WATER INDUSTRY FEATURES, INSIGHTS, AND ANALYSIS
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What Utilities Don't Know About GAC Reuse For PFAS
For utilities building PFAS treatment systems, thermal reactivation of spent granular activated carbon (GAC) may sound like the obvious answer. However, service provider availability and location, specific media acceptance criteria including quantity thresholds, restrictions on GAC type and condition, and regulatory uncertainty can all determine whether reuse is a viable option.
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PFAS Funding Is Flowing — But Does The Water Sector Have Enough People To Deliver It?
For several years, the PFAS conversation has centered on treatment options, testing, and funding. Those factors still matter, but they are no longer the primary constraint. Most utilities already understand the treatment routes available to them; the real challenge now is moving from technical possibility to operational performance, and that depends entirely on people.
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The Cost Of Waiting: Utilities Face A Narrowing PFAS Compliance Window For years, the water industry's PFAS conversation centered on monitoring, testing, and regulatory anticipation. Today, that phase is largely over.
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D.C. Circuit Upholds EPA's Hazardous Substance Designation For PFOA, PFOS
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit recently rejected industry challenges to the EPA's designation of PFOA and PFOS as hazardous substances under CERCLA, leaving the agency's April 2024 rule fully intact. While the case centered on the EPA's authority to make the designation, its practical significance for water utilities is simpler: the liability concerns that have accompanied the rule since its adoption remain unresolved.
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How Donner Summit PUD Cut Backwash Water Use By 45% With Ultrasonic Algae Control
Recurring algal blooms severely compromise water treatment efficiency, clogging filters and wasting finished water through frequent backwashing. Targeted ultrasonic suppression controls raw water algae growth at the source, significantly improving influent turbidity and lowering operational costs.
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SRP-Funded Technology Provides Affordable PFAS Testing For Homeowners
Widespread chemical contamination leaves many small water systems without viable testing options.Discover how an innovative, plant-based extraction method delivers affordable, highly accurate screening to identify complex contaminants and protect public health.
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The Enzyme Bottleneck: Why Conventional Lake Management Is Failing — And What The Science Says About Genuine Bio-Dredging For decades, the dominant framework for assessing and managing lake health has been built around surface water measurements: chlorophyll-a, total phosphorus, water clarity, and the composite Trophic State Index derived from them. These metrics are familiar, standardized, and widely accepted. They are also, according to a growing body of peer-reviewed literature, measuring the wrong part of the lake.
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Ozone Off-Gas: What It Reveals About System Efficiency, Safety, and Design
Learn how ozone off-gas impacts system efficiency, safety, and performance, and why monitoring and management are critical for optimized water treatment operations.
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UK Reservoirs, Water Shortages, And Legionella Risks Is there a clear link between a less plentiful water supply and an increase in Legionella in our domestic water systems?
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The Devastating Legacy Of Algaecides: Why The Quick Fix Is Failing Our Lakes As warmer months approach, water management professionals must confront the compounding consequences of biocidal algae treatments.
VIEWS ON THE LATEST REGS
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The U.S. EPA is testing a new procedural strategy to remove four PFAS drinking‑water limits from ongoing litigation, asking the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to invalidate those limits on the grounds that the EPA itself committed a procedural misstep when issuing the 2024 PFAS rule.
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Despite renewed public concern over fluoride and cognition, the National Toxicology Program’s findings focus on high‑fluoride groundwater conditions — not the controlled levels used in U.S. drinking water systems. Understanding that distinction is critical for utilities navigating policy questions and community expectations.
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In this Q&A, Dr. Elke Süss of Metrohm addresses the urgent need for haloacetic acid testing in response to “one of the most significant updates to EU drinking water monitoring in recent years.”
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With the U.S. EPA's PFAS rules now in place, utilities are finding themselves with a growing number of questions regarding how to treat these chemicals, the potential costs, and much more. For answers, Water Online's chief editor, Kevin Westerling, hosted an Ask Me Anything session featuring Ken Sansone, Senior Partner at SL Environmental Law Group; Kyle Thompson, National PFAS Lead at Carollo Engineers; and Lauren Weinrich, Principal Scientist at American Water.
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A Q&A to explain and resolve issues confronting water suppliers as they endeavor to comply with the monitoring requirements of federal PFAS regulations.
MORE WATER INDUSTRY FEATURES
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Navigate the complexities of pharmaceutical safety with a guide to tailored inspection systems. Match the right technology to your specific product format for total compliance and quality.
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Enhance medical device reprocessing with multi-stage filtration that reduces bacteria and contaminants, limits recontamination risk, protects device integrity, and supports safer infection control.
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Taking a proactive approach to compliance can help minimize regulatory risks, avoid submission delays, and ensure continued market access.
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Calgon Carbon’s AquaKnight GC systems are designed from the top down to improve flow, adsorption, and media life.
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Excipients are essential to parenteral formulations, which help protect APIs, enhance stability, and ensure safety. Learn how strategic excipient selection can optimize drug performance and patient outcomes.
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Learn key ozone formulas, unit conversions, and measurement standards to accurately calculate generator output, concentration, and dosage for effective system design, performance verification, and safe operation.
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Explore how embedding inclusion early in clinical development enhances enrollment, strengthens data integrity, and improves outcomes, especially in oncology and rare disease trials.
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Calgon Carbon’s Dr. Angela Rodriguez shares insights on PFAS treatment, regulatory readiness, sustainability, and how innovative carbon technologies help utilities balance compliance, cost control, and environmental goals.
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How one utility turned a backlog they didn't create into a program they're proud of.
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Learn why piloting PFAS treatment is essential to reduce risk, optimize costs, and ensure compliance—plus the seven key steps to design a pilot that delivers reliable, real-world results.
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Boost sterile filtration performance with dual-layer membranes and charge-based capture for more effective contaminant removal and reliable results.
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Learn why GAC alone may fall short in PFAS treatment — and how utilities can future-proof performance with multi-barrier strategies that tackle short-chain compounds, regulatory shifts, and rising operational risks.
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Switch to rapid sequencing-based contaminant detection to accelerate advanced therapy release timelines, minimize batch rejection risks, and bypass slow, culture-based testing methods.
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Coagulation and flocculation remain essential but increasingly sensitive processes, requiring flexible design and real-time optimisation to maintain performance across widening source water variability.
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Discover the critical role of formulation buffer composition in stabilizing monoclonal antibodies during tangential flow filtration, a process involving ultrafiltration and diafiltration under high pressure and shear forces.
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Trenchless geopolymer rehabilitation offers a sustainable solution for culvert repair in sensitive ecosystems. Its rapid-curing, low-toxicity properties allow for quick service reinstatement, preserving hydraulic capacity and protecting local water quality and aquatic life without the need for disruptive excavation.
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Single-future design assumptions are no longer sufficient. See what scenario modelling reveals about building treatment infrastructure that performs across decades of uncertainty.
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Explore how PFAS in medical devices pose environmental and health concerns, prompting regulatory scrutiny.