January 17, 2020 Wendi Wilkes Drinking Water Headlines, Events, Webinars
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Research and Development and Office of Water is hosting a free webinar on January 28, 2020 from 2:00 to 3:00 pm ET with a Q&A session from 3-3:30 pm directly following the presentations. A certificate for one training hour will be offered for this webinar. Follow this link to register: register.gotowebinar.com/register/3034705273449437699 .
The webinar includes two presentations: 
1. Public Water System Characteristics That May Affect Legionella Occurrence in Building Water Systems
This presentation will highlight EPA’s efforts to reduce Legionella risks through regulatory revisions, treatment technologies, and research on premise plumbing. An overview of public health impacts, challenges to addressing Legionella in drinking water, and potential risk factors in municipal supplies will be included.
2. Impact of Chlorine and Chloramine on the Detection and Quantification of Legionella pneumophila and Mycobacterium Species
Potable water can be a source of transmission for legionellosis and nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) infection and diseases. This presentation will investigate the influence of disinfectant type and total chlorine residual on the detection and concentration of the five leading pathogens associated with these infections and diseases.
January 16, 2020 Wendi Wilkes Meetings and Conferences
AWWA is hosting the 2020 International Symposium on Potable Reuse in Atlanta, Georgia on February 10th and 11th. Covering the latest innovations in treatment and monitoring technology, the Symposium will attract water industry professionals from around the world to discuss the most important and challenging issues associated with both direct and indirect potable reuse. You can find registration and travel information as well as the schedule and technical program at the following link: https://www.awwa.org/Events-Education/potable-reuse. The Potable Reuse Symposium immediately precedes the International Symposium on Biological Treatment, and special joint registration rates are offered.
Register by January 17 for early rates!
January 14, 2020 Wendi Wilkes Legislative PFAS
January 10, 2020 Kevin Letterly Source Water HABs
EPA’s Office of Research and Development, Region 7, and the University of Kansas Edwards Campus are hosting an upcoming conference (February 4-5) that will look at solutions to harmful algal blooms in Midwestern waterbodies. This conference will have discussions identifying the issues and challenges with excessive nutrient loading and resulting HABs formation. Discussion will also focus on best practices for nutrient reduction and source water protection.
This conference is intended for state and tribal water quality programs in EPA Region 5,7, and 8, academic institutions, and other federal programs. For more information and to register click here.
January 10, 2020 Anthony DeRosa ASDWA Conferences, Drinking Water Headlines, Events
ASDWA’s 2020 Member Meeting is being held this year from March 23 – 25 at the Hilton Old Town in Alexandria, Virginia. Please note, the Member Meeting is for states and EPA only, plus invited guests. ASDWA’s Board Meeting will convene immediately following the Member Meeting at noon on March 25, and will conclude at noon on March 26.
Please visit ASDWA’s website at https://www.asdwa.org/event/asdwa-member-meeting-2020/ to find a block agenda for travel, register for the meeting, and reserve a hotel room online. Our room block at the hotel closes on March 4. Please plan to join us!
January 10, 2020 Deirdre White Drinking Water Headlines, Source Water
AWWA has published a report entitled, “Methods to Assess Anthropogenic Bromide Loads from Coal-fired Power Plants and Their Potential Effect on Downstream Drinking Water Utilities.” The report was developed with the help of EPA, ACWA, ASDWA, and a few states including the Pennsylvania and North Carolina state drinking water programs.
The purpose of the report is to provide information for states and water utilities to consider and address bromide impacts from coal-fired power plants using wet flue-gas desulfurization (FGD) air scrubbers. The report provides:
To download and read the report, visit AWWA’s website.
January 9, 2020 Deirdre White Drinking Water Headlines, Source Water
On January 8, the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee held a hearing entitled, “The Nonpoint Source Management Program Under the Clean Water Act: Perspectives from States.” During the hearing, Jennifer Zygmunt, the Nonpoint Source Program Coordinator for the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality, and Ben Grumbles, Secretary for Maryland’s Department of the Environment, provided testimony and responded to questions. Key discussion points during the hearing included:
Other discussion topics during the hearing included the need to enforce requirements for the Chesapeake Bay TMDL efforts while implementing voluntarily efforts for nonpoint source programs, and the need to consider how conservation and water quality protection can be measured and paired with flood and climate impact mitigation. To view the video archive of the webcast and read the written testimony, visit the Senate EPW website.
January 7, 2020 Deirdre White Capacity Development, Drinking Water Headlines, Small Systems
EPA developed an interactive website for water system partnerships that includes the Drinking Water System Partnerships Case Study Map Tool for users to explore case study summaries and learn more about different types of partnerships across the U.S.
Who: The targeted audience is states, drinking water program managers, utilities, and technical assistance providers.
Why: Partnerships are tools that can be used to address the technical, managerial, and financial challenges water systems face, with options ranging from informal arrangements, such as sharing equipment, to transferring ownership of a system through consolidation.
The partnership case study maps encompass the topics of:
To view the map tool and for more information on water systems partnerships, visit the larger interactive website that also includes a map with links to state partnership approaches, a summary of the January 2017 National Stakeholder Meeting, and will soon feature more in-depth case studies and the updated State Partnership Handbook at https://www.epa.gov/dwcapacity/water-system-partnerships.
If you have a case study you would like to share with EPA, please contact Brooke Porter at porter.brooke@epa.gov.
If there is a tool that you recommend to be highlighted in this blog series, please contact Deirdre White of ASDWA at dwhite@asdwa.org
January 7, 2020 Alan Roberson Drinking Water Headlines
The start of the 2020 marks the beginning of a series of events to celebrate EPA’s 50th anniversary. The landscape for public health and environmental protection has certainly changed over the past 50 years, and the future poses many uncertainties and future challenges. Other organizations are likely to conduct their own retrospectives, and 2020 provides an opportunity for everyone involved in environmental policy to document the past progress and think about how challenging issues in the future are going to be appropriately resolved.
More information on EPA’s 50th anniversary can be found here.
January 6, 2020 Wendi Wilkes Drinking Water Headlines
This week, EPA announced a new policy for using the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF). EPA will now allow DWSRF funds to be used for purchasing rights or access to new sources of drinking water under certain circumstances. This change will allow public water systems to switch water sources in the event of contamination or to obtain rights or access to new water sources in the event of drought or other hydrological changes to meet current water needs. 
EPA’s class deviation responds directly to the needs and requests of the states and public water systems, while improving public health protection. More information can be found on EPA’s website: https://www.epa.gov/dwsrf/dwsrf-class-deviation-water-rights-deviation-40-cfr-ss353520e2-2019.
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