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SMALL DRINKING WATER TREATMENT TECHNOLOGIES FOR COMPLIANCE WITH THE ENHANCED SURFACE WATER TREATMENT RULES
Citation:
PATTERSON, C. L., R. HAUGHT, JAMES GOODRICH, S. ALLGEIER, D. SCHMELLING, AND T. J. SORG. SMALL DRINKING WATER TREATMENT TECHNOLOGIES FOR COMPLIANCE WITH THE ENHANCED SURFACE WATER TREATMENT RULES. Presented at EPA Region 9 Product Expo, San Francisco, CA, February 08, 2005.
Impact/Purpose:
To inform the public
Description:
According to FY2003 statistics compiled by the Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water, the U.S. regulates about 160,000 small drinking water systems that impact close to 70 million people. Small systems (serving transient and non-transient populations of 10,000 people or less) contribute to about 94% of the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendment violations. Roughly 77% of small system health-based violations are attributable to Maximum Contaminant Level violations. The Long Term 1 and Long Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rules have been designed to improve small system water quality. U.S. EPA's Water Supply and Water Resources Division based in Cincinnati, Ohio was asked to answer the following question. What small drinking water treatment technologies are available to comply with the Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rules to ensure removal of Cryptosporidium from drinking water supplies? The Water Quality Management Branch began investigating removal of turbidity and microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, and protozoa from drinking water sources to provide guidance to regulators and the public. This research was designed to enable small system operators to make better decisions on the selection and use of filtration and disinfection technologies and to supply consistently safe drinking water to their users. Guidance resulting from these small system studies has been published in the Small Drinking Water Systems Handbook, A Guide to "Packaged" Filtration and Disinfection Technologies with Remote Monitoring and Control Tools", EPA/600/R-03/041, May 2003. The main focus of this presentation will be on off-the-shelf treatment technologies (specifically bag and cartridge filter products) for small drinking water system compliance. Website addresses and examples of several types of bag and cartridge filters will be available for hands-on activities. The application of and limitations associated with bag and cartridge filtration will be discussed based on extramural research and field studies. Bead study challenges were conducted using 3 micron polystyrene latex beads to determine log removal based on equipment from several manufacturers on a wide range of water qualities. Crypto parvum oocyst challenges were intermittently performed to verify bead study results. Bag and cartridge treatment configurations and pretreatment options will be provided for optimum Crypto removal. The presentation will investigate the ability of bag and cartridge filters to remove Crypto-sized particles and the effects of turbidity on system longevity. Operation and maintenance issues will be discussed along with their impact on cost. A secondary focus will include a discussion on the protection of source waters from Crypto contamination and the requirements for Crypto analysis using EPA Methods 1622 and 1623. Finally, the research results will address the ability of bag and cartridge filtration technologies to achieve 99% Cryptosporidium removal as allowed under the current regulation. A brief overview of the EPA Arsenic Demonstration Program will also be presented to highlight ongoing small systems treatment research at 43 sites in 22 States. Future training courses are currently being planned to provide arsenic demonstration research results to regulators and the communities affected by lowering the arsenic drinking water standard to 10 ppb.