State-of-the-art UV System Will Offer Protection from Cryptosporidium

The Greater Cincinnati Water Works has installed ultraviolet technology in its water treatment facility.

After 10 years and $30 million dollars, the new UV technology process puts Cincinnati on par with some of the top water systems in the country.  The UV lights, which are housed inside massive pipes, will disinfect 40 million gallons of water a day.

Eight Calgon Carbon Sentinel® 48” Chevron UV reactors will have the capacity to treat up to 240 million gallons of drinking water per day.

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 Water is God’s Gift,  but Pumping Costs Money 

 An Editorial from WaterWorld

I was reading an article recently about the flap in Chicago over the city’s plan to phase out free water services to local nonprofits, including religious institutions. An interfaith group held a press conference to oppose the change, claiming that having to pay for water might divert funds from vital social services they provide throughout the city.

I thought it was much ado about nothing, but what caught my eye was a comment from Cardinal Francis George claiming they shouldn’t be charged because water from Lake Michigan was a “gift from God.”

“It wasn’t owned by the city or invented by the city,” he was quoted as saying. Later, he was quoted as jokingly commenting, “We feel sometimes we should charge the city for using our water.”

I really felt a tremendous urge to reach through the Internet and slap said cardinal upside the head. “Your brain was a gift from God. Why not try using it?” I shouted at my computer screen.

As background, Mayor Rahm Emanuel cut the exemption that gave churches free water in December 2011. He initially planned to charge them a growing percentage of the cost of water services that would rise through 2014, when nonprofits would pay up to 80 percent of their water bill. He recently proposed a new system that would charge nonprofits for water based on their assets. Those with net assets under $1 million would be exempt from paying for water, while nonprofits with more than $250 million in assets would pay the full charge. Those in between would pay a discounted rate.

As we all know, providing water service carries a hefty price tag in this time of aging infrastructure and tight city budgets. I found it surprising that a city the size of Chicago would even consider providing free or reduced price water to any organization. I saw one estimate that the program costs the city about $20 million a year.

In a statement, Tom Alexander, the mayor’s deputy communications director, called the asset-based compromise “a fair, reasonable proposal that will allow all nonprofit institutions the chance to continue providing their vital community services while paying their fair share, just as residents do.”

I’m sure many people in the water industry have dealt with dummies who think that water should be free. But as we all know, customers are not paying for water; they are paying for the service to treat and deliver it.

In the small world category, I read the Chicago article as I was researching an article on the value of water to the U.S. economy. You can see the article in this issue. Placing a “value” on water is one thing. Determining a fair price for clean, safe water delivered to a home or business is an entirely separate issue. Communicating that difference to your customers is key.

And when someone says that water should be free, you can tell them it is. “Grab a bucket and run down to the lake. Take as much as you want. I won’t charge you a dime!” 

Source: WaterWorld

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Waterborne microbial disease still the greatest risk to water supplies

By Joseph Cotruvo

Water News in a Nutshell.

In a Nutshell: Since the 1974 implementation of the Clean Water Act the number of waterborne ailments has declined, but the portion of  these attributable to distribution system contamination has increased. Legionella serves as a prime example of  the fact that nature is always evolving and creating microbial hazards. Water treatment to control microorganisms should  be given top priority over ” . . .hypothetical risks of trace chemical contaminants that get a lot of publicity and lead people to spend money on bottled water because they think it is safer.”

Rehabilitation prevents leaks and breaks where inoculation and accumulation occur

Traditionally, most microbial waterborne diseases in the United States are gastrointestinal and short-term, self-resolving infections. They can include bacterial pathogens, enterovirus, rotavirus, norovirus and hepatitis A virus, or protozoa like Cryptosporidium and giardia.

Legionella pneumophila

Although detecting waterborne disease outbreaks is difficult, and numbers are underestimates, reported waterborne disease outbreaks in the United States have declined since implementation of the 1974 Safe Drinking Water Act. The range is from a high of 90 reported outbreaks in 1979-1982 to fewer than 10 in 2002, out of about 60,000 community water systems. In addition, surveillance for outbreaks is today better than in the past, and identification of the causative microbial pathogens has significantly improved.

The reduced outbreak incidence is probably attributable to EPA requirements for microbial quality monitoring and increased water treatment that involves filtration and disinfection of surface water and disinfection of groundwaters. However, while the number of waterborne outbreaks has declined, the portion attributable to distribution system contamination has increased.

In the public eye

Beginning in 2001 Legionaires disease was added to the surveillance and reporting system, and incidences of water-related legionellosis are being reported with some regularity worldwide. Legionellosis is a consequence of inhalation of aerosols contaminated with Legionella pneumophila and perhaps other related species.
Legionaires disease gets its name from a 1976 outbreak among attendees at an American Legion convention in Philadelphia staying at a particular hotel. There were 221 reported cases and 34 deaths from pneumonia. It required about six months of intense microbiological and chemical investigations to identify the causal bacterial agent because there was no known culturing technique available for the then unknown strain of bacteria.

The origin of exposure was blow-down inhaled aerosols from an air-conditioning system. The cases indicated that smokers were at greater risk than non-smokers. Speculation as to origin was rampant, and it even included a supposed “theory” involving a relatively exotic chemical that might have been pyrolyzed while smoking cigarettes. I recall hearing a report from a U.S. Senate committee that undertook its own assessment and announced that supposed chemical cause, shortly before the true microbial agent was identified. Apparently politics and science don’t mix very well.

Retrospective investigations revealed that in fact numerous “legionnaires” cases had occurred previously and had not been identified, and that a milder form of respiratory infection called Pontiac fever was not uncommon. Many outbreaks and deaths have been reported since then, especially in hospitals. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control has estimated up to 18,000 legionellosis deaths in the U.S. each year.

What actually happens

Since 1976 it has been determined that Legionella pneumophila are fairly common soil and water bacteria and pathogenic when inhaled, not from ingestion. They grow under low nutrient warm water conditions at temperatures in the range of 25 C to 50 C. So, they can be present in warm to hot water systems, showerheads, humidifiers, misting and cooling water for air conditioning systems and hot tubs. In distribution systems and plumbing they can colonize biofilms where they may be protected from normal disinfectant residuals.

The at-risk populations are predominantly those who are elderly and also persons with impaired immune systems. Hospital environments have been the source of numerous cases of outbreaks and deaths related to Legionella. However, it is apparent that there are high-risk people in the general population; for them even a typical house or building environment could be a risk, and specific diagnoses and determinations of causal origin will be less likely.

There are water system management techniques for reducing patient risks used by many hospitals. They include monitoring their plumbing systems, additional disinfection and periodic shock disinfection or heating. Chlorine, chlorine dioxide and even peroxides and silver and copper are being used, but with some controversy for the latter two. There are several studies that indicate that systems with chloramine residuals have a much lower risk of a Legionella related outbreak than those with free chlorine residuals. The rationale is that although chloramines are less potent than free chlorine, their lower chemical reactivity allows them to more effectively penetrate biofilms that may harbor the Legionella.

Other recommendations include maintaining hot water systems above 50 C to reduce growth of the microorganisms, but the dilemma is that temperatures in the 55 C to 60 C range introduce a scalding risk, especially for children and seniors.

Moral of story

The law of unanticipated consequences is still functioning. The benefits of modern warm controlled housing environments, air conditioning and indoor hot water plumbing can have downside consequences. Even those beneficial societal technological advances can provide an opportunity for otherwise innocuous microbes to proliferate and cause disease and death.

The moral of the story is that nature is always evolving, and there are perverse unidentified microbes out there that can harm us. Water treatment to control many microorganisms, not just E. coli, is essential, and waterborne microbial disease is still, and always will be, the greatest risk from public drinking water supplies. Aging water distribution systems require aggressive rehabilitation to prevent leaks and breaks where inoculation by microorganisms and accumulation in biofilms can occur. Replacing that aging infrastructure is a much greater national priority than the hypothetical risks of trace chemical contaminants that get a lot of publicity and lead people to spend money on bottled water because they think it is safer.

Source:  Processing.

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Alcoa completes first engineered wetlands wastewater treatment system in Saudi Arabia

Water News in a Nutshell.

 by Justine Coyne

 In a Nutshell:  Using technology known as “Natural Engineered Wastewater Treatment,”  Alcoa has established in Saudi Arabia an innovative wastewater reclamation system that mimics the physical, chemical and biological processes of natural wetlands.  It saves lots of money and 2 million gallons of water per day.

Aloca Inc. and The Saudi Arabian Mining Co. (Ma’aden) announced the completion of its engineered wetlands wastewater management system in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.

The first-of-its-kind system will reduce water demand by nearly 2 million U.S. gallons per day and is expected to save more than $7 million annually that would otherwise be spent purchasing fresh water.

“This innovative waste management system demonstrates the value of combining Ma’aden’s local knowledge and expertise with the technological depth and sustainability leadership that Alcoa brings to the Ma’aden-Alcoa joint venture,” the executive vice president and chief technology officer for Alcoa said in a statement.

Alcoa’s wetlands system comprises three steps including (1) an anaerobic treatment tank which breaks down and separates organic material in the water; (2) a passive engineered wetland that utilizes vegetation for further treatment of organics and removal of nitrogen and metals; and (3) a cell housing bauxite-based technology that disinfects and polishes the water.

 

The technology, which was designed and engineered at the Pittsburgh-based Alcoa Technical Center, collects sanitary and industrial wastewater and cleans the and disinfects the water without the use of chemicals or the creation of water discharge and odors associated with conventional tank systems.

The water will then be reused in the manufacturing process and for irrigation at the Ma’aden-Alcoa aluminum complex at Ras Al Khair. The complex includes a refinery, smelter and rolling mill.

“(Sustainable Development is) a critical component of our operating excellence that will enable Ma’aden Aluminium to become the world’s lowest-cost producer of primary aluminum, alumina and aluminum products, with access to growing markets in the Middle East and beyond,”  the  president of Ma’aden said in a released statement.

The technology, known as a Natural Engineered Wastewater Treatment system, was developed to mimic the physical, chemical and biological processes of natural wetlands.

The project is expected to be fully operational by the end of July and the technology is being considered for other wastewater treatment applications throughout Saudi Arabia.

Source: Pittsburgh Business Times.

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Source:  EPA

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Earth set to face ‘severe’ self-inflicted water woes within 2 generations

Water News in a Nutshell.

 

In a Nutshell:  Leading water researchers meeting in Bonn issued a severe warning that unless current trends are reversed severe water shortages will affect “most of the 9 billion people on Earth” within just one or two generations. 

Washington: Leading water scientists have issued a warning that in the short span of one or two generations, most of the 9 billion people on Earth will be suffering from fresh water woes if any major reforms are not made.They said that this handicap will be self-inflicted and is entirely avoidable.

“Mismanagement, overuse and climate change pose long-term threats to human well-being.”

The researchers bluntly pointed to chronic underlying problems led by mismanagement and sent a prescription to policy makers in a 1,000-word declaration issued at the end of a four-day meeting in Bonn, Germany, ‘Water in the Anthropocene,’ organized by the Global Water SystemAfter years of observations and a decade of integrative research convened under the Earth System Science Partnership (ESSP) and other initiatives, they said that they are more than ever convinced that fresh water systems across the planet are in a precarious state.Mismanagement, overuse and climate change pose long-term threats to human well-being, and evaluating and responding to those threats constitutes a major challenge to water researchers and managers alike.Countless millions of individual local human actions add up and reverberate into larger regional, continental and global changes that have drastically changed water flows and storage, impaired water quality, and damaged aquatic ecosystems.  Humans are a key feature of the global water system, influencing prodigious quantities of water: stored in reservoirs, taken from rivers and groundwater and lost in various ways.

Additional deterioration through pollution, now detectable on a global scale, further limits an already-stressed resource base, and negatively affects the health of aquatic life forms and human beings.

Given the development imperatives associated with all natural resources at the dawn of the 21st century, we urge a united front to form a strategic partnership of scientists, public stakeholders, decision-makers and the private sector.

 

Source:  Zee News.      More Information:  The Guardian.

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Canada Is Way Behind Most Countries in Wastewater Treatment

Water News in a Nutshell.

 

In a Nutshell:  Although Canada has recently enacted changes to its antiquated wastewater treatment systems, a leading clean water advocacy group calls it one the “most backward countries” when it comes to dealing with sewage.  Until very recently, Canadian law required only the most basic wastewater treatment.

Canada’s methods of wastewater treatment are old-fashioned, ineffective and nothing short of a national embarrassment, according to Mark Mattson, head of Lake Ontario Waterkeeper, an organization that seeks to promote clean and safe water.

Speaking in an interview with Global News, Mattson stated that Canada is one of the “most backwards countries” when it comes to wastewater treatment. For many years Canadian municipalities were required to ensure primary treatment of wastewater only, meaning that they had to remove solid waste from water. This meant that liquids such as cleaning products and some drugs that people disposed of in sewers were not cleaned. The method was applied in the majority of municipalities until new regulation was accepted last year.

According to Darrell Mussatto, North Vancouver Mayor, the type of treatment previously adopted could remove 70 percent of the suspended solids. Despite the fact that big cities like Vancouver have a serious wastewater issue and although technology has developed dramatically, until recently the authorities believed that water diluted and assimilated waste, so the problem was solved. Mattson has argued that this was wrong and leaving waste in drinking water supplied to communities untreated was absurd.

Measures to change the situation were taken in 2012, when new federal regulations were put in place. Under the new rules, primary treatment was not enough and further treatment processes had to be implemented. As a result cities are now required to use secondary wastewater treatment and remove bacteria and other things that have dissolved in wastewater. By comparison, secondary wastewater treatment standards have been implemented in the United States for nearly four decades, Global News said.

Mussatto explained that authorities and treatment plants were aware that wastewater needs to be better treated before it is allowed to reach end consumers. Since regulations are now in place, plans are being drawn up to achieve this, he added.

Compliance with the new rules presents cities with huge bills for upgrades and new equipment. Vancouver, for instance, must upgrade two of its five treatment plants and has to spend CA$1.5 billion to do so. There is no way the city can cover these expenses itself unless tax rates are drastically increased, Mussatto claimed.

Cities are expected to comply with the new regulations by 2040 but many of them are struggling to come up with possible ways to fund their upgrades. Toronto, which discharges billions of liters of raw sewage and storm water into Lake Ontario every year, also faces this problem. Michael D’Andrea, Toronto’s director of water infrastructure management, explained that the city was one of the 43 regions classed as “polluted areas of concern in the Great Lakes basin,” with the pollution problem linked mostly to the city’s combined sewer overflows. The older areas of the city are serviced by combined sewers, which carry different types of waste, such as raw sewage and storm water, in one single pipe, he said.

Source: Processing Magazine.

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A Geological Survey Study Shows An Alarming Deficit in the Nation’s Aquifers

Water News in a Nutshell.

 

Gazette’s Summary:  A new study published by the U. S. Geological Survey and reviewed in Water Efficiency shows the alarming decline in 40 separate US aquifers. Currently underground water storage areas are being depleted at the rate of 2% of Lake Erie per year and in some areas the water level has dropped 160 feet since the beginning of heavy irrigation in the 1940s. 

Groundwater Depletion in the United States (1900-2008) comprehensively evaluates long-term cumulative depletion volumes in 40 separate aquifers (distinct underground water storage areas) in the United States, bringing together reliable information from previous references and from new analyses.

“Groundwater is one of the Nation’s most important natural resources. It provides drinking water in both rural and urban communities. It supports irrigation and industry, sustains the flow of streams and rivers, and maintains ecosystems,” said Suzette Kimball, acting USGS Director. “Because groundwater systems typically respond slowly to human actions, a long-term perspective is vital to manage this valuable resource in sustainable ways.”

To outline the scale of groundwater depletion across the country, here are two startling facts drawn from the study’s wealth of statistics. First, from 1900 to 2008, the Nation’s aquifers, the natural stocks of water found under the land, decreased (were depleted) by more than twice the volume of water found in Lake Erie. Second, groundwater depletion in the U.S. in the years 2000-2008 can explain more than 2 percent of the observed global sea-level rise during that period.

Since 1950, the use of groundwater resources for agricultural, industrial, and municipal purposes has greatly expanded in the United States. When groundwater is withdrawn from subsurface storage faster than it is recharged by precipitation or other water sources, the result is groundwater depletion. The depletion of groundwater has many negative consequences, including land subsidence, reduced well yields, and diminished spring and stream flows.

While the rate of groundwater depletion across the country has increased markedly since about 1950, the maximum rates have occurred during the most recent period of the study (2000–2008), when the depletion rate averaged almost 25 cubic kilometers per year. For comparison, 9.2 cubic kilometers per year is the historical average calculated over the 1900–2008 timespan of the study.

One of the best known and most investigated aquifers in the U.S. is the High Plains (or Ogallala) aquifer. It underlies more than 170,000 square miles of the Nation’s midsection and represents the principal source of water for irrigation and drinking in this major agricultural area. Substantial pumping of the High Plains aquifer for irrigation since the 1940s has resulted in large water-table declines that exceed 160 feet in places.

The study shows that, since 2000, depletion of the High Plains aquifer appears to be continuing at a high rate. The depletion during the last 8 years of record (2001–2008, inclusive) is about 32 percent of the cumulative depletion in this aquifer during the entire 20th century. The annual rate of depletion during this recent period averaged about 10.2 cubic kilometers, roughly 2 percent of the volume of water in Lake Erie.

Source: Water Efficiency

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Replaceable Filter Cartridges: The Heart of Modern Water Filters

by Gene Franks

The use of replaceable cartridges gives modern water treatment equipment amazing versatility.  The ability to use a standard filter vessel design that can be applied to numerous purposes, and to change the purpose at will simply by replacing the inner cartridge, allows filter users to address an almost endless number of water treatment issues.

Below are some general considerations that help put residential filter cartridges into perspective.

Classifying by Design

Cartridges by design fall into two broad groups:

Axial Cartridges: Water enters one end, flows through the length of the cartridge,  and exits the other end.

Radial Cartridges: Water passes through the porous walls of the cartridge,  flows to the center, then exits at one end.

Classifying by Purpose

Cartridges can be used for many purposes, but some generalizations can be made.

Sediment Cartridges:  The purpose is to remove particles with a physical size from water.  The particles can be very large, like sand, or very tiny, like colloidal matter that can be removed by only the very tightest of filters.  Bacteria and cysts can be removed if the filter is tight enough.  These cartridges are usually specified with a “micron” rating to describe the relative “tightness” of the cartridge–the size of particle that the cartridge will trap. The smaller the micron number, the tighter the filter.

There are three basic sediment cartridge groups:

Wound string (polypropylene).  These look like string wound around a core (because that’s what they are).

Spun (melt blown) polypropylene.  A specially prepared material with a cake-like appearance.

Pleated (usually) polypropylene. Accordion-style arrangement of thin filter material.

All three styles are radial–water flows through the wall to the center. The first two styles have the advantage of “depth,” but pleated cartridge have considerably more filtering surface area.

Carbon Block Cartridges.  Very finely ground activated carbon is pressed or molded into a solid block to make an extremely effective filter that can be

A radial flow 2.5″ X 9.75″ Carbon Block Cartridge.

assigned a micron rating to indicate its tightness. The  very fine carbon is held in place by plastic binders that give the filter a board-like appearance.Other media, especially lead removal resins, can be added to carbon blocks,  but media other than carbon are not normally used in this format.  Carbon blocks are always radial flow cartridges. Carbon is a universal medium, used widely to remove chemicals and improve taste and odor.  An emerging cartridge design, usually called simply “radial flow carbon,” uses highly effective powdered carbon held in place by a porous shell without adhesives.  “Radial flow carbon” cartridges cost more but can last longer and cause significantly less pressure l0ss than standard carbon blocks.

Media Cartridges.  A great variety of granular media and resins can be put into cartridges.  Media cartridges are virtually all axial flow.  Among the many applications are treatment for chlorine and chloramines, taste and odor, arsenic, fluoride, nitrates, lead and heavy metals, pH, hardness, iron, manganese,  and more. Media cartridges are not usually given a micron rating.

Above is an “axial” style media cartridge. 2.5″ X 9.75″

Ceramic Cartridges.  Ceramics are a special breed.  They are made like carbon blocks but from a ceramic material.  Their main purpose is very fine filtration to remove cysts, bacteria, and viruses.  They are radial cartridges, and some,  built in a special screw-in format, are known as “candles.”  Ceramics filter in the sub-micron range and water flows slowly through them and there is significant loss of water pressure.

Classifying by Size

Filter cartridges exist in many sizes and formats,  some of them proprietary, but there are four basic sizes that predominate in residential filters:

Size 1: 2.5″ X 9.75″.  This is the most common filter size.  It is used for drinking water filters and sometimes for light duty “whole house” sediment filters.

Size 2 2.5″ X 20″.  Used for light duty whole house applications.

Size 3:  4.5″ X 10″.  This size is commonly called “Big Blue” in the industry,  because of the familiar blue housings it fits.   Common uses are for light duty whole house carbon filters and high flow sediment applications.

Size 4: 4.5″ X 20″.  Called 20″ Big Blue.  Used for whole house carbon and media filters and high flow sediment applications.

For pictures and much more information about filter cartridges, please visit Pure Water Products cartridge menu.

At Big Spring, Texas a New Waste Water Plant Is Turning Sewage into Drinking Water

Water News in a Nutshell.

 

In a Nutshell: Dry regions of  Texas must rely on multiple sources for water. A new reclamation plant in Big Spring, Texas is now contributing two million gallons of  water per day by reclaiming sewage. 

A new wastewater reclamation facility recently opened in Texas. The $13 million plant in Big Spring mixes sewage that has been treated to drinking-water standards with treated water from lakes to produce a high-quality drinking water that meets all state and federal standards.

According to John Grant, general manager of the Colorado River Municipal Water District, the water that comes out of the reclamation plant is completely safe and if something went wrong the systems of the facility would shut down before the water was allowed to leave the plant.

Processed and cleaned sewage flowing out of water reclamation facility.

The Big Spring plant will contribute 2 million gallons of water per day, which is only a small part of the total demand of the 500,000 people that depend on the Colorado River Municipal Water District for water. Residents of Big Spring, Midland, Odessa, Snyder and Stanton use about 40 million gallons of water per day at this time of year, but demand doubles in the scorching Texas summer.

The plant has been hailed as the first of its kind in Texas but it may not be the last. Reclamation facilities are considered a very efficient way to deal with drinking water shortage and its performance will make a difference in the area, as it is the first plant in the state to convert wastewater into drinking water. Such facilities are already operating in Tucson, Arizona, and in parts of California, as well as in other countries. Experts believe that other American cities will follow the example to cope with the growing population and increasing demand for water, The Republic newspaper said.
The facility was first launched about two weeks ago, when various tests were carried out. Water from three lakes is being treated, with one of them practically dry because of the ongoing drought. Water from groundwater wells located several counties southwest of Big Spring is also processed. People living in West Texas know that they cannot rely on a single source of water and they need to have several sources that can provide water when one or more of them run dry, Grant explained.

However, drought was not the main reason for the construction and launch of the facility, as plans started to be drawn up almost a decade ago and its construction started in 2011, which turned out to be the driest period for West Texas ever, he pointed out.

Andrea Morrow, spokeswoman for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, stated that authorities will be carrying out regular inspections to ensure that the water from the plant meets all standards. Over the first 12 months of operations, water samples will go through chemical analyses once every three months to check if it is compliant with state and federal regulations. In addition, the Colorado River Municipal Water District will have to submit monthly reports that include results from tests for disinfectant and microbial levels as well as for presence of lead, copper and arsenic, Morrow added.

Source:  Processingmagazine.com

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