SOURCE WATER RESOURCES

• New Toolkit Arrives Just In Time For HAB Season

  With harmful algal blooms (HABs) being forecast to increase, in part due to the effects of climate change, more water systems can expect to face problematic cyanotoxin conditions more frequently and for more days per year. In its efforts to mitigate the negative effects of such increases, the U.S. EPA has enhanced its information resources for water utilities by issuing a new Cyanotoxins Preparedness and Response Toolkit (CPRT).

• EPA Develops Tool To Assess Onsite Non-Potable Water Reuse For Buildings

  Increasing pressure on water resources has led to greater water scarcity and a growing demand for enough clean water. Many communities across the country have initiated, or are in the process of developing, centralized systems for planned water reuse. Water reuse is the concept of intentionally recycling, treating, and reusing alternative water sources. Federal government agencies and the water user community are coordinating their efforts to advance the adoption of water reuse and ensure the security, sustainability, and resilience of water resources. The National Water Reuse Action Plan (WRAP) describes these collaborative actions.

• The Evolving Cost Comparison Of GAC Vs. IX For PFAS Treatment

  PFAS is increasingly an issue for drinking water utilities. While regulations are a moving target — with a push for testing that includes more compounds and lower detection limits — more utilities are deciding to treat their source water. As treatment evolves, so do the means and methods of disposing spent material, which changes the cost comparison for two key technologies.

• Water Sustainability: Through The Lens Of A Hollywood Film Director

  Making a film about water? Sign me up. When I heard that Xylem and Manchester City wanted to create a film about water challenges, I had to get involved. After all, I spent the better part of four years developing and directing a disaster movie called The Wave. I’m also from Norway, where water literally falls off the mountains. I thought I knew everything I needed to know about water, and then some. But then I learned more about the project and truly began to understand the incredible water challenges facing the world, the heroic work being done by utilities and the entire water sector, and why we simply must get the word out to the public about water.

• Climate Change Is Devastating Water Supplies. Why Aren’t We Talking About It?

  Climate-linked droughts and water contamination are often overlooked. The private sector needs to do more to protect this precious resource.

• Balancing Cost And Convenience In Cyanotoxin Monitoring

  Part of the fear of harmful algal blooms (HABs) derives as much from uncertainty as it does from actual cyanotoxin levels. Here is how a new, user-friendly technology is delivering precise, quantitative results to provide confidence sooner than other options — without the delays, expenses, guesswork, or more labor-intensive efforts of immunosorbent assay tests, test strips, or expensive liquid chromatography (LC) or mass spectrometry (MS) testing.

• Harmful Algal Blooms Are Just The Tip Of The Iceberg: Why Algal Toxins Matter

  The impacts of cyanotoxins released from harmful algal blooms (HABs) are well documented. Unfortunately, researchers have yet to find reliable indicators of cyanotoxin presence vs. algal growth. That is why timely, accurate toxin monitoring is so important to water treatment and public health decision-makers, and why affected municipalities, utilities, and businesses need affordable plans to make it practical.

• How Algal Toxins Impact Water Treatment (And What To Do About It)

  Water treatment plants (WTPs) that experience harmful algal blooms (HABs) in their source water have three critical opportunities to minimize the risk of cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) and cyanotoxins reaching their distribution systems: 1) quantifying the true level of risk, 2) adjusting treatment to minimize cyanotoxin exposure, and 3) removing the toxins. Here is how the right in-house detection technology can help them achieve all three.

• Is It Time To Update The Way We Look At Harmful Algal Blooms?

  When harmful algal blooms (HABs) occur, their negative effects can cause impacts on everything from recreational water activities to drinking water sourcing and treatment. Knowing the actual locations affected and accurate levels of exposure are the first steps to winning the battle. New technology now offers accurate answers, in-house, within 10 minutes — without the cost or delay of shipping samples out to third-party labs.

• Special Considerations For Extreme PFAS Sites

  Adopting a cost-effective strategy for mitigating PFAS in highly contaminated environments, which can be as much as a million times more polluted than other water sources, tends to be overwhelming. The best way to combat the extreme PFAS at these locations as economically as possible is to develop a custom approach that takes every factor into account and isn’t beholden to any specific technology.