It’s not too late to register and attend the 15th Annual EPA Drinking Water Workshop: Small Systems Challenges and Solutions.  The workshop will take place on August 28-30 in Covington, KY (across the river from Cincinnati).  The workshop includes a variety of drinking water topics covering aspects of distribution systems, monitoring, and treatment.  In addition, there will be opportunities to ask experts your questions about drinking water issues and discuss hot topics with your peers in the states and across the water industry.

This year a limited number of the sessions will be broadcast live.  These specific sessions cover PFAS, RTCR implementation, and pathogens and biofilm.  For general workshop information and registration go here.  Information on registration for the live webinars is coming soon to the EPA monthly small system webinar site.

Cyanotoxins – Advancing Drinking Water Science to Protect Human Health

Date: Monday, July 2, 2018
Time: 1:00 to 2:30 PM (eastern)

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The Association of State Drinking Water Administrators (ASDWA) is pleased to announce a free webinar entitled, “Cyanotoxins – Advancing Drinking Water Science to Protect Human Health.” This is the second webinar in a series of planned ASDWA talks by USGS scientists.

Optimized drinking water treatment is necessary to mitigate a range of chemical and biological risks, including cyanotoxins produced by cyanobacteria. Visible cyanobacteria or detectable cyanotoxins in surface waters may trigger drinking water treatment modification or the use of alternative water supplies, which often require substantial economic investments with little advanced notification. Multiple approaches are required to better understand actual risks to human health and facilitate the development of tools that guide drinking water treatment and human health decisions. Currently, non-enforceable USEPA Health Advisories are available for some cyanotoxins in finished drinking. Decision makers need to balance the management of contaminants that are regulated and unregulated in drinking water, as well as the costs of achieving treatment targets. This webinar will focus on cyanotoxin occurrence and potential exposures in the Nation’s surface water resources. Tools that are being developed and used to quantify changing water quality conditions that may affect drinking water treatment processes and potential for cyanotoxin exposure also will be described. Information will be presented from the perspective of USGS scientists and the Ohio EPA to demonstrate how converging lines of evidence can be used to better understand and be prepared for cyanobacteria-related events.

Speakers:

Keith A. Loftin, Ph.D. – Research Chemist, USGS Kansas Water Science Center

Jennifer L. Graham, Ph.D. – Research Hydrologist, USGS Kansas Water Science Center

Ruth Briland – Division of Drinking and Ground Waters, Ohio EPA

Registration is now open for the 15th Annual EPA Drinking Water Workshop: Small Systems Challenges and Solutions. This year’s free workshop, held in partnership with the Association of State Drinking Water Administrators (ASDWA), will be held in Cincinnati, Ohio on August 28-30, 2018. Attendees will be provided with in-depth information and training on various solutions and strategies for handling small drinking water system challenges.

The workshop is primarily designed for state personnel responsible for drinking water regulations compliance and treatment technologies permitting; however, others may also benefit, including system owners and operators, local and tribal government personnel, academics, design engineers, technical assistance providers, and consultants.

Visit the EPA’s website for information about registration and to view a preliminary agenda: https://www.epa.gov/water-research/15th-annual-epa-drinking-water-workshop-small-systems-challenges-and-solutions

Attached is a flyer for the workshop.  15th_annual_drinking_water_workshop_flyer

State Efforts to Assess and Address 1,4-Dioxane through
Drinking Water, Ground Water, and Clean Water Programs

Date:  Tuesday, June 5, 2018
Time:  1:00 to 2:30 pm (eastern)

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The purpose of the webinar is to share information about state efforts to assess and address 1,4-dioxane, an unregulated contaminant that is causing states and water utilities to become increasingly concerned about potential health impacts from elevated levels of 1,4-dioxane in both groundwater and surface water drinking water sources.  This webinar also builds on the efforts of ASDWA, the Association of Clean Water Administrators (ACWA), the Ground Water Protection Council (GWPC), and EPA to share and promote Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act (CWA-SDWA) coordination activities across state and EPA water programs.

Intended Audience:  State, interstate, tribal, and federal water programs, water utilities, technical assistance providers, and anyone else who would like to participate.

Agenda

New Hampshire:  Brandon Kernen will present how the solvent stabilizer 1,4-dioxane has emerged as an unexpected groundwater contaminant at many sites and in drinking water supplies in New Hampshire and nationally. Although this contaminant has been used as a stabilizer for certain types of chlorinated solvents, most historic groundwater monitoring and remediation did not adequately address this contaminant. Additionally, 1,4-dioxane is an impurity in numerous personal care products and has been detected in treated municipal wastewater effluent. Over the last ten years, toxicity assessments coupled with new analytical techniques which achieve lower reporting limits for this compound have revealed that this highly mobile, recalcitrant and probable carcinogenic contaminant warrants the attention of drinking water professionals. This presentation will cover:

• Uses, sources, occurrence and fate and transport of 1,4-dioxane
• Toxicity information and federal and state regulations and guidance
• Laboratory analytical techniques
• Examples of contaminated sites and sources of drinking water
• Treatment options and costs

North Carolina:  Rebecca Sadosky will present information about efforts by the North Carolina Division of Water Resources to assess and address 1,4-Dioxane in multiple river basins throughout the state. These efforts included a two-year study that was collaboratively designed by Safe Drinking Water Act and Clean Water Act staff to examine ambient concentrations, identify potential sources, and document water quality improvements due to abatement efforts of 1,4-dioxane in major surface waters of the Cape Fear River basin. Three of the four study areas were located immediately downstream of domestic wastewater treatment facilities, indicating that these facilities were likely conduits for 1,4-dioxane from industrial sources into surface water. The study findings were communicated to effected municipalities, project partners, and the interested public.  During the second year of the study, quarterly sampling indicated a reduction of 1,4-dioxane concentrations in many areas of the basin. Further reductions will be necessary to achieve federal and state health advisory levels for 1,4-dioxane in drinking water supplies. The Division of Water Resources study is continuing in the Cape Fear River basin and has now expanded into the Yadkin and Neuse River basins.

Presenters

Brandon Kernen is the Manager of the Hydrology and Conservation Program at the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services. His responsibilities include oversight of programs associated with groundwater withdrawals, groundwater discharges, water use reporting, water conservation, water well construction and well driller licensing. He also has coordinated Department initiatives associated with the occurrence of emerging contaminants of concern in the environment, drought management and the impact of rock blasting on private and public drinking water supplies. Brandon has over 25 years of professional experience and a graduate degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Tufts University and an undergraduate degree in Hydrology and Water Resources from the University of Arizona.  He is a licensed Professional Geologist.

Rebecca Sadosky is the Drinking Water Protection Program Coordinator in the Public Water Supply Section of North Carolina’s Department of Environment and Natural Resources where she has worked for over 11 years. Rebecca also leads the Section’s efforts on security and emergency preparedness and response. As the program coordinator, she oversees the Wellhead Protection Program, Source Water Assessment Program, Source Water Protection Planning process, and activities related to unregulated contaminants in drinking water. She has chaired the state’s Water and Wastewater workgroup for Electromagnetic Pulse preparedness, participated on national workgroups related to harmful algal blooms, unregulated contaminants, and climate change preparedness, and is the state’s liaison for the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule.  Rebecca has a B.S. in Environmental Engineering from Wilkes University, a M.S. in Environmental Engineering from Duke University and a Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

A Preliminary Look at the National Forests to Faucets Analysis 2.0

Date: Wednesday, May 9, 2018
Time: 2:00 to 3:00 pm (eastern)

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The Source Water Collaborative is pleased to announce a free webinar on Wednesday, May 9^th from 2:00 to 3:00 pm (eastern) entitled, “A Preliminary Look at the National Forests to Faucets Analysis 2.0 (F2F2).” During the webinar, Sally Claggett of the US Forest Service will share how they are updating the original Forests to Faucets analysis to quantify, rank, and illustrate the direct geographic connection between private and public forests, surface water drinking water supplies, and populations that depend on them. The new F2F2 includes a three-part analysis of the:

1. Inherent ability of watersheds to produce clean water, based largely on land use.
2. Most important watersheds to surface water drinking water supply users.
3. Various threats to forests and the quantity of surface water drinking water supplies.

Altogether, the F2F2 project will provide a broad view of the land use characteristics and water supply threats to watersheds that feed surface water drinking water sources. It does not displace the need for local land use data, local knowledge, or different analyses of hydrologic regimes. F2F2 will, however, be useful for long-range planning, municipal education, and prioritization of regional water needs, including indicating where alternative water supplies may be needed. It will also help those making land management decisions know where practices may be needed to conserve or restore forests. Source Water Collaborative members and their networks are encouraged to attend, along with anyone else who is interested and would like to participate.

USGS Drinking Water-Related Research, Data, and Tools

Date: Tuesday, April 24, 2018
Time: 1:00 to 2:30 PM (eastern)

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The Association of State Drinking Water Administrators (ASDWA) is pleased to announce a free webinar entitled, “USGS drinking-water related research, data, and tools.” This is the first webinar in a series of planned ASDWA talks by USGS scientists. This webinar will provide a broad overview of high-visibility efforts related to monitoring, data, modeling, tools, and products from the USGS National Water Quality Program and the Toxic Substances Hydrology and Contaminant Biology Programs. The featured speakers will highlight topics such as evaluating the water-quality status of the Nation’s streams and groundwater, evaluating trends or changes in the status over time, applying advanced laboratory methods and field investigations to understand factors that affect water quality, and forecasting future water-quality conditions. Speakers will also briefly highlight USGS exposure-related work such as quantifying contaminant exposures to the public in drinking water pathways, the effects of infrastructure on tap water chemistry and public exposures, and working with human-health experts to explore associations among drinking water exposures and human-health outcomes. This presentation will demonstrate how the USGS interacts with States, relevance to drinking-water policies, and how States can access USGS data and information through USGS tools and webpages. State drinking-water program personnel are encouraged to attend, along with anyone else who is interested and would like to participate.

Speakers:

Neil Dubrovsky, Chief of the USGS Water Resources Assessment Branch

Ken Belitz, Chief of the USGS NAWQA Groundwater Assessments

Patty Toccalino, Deputy Program Coordinator USGS National Water Quality Program (filling in for Mike Focazio, Program Coordinator USGS Toxic Substances Hydrology and Contaminant Biology Programs)