SOURCE WATER RESOURCES

• PFAS Contamination At Airports Is A Rising Concern

  When aqueous film-forming foam, or AFFF, was introduced 50 years ago, its effectiveness at firefighting made it popular with emergency personnel at airports and military bases. Chemical compounds called perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) found in AFFF repelled both oil and water and smothered the flames quickly. AFFF created a foam blanket that put out fires and provided additional protection by suppressing fuel vapors and preventing reignition. Its use quickly spread, not just to put out fires but in equipment testing, training exercises, and during fuel spills as a preventative measure.

• CyANWeb Tool Helps Monitor Water Quality To Detect Early Warning Signs Of Harmful Algal Blooms

  Cyanobacteria occur naturally in many water bodies, but when they multiply, they can form harmful algal blooms (HABs), which can increase drinking water treatment costs for communities and impact recreational areas such as lakes. To notify communities about potential HABs, EPA researchers created CyANWeb.

• The Impact Of America’s Water Crisis On The Housing Industry

  All across America, water scarcity is changing the way we live, and the housing industry is no exception. According to PNAS.org, an estimated 471,000 households or 1.1 million individuals lack a piped water connection. With 73% of homes located in urban areas, the overwhelming pressure of underfunded water infrastructure is causing a great migration from big cities to suburbs.

• Onsite Water Reuse And Affordable Housing: An Equitable Investment

  In the shadow of a snarling interstate exchange just a few blocks south of downtown Minneapolis, a patchwork of gardens grows around a set of colorful buildings. The greenery is, in fact, a rain garden system, capturing, and filtering rainwater from the surrounding roofs.

• EPA Scientists And Partners Team Up To Tackle Cape Cod’s Nutrient Pollution And Protect Water Quality

  Cape Cod, Massachusetts, is known for its picturesque villages, sandy beaches, and seafood. But these iconic coastal waters, and the communities and ecosystems they support, are under an increasing threat from nutrient pollution.

• EPA Creates Database To Find Thermal Treatment Processes For Remediating PFAS

  Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of synthetic chemicals that have been in use since the 1940s. PFAS are found in a wide array of consumer and industrial products. Due to their widespread use and persistence in the environment, most people in the United States have been exposed to PFAS. There is evidence that continued exposure above specific levels to certain PFAS may lead to adverse health effects.

• 11,000 Liters Of Water To Make One Liter Of Milk? New Questions About The Freshwater Impact Of NZ Dairy Farming

  Water scarcity and water pollution are increasingly critical global issues. Water scarcity is driven not only by shortages of water, but also by rendering water unusable through pollution. Over the past few decades, nutrient and sediment emissions into waterways have increased, driven by agricultural and horticultural intensification.

• Restoring The Great Lakes: After 50 Years Of U.S.-Canada Joint Efforts, Some Success And Lots Of Unfinished Business

  The Great Lakes cover nearly 95,000 square miles (250,000 square kilometers) and hold over 20% of Earth’s surface fresh water. More than 30 million people in the U.S. and Canada rely on them for drinking water. Despite their enormous importance, the lakes were degraded for well over a century as industry and development expanded around them.

• Grim 2022 Drought Outlook For Western U.S. Offers Warnings For The Future As Climate Change Brings A Hotter, Thirstier Atmosphere

  Much of the western U.S. has been in the grip of an unrelenting drought since early 2020. The dryness has coincided with record-breaking wildfires, intense and long-lasting heat waves, low stream flows, and dwindling water supplies in reservoirs that millions of people across the region rely on. Heading into summer, the outlook is pretty grim.

• Making Microplastic Identification More Accessible

  Imagine trying to count hundreds, thousands, even millions of tiny particles that are too small to see with the human eye. Now, imagine those tiny particles could be any shape, size, or color and are covered in mud. That’s a challenge that EPA chemist Michaela Cashman, PhD and other EPA researchers are taking on in their microplastics identification research.