Drinking water vulnerability in less-populated communities in Texas to wastewater-derived contaminants

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Thuy T. Nguyen ◽  
Paul K. Westerhoff
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Drinking Water Treatment ◽  
Treated Wastewater ◽  
Potable Reuse ◽  
Advanced Technologies ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Water Vulnerability ◽  
De Facto Reuse ◽  
Lower Population ◽  
Model Approach

Abstract De facto potable reuse occurs when treated wastewater is discharged upstream of drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs) and can lead to contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) occurring in potable water. Our prior research, focusing on larger communities that each serve >10,000 people across the USA, indicates that elevated de facto reuse (DFR) occurs in Texas, and thus we added to our model DWTPs serving smaller communities to understand their vulnerability to CECs. Here, we show that two-thirds of all surface water intakes in Texas were impacted by DFR at levels exceeding 90% during even mild droughts, and under average streamflow DFR levels range between 1 and 20%. DWTPs serving lower population communities (<10,000 people) have higher DFR levels, and fewer than 2% of these communities have advanced technologies (e.g., ozone, activated carbon) at DWTPs to remove CECs. Efforts to improve water quality in these less populated communities are an important priority. The model approach and results can be used to identify prioritization for monitoring and treatment of CECs, including in underserved communities, which normally lack knowledge of their impacts from DFR occurring within their watersheds.

scholarly journals Contemporary design, operation, and monitoring of potable reuse systems

2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. E. Drewes ◽  
S. J. Khan
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Risk Mitigation ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Treated Wastewater ◽  
Source Control ◽  
Potable Reuse ◽  
Monitoring Strategies ◽  
De Facto Reuse ◽  
Fail Safe

Water scarcity driven by population growth, lack of conventional supplies, and climate change impacts have resulted in increasing interest worldwide in drinking water augmentation using treated wastewater effluents. Potable reuse can occur indirect or direct, but is also practiced in many places as ‘de facto reuse’, where upstream wastewater discharge occurs to drinking water supplies. With this increasing recognition of potable reuse, there is very limited guidance and standardization for proper design and operation of potable reuse schemes that is protective of public health. This study provided guidance on contemporary approaches for the design, operation, and monitoring of potable reuse schemes, including source water characterization and source control approaches; linking water quality treatment performance goals to health risks; risk mitigation strategies including the design principles of multiple barriers for microbial and chemical contaminants; assessing system reliability and fail-safe design approaches; and, finally, monitoring strategies for process performance and compliance.

scholarly journals A Mechanistic Model to Assess the Fate of Naphthalene and Benzo(a)pyrene in a Chilean WWTP

Processes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 1313
Author(s):  
Antonia Arroyo ◽  
Fabián Provoste ◽  
Montserrat Rodríguez ◽  
Ana L. Prieto
Keyword(s):  
Wastewater Treatment Plants ◽  
Mechanistic Model ◽  
Treated Wastewater ◽  
Urban Centers ◽  
Potable Reuse ◽  
Conventional Activated Sludge ◽  
Regulatory Standards ◽  
Polycyclic Aromatic ◽  
De Facto Reuse

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a family of organic compounds of widespread presence in the environment. They are recalcitrant, ubiquitous, prone to bioaccumulation, and potentially carcinogenic. Effluent from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) constitutes a major source of PAHs into water bodies, and their presence should be closely monitored, especially considering the increasing applications of potable and non-potable reuse of treated wastewater worldwide. Modeling the fate and distribution of PAHs in WWTPs is a valuable tool to overcome the complexity and cost of monitoring and quantifying PAHs. A mechanistic model was built to evaluate the fate of PAHs in both water and sludge lines of a Chilean WWTP. Naphthalene and benzo(a)pyrene were used as models of low-MW and high-MW PAHs. As there were no reported experimental data available for the case study, the influent load was determined through a statistical approach based on reported values worldwide. For both naphthalene and benzo(a)pyrene, the predominant mechanism in the water line was sorption to sludge, while that in the sludge line was desorption. Compared to other studies in the literature, the model satisfactorily describes the mechanisms involved in the fate and distribution of PAHs in a conventional activated sludge WWTP. Even though there is evidence of the presence of PAHs in urban centers in Chile, local regulatory standards do not consider PAHs in the disposal of WWTP effluents. Monitoring of PAHs in both treated effluents and biosolids is imperative, especially when considering de facto reuse and soil amendment in agricultural activities are currently practiced downstream of the studied WWTP.

scholarly journals Evaluating Fecal Indicator and Pathogen Relationships in Sewage Impacted Surface Waters to Blend with Reclaimed Water for Potable Reuse in North Carolina

Pathogens ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 1603
Author(s):  
Emily S. Bailey ◽  
Margret Hopkins ◽  
Lisa Casanova ◽  
Mark D. Sobsey
Keyword(s):  
North Carolina ◽  
Drinking Water ◽  
Surface Water ◽  
Surface Waters ◽  
Reclaimed Water ◽  
Drinking Water Treatment ◽  
Reclaimed Wastewater ◽  
Fecal Indicator ◽  
Potable Reuse ◽  
Indicator Microorganisms

Surface waters used for drinking water supply often receive upstream wastewater effluent inputs, resulting in de facto wastewater reuse for drinking water and recreation. As populations grow, demands on water supplies increase. As this trend continues, it creates the need to understand the risks associated with such reuse. In North Carolina, potable reuse has been proposed as a combination of at least 80% surface water with up to 20% tertiary-treated, dual-disinfected, reclaimed wastewater, which is then stored for 5 days and further treated using conventional drinking water treatment methods. The state of North Carolina has set standards for both intake surface water and for the reclaimed water produced by wastewater utilities, using indicator microorganisms to measure compliance. The goal of this study was to quantify fecal indicator microorganisms, specifically E. coli, coliphages, and C. perfringens as well as key pathogens, specifically Salmonella spp. bacteria, adenoviruses, noroviruses, and the protozoan parasites Cryptosporidium and Giardia, in two types of water representing potential candidates for potable reuse in North Carolina, (1) run of river surface water and (2) sewage-impacted surface waters, with the purpose of determining if there are predictive relationships between these two microorganism groups that support microbial indicator reliability.

The formation and control of emerging disinfection by-products of health concern

2009 ◽  
Vol 367 (1904) ◽  
pp. 4077-4095 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuart W. Krasner
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Chlorine Dioxide ◽  
Drinking Water Treatment ◽  
Treated Wastewater ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Treatment Processes ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
And Control ◽  
Emerging Dbps ◽  
By Products

When drinking water treatment plants disinfect water, a wide range of disinfection by-products (DBPs) of health and regulatory concern are formed. Recent studies have identified emerging DBPs (e.g. iodinated trihalomethanes (THMs) and acids, haloacetonitriles, halonitromethanes (HNMs), haloacetaldehydes, nitrosamines) that may be more toxic than some of the regulated ones (e.g. chlorine- and bromine-containing THMs and haloacetic acids). Some of these emerging DBPs are associated with impaired drinking water supplies (e.g. impacted by treated wastewater, algae, iodide). In some cases, alternative primary or secondary disinfectants to chlorine (e.g. chloramines, chlorine dioxide, ozone, ultraviolet) that minimize the formation of some of the regulated DBPs may increase the formation of some of the emerging by-products. However, optimization of the various treatment processes and disinfection scenarios can allow plants to control to varying degrees the formation of regulated and emerging DBPs. For example, pre-disinfection with chlorine, chlorine dioxide or ozone can destroy precursors for N -nitrosodimethylamine, which is a chloramine by-product, whereas pre-oxidation with chlorine or ozone can oxidize iodide to iodate and minimize iodinated DBP formation during post-chloramination. Although pre-ozonation may increase the formation of trihaloacetaldehydes or selected HNMs during post-chlorination or chloramination, biofiltration may reduce the formation potential of these by-products.

DISINFEKSI UNTUK PROSES PENGOLAHAN AIR MINUM

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nusa Idaman Said
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Water Purification ◽  
Distribution System ◽  
Residual Effect ◽  
Drinking Water Treatment ◽  
Disinfection Byproducts ◽  
Water Disinfection ◽  
Pathogenic Microorganisms ◽  
Microbiological Contamination ◽  
Disinfection Process

Water disinfection means the removal, deactivation or killing of pathogenic microorganisms. Microorganisms are destroyed or deactivated, resulting in termination of growth and reproduction. When microorganisms are not removed from drinking water, drinking water usage will cause people to fall ill. Chemical inactivation of microbiological contamination in natural or untreated water is usually one of the final steps to reduce pathogenic microorganisms in drinking water. Combinations of water purification steps (oxidation, coagulation, settling, disinfection, and filtration) cause (drinking) water to be safe after production. As an extra measure many countries apply a second disinfection step at the end of the water purification process, in order to protect the water from microbiological contamination in the water distribution system. Usually one uses a different kind of disinfectant from the one earlier in the process, during this disinfection process. The secondary disinfection makes sure that bacteria will not multiply in the water during distribution. This paper describes several technique of disinfection process for drinking water treatment. Disinfection can be attained by means of physical or chemical disinfectants. The agents also remove organic contaminants from water, which serve as nutrients or shelters for microorganisms. Disinfectants should not only kill microorganisms. Disinfectants must also have a residual effect, which means that they remain active in the water after disinfection. For chemical disinfection of water the following disinfectants can be used such as Chlorine (Cl2),  Hypo chlorite (OCl-), Chloramines, Chlorine dioxide (ClO2), Ozone (O3), Hydrogen peroxide etch. For physical disinfection of water the following disinfectants can be used is Ultraviolet light (UV). Every technique has its specific advantages and and disadvantages its own application area sucs as environmentally friendly, disinfection byproducts, effectivity, investment, operational costs etc. Kata Kunci : Disinfeksi, bakteria, virus, air minum, khlor, hip khlorit, khloramine, khlor dioksida, ozon, UV.

ASSESSMENT OF ELECTROCOAGULATION PROCESS FOR DRINKING WATER TREATMENT

2015 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 1347-1354 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florica Manea ◽  
Anamaria Baciu ◽  
Aniela Pop ◽  
Katalin Bodor ◽  
Ilie Vlaicu
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Water Treatment ◽  
Drinking Water Treatment ◽  
Electrocoagulation Process

Legionnaire’s disease and COVID-19: Could Legionella be acting in conjunction with the Corona virus to aggravate the COVID-19 disease?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew John PENDERY
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Air Conditioning ◽  
Water Systems ◽  
Contaminated Water ◽  
Cooling Towers ◽  
Age Group ◽  
Corona Virus ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Legionnaire's Disease ◽  
Legionnaire’S Disease

There are some striking similarities between Legionnaire’s disease and COVID-19. Thesymptoms, age group and sex at risk are identical. The geographical distribution of both diseases is similar in Europe overall, and within the USA, France and Italy. The environmental distributions are also similar. However Legionnaire’s disease is caused by Legionella bacteria while COVID-19 is caused by the Corona virus. Whereas COVID-19 is contagious, Legionnaire’s disease is environmental. Legionella bacteria are commonly found in drinking water systems and near air conditioning cooling towers. Legionnaire’sdisease is caught by inhaling contaminated water droplets. The Legionella bacteria does not spread person to person and only causes disease if it enters the lungs.Could the Corona virus be making it easier for Legionella bacteria to enter the lungs?

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