Florida officials are going back to the drawing board in the effort to create water pollution regulations for the state.
Last year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recorded the largest hypoxic zone in the Gulf of Mexico since monitoring began 32 years ago. Hypoxic waters, often referred to as dead zones, have dissolved oxygen concentrations of less than 2-3 ppm. They are caused by eutrophication or excess nutrients that promote algal growth in water bodies. As algae decompose, they consume oxygen creating dead zones.
The most common technologies utilized in the treatment of natural bodies of water that become polluted, or begin to undergo eutrophication, involve primarily some form of physical or chemical treatment such as chemical oxidizers, flocculants, activated carbon and zeolites, and/or mechanical treatments such as dredging. The primary drawback to chemical treatments is that the treatments are based on stoichiometry or molecule to molecule interactions. As a result, they get very expensive when treating large volumes of water.
Malta is an archipelago of three islands situated in the Mediterranean Sea, around fifty miles south of Sicily. There are no rivers of any significance on the islands, and the sparse annual rainfall is only about 500 mm. There is a water deficit in Malta. It occurs especially in summer when there is a great demand from the farmers for their irrigation and from the tourism sector.
Water utilities are concerned that cutting federal regulations for infrastructure projects could threaten water quality.
The U.S. EPA has moved swiftly to suspend an Obama-era water regulation in the aftermath of a Supreme Court decision that boosted the odds the court-contested rule would become enforceable.
A ski resort town near Yellowstone National Park is the latest example of a growing trend in water reuse — snowmaking. Rapid population growth in Big Sky, MT is depleting groundwater, the only source of drinking water for the community. At the same time, the rise in wastewater has the town’s sewage system running at capacity. And with residents fervently opposed to discharging the treated wastewater into the Gallatin River, the Big Sky Sustainable Water Solutions Forum is evaluating snowmaking as a viable option for wastewater disposal.
Water quality standards introduced by Florida’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) came under renewed scrutiny late last month as Miami-Dade’s government operations committee joined a lawsuit to challenge them.
The case for using reclaimed water is strong. Water has become an increasingly valuable (and often rare) resource, and every drop counts. As potable water sources become harder to find and access, people are moving to alternative sources such as non-potable fresh water, brackish sources, or reclaiming treated effluent rather than disposing of it.
After the Supreme Court cleared the way for an Obama-era environmental regulation to go into effect, Congress may become a hot spot for a major fight over water policy.
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