September 3, 2021 Deirdre White Drinking Water Headlines, Source Water, Webinars PFAS
On Wednesday, September 8, 2021, from 12:00 – 1:00 pm (eastern time), ASDWA will host a webinar entitled, “PFAS Community-Based Water Supply Planning in the Twin Cities.” This webinar will highlight the efforts of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and the Department of Natural Resources (the co-trustees of the 3M PFAS Settlement) to spend $700 million on a drinking water supply plan for 14 communities in the East Metropolitan Area. With input from citizens, stakeholders, and technical experts from each of the affected communities, the comprehensive set of recommended options account for every home, neighborhood, and community in the 150 square miles affected by PFAS contamination in the East Metropolitan Area to ensure all recommendations provide safe and sustainable drinking water now and into the future. REGISTER FOR THE WEBINAR HERE.
The webinar speaker is Karla Peterson. Karla is the Community Public Water Supply Unit Supervisor at the Minnesota Department of Health. Her Unit is responsible for administering the federal Safe Drinking Water Act and anticipating and responding to changing needs and expectations related to drinking water. She is a registered Professional Engineer, has a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Minnesota, and has a M.A. in Public Administration from Hamline University. Karla has more than 25 years of experience in the state drinking water program and is a member of several organizations, including the American Water Works Association, serving in a variety of roles over her career and as a past Chair for the Minnesota Section.
September 3, 2021 Deirdre White Drinking Water Headlines, Security, Source Water, Webinars
Source: UNM Newsroom
On Monday, September 13th, 2021 from 3:00 – 4:00 pm (eastern time), the Source Water Collaborative (SWC) will host the second of two webinars focused on wildfire, and the last of six webinars in the Forestry Learning Exchange webinar series that highlights the connection between healthy forests and drinking water. Wildfire recovery can be a new and persistent challenge to water systems. During the webinar, perspectives and case studies from regional stakeholders, state, and local water utilities will be shared by the following speakers:
Note: There will be a 30-minute Teams meeting discussion with the speakers immediately following the presentations from 4:00 – 4:30 pm ET (links will be provided in registration confirmation).
September 3, 2021 Deirdre White Drinking Water Headlines, Source Water PFAS
EPA has published a draft validated laboratory analytical method to test for PFAS in wastewater, surface water, groundwater, soils, sediment, landfill leachate, and fish tissue. EPA collaborated with the U.S. Department of Defense’s (DoD) Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program to develop draft Method 1633. This single laboratory validated method can test for 40 PFAS compounds in eight media. This is the first EPA method capable of analyzing PFAS in raw water and Clean Water Act (CWA) NPDES permits down to low parts per trillion levels. EPA and DoD will continue to collaborate to complete a multi-laboratory validation study of the method in 2022. For more information on CWA Analytical Methods for PFAS, visit EPA’s website.
September 1, 2021 Kevin Letterly Drinking Water Headlines
EPA invites the public to listen in to the following upcoming National Drinking Water Advisory Council Working Group Meetings regarding Consumer Confidence Reports:
Note that members of the public will be placed in “listen only” mode. The meeting materials will be available on the NDWAC CCR Revision WG site: https://www.epa.gov/ndwac/national-drinking-water-advisory-council-ndwac-consumer-confidence-report-rule-revision.
August 27, 2021 Kevin Letterly Drinking Water Headlines
EPA has recently multiple new factsheets regarding uses of DWSRF funds.
Developing Water System Partnerships with the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund – This newly developed factsheet discusses how water systems can utilize partnerships to reduce costs, increase operational efficiency, and decrease vulnerability to disaster and emergency situations. Several case studies from across the country are included in this factsheet.
Addressing Water Affordability with the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund – This new factsheet aims to equip decision makers with best practices and implementable ideas for how to use the DWSRF program to maintain drinking water affordability for their communities and water systems. This factsheet also includes several case studies documenting success.
Supporting Cybersecurity Measures with the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund – This factsheet EPA developed in 2019 includes information on how the DWSRF can be used to can be used to conduct assessments and to develop improvement
plans and emergency response strategies and also fund the installation of cyber-related infrastructure, which may include upgrading information technology and operational technology. If your state is using DWSRF loan funds or set-asides for cybersecurity purposes, EPA can include you as a case study in updating this factsheet (email kletterly@asdwa.org).
Developing Emergency Response Plans with the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund – Developed in May of this year, this factsheet gives case studies and ideas on how the DWSRF set-aside funding can be used to both develop and update ERPs and disaster planning.
Addressing and Mitigating Drought with the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund – Also developed in May of this year, this factsheet describes how the DWSRF set-asides can be used to assess impacts a drought may have on public water systems, including, but not limited to drought monitoring, water loss audits, leak detection studies and purchasing leak detection equipment, pressure optimization studies, drought contingency plans, and water conservation plans.
Protecting Source Water with the Clean Water State Revolving Fund – This factsheet was developed in July and includes examples of CWSRF funded projects, loan repayment options, and case studies.
August 27, 2021 Deirdre White Drinking Water Headlines, Source Water
The American Water Works Association (AWWA) is launching a new Source Water Protection Week starting this year on September 26 – October 2. AWWA invites water utilities, AWWA sections, states, and other partners to join in on raising awareness about the importance of protecting drinking water sources during this week. Download the materials you can use to celebrate the week such as logos, social media graphics and posts, and proclamations from the AWWA website.
As part of Source Water Protection Week Week, AWWA is also hosting a #ShowYourSource social media contest. Beginning September 26, utilities and partner organizations are encouraged to post photos or short videos on social media using the hashtag #ShowYourSource to share information about their precious water sources. More information about Source Water Protection is available on AWWA’s resource page and at the Source Water Collaborative Learning Exchange. For more information about AWWA’s announcement, read the AWWA article.
August 27, 2021 Wendi Wilkes Drinking Water Headlines
The Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) and the Assocation of State Drinking Water Administrators (ASDWA) have developed a Legionella Communications Factsheet: A Guide for Health Agency Staff. Legionella is the leading cause of waterborne disease outbreaks associated with
drinking water in the United States. Control of Legionella and other plumbing pathogens is complicated and is a shared responsibility between water utilities, high-risk individuals, and commercial, industrial, institutional, and residential customers. ASTHO and ASDWA developed this communications factsheet to provide information that state health agency staff can use when talking to building and facility personnel about Legionella and other opportunistic biofilm pathogens, provide information to increase building owner awareness of the potential for pathogens to grow in building water systems, including resources that can help them reduce or minimize pathogen growth in their plumbing, and outline proactive Legionella-related communications methods for state agencies to consider.
August 26, 2021 Deirdre White Drinking Water Headlines PFAS
EPA has announced the availability of the Draft IRIS Toxicological Review of Perfluorobutanoic Acid (PFBA) and related compound Ammonium Perfluorobutanoic Acid for a 60-day public comment and review period. At the same time, EPA has announced a request for nominations of experts to an IRIS Peer Review Panel that will review the assessments for PFBA and four other PFAS – Perfluorodecanoic Acid (PFDA), Perfluorononanoic Acid (PFNA), Perfluorohexanoic Acid (PFHxA), Perfluorohexanesulfonic acid (PFHxS).
The PFBA Toxicological Review evaluates human and animal studies to derive toxicity values for cancer and noncancer health effects resulting from chronic exposure. The systematic review protocol and dose-response analyses for these assessments has also been updated in response to public comments. The protocol includes a summary of why these PFAS were prioritized for evaluation, a description of the objectives and specific aims of the assessments, draft PECO (Populations, Exposures, Comparators, and Outcomes) criteria, and identification of key areas of scientific complexity. For more information, read the Federal Register Notices for the PFBA Toxicity Review and Expert Nominations, and visit the EPA IRIS website.
August 25, 2021 Anthony DeRosa Drinking Water Headlines, Security Cybersecurity, Trending
The water and wastewater sector continues to experience cyber-attacks at an alarming frequency, including ransomware and exploits of Industrial Control System (ICS) vulnerabilities. High-profile incidents further focus the nation’s attention on the serious threat posed by cyberattacks to our vulnerable public water infrastructure. Cybersecurity best practices and incident response planning can prevent or mitigate many of these attacks and are essential to the sound operation and management of water and wastewater systems.
To prepare the water and wastewater sector to enhance cybersecurity and mitigate risk in their systems, EPA is sponsoring a series of free virtual workshops on water sector cybersecurity. These workshops consist of two half-days. The first day will give participants current information on cyber threats and risk drivers, resources to bolster cybersecurity, and key findings from cyber vulnerability assessments of water and wastewater systems. The second day will lead participants through incident response exercises for cyber-attacks on water and wastewater systems.
EPA is offering three different opportunities to participate in this workshop (the same content is repeated). Workshop participation is open to water and wastewater systems, government officials, and others involved in water sector cybersecurity. Continuing education credits have been applied for in all 50 states. Participants must attend both days in full to receive the credits. Workshop dates and registration links are listed below. For more information or questions regarding workshop registration, please contact: Sarah Bartlett at sbartlett@horsleywitten.com
Workshop Dates, Times, and Registration Links:
September 15th (1:00-4:30 pm EST) & September 16th (1:00-5:00 pm EST)
Registration Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYlceGoqzMrG9cnIe7rS-dGWrCCY7hwa1rA
October 13th (1:00-4:30 pm EST) & October 14th (1:00-5:00 pm EST)
Registration Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIuf-isrj0iHNwVAmh_ovAPmR6aXnMul4Tp
November 3rd (1:00-4:30 pm EST) & November 4th (1:00-5:00 pm EST)
Registration Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZctcu2srTwpE90p1Fexz7JZmZF-vJO5jX4F
Visit EPA’s website for more information about cybersecurity best practices for the water sector.
August 24, 2021 Kevin Letterly Drinking Water Headlines
Don’t forget to register for the 18th Annual EPA Drinking Water Workshop: Small System Challenges and Solutions. This year’s Workshop will take place virtually next week on August 30th through September 2nd and will provide in-depth information and training on solutions and strategies for handling small drinking water system challenges with a focus on monitoring, distribution, source, and treatment topics. To register, click here.
The technical sessions of the workshop will include the following topics:
In-depth training options will include:
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