The Punjab Food Authority (PFA) has prepared an emergency action plan to ensure the provision of clean drinking water for people across the province

LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News – 24th Sep, 2022 ) :The Punjab Food Authority (PFA) has prepared an emergency action plan to ensure the provision of clean drinking water for people across the province.

In this connection, the authority will collect the water samples of Wasa filtration plants and other drinking water sources for laboratory tests from Lahore, Multan and other divisions of Punjab.

This was informed by newly appointed Director General of PFA Mudassar Riaz Malik, while chairing a meeting with PFA officials after taking over the charge of his office here on Saturday.

He vowed to make Punjab an adulteration-free province as per the vision of chief minister Punjab as well as to ensure the provision of safe and quality food.

He said that the provincial food regulatory body will also collect the glutton free edibles products to check is it glutton free or not, besides starting drinking water sampling campaign.

According to the international standards, PFA to develop a system to check the glutton free food items.

Further, the authority will prepare a plan on emergency basis to check the special food for patients along with other food articles, he added.

He said the utmost priority is to bring improvement and innovation in the food industry along with ensuring quality food supply to the masses. He said that PFA will make a comprehensive policy to eliminate the adulteration mafia and introduce laws following international standards.

Mudassar Riaz said that the PFA will bring the food industry and academia on the same page for better legislation by utilising all available resources. Moreover, the Provincial Food Regulatory Body will give special focus to aware the public about unhygienic food and adulteration.

Mudassar Malik belongs to 33th Common of Pakistan Administrative Services (PAS). Before his posting as a DG PFA, he has been posted on various key positions in Punjab including commissioner DG Khan, DG Social Welfare, deputy commissioner Lahore and Multan.

[ad_2]

Originally Appeared Here

The Bureau of Reclamation today announced the award of a $73,056,845 contract to Archer Western Construction of Phoenix, Arizona, to convey reliable drinking water to Navajo communities and the city of Gallup in northwest New Mexico. This award marks significant progress toward the completion of the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project.

These areas currently rely on a rapidly depleting groundwater supply of poor quality to meet the demands of more than 43 Navajo chapters, the southwest area of the Jicarilla Apache Reservation, and the city of Gallup. The NGWSP consists of two main pipeline systems: the San Juan Lateral and the Cutter Lateral. This contract award is for the Tsé Da’azkání Pumping Plant and Tó Ałts’íísí Pumping Plant on the San Juan Lateral. These drinking water pumping plants are two of 13 water transmission pumping plants on the San Juan Lateral.

“This is a significant milestone for the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project and illustrates the Department of the Interior’s commitment to Tribal and rural communities,” said Assistant Secretary for Water and Science Tanya Trujillo. “We are excited to leverage the resources in President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to make further investments that ensure that clean, safe drinking water is a right in Tribal communities.”

Both plants will be located in the Navajo Sanostee Chapter in New Mexico’s San Juan County and will operate in concert with the other pumping plants on the San Juan Lateral, pumping San Juan River water that has been treated to Safe Drinking Water Act requirements at the San Juan Lateral Water Treatment Plant to the north and delivering to downstream communities to the south. Each plant will have four equally sized pump and motor units with a combined capacity of approximately 51.5 cubic feet per second, or 23,100 gallons per minute. Work under this contract will begin this fall with groundbreaking in early 2023 and completion expected by the fall of 2025.

“Reclamation is pleased to begin construction on the Tsé Da’azkání and Tó Ałts’íísí pumping plants,” said Reclamation Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton. “With the Cutter Lateral delivering water to Navajo homes and construction of the San Juan Lateral now more than 50% finished, this construction contract continues our progress toward meeting the United States’ obligation to the Navajo Nation under the nation’s water rights settlement agreement on the San Juan River Basin in New Mexico, where over a third of households still haul drinking water to their homes. That importance has been underscored by our pandemic experience. A good water supply is essential to public health and safety.”

The Tsé Da’azkání and Tó Ałts’íísí pumping plants will further the progress of the NGWSP. When the full project is completed, it will include approximately 300 miles of pipeline, two water treatment plants, 19 pumping plants and multiple water storage tanks. Construction on the Cutter Lateral is complete and water deliveries are currently being made to eight Navajo communities and soon to the southwestern portion of the Jicarilla Apache Reservation, serving 6,000 people or 1,500 households.

This contract continues many years of hard work by Reclamation, the Navajo Nation and other project partners constructing the NGWSP to improve the lives of residents and provide opportunities for economic development and job creation.

Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project

[ad_2]

Originally Appeared Here

The dam at Wrangell’s lower reservoir, in March of 2022. (Sage Smiley / KSTK)

Residents of Wrangell Island get their drinking water from two earthen reservoirs in the hills above town. As Wrangell’s Borough Manager Jeff Good explains, there are concerns about the dams’ stability, and the borough is planning to do an in-depth analysis of the dams between September 26-30.

“We know it’s one of the worst dams in the state, especially from a seismic standpoint,” Good says, “So our goal right now is to figure out what the actual strength of the dam is.”

A 2015 study by the Alaska Department of Natural Resources found the dams holding back Wrangell’s drinking water to be second-worst in the state of Alaska. They’re classified as a “Class 1 High Hazard,” the worst classification for dams.

“We’ve taken bore samplings directly beneath the top of the dam and at the foot of the dam, but nothing in the middle of it where the slope is,” Good says, “And really, once you get down below the bottom of the dam, that’s where all your strength for your dam is in that slope area, so we have to get some bore samplings below that area of the footing.”

Engineers and workers will have to do some minor construction on the slope and cut back a bit of the dam in order to get a truck with boring equipment out to where it needs to be. 

Good says the plan has been reviewed by the state Dam Safety Board, as well as project engineers. But the borough is being cautious, and wants to make sure people know that delicate work is being done.

“The main concern – at least on that dam anyway – is if there is sand below that portion of the dam, that if we had an earthquake or something like that happen, sand typically liquefies [in an earthquake] if there’s water in it, so you lose that strength, that portion of the dam,” Good says. “If that happened, then there would basically be a safety rating of one. You never want a safety rating of one, you want to be two to three is typically where you design something. And right now it’s at one. So if we did have an earthquake or something like that, there’s significant concern [for the area] below the dam.”

Ultimately, Good says this analysis will tell the borough if and how the drinking water dams need stabilization. 

Good says the borough wants to get out information about the survey work out to the public, especially people who live between 1.6-Mile and 1.9-Mile Zimovia Highway. Those residences would be in the inundation zone which could temporarily flood if the dams were to collapse. But, he says, that’s not likely. 

“As much as you try to design for everything and try to be as safe as you can, they still should be notified that the work is going on,” Good says, “On the extreme outside chance anything does happen, or if we see something happen, we want to make sure that the residents know because if the dams go, they are in the flood – there’s an area that’s in that inundation zone – that if the dam breaks that water has to go somewhere, and it’s right by that one area by [Bloom’s] trailer park.”

Good says Wrangell Public Works is going door to door in the area, and dropping off door hangs about the dam stabilization analysis happening the last week of September. 

Work is scheduled to be performed between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. each day between Monday (September 26) and Friday (September 30). 

Good says he’s already reached out to the Army Corps of Engineers to see if they might be able to assist the community with a potential stabilization project. That might not be possible, since it’s a drinking water dam rather than a more traditional hydro dam, but Good says the borough is keeping every possible option open to try and secure grant funds if the dam does need work. 

Get in touch with KSTK at [email protected] or (907) 874-2345.

[ad_2]

Originally Appeared Here

shraddha paksha amavasya 2022

Although Pind Daan can be done on Amavasya Tithi of every month, but Amavasya coming in Ashwin month and during Shradh Paksha is considered especially auspicious. Due to being Pitru Amavasya on this day, it is also called Pitru Visarjani Amavasya or Mahalaya. This time the Amavasya of Sarva Pitru or Pitru Paksha is being celebrated on 25 September 2022.

On this Amavasya, the ancestors come to the door of their loved ones with the wish of offering obeisances. They stand with their fingers open and whatever you do for them, they accept it and go away happily.

Let’s know here the easy remedies for Amavasya – amavasya ke upay

1. On the morning of Sarvapitri Amavasya, after bathing, water should be offered to the Sun God while chanting Gayatri Mantra.

2. After this, from the food prepared for Shradh in the house, the portion of food for the Panchbali i.e. cow, dog, crow, god and ants should be taken out and given to them.

3. In the morning on the day of Amavasya, under the Peepal tree, for the ancestors, keeping a pot of homemade sweets and pure drinking water, incense, lamp should be lit.

4. For the sake of one’s ancestors, the cow mother should be fed green spinach during ‘Kutap-Kaal’ on Shradh Amavasya.

5. In the evening, according to your capacity, 2, 5 or 16 lamps should be lit.

6. Water should be offered to the Peepal tree on Sarvapitri Amavasya, because Pipal is believed to be the abode of ancestors. On this day, offering water to the ancestors along with black sesame by visiting a river or any reservoir brings happiness and peace in the house.

7. After Pitru Tarpan, one should reverently pray for Mars from the ancestors.

8. On this day, ‘general donation’ should be given to any temple or Brahmin and food should be given to the poor needy and charity should be given according to one’s ability.

In this way, by trying these measures of lamp, water and donation, you can ask for the blessings you want from your ancestors and the ancestors are also happy to bid farewell to you.

Pitru amavasya 2022

ALSO READ: Serve food to these 10 people on Sarvapitri Amavasya, Pitru will be happy

ALSO READ: 7 things must be done on Sarva Pitru Moksha Amavasya, Pitru will be happy

[ad_2]

Originally Appeared Here

The City of Unalakleet now has a working generator to power its local water plant, but the community plans to be on a boil water notice for an extended period of time.

Unalakleet’s Mayor Thomas Simonsson told KNOM the community is using a temporary water line to their water tank while they work to repair their main line.

Part of the challenge with maintaining safe drinking water for residents was the community’s generator went down during the recent storm.

Bering Straits Native Corporation sent a replacement generator to Unalakleet on Sept. 21, Larry Pederson, Vice President of Nome Operations with BSNC, said during yesterday’s City of Nome emergency operations meeting.

“They had a very temporary situation for their water out there. They had a welder hooked up to one of their smaller pumps in their water plant to get low pressure getting back to the community because their main generator went out during the storm and they haven’t been able to get it back up,” Pederson explained. “We supplied them with a 20kilowat generator from one of our subsidiaries in Anchorage.”

City officials had to do some modifications to the generator in order for it to power the water plant, Mayor Simonsson said. Now they are focused on getting enough water in the tank to backwash and filter out the contaminants.

Unalakleet will most likely be on an extended boil water notice for weeks, Simonsson said. But in the meantime, the community is receiving bottled water shipments every two weeks supplied by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and various donations from regional, state and even national organizations like World Central Kitchen.

[ad_2]

Originally Appeared Here

The Osceola Water Board has asked customers to voluntarily reduce water usage, as the city’s water source at West Lake is dropping and there are concerns about water quality deeper in the lake.The conservation measure asks customers to reduce all outdoor watering between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m., including watering lawns and washing cars and driveways. “Clarke County’s in a severe drought currently and our lake levels are low, and we have water quality issues at our lower intake level,” said Water Superintendent Brandon Patterson.While the lake is not immediately in danger of running out of supply, Water Works is trying to avoid having to use the lower intake, where the quality is considerably lower. “If we don’t take these measures now, we’ll end up using that lower-level intake, where they’ll experience quality concerns as well as violations through the state,” Patterson said.Restaurants have also been told to serve water only on request. Click below to see more from Andrew Mollenbeck:

OSCEOLA, Iowa —

The Osceola Water Board has asked customers to voluntarily reduce water usage, as the city’s water source at West Lake is dropping and there are concerns about water quality deeper in the lake.

The conservation measure asks customers to reduce all outdoor watering between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m., including watering lawns and washing cars and driveways.

“Clarke County’s in a severe drought currently and our lake levels are low, and we have water quality issues at our lower intake level,” said Water Superintendent Brandon Patterson.

While the lake is not immediately in danger of running out of supply, Water Works is trying to avoid having to use the lower intake, where the quality is considerably lower.

“If we don’t take these measures now, we’ll end up using that lower-level intake, where they’ll experience quality concerns as well as violations through the state,” Patterson said.

Restaurants have also been told to serve water only on request.

Click below to see more from Andrew Mollenbeck:

[ad_2]

Originally Appeared Here

Efforts to treat three potentially cancerous pollutants in Long Island’s drinking water face significant delays because of supply-chain snarls, soaring costs and the need to build more than 100 water treatment systems, according to a Newsday survey of water providers.

The Island has about 50 public water providers, and some have treatment systems up and running to address the three “emerging contaminants,” while others remain in the planning and construction stages. 

The costs of building these systems have increased significantly in recent years. For example, water providers say the cost of carbon — an integral ingredient in water filtration systems — has doubled in the past few years, and a national demand for it has delayed orders. 

Some costs are being passed on to ratepayers.

“The construction of these systems is very, very costly, and the operation is very costly,” said Dennis Kelleher, chairman of the public relations committee for the Long Island Water Conference, a trade group of local water suppliers. “We think the raw cost of delivering the water will go up 50 to 100 percent.”

Two years have passed since New York implemented limits on the three emerging contaminants: 1,4-dioxane, perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). They are referred to as “forever chemicals” because they break down slowly in water and soil, and accumulate and persist in the human body.

Testing has found 1,4-dioxane — an industrial chemical in paint strippers, dyes and some deodorants and shampoos — in more than 70% of public water wells on Long Island. Long-term exposure has been linked to kidney and liver damage and cancer, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Limits on 1,4-dioxane in cosmetics, personal care and household cleaning products go into effect Dec. 31.

PFOS and PFOA — chemicals used in nonstick and stain-resistant materials and firefighting foam — have been found in hundreds of public and private wells on the Island. Exposure to PFOS or PFOA can damage the immune system, the cardiovascular system, human development and cause cancer, the EPA said.

PFOS and PFOA have been voluntarily phased out by U.S. manufacturers. The EPA proposed in August to designate the two synthetic chemicals as harmful substances. If that proposal is approved, releases of PFOA and PFOS that exceed a certain level would have to be reported to authorities, who could require cleanups. 

The state approved the limits on these three contaminants in July 2020, though many water providers have asked for extensions to implement changes.

Some Island water providers have begun passing the cleanup costs on to customers in increased water rates and added surcharges. For example, the Suffolk County Water Authority added an $80-per-year surcharge in January 2020. The Greenlawn Water District added an $80 annual surcharge and raised rates, and the Village of Sands Point has begun charging a $225 capital fee every three months to all property owners.

“Long Islanders have this idea that water is cheap. It’s not going to be like that anymore,” said Peter Hesse, a commissioner of the Glenwood Water District.

The building of these water treatment systems has forced some suppliers to pump water at reduced capacity and required residents to conserve water. The Port Washington Water District is constructing treatment systems at three of its facilities to address detections of 1,4-dioxane, PFOA and PFOS in some of the wells. Some will come online next summer and others by mid-2024.

Residents there have been required to follow the district’s water conservation guidelines to save the 20% needed to maintain the system, officials said.

These water treatment projects mark one of the most expensive and labor-intensive infrastructure undertakings on Long Island, with total costs expected to exceed $1.5 billion, according to the Long Island Water Conference. Water suppliers emphasize that these costs only include building the treatment systems, and that operating them also will be expensive and likely lead to higher costs for customers.

The state has awarded about $400 million statewide in grant money to help offset the costs, with more than half coming to Long Island.

Long Island water suppliers said that, despite the presence of these hazardous chemicals in certain wells, they are providing safe drinking water. 

Water providers such as the Williston Park Water District and the Village of Bayville said their water meets the state’s regulations on emerging contaminants.

“I have zero detections and am not in any violation at all of any of the new [limits],” said Andrew Petti, Bayville’s supervisor of water plant operations.

Freeport, as well, has no plan to install treatment systems because the water there is below state limits, public works Superintendent Robert R. Fisenne said.

Public officials and water providers acknowledge there have been instances in which providers exceeded state limits, though they said that occurs infrequently. Island environmentalists, while praising the progress on constructing treatment systems, said they’re frustrated by the delays in getting them online.

“We worked so hard to get drinking water standards, and we’re still waiting two years later to see them fully implemented,” said Adrienne Esposito, executive director of the Citizens Campaign for the Environment, a nonprofit advocacy group based in Farmingdale.

In July 2020, New York became the first state in the nation to adopt drinking water standards for the contaminant 1,4-dioxane, at 1 part per billion. The state also set drinking water standards for PFOS and PFOA, each at 10 parts per trillion. The amount of PFOS and PFOA permitted in drinking water is so low that it is the equivalent of 10 grains of sand in an Olympic-size swimming pool.

To provide time for the building of treatment systems, the state approved deferrals of up to two years for 21 water providers on Long Island. The 21 providers had wells approaching or exceeding the state limits for the three emerging contaminants. The deferrals allowed them to continue pumping water without receiving violations. Providers said they shut down some troubled wells or blended that water with water from clean wells to lower the level of contaminants below state limits.

This year, at least 17 of those providers requested and received another deferral, some up to a year. They include Garden City Park Water District, until Sept. 26; Franklin Square Water District, until Dec. 26; Albertson Water District, until next April 25; the Village of Garden City, until next May 26, and South Huntington Water District, until next Aug. 1.

The following water providers have each received a second deferral until next Aug. 26: The Town of Hempstead Water Department; Village of Hempstead; Hicksville; Water Authority of Western Nassau County; Jericho Water District; Incorporated Village of Mineola; Liberty Utilities New York; Merrick; Port Washington; Greenlawn Water District; Riverhead Water District, and Suffolk County Water Authority.

The Greenlawn district has three wells at or near the limit for 1,4-dioxane, but it has not served customers water that exceeds the state standards, Superintendent Bob Santoriello said. Greenlawn was granted a second deferral because construction on its three systems to treat 1,4-dioxane is not expected to be completed until 2024, he said.

“I’d be in trouble without the deferral,” Santoriello said. “I don’t plan on having to use it, but it’s like an insurance policy.”

Long Island obtains nearly all its public drinking water from about 1,500 wells connected to underground aquifers, many of which have been polluted with decades of industrial, commercial, agricultural and residential contaminants.

An aquifer is an underground formation typically composed of permeable rock and gravel, sand, pebbles or silt. Aquifers contain, transmit and yield water, according to the Nassau Suffolk Water Commissioners Association. The depth of the Long Island Aquifer System is shallowest on the North Shore, about 600 feet, and deepest along the South Shore, about 2,000 feet.

Environmentalists said even traces of these “forever chemicals” in drinking water can be dangerous.

“These contaminants are very prevalent on Long Island, and they are unsafe at any level,” said Liz Moran, New York policy advocate for Earthjustice, a nonprofit environmental law group with several locations in the U.S., including New York City. 

Moran pointed to the EPA announcement in June that PFOS and PFOA were more dangerous than previously thought and pose health risks even at levels so low they cannot be detected. The agency reduced its threshold for health risks for PFOA and PFOS in drinking water to levels that are more stringent than state standards. The EPA set limits, which are not binding on localities, for PFOS at .02 parts per trillion and PFOA at .004 parts per trillion.

Water quality advocates said it can be difficult for people to find out if and when the contaminants in their water exceed the state standards.

“That means advocates have to try and pull data or survey individual water utilities, which is tough, because there’s 2,000 of them all across the state,” said Rob Hayes, director of clean water for the Albany-based nonprofit Environmental Advocates NY. “It makes it really difficult to be able to then track.”

Newsday asked the state Department of Health, which oversees public water providers, for the number of times Long Island suppliers exceeded the state limits. State officials said they don’t collate such data and suggested contacting county health departments.

Nassau health department officials, asked the same question, referred Newsday to the water providers.

Suffolk health officials, which oversee 1,000 public wells, said instances when water suppliers exceed the state limits are rare. They provided information indicating that recent testing has shown five instances in which water sent to customers exceeded the standards for 1,4-dioxane. The wells were operated by the Suffolk County Water Authority, they said.

Suffolk County Water Authority officials said there were no instances in recent testing in which water sent to customers exceeded the limits for PFOA and PFOS.

The state requires all public water providers to notify customers when they have violated state or federal water standards. They all must issue annual water quality reports, as well. Those providers with a deferral must test their water and issue reports quarterly. If the provider is in violation for any of the three emerging contaminants, they must notify the public within 30 days.

Since Aug. 26, 2020, when the state limits became effective, no public water supply systems have received a violation in Suffolk, according to the county’s health department. A public water system supplies water to the same population year-round.

However, 14 noncommunity public water supply systems have received a violation for exceeding at least one of the new limits. Noncommunity water systems are those that regularly supply water to at least 25 of the same people at least six months per year, or a system that provides water in a place such as a gas station or campgrounds where people do not remain for long periods of time.

Tim Hopkins, chief legal officer for the Suffolk County Water Authority, said that since the state standards were adopted, the authority has had 15 instances when measurements showed that drinking water sent to customers exceeded the state standard for 1,4-dioxane. The water was coming from wells in Huntington, East Farmingdale, Kings Park, Fort Salonga, Ronkonkoma and the Village of Northport, he said. 

The authority had four instances during that period when drinking water delivered to customers exceeded the limits for PFOA and PFOS, from wells in Nesconset, Westhampton and the Village of the Branch. Those wells since have been connected to treatment systems, Hopkins said. 

Testing for PFOA, PFOS and 1,4-dioxane is done at least twice a year at every well, Hopkins said. If a well has a detection of one of these three contaminants, the Suffolk County Water Authority would test the well at least quarterly, he said. 

Consequently, it is possible for one of the authority’s water systems to pump water in excess of the limits for months, Hopkins said.

“However, I would tend to think that would not likely happen in the real world,” Hopkins said. “Typically, you would have a low-level detection first. Then you would be testing at least quarterly. If the quarterly samples showed increases in concentration levels, you would monitor more frequently than quarterly. If you saw you were getting higher concentration levels with that increased frequency, you would likely take the well out of service before the [limit] was exceeded.”

In Nassau, 92 public wells required treatment systems for 1,4-dioxane, and 23 of the treatment systems are running, according to the county health department. The county expects all wells that require treatment — meaning they exceed state limits — to be treated by next August, the department said.

In addition, 46 wells required treatment for PFOA and PFOS, and virtually all are currently being treated, the county said. Several suppliers previously had installed these systems to treat other hazardous substances in their water.

In Suffolk, water providers are planning or installing 45 systems to treat 1,4-dioxane, though some wells where the contaminant was detected were below the state limits, the county’s health department said. The systems for wells in excess of the limits are expected to be in use by fall 2023, the department said.

Building water treatment systems can take two to three years, from a pilot study to flipping on the switch, Kelleher, of the Long Island Water Conference, said. But the industry has been hampered, like many others, with supply-chain problems delaying the receival of materials. 

In addition, the cost of materials has escalated as many water suppliers rush to build systems to address the new pollution standards, driving up demand for materials, he said. These systems require copious amounts of carbon, but increasing demand has driven up prices significantly in the past year, he said.

Newsday sent questions to Island water districts, asking about the number of treatment systems they need, their progress and costs, and the financial impact on customers.

The treatment of PFOA and PFOS requires a Granular Activated Carbon (GAC) system. The treatment of 1,4-dioxane, which is more difficult, requires an Advanced Oxidation Process (AOP) system, as well as a GAC system in the finishing process. The price tag for these systems vary depending on the amount of water they treat, but each can cost more than $1 million, suppliers said.

The Hicksville Water District was among those providers that got a head start, planning treatment systems before the state implemented the new regulations two years ago, district Superintendent Paul Granger said. The district, which serves 48,000 people, had 10 of its 14 wells exceeding the maximum contamination levels for 1,4-dioxane, and two that exceeded the limit for PFOA and PFOS.

Hicksville plans to install 12 AOP systems and 12 GAC systems at the impacted wells. It already has installed seven AOP units and seven GAC systems, Granger said.

Granger said the work schedule was pushed back six months to a year, in part due to delays related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Some manufacturers had shut down for a time, and labor suffered from employees being out due to sickness and quarantines, he said.

“I can sum it up in two words: very challenging,” Granger said. “So many water suppliers were impacted by the regulations, and now they are competing for the materials. … Our budgets are being eaten away rather quickly.”

Granger said the overall costs will be $76 million, including the treatment units, oxidation tanks, piping, generators and buildings to house the systems. The district already has spent $30 million and has received approval of $34.7 million in state grants. 

All the Hicksville treatment systems should be running by 2025, Granger said. The district increased water rates in 2020, which officials said should cost customers about $24 extra a year on their bill. 

Materials have been hard to come by, Granger said. Ordering a switch for a backup power system, which usually took three months, has stretched to a year, he said. The costs of carbon jumped from $1.50 a pound to $3, which might not sound like a lot, except that one of Hicksville’s GAC treatment system requires 80,000 pounds of it.

That’s an additional $120,000, Granger said.

Newsday asked Island public water suppliers how often they’ve exceeded the state standards since the new limits were implemented in 2020. The majority said they had not.

Hicksville has not run over the limit for PFOS and PFOA, as the wells that exceed the state standards have been either shut down or had their water mixed with water from clean wells to reduce the level of contamination, Granger said. But Hicksville has exceeded the state standards several times for 1,4-dioxane, according to its reports to the state Health Department. When water from wells consistently tested above the limit, they were taken out of service, according to the reports.

In a June report, water flowed from a well that measured 1.3 parts per billion, more than the limit of 1.0 parts per billion. A treatment system for that well is expected to come online this month, Granger said.

Granger said that, in general, water temporarily exceeding the limit should not greatly concern people. The damage from 1,4-dioxane, he said, comes from accumulation in the human body over many years. It is not an “acute hazard” such as E. coli in the water, which would be “an immediate public health hazard,” he said.

“The sky is not falling,” Granger said. “We are trying to mitigate longterm exposure.”

The Suffolk County Water Authority is the behemoth of Island providers with 600 wells serving 1.2 million people. The authority has completed the installation of one AOP system and is in the process of installing another 17 to address wells approaching or exceeding the limit for 1,4-dioxane, Hopkins said. 

In the past two years, the authority has installed 21 GAC systems at wells approaching or exceeding the limits for PFOA and PFOS, he said.

However, the authority plans on installing AOP and GAC systems at all its wells that have any detection of these three contaminants, “so that no amount of the contaminant is detected in the water distribution system,” Hopkins said. About 275 wells have had detection of 1,4-dioxane, and about 231 wells have had a detection of PFOA and PFOS, he said.

The costs for all this will be several hundred million dollars and take upward of a decade, he said. The authority has received $30 million in state grants.

“We don’t want contaminants in our water,” Hopkins said. “We didn’t put it in. We’re just trying to get it out.”

Suffolk’s water authority is among several Island suppliers suing manufacturers they said are responsible for the contaminants. The water authority’s lawsuit names as defendants: The 3M Co., Buckeye Fire Equipment Co., Chemguard Inc., Tyco Fire Products LP and National Foam Inc.

The state limits also can present challenges to smaller water systems such as the one in Sands Point, which serves 3,000 people.

The levels of PFOA and PFOS have been rising over time in the local wells behind Village Hall, Mayor Peter Forman said. The amount of contamination in wells can rise and fall as pollutants shift in the soil. Those levels stand at 5 to 8 parts per trillion, below the state limit of 10 parts per trillion, he said.

“If these levels rise to 10 PPT, we would be required to remove these wells from operation within a few weeks’ time,” Forman said in a May newsletter to residents. “The loss of one of these wells … could result in a multi-year-long irrigation moratorium throughout the whole village — an untenable thought.”

Consequently, Sands Point is planning a GAC system for the wells behind Village Hall, at a cost of $6 million. The village has received approval for a state grant of $3 million, Forman said, adding that the system should be online within 16 months.

The village likely will need another GAC system for another set of wells, he added.

Moreover, the costs of the treatment unit is draining the village’s general budget fund, which prompted the village to raise water rates and begin charging a $225 fee every three months to all property owners, he said. 

Once a treatment system is built, operating it will increase the cost due to the amounts of electricity, chemicals and testing required, said Kelleher, of the Long Island Water Conference.

“It comes down to costs,” he said. “A lot of water suppliers have raised their rates to cover these costs, but I don’t think we’ve raised our rates enough to cover the operational costs. … It could be upward of $100,000 per well additional per year to operate.”

Efforts to treat three potentially cancerous pollutants in Long Island’s drinking water face significant delays because of supply-chain snarls, soaring costs and the need to build more than 100 water treatment systems, according to a Newsday survey of water providers.

The Island has about 50 public water providers, and some have treatment systems up and running to address the three “emerging contaminants,” while others remain in the planning and construction stages. 

The costs of building these systems have increased significantly in recent years. For example, water providers say the cost of carbon — an integral ingredient in water filtration systems — has doubled in the past few years, and a national demand for it has delayed orders. 

Some costs are being passed on to ratepayers.

WHAT TO KNOW

• Long Island’s efforts to treat three potentially cancerous pollutants in drinking water face delays due to supply-chain problems, cost increases and the need to build more than 100 water treatment systems.
• Some water providers have treatment systems up and running, with more to come, while others remain in the planning and construction stages.
• Two years have passed since New York implemented limits on the three emerging contaminants: 1,4-dioxane, PFOA and PFOS. They are referred to as “forever chemicals” because they break down slowly in water and soil, and accumulate and persist in the human body.

“The construction of these systems is very, very costly, and the operation is very costly,” said Dennis Kelleher, chairman of the public relations committee for the Long Island Water Conference, a trade group of local water suppliers. “We think the raw cost of delivering the water will go up 50 to 100 percent.”

Two years have passed since New York implemented limits on the three emerging contaminants: 1,4-dioxane, perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). They are referred to as “forever chemicals” because they break down slowly in water and soil, and accumulate and persist in the human body.

Testing has found 1,4-dioxane — an industrial chemical in paint strippers, dyes and some deodorants and shampoos — in more than 70% of public water wells on Long Island. Long-term exposure has been linked to kidney and liver damage and cancer, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Limits on 1,4-dioxane in cosmetics, personal care and household cleaning products go into effect Dec. 31.

PFOS and PFOA — chemicals used in nonstick and stain-resistant materials and firefighting foam — have been found in hundreds of public and private wells on the Island. Exposure to PFOS or PFOA can damage the immune system, the cardiovascular system, human development and cause cancer, the EPA said.

PFOS and PFOA have been voluntarily phased out by U.S. manufacturers. The EPA proposed in August to designate the two synthetic chemicals as harmful substances. If that proposal is approved, releases of PFOA and PFOS that exceed a certain level would have to be reported to authorities, who could require cleanups. 

The state approved the limits on these three contaminants in July 2020, though many water providers have asked for extensions to implement changes.

Some Island water providers have begun passing the cleanup costs on to customers in increased water rates and added surcharges. For example, the Suffolk County Water Authority added an $80-per-year surcharge in January 2020. The Greenlawn Water District added an $80 annual surcharge and raised rates, and the Village of Sands Point has begun charging a $225 capital fee every three months to all property owners.

The Suffolk County Water Authority’s Advanced Oxidation Process treatment system, designed to remove the contaminant 1,4-dioxane from groundwater. Credit: Barry Sloan

“Long Islanders have this idea that water is cheap. It’s not going to be like that anymore,” said Peter Hesse, a commissioner of the Glenwood Water District.

The building of these water treatment systems has forced some suppliers to pump water at reduced capacity and required residents to conserve water. The Port Washington Water District is constructing treatment systems at three of its facilities to address detections of 1,4-dioxane, PFOA and PFOS in some of the wells. Some will come online next summer and others by mid-2024.

Residents there have been required to follow the district’s water conservation guidelines to save the 20% needed to maintain the system, officials said.

These water treatment projects mark one of the most expensive and labor-intensive infrastructure undertakings on Long Island, with total costs expected to exceed $1.5 billion, according to the Long Island Water Conference. Water suppliers emphasize that these costs only include building the treatment systems, and that operating them also will be expensive and likely lead to higher costs for customers.

The state has awarded about $400 million statewide in grant money to help offset the costs, with more than half coming to Long Island.

Long Island water suppliers said that, despite the presence of these hazardous chemicals in certain wells, they are providing safe drinking water. 

Water providers such as the Williston Park Water District and the Village of Bayville said their water meets the state’s regulations on emerging contaminants.

“I have zero detections and am not in any violation at all of any of the new [limits],” said Andrew Petti, Bayville’s supervisor of water plant operations.

Freeport, as well, has no plan to install treatment systems because the water there is below state limits, public works Superintendent Robert R. Fisenne said.

Environmentalists frustrated by delays

Public officials and water providers acknowledge there have been instances in which providers exceeded state limits, though they said that occurs infrequently. Island environmentalists, while praising the progress on constructing treatment systems, said they’re frustrated by the delays in getting them online.

‘We worked so hard to get drinking water standards, and we’re still waiting two years later to see them fully implemented.’

-Adrienne Esposito, executive director of the Citizens Campaign for the Environment

Credit: Barry Sloan

“We worked so hard to get drinking water standards, and we’re still waiting two years later to see them fully implemented,” said Adrienne Esposito, executive director of the Citizens Campaign for the Environment, a nonprofit advocacy group based in Farmingdale.

In July 2020, New York became the first state in the nation to adopt drinking water standards for the contaminant 1,4-dioxane, at 1 part per billion. The state also set drinking water standards for PFOS and PFOA, each at 10 parts per trillion. The amount of PFOS and PFOA permitted in drinking water is so low that it is the equivalent of 10 grains of sand in an Olympic-size swimming pool.

To provide time for the building of treatment systems, the state approved deferrals of up to two years for 21 water providers on Long Island. The 21 providers had wells approaching or exceeding the state limits for the three emerging contaminants. The deferrals allowed them to continue pumping water without receiving violations. Providers said they shut down some troubled wells or blended that water with water from clean wells to lower the level of contaminants below state limits.

This year, at least 17 of those providers requested and received another deferral, some up to a year. They include Garden City Park Water District, until Sept. 26; Franklin Square Water District, until Dec. 26; Albertson Water District, until next April 25; the Village of Garden City, until next May 26, and South Huntington Water District, until next Aug. 1.

The following water providers have each received a second deferral until next Aug. 26: The Town of Hempstead Water Department; Village of Hempstead; Hicksville; Water Authority of Western Nassau County; Jericho Water District; Incorporated Village of Mineola; Liberty Utilities New York; Merrick; Port Washington; Greenlawn Water District; Riverhead Water District, and Suffolk County Water Authority.

The Greenlawn district has three wells at or near the limit for 1,4-dioxane, but it has not served customers water that exceeds the state standards, Superintendent Bob Santoriello said. Greenlawn was granted a second deferral because construction on its three systems to treat 1,4-dioxane is not expected to be completed until 2024, he said.

“I’d be in trouble without the deferral,” Santoriello said. “I don’t plan on having to use it, but it’s like an insurance policy.”

Suppliers: Water is safe

Long Island obtains nearly all its public drinking water from about 1,500 wells connected to underground aquifers, many of which have been polluted with decades of industrial, commercial, agricultural and residential contaminants.

An aquifer is an underground formation typically composed of permeable rock and gravel, sand, pebbles or silt. Aquifers contain, transmit and yield water, according to the Nassau Suffolk Water Commissioners Association. The depth of the Long Island Aquifer System is shallowest on the North Shore, about 600 feet, and deepest along the South Shore, about 2,000 feet.

Environmentalists said even traces of these “forever chemicals” in drinking water can be dangerous.

“These contaminants are very prevalent on Long Island, and they are unsafe at any level,” said Liz Moran, New York policy advocate for Earthjustice, a nonprofit environmental law group with several locations in the U.S., including New York City. 

Moran pointed to the EPA announcement in June that PFOS and PFOA were more dangerous than previously thought and pose health risks even at levels so low they cannot be detected. The agency reduced its threshold for health risks for PFOA and PFOS in drinking water to levels that are more stringent than state standards. The EPA set limits, which are not binding on localities, for PFOS at .02 parts per trillion and PFOA at .004 parts per trillion.

Water quality advocates said it can be difficult for people to find out if and when the contaminants in their water exceed the state standards.

“That means advocates have to try and pull data or survey individual water utilities, which is tough, because there’s 2,000 of them all across the state,” said Rob Hayes, director of clean water for the Albany-based nonprofit Environmental Advocates NY. “It makes it really difficult to be able to then track.”

Newsday asked the state Department of Health, which oversees public water providers, for the number of times Long Island suppliers exceeded the state limits. State officials said they don’t collate such data and suggested contacting county health departments.

Nassau health department officials, asked the same question, referred Newsday to the water providers.

Suffolk health officials, which oversee 1,000 public wells, said instances when water suppliers exceed the state limits are rare. They provided information indicating that recent testing has shown five instances in which water sent to customers exceeded the standards for 1,4-dioxane. The wells were operated by the Suffolk County Water Authority, they said.

Suffolk County Water Authority officials said there were no instances in recent testing in which water sent to customers exceeded the limits for PFOA and PFOS.

The state requires all public water providers to notify customers when they have violated state or federal water standards. They all must issue annual water quality reports, as well. Those providers with a deferral must test their water and issue reports quarterly. If the provider is in violation for any of the three emerging contaminants, they must notify the public within 30 days.

Since Aug. 26, 2020, when the state limits became effective, no public water supply systems have received a violation in Suffolk, according to the county’s health department. A public water system supplies water to the same population year-round.

However, 14 noncommunity public water supply systems have received a violation for exceeding at least one of the new limits. Noncommunity water systems are those that regularly supply water to at least 25 of the same people at least six months per year, or a system that provides water in a place such as a gas station or campgrounds where people do not remain for long periods of time.

Suffolk water supplier exceeded limits

Tim Hopkins, chief legal officer for the Suffolk County Water Authority, said that since the state standards were adopted, the authority has had 15 instances when measurements showed that drinking water sent to customers exceeded the state standard for 1,4-dioxane. The water was coming from wells in Huntington, East Farmingdale, Kings Park, Fort Salonga, Ronkonkoma and the Village of Northport, he said. 

The authority had four instances during that period when drinking water delivered to customers exceeded the limits for PFOA and PFOS, from wells in Nesconset, Westhampton and the Village of the Branch. Those wells since have been connected to treatment systems, Hopkins said. 

Testing for PFOA, PFOS and 1,4-dioxane is done at least twice a year at every well, Hopkins said. If a well has a detection of one of these three contaminants, the Suffolk County Water Authority would test the well at least quarterly, he said. 

Consequently, it is possible for one of the authority’s water systems to pump water in excess of the limits for months, Hopkins said.

‘Typically, you would have a low-level detection first … you would likely take the well out of service before the [limit] was exceeded.’

-Tim Hopkins, chief legal officer for the Suffolk County Water Authority 

Credit: Howard Schnapp

“However, I would tend to think that would not likely happen in the real world,” Hopkins said. “Typically, you would have a low-level detection first. Then you would be testing at least quarterly. If the quarterly samples showed increases in concentration levels, you would monitor more frequently than quarterly. If you saw you were getting higher concentration levels with that increased frequency, you would likely take the well out of service before the [limit] was exceeded.”

In Nassau, 92 public wells required treatment systems for 1,4-dioxane, and 23 of the treatment systems are running, according to the county health department. The county expects all wells that require treatment — meaning they exceed state limits — to be treated by next August, the department said.

In addition, 46 wells required treatment for PFOA and PFOS, and virtually all are currently being treated, the county said. Several suppliers previously had installed these systems to treat other hazardous substances in their water.

In Suffolk, water providers are planning or installing 45 systems to treat 1,4-dioxane, though some wells where the contaminant was detected were below the state limits, the county’s health department said. The systems for wells in excess of the limits are expected to be in use by fall 2023, the department said.

Cost hikes, delays

Building water treatment systems can take two to three years, from a pilot study to flipping on the switch, Kelleher, of the Long Island Water Conference, said. But the industry has been hampered, like many others, with supply-chain problems delaying the receival of materials. 

In addition, the cost of materials has escalated as many water suppliers rush to build systems to address the new pollution standards, driving up demand for materials, he said. These systems require copious amounts of carbon, but increasing demand has driven up prices significantly in the past year, he said.

Newsday sent questions to Island water districts, asking about the number of treatment systems they need, their progress and costs, and the financial impact on customers.

The treatment of PFOA and PFOS requires a Granular Activated Carbon (GAC) system. The treatment of 1,4-dioxane, which is more difficult, requires an Advanced Oxidation Process (AOP) system, as well as a GAC system in the finishing process. The price tag for these systems vary depending on the amount of water they treat, but each can cost more than $1 million, suppliers said.

The Hicksville Water District was among those providers that got a head start, planning treatment systems before the state implemented the new regulations two years ago, district Superintendent Paul Granger said. The district, which serves 48,000 people, had 10 of its 14 wells exceeding the maximum contamination levels for 1,4-dioxane, and two that exceeded the limit for PFOA and PFOS.

Hicksville plans to install 12 AOP systems and 12 GAC systems at the impacted wells. It already has installed seven AOP units and seven GAC systems, Granger said.

Granger said the work schedule was pushed back six months to a year, in part due to delays related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Some manufacturers had shut down for a time, and labor suffered from employees being out due to sickness and quarantines, he said.

‘So many water suppliers were impacted by the regulations, and now they are competing for the materials. … Our budgets are being eaten away rather quickly.’

-Hicksville Water District Superintendent Paul Granger

Credit: Howard Schnapp

“I can sum it up in two words: very challenging,” Granger said. “So many water suppliers were impacted by the regulations, and now they are competing for the materials. … Our budgets are being eaten away rather quickly.”

Granger said the overall costs will be $76 million, including the treatment units, oxidation tanks, piping, generators and buildings to house the systems. The district already has spent $30 million and has received approval of $34.7 million in state grants. 

All the Hicksville treatment systems should be running by 2025, Granger said. The district increased water rates in 2020, which officials said should cost customers about $24 extra a year on their bill. 

Materials have been hard to come by, Granger said. Ordering a switch for a backup power system, which usually took three months, has stretched to a year, he said. The costs of carbon jumped from $1.50 a pound to $3, which might not sound like a lot, except that one of Hicksville’s GAC treatment system requires 80,000 pounds of it.

That’s an additional $120,000, Granger said.

Newsday asked Island public water suppliers how often they’ve exceeded the state standards since the new limits were implemented in 2020. The majority said they had not.

Hicksville has not run over the limit for PFOS and PFOA, as the wells that exceed the state standards have been either shut down or had their water mixed with water from clean wells to reduce the level of contamination, Granger said. But Hicksville has exceeded the state standards several times for 1,4-dioxane, according to its reports to the state Health Department. When water from wells consistently tested above the limit, they were taken out of service, according to the reports.

In a June report, water flowed from a well that measured 1.3 parts per billion, more than the limit of 1.0 parts per billion. A treatment system for that well is expected to come online this month, Granger said.

Granger said that, in general, water temporarily exceeding the limit should not greatly concern people. The damage from 1,4-dioxane, he said, comes from accumulation in the human body over many years. It is not an “acute hazard” such as E. coli in the water, which would be “an immediate public health hazard,” he said.

“The sky is not falling,” Granger said. “We are trying to mitigate longterm exposure.”

Suffolk’s big water supplier

The Suffolk County Water Authority is the behemoth of Island providers with 600 wells serving 1.2 million people. The authority has completed the installation of one AOP system and is in the process of installing another 17 to address wells approaching or exceeding the limit for 1,4-dioxane, Hopkins said. 

In the past two years, the authority has installed 21 GAC systems at wells approaching or exceeding the limits for PFOA and PFOS, he said.

However, the authority plans on installing AOP and GAC systems at all its wells that have any detection of these three contaminants, “so that no amount of the contaminant is detected in the water distribution system,” Hopkins said. About 275 wells have had detection of 1,4-dioxane, and about 231 wells have had a detection of PFOA and PFOS, he said.

The costs for all this will be several hundred million dollars and take upward of a decade, he said. The authority has received $30 million in state grants.

“We don’t want contaminants in our water,” Hopkins said. “We didn’t put it in. We’re just trying to get it out.”

Suffolk’s water authority is among several Island suppliers suing manufacturers they said are responsible for the contaminants. The water authority’s lawsuit names as defendants: The 3M Co., Buckeye Fire Equipment Co., Chemguard Inc., Tyco Fire Products LP and National Foam Inc.

The state limits also can present challenges to smaller water systems such as the one in Sands Point, which serves 3,000 people.

The levels of PFOA and PFOS have been rising over time in the local wells behind Village Hall, Mayor Peter Forman said. The amount of contamination in wells can rise and fall as pollutants shift in the soil. Those levels stand at 5 to 8 parts per trillion, below the state limit of 10 parts per trillion, he said.

“If these levels rise to 10 PPT, we would be required to remove these wells from operation within a few weeks’ time,” Forman said in a May newsletter to residents. “The loss of one of these wells … could result in a multi-year-long irrigation moratorium throughout the whole village — an untenable thought.”

Consequently, Sands Point is planning a GAC system for the wells behind Village Hall, at a cost of $6 million. The village has received approval for a state grant of $3 million, Forman said, adding that the system should be online within 16 months.

The village likely will need another GAC system for another set of wells, he added.

Moreover, the costs of the treatment unit is draining the village’s general budget fund, which prompted the village to raise water rates and begin charging a $225 fee every three months to all property owners, he said. 

Once a treatment system is built, operating it will increase the cost due to the amounts of electricity, chemicals and testing required, said Kelleher, of the Long Island Water Conference.

“It comes down to costs,” he said. “A lot of water suppliers have raised their rates to cover these costs, but I don’t think we’ve raised our rates enough to cover the operational costs. … It could be upward of $100,000 per well additional per year to operate.”

By Craig Schneider and Vera Chinese

Craig Schneider, a Long Island native, joined Newsday as a general assignment reporter in 2018 after 20 years at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Vera Chinese covers Suffolk County government and politics.

[ad_2]

Originally Appeared Here

Published 23 minutes ago

Submitted by Black & Veatch

OVERLAND PARK, Kan., September 23, 2022 /CSRwire/ – Black & Veatch, a leading global provider of critical human infrastructure solutions, today announced that two of its water projects are included in “Beneath the Surface: The Journey of Water,” presented by the International Water Association and produced by BBC StoryWorks Commercial Productions. The film profiles innovators advancing security, resilience and stewardship into global water systems. The two projects discussed in the film, Soquel Creek Water District in California and Fontenelle Park in Nebraska, highlight Black & Veatch’s experience in developing holistic approaches that solve the industry’s evolving challenges, ensuring a lasting, dependable water ecosystem.

Driving sustainable groundwater supply management for Northern California’s Soquel Creek Water District

Black & Veatch is working with the Soquel Creek Water District to build treatment facilities and associated infrastructure to replenish groundwater supplies impacted by over-drafting and seawater intrusion. The project will recycle up to 490 million gallons of water per year from the Santa Cruz Wastewater Treatment Facility by processing it through tertiary and advanced water purification technologies. The project not only helps to reduce treated effluent from being discharged to the Monterey Bay, but it also aids in the beneficial reuse of expanding recycled water and replenishing the region’s groundwater basin.

Strategic stormwater separation and green infrastructure solution for Omaha, Nebraska’s Fontenelle Park

Black & Veatch played a key role in the city of Omaha’s strategy to protect local water quality. This project consisted of an environmentally friendly stormwater detention system that captures rainwater and snowmelt to lessen the demands on the city’s sewer systems, reduce combined sewer overflows (CSOs) and improve water quality.

“Our work with Soquel Creek and the City of Omaha illustrates our innovative solutions and the range of expertise that we bring to the water industry,” said Mike Orth, President of Governments & Environment at Black & Veatch. “Taking part in this film gave us the opportunity to bring awareness to the critical needs of this vital resource and to demonstrate the solutions that are possible in the complex world of water.”

Backed by over a century’s worth of experience in infrastructure development, Black & Veatch works with public providers and private industries to modernize energy, water and telecommunications infrastructure, optimize asset use, meet performance goals, reduce cost and mitigate risk.

Editor’s Notes

• Learn more about Black & Veatch’s involvement in Soquel Creek Water District’s groundwater replenishment and seawater intrusion prevention project here.
• Learn more about Black & Veatch’s work with the city of Omaha’s Fontenelle Park here.
• View the films and learn more about the Beneath the Surface film series here.

***

About Black & Veatch
Black & Veatch is a 100-percent employee-owned global engineering, procurement, consulting and construction company with a more than 100-year track record of innovation in sustainable infrastructure. Since 1915, we have helped our clients improve the lives of people around the world by addressing the resilience and reliability of our most important infrastructure assets. Our revenues in 2021 exceeded US$3.3 billion. Follow us on www.bv.com and on social media.

Media Contact Information:
SUSAN RIVERA | +1 781-223-5570 P | [email protected]
24-HOUR MEDIA HOTLINE | +1 855-999-5991

Black & Veatch

Black & Veatch

Black & Veatch is an employee-owned engineering, procurement, consulting and construction company with a more than 100-year track record of innovation in sustainable infrastructure. Since 1915, we have helped our clients improve the lives of people in over 100 countries through consulting, engineering, construction, operations and program management. Our revenues in 2018 were US$3.5 billion. Follow us on www.bv.com and in social media.

More from Black & Veatch

[ad_2]

Originally Appeared Here

Groundwater contamination is a growing problem in Connecticut, and Michael Dietz, the director of the Connecticut Institute of Water Resources at UConn, is working on multiple fronts to address it.

An educator at UConn Extension in the College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, Dietz has spearheaded major initiatives to understand and resolve this critical issue in Connecticut and regionally with the help of colleagues at UConn and partners across the state.

One of those initiatives – a small program offering reduced-cost well water testing to homeowners in the state – has received a $350,000 award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture that will allow Dietz to extend the reach of the program in rural communities. Dietz hopes to make the service available to 1,000 homeowners over the two years of the grant, a considerable increase from the 25 homeowners served by the program as of 2021.

“There are more than 300,000 wells in the state, and we want to help these homeowners get testing done so they know whether their water is safe to drink,” says Dietz, who is PI on the project.

The only time testing is currently required in Connecticut is when a well is installed. Dietz thinks more frequent testing is needed due to increasing contamination levels in soil and water. Road salt is a significant source of the contamination, he says, and the rate at which it is applied to roads has steadily increased over the last 40 years.

Two other elements – arsenic and uranium – have also been found in Connecticut’s groundwater. Uranium, which occurs naturally, can cause cancers and other health issues in high concentrations. A recent study by the U.S. Geological Survey determined that some well water samples exceeded the EPA’s maximum contaminant levels for these elements.

There are more than 300,000 wells in the state, and we want to help these homeowners get testing done so they know whether their water is safe to drink. — Michael Deitz, director of the Connecticut Institute of Water Resources

Recent research by Dietz’s co-PIs on the project, Professor Gary Robbins at UConn and Professor Meredith Metcalf at Eastern Connecticut State University, identified the historic use of lead arsenate pesticides in apple orchards as a possible source of the arsenic. Robbins has been doing research and working with Connecticut communities on groundwater issues for more than 35 years.

Reducing the use of road salt is an overarching water quality concern that Dietz and Robbins have been working on for years. The deicing salts used on roads, walkways, parking lots, and driveways in the winter to prevent slips and falls, contain sodium chloride and other chemicals that run off surfaces or slowly permeate them, eventually making their way into the soil and water and affecting vegetation, aquatic life, and human health when it reaches drinking water wells.

As part of an effort led by the Connecticut Training and Technical Assistance Center (T2 Center) at UConn, Dietz served on a committee with several state and local agencies, including the Department of Transportation, Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, the Department of Public Health (DPH), and public works officials in South Windsor looking at ways to cut road salt use and the resulting harm to the environment while maintaining pedestrian and driver safety. Modeled after a program in New Hampshire, the “Green Snow Pro” program is now being offered around the state by the T2 Center.

After the program was piloted at UConn with facilities staff, Dietz used monitoring data to confirm that the salt reductions improved water quality and saved money. In 2022, a bill, S.B. 240: An Act Concerning the Use of Sodium Chloride to Mitigate Snow and Ice Accumulations, was passed in the state legislature to lessen the effects of sodium chloride contamination in private wells and public drinking water supplies. The legislation provided funding for the T2 Center to expand trainings to private snow contractors in the state. Dietz noted that the progress being made on the issue could not have happened without the work of partners at many agencies and organizations.

Graduate student Alex Janis examines groundwater samples in the Connecticut Institute of Water Resources. The institute recently received a $350,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to expand groundwater testing in rural areas of the state (Contributed photo).

The USDA-funded well-testing program, titled The Rural Private Well Testing and Citizen Education Program, grew out of that work and is modeled after a similar well-testing program in Virginia. That program consists of a series of educational workshops, where homeowners have an opportunity to sign up for well-testing at a later date. The program subsidizes the cost of the well-testing, which can be substantial.

Dietz is planning workshops in Connecticut this winter with the goal of enabling 1,000 homeowners in 13 rural communities to have their well water tested free of charge. The towns targeted for testing are in rural areas of northwest and northeast Connecticut, although Dietz hopes to expand to other suburban towns whose residents are primarily served by private wells. While 1000 homes represent a fraction of the residential wells in Connecticut, Dietz says it’s a start.

The program complements a private well program at DPH, which provides information about groundwater contamination but lacks the staff to test water from wells. Dietz says he and Robbins have been working with DPH for a number of years. When the grant opportunity came up, it seemed like the perfect way to expand on that effort, Dietz says.

“This is a really strong extension project that is about helping people,” he says. “That’s what extension does. That’s what we’re all about.”

[ad_2]

Originally Appeared Here

September 22, 2022

The Financing Lead Out of Water Act Allows Public Water Utilities to Issue Tax-Exempt Bonds to Fund Public and Private Lead Pipe Removal

U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen and Ben Cardin (both D-Md.) with Senators Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) on Thursday introduced the Financing Lead Out of Water (FLOW) Act. The FLOW Act would reduce exposure to lead in old water pipes by making it easier for cities and utilities to issue bonds to finance replacement projects.

“The use of lead service lines poses a constant threat to the health and safety of our communities, putting the well-being of our most vulnerable — including children and the elderly — at greater risk. This legislation will speed up the lead pipe replacement process and help communities access low-cost financing by cutting red tape that slows down local governments in modernizing our water infrastructure,” said Senator Van Hollen.

“Millions of households across America still have lead pipes delivering water to their homes. Access to low-cost financing is a common barrier for local communities in Maryland and elsewhere when considering projects to fully replace lead service lines and protect public health,” said Senator Cardin. “Our bicameral legislation would make it easier for publicly owned water utilities to use tax-exempt bonds to get the lead out of our water infrastructure and provide safe, affordable drinking water.”

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), between 6 to 10 million homes in the U.S. currently have lead water pipes, also known as lead service lines (LSL), that connect the main water line located underground to their home’s internal plumbing system. Although public utilities across the country are replacing their publicly owned lead service lines, replacement projects have moved slowly for privately owned pipes serving residences due to the costly financial responsibility of replacing these lines. 

The FLOW Act provides an explicit guarantee in the tax code to allow public water utilities to issue tax-exempt bonds to help pay for the removal and replacement of both the publicly- and privately-owned lead service lines, resolving the full scale of the issue for residents in areas with lead pipes. This bill also helps funds for lead pipe replacement from the American Rescue PlanAct and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law make a deeper impact on replacing the nation’s essential water infrastructure.

Last week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a record $184 millionare available from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funds to repair and improve Maryland’s water infrastructure. This record funding, delivered through Maryland’s Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Programs, will help communities across the state access clean, safe, and reliable drinking water, prevent flooding, collect and treat wastewater to protect public health, and safeguard vital waterways.  

The bill text is available HERE.

“Coloradans deserve to know the water they and their children drink is safe,” said Senator Bennet. “This legislation would not only help cut through red tape, but alleviate some of the financial burden that homeowners typically face when replacing their lead pipes. We should learn from the experiences of Denver Water and use innovative financing to help eliminate lead pipes completely across our communities.”

“It is vital that every American has access to safe, clean drinking water,” said Senator Booker.“This legislation will reduce financial burdens on homeowners and cut through the administrative challenges localities face to replace the portion of lead service lines that are privately owned. Lead in drinking water is a national public health emergency, and I commend Senator Bennet for his leadership on this issue.”

“Families shouldn’t have to worry about whether or not the water coming out of the faucet is safe for their children to drink,” said Senator Brown. “Because of the work we did in the American Rescue Plan and Bipartisan Infrastructure Plan, Ohio communities will be able to replace old pipes, using American-made materials and installed by American workers, and the FLOW Act will ensure that these investments reach even more Ohioans.”

“In California, at least 65,000 homes have lead water pipes, a particular danger for children whose brain growth and development can be inhibited. This bill will revise IRS rules to allow public water utilities to help pay to replace these dangerous pipes. We must address this problem now before more children are harmed,” said Senator Feinstein.

 

Previous Article

[ad_2]

Originally Appeared Here