Drinking Water Workshop Concludes with Hands-On Trainings

August 30th marked the conclusion of the 15th Annual Drinking Water Workshop (co-sponsored by EPA and ASDWA) with three hands-on training sessions. The first (shown) was a full house where participants learned how to translate the microbial and disinfection by-product (DBPs) regulatory requirements into optimization of treatment and distribution system operations. DBP violations currently comprise 1/2 of national violations of health-based standards, so more work is needed to reduce these numbers.

Additional training sessions were held on iron and manganese control, and Legionella control strategies. This last topic presents many challenges for state primacy agencies and water systems as neither has control over the water quality within a building’s plumbing system. Healthcare facilities are being driven by the 2017 memo from the Center of Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) that required these facilities to develop building water quality management plans. How these facilities meet this requirement, and whether they install secondary disinfection (or not), can potentially have significant impacts to state drinking water programs.