Regulation Updates For Utility Managers

71. Celebrating 50 Years Of (Mostly) Clean Water 11/3/2022
    October 18, 1972, the day the Clean Water Act (CWA) became law, was undeniably a pivotal moment for the state of water quality in America. From where we stand now, 50 years later, it's hard to imagine a time when polluters were dumping contaminants freely into environmental waters — enough to set a river on fire! Here we recall the six key 1972 amendments that defined the CWA, accompanied by some recent themes related to each one.
72. Which Wetlands Should Receive Federal Protection? The Supreme Court Revisits A Question It Has Struggled In The Past To Answer 9/30/2022

    The U.S. Supreme Court opened its new session on Oct. 3, 2022, with a high-profile case that could fundamentally alter the federal government’s ability to address water pollution. Sackett v. EPA turns on a question that courts and regulators have struggled to answer for several decades: Which wetlands and bodies of water can the federal government regulate under the 1972 Clean Water Act?

73. Calling On Utilities To Combat Legionella 5/5/2022

    The risk level linked to delivered drinking water from municipal utilities is very small, even if some high-profile examples of failure (see Flint, MI) have degraded public confidence to a degree. Our treatment professionals usually hit their targets, so the onus then shifts to the research and guidance that determines the safe level of various constituents through U.S. EPA protocols. But there is one contaminant that rulemaking hasn’t quite caught up to and which is downright deadly — Legionella pneumophila.

74. Multidistrict Litigation Suit For PFAS Contamination Gains Momentum 4/13/2022

    Water system providers across the U.S. have joined a multidistrict litigation (MDL) suit claiming that their water supplies are contaminated with per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF). These chemicals have been used for decades to extinguish chemical or petroleum fires at military bases, airports, and industrial facilities. 

75. Mini Superstars For Aquatic Research: Stable Isotopes 3/30/2022

    Monitoring the nation’s water quality is a fundamental part of EPA’s work. As part of the Clean Water Act, EPA monitors the condition of U.S. waters through a program called the National Aquatic Resource Surveys (NARS). This is a collaborative program between EPA, states, and Tribes designed to assess the quality of the nation's coastal waters, lakes, reservoirs, rivers, streams and wetlands.

76. Reconsidering 'Environmental Racism' 3/23/2022

    Water Online recently published an article for Water Innovations on environmental racism — Environmental Racism In America: How It's Affecting Vulnerable Communities — and I paused during the editing process to consider watering down the key phrase to "environmental injustice" before ultimately deciding that I might also be watering down the transgression itself. However, the very consideration made me wonder why I had the instinct to tone it down in the first place.

77. EPA Researchers Share Approaches To Identify Lead Service Lines 3/16/2022

    Lead is one of the most challenging contaminants affecting our drinking water. Lead can enter drinking water from a variety of plumbing materials installed prior to its ban. The most common sources of lead in drinking water are old lead service lines, lead-containing faucets, other lead-containing plumbing fixtures and leaded solder joints.

78. VOCs For Non-Scientists: Understanding, Detecting, Removing 3/14/2022

    This introduction to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) will discuss what qualifies a compound as a VOC, how to detect them, and how to treat and remove these chemicals from the water system.

79. Minimizing Disinfection Byproducts By Targeting Natural Organic Matter Precursors 3/4/2022

    Water treatment plants (WTPs) need to lean less on the disinfection process strategies (i.e., chloramination) and instead focus on more comprehensive DBP solutions such as removing TOC. Here's why.

80. How Cities Leverage Machine Learning To Expedite Lead Service Line Removal 2/10/2022

    An interview with Kristin Epstein, PE, Assistant Director of Department of Water and Sewer (Trenton Water Works), City of Trenton, New Jersey.