. There is also an Information sheet: Microplastics in drinking-water which provides key messages and answers to some common questions. This may be even more useful than the report for some of you.
In 2000, Walkerton’s poisoned water ruined his life-He decided it was time to end it
In response to my recent emails dealing with waterborne disease outbreaks, I was directed to an article in the Toronto Star published in May 2018 which really got my attention. I think that as water professionals this is an article we should all read when we have a few minutes.
Guidance on the use of QMRA in drinking water and other Health Canada guidelines
Health Canada has been busy with new, reaffirmed, and proposed guidelines as well guidance documents this year. The latest is ‘Guidance on the use of quantitative microbial risk assessment in drinking water.’ It has been approved and is available for viewing/download.
Norway Water Crisis: Thousands Fall Ill On Island Near Bergen
Following up from my recent email on ‘Common themes contributing to recent drinking water disease outbreaks in affluent nations’, I’ve come across two additional Campylobacter outbreaks where, in one case, thousands were sickened and some deaths were reported. One was in Askøy near Bergen, Norway in June 2019 and appears to have run its course now.