The presence of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water is creating concern among utilities, regulators, and consumers around the country. With little clear direction from federal lawmakers, some local agencies are stepping up to tackle the issue themselves.
Title 22 of California’s Water Recycling Criteria is among the strictest water treatment standards for water recycling and reuse in the United States. Fluence’s MABR demonstration plant was installed at the Codiga Resource Recovery Center (CR2C) in Stanford, California, in January 2018 for the purpose of third-party evaluation. The testing parameters included criteria to evaluate reliable enhanced nutrient removal in the form of Total Nitrogen, which is increasingly important across the United States and difficult and costly to achieve through conventional wastewater treatment.
Thanks to a manufacturing plant formerly operated in part by the U.S. Navy, a toxic plume is now approaching drinking water wells in Long Island. Fighting the problem will require a new water treatment facility costing millions of dollars.
In mid-2016, shortly after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) revised the health guidelines for perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS) to 70 ng/L (or ppt), the township of Horsham, Pennsylvania, together with Horsham Water and Sewer Authority (Authority), the Township’s public water supplier, set a goal of reducing these two contaminants to non-detect (ND) level in all drinking water supplied.
California may have a reputation for persistent drought and water scarcity, but already this year the state’s freshwater reserves are worth celebrating.
Thanks to a high-throughput production facility in Oregon, the technology manufacturer Intel is the area’s largest water consumer by far. Now, the state will help it pay for a massive water treatment project that will help it recycle some of that water.
Phosphorus is an essential element for organisms and plants. In natural, uncontaminated waters, it occurs as organically bound phosphate, condensed phosphates or as orthophosphate — often referred to by its chemical formula PO4-P. The small quantity of phosphorus present in natural waters does not promote the growth of plants. However, a rise in the concentration of phosphorus results in the proliferation of algae, which leads to the eutrophication of the water body.
For some water providers, carefree days of producing pure, fresh water from groundwater sources are long gone. Years of evolving chemical complexity, industrial operations, and short-sighted disposal methods have taken a toll on groundwater sources. The lowering of maximum contaminant levels (MCL) for contaminants such as chromium and the drilling of new wells into different geologic structures add to source water pressures. Fortunately, new technologies are helping water providers make the best of a challenging situation across a wide range of contaminants.
With backing from two of the biggest tech entrepreneurs in American history, a new solar-powered solution to water scarcity has raised a massive amount of money.
The latest solution for national water scarcity may seem like a major technical challenge, but with a nine-figure investment and federal backing, it could be a gamechanger.
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