Disinfection byproducts are formed when disinfectants used in water treatment plants react with bromide and/or natural organic matter (i.e., decaying vegetation) present in the source water. Different disinfectants produce different types or amounts of disinfection byproducts. Disinfection byproducts for which regulations have been established have been identified in drinking water, including trihalomethanes, haloacetic acids, bromate, and chlorite.
------------------------
Trihalomethanes (THM) are a group of four chemicals that are formed along with other disinfection byproducts when chlorine or other disinfectants used to control microbial contaminants in drinking water react with naturally occurring organic and inorganic matter in water. The trihalomethanes are chloroform, bromodichloromethane, dibromochloromethane, and bromoform. EPA has published theStage 1 Disinfectants/Disinfection Byproducts Ruleto regulate total trihalomethanes (TTHM) at a maximum allowable annual average level of 80 parts per billion. This standard will replace the current standard of a maximum allowable annual average level of 100 parts per billion in December 2001 for large surface water public water systems. The standard will become effective for the first time in December 2003 for small surface water and all ground water systems.
------------------------
Haloacetic Acids (HAA5) are a group of chemicals that are formed along with other disinfection byproducts when chlorine or other disinfectants used to control microbial contaminants in drinking water react with naturally occurring organic and inorganic matter in water. The regulated haloacetic acids, known as HAA5, are: monochloroacetic acid, dichloroacetic acid, trichloroacetic acid, monobromoacetic acid, and dibromoacetic acid. EPA has published the Stage 1 Disinfectants/Disinfection Byproducts Rule to regulate HAA5 at60 parts per billion annual average. This standard will become effective for large surface waterpublic water systems in December 2001 and for small surface water and all ground water public water systems in December 2003.
------------------------
Bromate is a chemical that is formed when ozone used to disinfect drinking water reacts with naturally occurring bromide found in source water. EPA has established the Stage 1 Disinfectants/Disinfection Byproducts Rule to regulate bromate at annual average of 10 parts per billion in drinking water. This standard will become effective for large public water systems by December 2001 and for small surface water and all ground public water systems in December 2003.
------------------------
Chlorite is a byproduct formed when chlorine dioxide is used to disinfect water. EPA has published the Stage 1 Disinfectants/Disinfection Byproducts Rule to regulate chlorite at a monthly average level of 1 part per million in drinking water. This standard will become effective for large surface waterpublic water systems in December 2001 and for small surface water and all ground water public water systems in December 2003.
Source: US Environmental Protection Agency
Showing posts with label Drinking Water. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Drinking Water. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Basic Information about Disinfection Byproducts in Drinking Water
To protect drinking water from disease-causing organisms, or pathogens, water suppliers often add a disinfectant, such as chlorine, to drinking water. However, disinfection practices can be complicated because certain microbial pathogens, such as Cryptosporidium, are highly resistant to traditional disinfection practices. Also, disinfectants themselves can react with naturally-occurring materials in the water to form byproducts, which may pose health risks.
A major challenge for water suppliers is how to control and limit the risks from pathogens and disinfection byproducts. It is important to provide protection from pathogens while simultaneously minimizing health risks to the population from disinfection byproducts. For more information, see fact sheets on Pathogens and Indicators and Disinfectants.
Read More..
Source: US Environmental Protection Agency
A major challenge for water suppliers is how to control and limit the risks from pathogens and disinfection byproducts. It is important to provide protection from pathogens while simultaneously minimizing health risks to the population from disinfection byproducts. For more information, see fact sheets on Pathogens and Indicators and Disinfectants.
Read More..
Source: US Environmental Protection Agency
Toxins in Tap Water
A survey conducted by the New York Times has revealed that tap water in the United States may be extremely bad for your health. The paper found that tap water is causing rashes and skin burns in many Americans, as well as destroys the enamel which protects their teeth. Tests show that tap water in many areas contains arsenic, lead, manganese, barium and other toxic chemicals.
Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lisa P. Jackson admits that the water in the U.S. does not meet public health goals, and water pollution law enforcement is unacceptably low. The E.P.A. and Congress regulate over 100 pollutants and 91 chemicals through the Safe Drinking Water Act. But New York Times found that one in ten Americans has drunk water that contained dangerous chemicals, probably without even knowing it, as the chemicals do not smell or look different from clean water.
Records analyzed by The Times indicate that the Clean Water Act has been violated more than 506,000 times since 2004, by more than 23,000 companies and other facilities, according to reports submitted by polluters themselves. Companies sometimes test what they are dumping only once a quarter, so the actual number of days when they broke the law is often far higher. And some companies illegally avoid reporting their emissions, say officials, so infractions go unrecorded.
The 11 most frequently detected compounds - all found at extremely low concentrations - were:
Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lisa P. Jackson admits that the water in the U.S. does not meet public health goals, and water pollution law enforcement is unacceptably low. The E.P.A. and Congress regulate over 100 pollutants and 91 chemicals through the Safe Drinking Water Act. But New York Times found that one in ten Americans has drunk water that contained dangerous chemicals, probably without even knowing it, as the chemicals do not smell or look different from clean water.
Records analyzed by The Times indicate that the Clean Water Act has been violated more than 506,000 times since 2004, by more than 23,000 companies and other facilities, according to reports submitted by polluters themselves. Companies sometimes test what they are dumping only once a quarter, so the actual number of days when they broke the law is often far higher. And some companies illegally avoid reporting their emissions, say officials, so infractions go unrecorded.
The 11 most frequently detected compounds - all found at extremely low concentrations - were:
- Atenolol, a beta-blocker used to treat cardiovascular disease
- Atrazine, an organic herbicide banned in the European Union, but still used in the US, which has been implicated in the decline of fish stocks and in changes in animal behaviour
- Carbamazepine, a mood-stabilising drug used to treat bipolar disorder, amongst other things
- Estrone, an oestrogen hormone secreted by the ovaries and blamed for causing gender-bending changes in fish
- Gemfibrozil, an anti-cholesterol drug
- Meprobamate, a tranquiliser widely used in psychiatric treatment
- Naproxen, a painkiller and anti-inflammatory linked to increases in asthma incidence
- Phenytoin, an anticonvulsant that has been used to treat epilepsy
- Sulfamethoxazole, an antibiotic used against the Streptococcus bacteria, which is responsible for tonsillitis and other diseases
- TCEP, a reducing agent used in molecular biology
- Trimethoprim, another antibiotic
Protect Yourself from Drinking Water
Millions of Americans have been ingesting them for years—perchlorate, hexavalent chromium, volatile organic compounds—not because they’re safe, but because they are among 6,000 toxins the EPA has not gotten around to regulating in municipal drinking water systems.
But after a change in administrations and a scathing review by the General Accounting Office, the EPA has begun to develop regulations to remove these chemicals from tap and bottled water—and industry has begun efforts to delay or prevent their implementation.
While government and industry wrestle over regulations, here are the prime suspects and the best ways to remove them from your water without government help:
Earlier this year the EPA reversed a Bush Administration decision to leave perchlorate unregulated and decided to pursue perchlorate first in a new push for stricter drinking water regulations.
An important ingredient in rocket fuel, fireworks, and explosives, Perchlorate can disrupt the thyroid gland’s production of hormones essential to prenatal and postnatal development and body metabolism, according to EPA and National Sanitation Foundation.
“Monitoring data show more than 4 percent of public water systems have detected perchlorate and between 5 million and 17 million people may be served drinking water containing perchlorate,” according to EPA.
Perchlorate can be removed from drinking water through reverse osmosis.
“The protocol requires a reverse osmosis unit to be able to reduce 130 ppb perchlorates to 4 ppb or less in the treated water supply,” according to NSF.
The EPA has a drinking water standard for total chromium, but not all forms of chromium pack the same punch, and the total chromium standard may be allowing unhealthy levels of toxic chromium into the water supply.
Hexavalent chromium, or chromium-6, in drinking water has been traced to stomach cancer in humans and animals, according to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. Workers exposed to chromium have developed lung cancer from inhaling it. It has also been linked to liver, kidney, circulatory and reproductive disorders.
Hexavalent chromium is produced by metal plating, the production of dyes, and the production of steel. Steel mills in Indiana dump chromium into Lake Michigan, which supplies drinking water for 7 million people in the Chicago area.
Earlier this year the EPA recommended municipal water agencies increase monitoring of hexavalent chromium.
Last week the city of Chicago released test results showing levels of hexavalent chromium more than ten times higher than California’s recently-adopted health standard. The California standard, 2 parts per billion, is designed for a risk level of one additional case of cancer per million people:
“For every million people who drink tap water with that level of chromium 6 each day for 70 years, there is likely to be one additional case of cancer from exposure to the chemical,” according to the California Office of Health Hazard Assessment.
Like perchlorate, hexavalent chromium can be removed from water through reverse osmosis. According to NSF, it can also be removed through distillation and certain types of water filters.
Carcinogenic VOCs
EPA proposes to streamline the regulation of additional toxins by regulating chemical groups rather than individual compounds. The first group in its crosshairs is a set of 16 volatile organic compounds known to cause cancer.
The EPA already regulates eight VOCs, including common industrial solvents and petroleum products, as carcinogens. In revising its standard for some of those, it intends to add eight that are currently unregulated:
EPA expects the regulation effort, which began this year, to take two or more years to produce a new rule. The effort is bound to be controversial because many VOCs are used in hydraulic fracturing, the process behind the current boom in domestic natural gas production.
In the meantime, reverse osmosis won’t help you get volatile organic compounds out of your water, according to the National Santitation Foundation, but carbon filtration will.
Source: Forbes.com/Jeff McMahon, Contributor
But after a change in administrations and a scathing review by the General Accounting Office, the EPA has begun to develop regulations to remove these chemicals from tap and bottled water—and industry has begun efforts to delay or prevent their implementation.
While government and industry wrestle over regulations, here are the prime suspects and the best ways to remove them from your water without government help:
Perchlorate
Earlier this year the EPA reversed a Bush Administration decision to leave perchlorate unregulated and decided to pursue perchlorate first in a new push for stricter drinking water regulations.
An important ingredient in rocket fuel, fireworks, and explosives, Perchlorate can disrupt the thyroid gland’s production of hormones essential to prenatal and postnatal development and body metabolism, according to EPA and National Sanitation Foundation.
“Monitoring data show more than 4 percent of public water systems have detected perchlorate and between 5 million and 17 million people may be served drinking water containing perchlorate,” according to EPA.
Perchlorate can be removed from drinking water through reverse osmosis.
“The protocol requires a reverse osmosis unit to be able to reduce 130 ppb perchlorates to 4 ppb or less in the treated water supply,” according to NSF.
Hexavalent Chromium
The EPA has a drinking water standard for total chromium, but not all forms of chromium pack the same punch, and the total chromium standard may be allowing unhealthy levels of toxic chromium into the water supply.
Hexavalent chromium, or chromium-6, in drinking water has been traced to stomach cancer in humans and animals, according to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. Workers exposed to chromium have developed lung cancer from inhaling it. It has also been linked to liver, kidney, circulatory and reproductive disorders.
Hexavalent chromium is produced by metal plating, the production of dyes, and the production of steel. Steel mills in Indiana dump chromium into Lake Michigan, which supplies drinking water for 7 million people in the Chicago area.
Earlier this year the EPA recommended municipal water agencies increase monitoring of hexavalent chromium.
Last week the city of Chicago released test results showing levels of hexavalent chromium more than ten times higher than California’s recently-adopted health standard. The California standard, 2 parts per billion, is designed for a risk level of one additional case of cancer per million people:
“For every million people who drink tap water with that level of chromium 6 each day for 70 years, there is likely to be one additional case of cancer from exposure to the chemical,” according to the California Office of Health Hazard Assessment.
Like perchlorate, hexavalent chromium can be removed from water through reverse osmosis. According to NSF, it can also be removed through distillation and certain types of water filters.
Carcinogenic VOCs
EPA proposes to streamline the regulation of additional toxins by regulating chemical groups rather than individual compounds. The first group in its crosshairs is a set of 16 volatile organic compounds known to cause cancer.
The EPA already regulates eight VOCs, including common industrial solvents and petroleum products, as carcinogens. In revising its standard for some of those, it intends to add eight that are currently unregulated:
The Agency is considering eight currently regulated compounds (benzene; carbon tetrachloride; 1,2- dichloroethane; 1,2-dichloropropane; dichloromethane; tetrachloroethylene; trichloroethylene; vinyl chloride) and eight unregulated compounds (aniline; benzyl chloride; 1,3-butadiene; 1,1-dichloroethane; nitrobenzene; oxirane methyl; 1,2,3-trichloropropane and urethane). All of these VOCs are known or suspected to cause cancer.”
via EPA (pdf)
EPA expects the regulation effort, which began this year, to take two or more years to produce a new rule. The effort is bound to be controversial because many VOCs are used in hydraulic fracturing, the process behind the current boom in domestic natural gas production.
In the meantime, reverse osmosis won’t help you get volatile organic compounds out of your water, according to the National Santitation Foundation, but carbon filtration will.
Source: Forbes.com/Jeff McMahon, Contributor
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Disinfection Byproducts: A Reference Resource
Disinfection byproducts are formed when disinfectants used in water treatment plants react with bromide and/or natural organic matter (i.e., decaying vegetation) present in the source water. Different disinfectants produce different types or amounts of disinfection byproducts. Disinfection byproducts for which regulations have been established have been identified in drinking water, including trihalomethanes, haloacetic acids, bromate, and chlorite.
------------------------
Trihalomethanes (THM) are a group of four chemicals that are formed along with other disinfection byproducts when chlorine or other disinfectants used to control microbial contaminants in drinking water react with naturally occurring organic and inorganic matter in water. The trihalomethanes are chloroform, bromodichloromethane, dibromochloromethane, and bromoform. EPA has published theStage 1 Disinfectants/Disinfection Byproducts Ruleto regulate total trihalomethanes (TTHM) at a maximum allowable annual average level of 80 parts per billion. This standard will replace the current standard of a maximum allowable annual average level of 100 parts per billion in December 2001 for large surface water public water systems. The standard will become effective for the first time in December 2003 for small surface water and all ground water systems.
------------------------
Haloacetic Acids (HAA5) are a group of chemicals that are formed along with other disinfection byproducts when chlorine or other disinfectants used to control microbial contaminants in drinking water react with naturally occurring organic and inorganic matter in water. The regulated haloacetic acids, known as HAA5, are: monochloroacetic acid, dichloroacetic acid, trichloroacetic acid, monobromoacetic acid, and dibromoacetic acid. EPA has published the Stage 1 Disinfectants/Disinfection Byproducts Rule to regulate HAA5 at60 parts per billion annual average. This standard will become effective for large surface waterpublic water systems in December 2001 and for small surface water and all ground water public water systems in December 2003.
------------------------
Bromate is a chemical that is formed when ozone used to disinfect drinking water reacts with naturally occurring bromide found in source water. EPA has established the Stage 1 Disinfectants/Disinfection Byproducts Rule to regulate bromate at annual average of 10 parts per billion in drinking water. This standard will become effective for large public water systems by December 2001 and for small surface water and all ground public water systems in December 2003.
------------------------
Chlorite is a byproduct formed when chlorine dioxide is used to disinfect water. EPA has published the Stage 1 Disinfectants/Disinfection Byproducts Rule to regulate chlorite at a monthly average level of 1 part per million in drinking water. This standard will become effective for large surface waterpublic water systems in December 2001 and for small surface water and all ground water public water systems in December 2003.
Source: USEPA
------------------------
Trihalomethanes (THM) are a group of four chemicals that are formed along with other disinfection byproducts when chlorine or other disinfectants used to control microbial contaminants in drinking water react with naturally occurring organic and inorganic matter in water. The trihalomethanes are chloroform, bromodichloromethane, dibromochloromethane, and bromoform. EPA has published theStage 1 Disinfectants/Disinfection Byproducts Ruleto regulate total trihalomethanes (TTHM) at a maximum allowable annual average level of 80 parts per billion. This standard will replace the current standard of a maximum allowable annual average level of 100 parts per billion in December 2001 for large surface water public water systems. The standard will become effective for the first time in December 2003 for small surface water and all ground water systems.
------------------------
Haloacetic Acids (HAA5) are a group of chemicals that are formed along with other disinfection byproducts when chlorine or other disinfectants used to control microbial contaminants in drinking water react with naturally occurring organic and inorganic matter in water. The regulated haloacetic acids, known as HAA5, are: monochloroacetic acid, dichloroacetic acid, trichloroacetic acid, monobromoacetic acid, and dibromoacetic acid. EPA has published the Stage 1 Disinfectants/Disinfection Byproducts Rule to regulate HAA5 at60 parts per billion annual average. This standard will become effective for large surface waterpublic water systems in December 2001 and for small surface water and all ground water public water systems in December 2003.
------------------------
Bromate is a chemical that is formed when ozone used to disinfect drinking water reacts with naturally occurring bromide found in source water. EPA has established the Stage 1 Disinfectants/Disinfection Byproducts Rule to regulate bromate at annual average of 10 parts per billion in drinking water. This standard will become effective for large public water systems by December 2001 and for small surface water and all ground public water systems in December 2003.
------------------------
Chlorite is a byproduct formed when chlorine dioxide is used to disinfect water. EPA has published the Stage 1 Disinfectants/Disinfection Byproducts Rule to regulate chlorite at a monthly average level of 1 part per million in drinking water. This standard will become effective for large surface waterpublic water systems in December 2001 and for small surface water and all ground water public water systems in December 2003.
Source: USEPA
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