Water News

‘Growing Impact’ examines PFAS water contamination, evaluation of existing tech – Penn State – March 4, 2024 – The latest episode of the “Growing Impact” podcast explores PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) and their impact on drinking water. For decades, PFAS have been manufactured and used in thousands of products that people use every day. Emerging evidence has associated PFAS exposure with potential negative health outcomes. This prompted a research team to evaluate existing technologies, designed to decontaminate drinking water, to determine if they can also remove PFAS. This project aims to safeguard drinking water, especially in communities reliant on well water.

One of the world’s biggest cities may be just months away from running out of water – CNN – February 25, 2024 – Mexico City, a sprawling metropolis of nearly 22 million people and one of the world’s biggest cities, is facing a severe water crisis as a tangle of problems — including geography, chaotic urban development and leaky infrastructure — are compounded by the impacts of climate change.

CDC Drinking Water Podcasts – CDC Communications Resources. Links to various podcasts on drinking water topics.

EPA reveals new evidence of ‘forever chemicals’ in drinking water – Earth.com – February 9, 2024 – The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) disclosed on February 1 that drinking water for approximately 70 million Americans has tested positive for PFAS (a type of chemicals used to make fluoropolymer coatings as well as products that resist heat, oil, stains, grease, and water), based on the latest findings from only a third of the country’s public water systems.

Ohio kids have lead in blood 2x national rate: What role do lead pipes play? – Dayton Daily News – February 3, 2024 – Though hundreds of area children have been found to have elevated levels of lead in their blood in recent years, local health departments responding to lead poisoning cases do not routinely test drinking water as a potential source.

Scientific journeys: From preventive medicine to environmental health sciences – NIEHS News – February 1, 2024 – NIEHS grantee Ana Navas-Acien, M.D., Ph.D., described her journey to uncover the link between exposure to metals and cardiovascular disease.

Pandemic lockdowns and water quality: A revealing study on building usage – Phys.Org – February 1, 2024 – In a recent study published in the journal Environmental Science and Ecotechnology, reveals crucial insights into the impact of reduced building occupancy on water quality.

Conducted at Purdue University, this research explored the impact of reduced building occupancy during the COVID-19 pandemic on water quality. The study focused on four buildings with varied characteristics and assessed water quality changes during low-use periods. Monitoring key parameters such as  concentrations and chlorine levels, it evaluated the effects of water stagnation.

Camp Lejeune water contamination tied to a range of cancers, CDC study says – APNEWS – January 31, 2024 – Military personnel stationed at Camp Lejeune from 1975 to 1985 had at least a 20% higher risk for a number of cancers than those stationed elsewhere, federal health officials said Wednesday in a long-awaited study about the North Carolina base’s contaminated drinking water.

UNC researcher finds link between well water metals and preterm birth – CBS – January 28, 2024 – Could the water an expectant mother drinks impact the health of her unborn baby? A UNC-Chapel Hill study found a link between exposure to metals in well water and preterm birth.

The 6 states facing the most serious groundwater crises – The Hill – January 26, 2024 – A heating planet and expanding commercial agriculture are putting increasing pressure on America’s vital aquifers — underground reservoirs that supply water to an estimated 145 million Americans, as well as supporting much of the nation’s food supply.

Asbestos in drinking water: What does it mean for human health? – BBC – January 24, 2024 – Hundreds of thousands of miles of pipes made from asbestos cement deliver drinking water to people around the world, but are reaching the end of their lifespan and starting to degrade. Scientists are now debating whether this could pose a risk to human health.

Groundwater levels are rapidly declining around the world — with a few notable exceptions – CNN – January 24, 2024 – Many parts of the world are experiencing a rapid depletion in the subterranean reserves of water that billions of people rely on for drinking, irrigation and other uses, according to new research that analyzed millions of groundwater level measurements from 170,000 wells in more than 40 countries.

Podcast reveals the scale and complexity of global water challenges – PennState – January 23, 2024 – UNIVERSITY PARK, PA. ­— Second only to the air we breathe, safe drinking water is the most indispensable element on Earth for human survival. Each of us requires it to live. But alarmingly, roughly one quarter of the global population struggles to attain it, according to the United Nations.

Exposure study evolves to measure PFAS’ long-term effects – Coastal Review – January 23, 2024 – It’s been more than six years since the first blood samples were collected from residents in the Cape Fear region participating in a study to measure their exposure to synthetic chemicals being discharged into their drinking water source. That study, known as the GenX Exposure Study, has since then transitioned to one that will allow researchers to examine potential long-term health effects in hundreds of North Carolinians who for years unknowingly drank water containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS.

Barton “Buzz” Thompson Explains the Freshwater Crisis and What Can Be Done – Stanford Law School – January 22, 2024 – On a recent episode of the Stanford Law School (SLS) podcast, Stanford Legal, Professor Barton “Buzz” Thompson, JD/MBA ’76 (BA ’72), delved into the subject of his most recent book, Liquid Asset: How Business and Government Can Partner to Solve the Freshwater Crisis. Thompson is a global expert on water and natural resources and has long focused his research and teaching on how to improve resource management through legal, institutional, and technological innovation. In Liquid Asset, he proposes various strategies for solving the United States’ freshwater crisis, arguing that government and water authorities can’t do it alone.

An Opportunity to Reduce Water Pollution from Slaughterhouses – Union of Concerned Scientists – January 22, 2024 – Industrial meat and poultry slaughterhouses dump millions of pounds of pollutants into the nation’s waters every year. The federal Clean Water Act directs the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to set and enforce the rules that regulate this pollution. But the current rules, which were enacted two decades ago, are woefully inadequate at curbing the environmental and human impacts of this dirty water deluge. Fortunately, at the end of 2023, the EPA proposed strengthening the current standards—though the old rules still apply while the proposed changes are being debated.

Boil water notices as health-risk communication: risk perceptions, efficacy, and compliance during winter storm Uri – Nature.com – January 8, 2024 – Winter Storm Uri was a disaster that impacted much of the United States during February of 2021. During and after the storm, Texas and Oklahoma experienced massive power grid failures. This led to cascading impacts, including water system disruptions and many boil water notices (BWNs). The breakdown of some communication channels and the inability to enact protective actions due to power outages, as well as travel limitations on public roads, complicated the dissemination and implementation of notifications.

Salting roads, polluting drinking water – Adirondack Expolorer – December 10, 2023 – Adirondack Watershed Institute scientists for years have raised alarms about the wide-reaching harms of road salt pollution on Adirondack waters. The institute’s researchers connected state highway runoff to residential well contamination, documented salt’s role in changes to aquatic ecosystems and outlined the economic costs of corrosion damage to roads, bridges and vehicles.

What Are the Risks of PFAS That Continue to Escalate? – Discover Magazine – December 9, 2023 – New research reveals a troubling abundance of synthetic chemicals in U.S. lakes, streams, and fish, drawing links to elevated risk in humans.

The Saltwater Crisis in the Mississippi River, Explained – Earth.Org – November 17, 2023 – Since this past summer, saltwater has been slowly moving up the Mississippi River from the ocean in a natural process known as saltwater intrusion, appearing in drinking water of local residents. With a major city, New Orleans, just miles upstream, officials are racing to avert a large-scale water crisis, though progress has been slow. In this article, we take a look at how this crisis arose and what can be done to contain it as well as avoid similar events from happening in the future.

Flint grapples with the mental health fallout from the water disaster – ScienceNews.Org – November 16, 2023 – The community is still healing from the crisis that started almost a decade ago

How PFAS “forever chemicals” are harming our health, with Linda Birnbaum (Ep. 123) – UChicago News – November 16, 2023 – From kitchen pans to drinking water, dangers hidden in everyday materials, scientist warns

Research shows climate change boots likelihood of toxin releases from algal blooms in American lakes – October 23, 2023 – The University of Kansas –  LAWRENCE — A broad analysis of lake water quality across the United States reveals human-driven climate change is increasing risks of high toxin concentrations from algal blooms in U.S. lakes, posing increasing hazards to people and wild and domestic animals, including dogs.

Evers administration allocates $402 million to combat PFAS, other water contaminants – October 23, 2023 – AP News – MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Gov. Tony Evers is allocating more than $402 million to address polluted drinking water in Wisconsin, his office announced Monday. The money will be available to 106 Wisconsin municipalities to help them build water infrastructure projects, replace lead service lines and address emerging contaminants such as PFAS.

‘Everything out the faucet is salt’: Louisianans struggle as drinking water crisis persists – October 20, 2023 – The Guardian – New Orleans has avoided losing drinking water due to a saltwater ‘wedge’ traveling up the Mississippi River – but in Plaquemines parish, it has already happened

PFAS Exposure Linked to Delays in Girls’ Puberty – October 3, 2023 – Laboratory Equipment – New research, published in Environmental Health Perspectives, finds that exposure to PFAS may delay the onset of puberty in girls. The delay of puberty in girls can lead to negative long-term health consequences including a higher incidence of breast cancer, renal disease, and thyroid disease.

Army Corps will barge in up to 36 million gallons of freshwater a day as saltwater threatens drinking water south of New Orleans – September 24, 2023 – CNN – he US Army Corps of Engineers is planning to barge 36 million gallons of fresh water daily into the lower Mississippi River near New Orleans as an expected saltwater intrusion from the Gulf of Mexico in October threatens the area’s drinking water supply, officials said Friday.

A Year Later, the Water Crisis in Jackson Has Gone From Acute to Chronic – September 7, 2023 – The Nation – Jackson has been under consent decrees for violating both the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Clean Water Act since 2012. Breaches in the city’s overwhelmed and antiquated sewer system have resulted in more than 2,300 violations alone.

Rubber plumbing seals can leak additives into drinking water – September 6, 2023 – American Chemical Society – As drinking water flows through pipes and into a glass, it runs against the rubber seals inside some plumbing devices. These parts contain additives that contribute to their flexibility and durability, but these potentially harmful compounds can leak into drinking water, according to a small-scale study. The authors report that the released compounds, which are typically linked to tire pollution, also transformed into other unwanted byproducts.

Water-Quality Risks Linked More to Social Factors Than Money – September 5, 2023 – UTNews – University of Texas at Austin – When we determine which communities are more likely to get their water from contaminated supplies, median household income is not the best measure.

On Maui, returning home means confronting toxic risks – August 22, 2023 – Grist.org – A growing body of research shows that wildfires leave a trail of dangerous chemicals behind.

Scientists spurred by a thirst to transform the field of phytoplankton forecasting – August 8, 2023 – Virginia Tech – Virginia Tech researchers are working to develop the first automated, real-time system to forecast the toxic blooms that endanger drinking water.

‘Forever chemicals’ are everywhere; experts worry public awareness is low – July 11, 2023 – The Hill – A new study finding “forever chemicals” in nearly half of U.S. drinking water adds to a growing body of research on the toxic substances’ pervasiveness in American life.  Yet many Americans remain oblivious to the very existence of a cancer-linked group of compounds known as PFAS — or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances.

Massachusetts drinking water may contain unsafe levels of manganese – July 10, 2023 – Science Daily – A new study has found that concentrations of manganese in a Massachusetts community’s drinking water often surpassed the maximum recommended levels of manganese stated in current guidelines. The findings also suggest that the observed manganese levels may be high enough to pose a risk to children and other vulnerable communities who are exposed.

Northwest drinking water concerns could get worse as the climate changes – July 9, 2023 – OPG.ORG – In the Northwest, climate change is expected to alter how precipitation falls. Changes in snowpack and streamflow could mean places like the Yakima Basin in Washington and the Willamette River Basin in Oregon have bigger chances for more frequent water shortages in the summer, according to the University of Washington Climate Impacts Group and the Oregon Climate Assessments.

Nearly half of the tap water in the US is contaminated with ‘forever chemicals,’ government study finds – July 5, 2023 – CNN – Almost half of the tap water in the US is contaminated with chemicals known as “forever chemicals,” according to a new study from the US Geological Survey. The number of people drinking contaminated water may be even higher than what the study found, however, because the researchers weren’t able to test for all of these per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances, or PFAS, chemicals that are considered dangerous to human health. There are more than 12,000 types of PFAS, according to the National Institutes of Health, but this study looked at only 32 of the compounds.

‘Frankenstein Chemicals’ Are Even Worse Than ‘Forever Chemicals’ – July 5, 2023 – The Washington Post – Health fads come and go, but drinking more water (and less beer and soda) is one of the few things that’s unequivocally good for the human body. It should be as easy as putting a glass under the tap, but what kinds of potentially harmful chemicals lurk there? News that 3M is paying more than $10 billion to clean “forever chemicals” from municipal drinking water isn’t helping our confidence. 

Expert: How wildfires contaminate drinking water – July 4, 2023 – Reporter.net – WEST LAFAYETTE – As wildfire season continues, a Purdue University professor is sharing his expertise on how fire damage can impact drinking water. Andrew Whelton, a Purdue professor of civil engineering and environmental and ecological engineering, has traveled numerous times to the sites of wildfires, where he and his students collect water samples to help guide a community on the best way to restore its water systems.

Texas farmers are worried one of the state’s most precious water resources is running dry. You should be, too. – June 20, 2023 – Texas Tribune – LUBBOCK — The Ogallala Aquifer is buried deep throughout the High Plains. The water flowing underneath is as good as gold for farmers in the region, serving as a lifeline in years when the drought and Texas heat wither crops.

‘Drought is on the verge of becoming the next pandemic’ – June 15, 2023 – The Guardian – While the world becomes drier, profit and pollution are draining our resources. We have to change our approach.

New approaches to evaluating water interventions around the globe – June 13, 2023 – Phys.org – Billions of people around the world face water insecurity. Although there are numerous projects from governments, NGOs, and private corporations who are committed to providing safely managed water and sanitation by 2030, a new study advocates for more holistic evaluation of water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) interventions.

Once ‘paradise,’ parched Colorado valley grapples with arsenic in water – May 22, 2023 – NPR – When John Mestas’ ancestors moved to Colorado over 100 years ago to raise sheep in the San Luis Valley, they “hit paradise,” he says. “There was so much water, they thought it would never end,” Mestas says of the agricultural region at the headwaters of the Rio Grande. Now decades of climate change-driven drought, combined with the overpumping of aquifers, is making the valley desperately dry — and appears to be intensifying the levels of heavy metals in drinking water.

Three states agree to reduce water usage so the Colorado River doesn’t go dry – May 22, 2023 – NBC News – A new plan would conserve at least 3 million acre-feet of water by 2026 in an effort to ensure the crucial waterway continues to generate power and provide drinking water.

Are you at risk? A new drinking water safety effort launched in NJ – April 26, 2023 – New Jersey 101.5 – The New Jersey Technical Assistance Program, NJ-TAP, will prioritize aid to communities identified as overburdened or disadvantaged to help them identify older lead service lines and get the state and federal funding necessary to move forward with water-quality improvement plans. Older water pipes all over the Garden State may be leaching lead that can endanger anybody drinking the H20 coming out of the faucet.

‘Forever Chemicals’ in Water Linked to Weight Gain, Study Finds – April 26, 2023 – WebMD – Heavily used “forever chemicals” found in food packaging and other consumer goods are contributing to weight gain, a new study has found. The study focused on PFAS (perfluorinated alkylate substance) exposure. It was published in the journal Obesity.

Filter that effectively clears ash, dissolvable debris from water after wildfires identified – April 20, 2023 – McMaster University – Organic filters composed of sand coated with a living layer of microbiological material can effectively remove ash and other dissolved organic matter from drinking water after wildfires, according to new research from McMaster University and the University of Waterloo.

Newark tackles lead pipe crisis head-on, by cutting red tape and gaining public trust – April 20, 2023 – ABC – We got an in-depth look at how New Jersey’s largest city addressed its water crisis by replacing thousands of lead pipes in just over two years. Newark was facing a crisis when the lead levels in the drinking water exceed government limits caused by old, hazardous water lines neglected for years.

Scientists have invented a method to break down ‘forever chemicals’ in our drinking water. Here’s how – April 11, 2023 – WEF -How long does it take toxic ‘forever chemicals’ to break down? It’s a trick question, because as their nickname suggests, they don’t break down… at least not for hundreds or potentially thousands of years.

However, researchers from the University of British Columbia (UBC) have developed a new water treatment that filters and removes harmful forever chemicals – or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) to use their proper name – from drinking water, safely, efficiently and permanently.

Manganese in Central Valley water threatens fetuses and children – April 7, 2023 – University of California – Water in California’s Central Valley contains enough manganese to cause cognitive disabilities and motor control issues in children, and Parkinson’s-like symptoms in adults.

A naturally occurring metal, manganese is found in water supplies throughout the world. It is regulated as a primary contaminant in many Southeast Asian countries where the climate causes it to leach into groundwater. However, in the U.S. it is regulated only as a secondary contaminant, meaning no maximum level is enforced.

‘Think Brita filter but a thousand times better’: New UBC water treatment zaps chemicals – March 23, 2023 – CTV News – Researchers out of the University of British Columbia have developed a new treatment designed to remove “forever chemicals” from drinking water for good. In a news release Wednesday, UBC said forever chemicals (also known as PFAS) are a “large group of substances that make certain products non-stick or stain-resistant” and these kinds of chemicals can lead to a wide range of health problems, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, developmental delays and hormonal disruption.

Cyanobacterial blooms can also occur at colder temperatures, even under ice – February 20, 2023 – Phys.org – Mass developments of cyanobacteria, so-called blue-green algae blooms, repeatedly threaten the quality of water bodies and drinking water resources worldwide. Cyanobacteria are considered to be heat-loving, and massive algal blooms are reported mainly in summer, when monitoring is particularly close.

A slew of state proposals shows the threat of ‘forever chemicals’ – February 18, 2023 – The Detroit News – In rivers and groundwater, in human bloodstreams and products ranging from cosmetics to food packaging to carpets, researchers are increasingly finding “forever chemicals” that don’t break down naturally and are shown to cause myriad health issues.

Kids’ storybooks encourage more water, less sugary drinks – February 16, 2023 – Scopeblog.stanford.edu – Fun fact, Californians: If your child’s school is equipped with chilled-water fountains and bottle filling stations instead of the feeble porcelain fountains of yore, you have Stanford Medicine pediatrician Anisha Patel, MD, and her colleagues to thank.

Hydration can significantly impact your physical health, study finds – January 2, 2023 – CNN – You may know that being adequately hydrated is important for day-to-day bodily functions such as regulating temperature and maintaining skin health. But drinking enough water is also associated with a significantly lower risk of developing chronic diseases, a lower risk of dying early or lower risk of being biologically older than your chronological age, according to a National Institutes of Health study published Monday in the journal eBioMedicine.

Many small towns left with harmful tap water – November 10, 2022 – Los Angeles Times – Donna Dickerson’s heart would sink every time she’d wake up, turn on the faucet in her mobile home and hear the pipes gurgling.  Sometimes it would happen on a day when her mother, who is 86 and has dementia, had a doctor’s appointment and needed to bathe. Sometimes it would be on Thanksgiving or Christmas when family had come to stay. “It was sickening, literally a headache and it disrupted everything,” she said. “Out of nowhere, the water would be gone, and we’d have no idea when it’d be back.”

Jackson residents struggling for clean water decry decades of disinvestment – October 1, 2022 – NPR – Residents of Jackson, Miss., are still trying their best to function without safe and reliable drinking water, and some decry decades of disinvestment in the state’s majority-Black capital city.

Kids at risk of lead contamination in federal child care, watchdog says – September 30, 2022 – The Washington Post – A General Services Administration watchdog warned that lead levels in federal child-care centers have not been properly tested since reopening after pandemic closures.

Water crisis turned mental health crisis: new research on mental health in Flint, MI – September 26, 2022 – LOWN Institute – How much do environmental disasters impact our long-term well-being? New research published in JAMA Network Open last Tuesday suggests that 5 years after the onset of the Flint water crisis, residents of Flint are still under a heavy psychological burden, and experience depression and PTSD related to the crisis. This data comes as the public gains awareness of Jackson, Mississippi’s ongoing contaminated water crisis.

How New Mexico’s Largest Wildfire Set Off a Drinking Water Crisis – September 26, 2022 – New York Times – In a community ravaged by fire, floods and contaminated drinking water, residents wonder, ‘What’s next?’ And who will pick up the bill?

In Jackson, the tap water is back, but the crisis remains – September 25, 2022 – PBS – Jackson’s routine water woes became so dire in late August that President Joe Biden declared a state of emergency: Flooding and water treatment facility problems had shut down the majority-Black city’s water supply. Although water pressure returned and a boil-water advisory was lifted in mid-September, the problems aren’t over.

A Growing Drinking Water Crisis Threatens American Cities and Towns – September 9, 2022 – Scientific American – The Jackson, Miss., disaster rings alarm bells about myriad problems lurking in water systems across the country

Pollution: ‘Forever chemicals’ in rainwater exceed safe levels – August 2, 2022 – BBC News – New research shows that rainwater in most locations on Earth contains levels of chemicals that “greatly exceed” safety levels.

Insecure: New study links tap water avoidance and food insecurity – August 2, 2022 – Penn State University – UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. —  Many Americans take tap water for granted. Water bills are often less expensive compared to people’s other bills, and tap water has been a part of most Americans’ lives since they were born. For nearly 61 million Americans, however, tap water is either unavailable or untrusted. New research from Penn State and Northwestern University shows for the first time that, in the United States, avoiding tap water is associated with a 20% to 30% increased likelihood of experiencing food insecurity, or the inability to reliably acquire the food one needs due to limited resources.

When There’s Arsenic in the Water, but ‘We Have Nowhere to Go’ – July 31, 2022 – New York Times – The Environmental Protection Agency found that water at a mobile home park that mostly serves agricultural workers contained almost 10 times the allowable limit of arsenic. But housing alternatives are hard to find.

New test results show increase in lead level in Flint drinking water – July 24, 2022 – Michigan Radio – NPR – The latest round of testing for the city of Flint’s drinking water shows a rise in lead levels. Michigan’s state environmental agency has been closely watching lead levels in Flint’s drinking water since 2016, with regular testing of properties with lead service lines.

‘Time bomb’ lead pipes will be removed. But first water utilities have to find them – July 20, 2022 – NPR – It took three years for officials to notice lead was seeping into the city’s drinking water. Missouri regulators had given the green light in 2014 for Trenton to start adding monochloramine to its drinking water to disinfect it without the harmful byproducts of chlorine. But by 2017, the city noticed something alarming.

EPA Warns of Health Problems When PFAS Levels in Drinking Water Are Inconceivably Tiny – July 19, 2022 – Great Lakes Now – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s new warnings about the danger of certain PFAS chemicals to human health are a stepping stone toward the agency’s development of national drinking water standards later this year. The warnings also test the limits of laboratory observation.

EPA Awards $25K Research Grant to University of Missouri Students to Address PFAS in Drinking Water – July 19, 2022 – EPA.GOV – LENEXA, KAN. (JULY 19, 2022) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded $25,000 to University of Missouri engineering sustainability students to design, fabricate, and test a point-of-use drinking water treatment system that targets contamination from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).

Common questions about PFAS, answered – July 19, 2022 – The Hill – Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of thousands of chemicals found in everything from floss, to makeup, to frying pans, to clothes — and the list goes on.  Numerous studies have been published documenting the harmful health and environmental impacts of these chemicals, especially in water systems.

Montana schools are finding elevated levels of lead, and they’re stuck with the cleanup costs – May 31, 2022 – Montana Public Radio – In Montana, there’s a new state requirement to test all K-12 schools for lead in water fixtures. Outdated and deteriorating plumbing infrastructure is a primary source of lead exposure, and young children under six years of age are particularly vulnerable.

All Maine schools are required to test for lead. Here’s what they’re finding – May 31, 2022 – News Center Maine – AUGUSTA, Maine — There’s a poison in drinking water in Maine schools. You can’t see it. You can’t taste it. But you can test for it. It’s lead.

Pentagon reports high levels of ‘forever chemicals’ in drinking water near bases – May 31, 2022 – The Hill – The Defense Department is reporting high levels of toxic perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water near several of its bases, according to new data released by the department.

A Wisconsin Town With Contaminated Drinking Water Must Decide Its Future – April 24, 2022 – The Wall Street Journal – Residents of tiny Peshtigo consider joining nearby city to fix water supply, which is polluted with chemicals known as PFAS

Uranium Detected in Latinx Communities’ Water Systems – April 22, 2022 – Eos.org – The unsafe contaminant levels could not be attributed to differences in regional geology, water source, or community size. Researchers suggest they are due to a failure of regulatory policy.

PFAS is a widespread problem. The solution needs to come from widespread sources – April 12, 2022 – Great Lakes Now – PFAS research is still in the early stages, which means issues with PFAS crop up all the time to surprise researchers like Michigan State University professor Cheryl Murphy.

Study links fracking, drinking water pollution, and infant health – April 12, 2022 – Phys.Org – New research documents for the first time the pollution of public water supplies caused by shale gas development, commonly known as fracking, and its negative impact of infant health. These findings call for closer environmental regulation of the industry, as levels of chemicals found in drinking water often fall below regulatory thresholds.

Research finds more PFAS coming out of wastewater treatment plants than going in – April 12, 2022 – Michigan Radio – New research from Western Michigan University indicates that wastewater treatment plants could have a negative effect on PFAS pollution.

Silt seeks long-term drinking water solution after Grizzly Creek fire, mudslides tainted Colorado River – April 4, 2022 – The Colorado Sun – Debris and ash from the fire and subsequent mudslides fell into the Colorado River, the main source of drinking water for 40 million Americans.

Mercury, Other Contamination Found in Water Tests at Pearl Harbor-Hickam as Navy Announces New Fuel Spill – April 4, 2022 – Military.com – Mercury was found last month in a sink at an Oahu elementary school, not far from another elementary school where elevated levels of beryllium were detected during widespread testing of the Navy‘s water system in Honolulu.

Farewell, Forever Chemicals: Researchers Aim to Eliminate PFAS for Good – March 31, 2022 – Michigan Tech News – A new computational tool developed at Michigan Technological University assists in the urgent quest to eliminate the persistent chemicals known as PFAS from community water supplies.

E.P.A. Decides Against Limiting Perchlorate in Drinking Water – March 31, 2022 – The New York Times – Drinking water for as many as 16 million Americans may be contaminated with perchlorate, a chemical that can harm the development of fetuses and children.

California moves to regulate ‘Erin Brockovich chemical,’ but she says it’s not enough – March 24, 2022 – The Hill – Three decades after Erin Brockovich discovered that hexavalent chromium was sickening residents of a small Mojave Desert community, California’s State Water Board has proposed a long-awaited regulatory standard that would limit the toxin’s presence in drinking water.

Well water, lead, and the link to juvenile delinquency – March 24, 2022 – University of Pennsylvania – Research from Penn and other universities found that, compared to children with municipal water, those relying on private wells in the U.S. had a 21% higher risk of being reported for any delinquency and a 38% increased risk of being reported for serious delinquency after age 14.

Answers to faster recovery from a wildfire are in the water – March 15, 2022 – Perdue University – WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The more frequent wildfire disasters become, the less time communities will have to recover from each catastrophe. But it can take months for a town’s water to be safe to drink again after a wildfire.

Rising temperatures a boon for harmful bacteria in Cape Cod’s fresh and salt water – February 2, 2022 – Cape Cod Times – WOODS HOLE — The world depends on water to drink, to irrigate crops, for the seafood that feeds millions. As the earth’s population continues to grow, so has that dependence on water, but pollution and a warming planet are aiding the proliferation of harmful bacteria — true survivors dating back billions of years to the dawn of life on earth.

Early childhood exposure to lead in drinking water associated with increased teen delinquency risk – January 31, 2022 – Indiana University – BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Exposure to lead in drinking water, especially from private wells, during early childhood is associated with an increased risk of being reported for delinquency during teenage years, according to a new study by Indiana University researchers.

WVU research finds wealth affects water facility compliance – January 31, 2022 – West Virginia University – According to research at West Virginia University, wastewater treatment violations tend to decrease after the implementation of strict regulations make those violations spike. Levan Elbakidze investigated compliance of water treatment facilities and how they meet new standards and regulations. Understanding how federal and state mandated regulations affect water treatment facilities could be the first step in improving water quality.

US pushes for better tap water but must win over wary public – January 31, 2022 – Great Lakes Now -ST. LOUIS (AP) — Angela Stamps won’t drink water from her faucet, showers less and no longer takes the baths she once found relaxing. She doesn’t cook with tap water and sometimes skips rinsing her produce. Even though the amount of lead in Flint, Michigan’s tap water has been well below a key state threshold for several years, she hasn’t been able to stop worrying since going through the trauma of the city’s lead crisis. “I just don’t trust it,” she said.

As OC Digs Deeper for Drinking Water, Worries About Contamination Arise – Jan 4, 2022 – Voice of OC – Due to California’s ongoing drought, cities in North and Central Orange County have a greater risk of being exposed to drinking water pollution as they rely mostly from groundwater sources.

NAVY EXTENDS DEADLINE TO CLEAN PEARL HARBOR’S CONTAMINATED DRINKING WATER – Jan 4, 2022 – The Navy extended its timeline to clean up the Pearl Harbor drinking water system, which was contaminated in a jet fuel spill in November 2021.

Antifragility proposed as a new approach to water treatment by URI professor – January 4, 2022 – KINGSTON, R.I. – January 4, 2022 – There has been increased emphasis on the resilience of drinking water in recent years due to concerns over extreme events affecting water quality.

Honolulu shut down its largest water source in Oahu due to reported contamination of Navy well near Pearl Harbor – December 5, 2021 – CNN – Records show a history of fuel leaks plaguing Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in the past decade, with the most recent leak occurring 11 days before the Navy announced it had discovered contamination in the Red Hill well on Oahu.

1 in 10 Mississippians had illegal contaminants in drinking water since 2018 – December 3, 2021 – Mississippi Today – Since 2018, more than one in ten Mississippians received drinking water from their public utility that had an illegal level of contaminants in it, according to state and federal health data.

These Americans Don’t Trust Their Tap Water. Would You? – December 2, 2021 – Patch.com – Florene Reed always makes sure there’s enough bottled water for her teenaged grandson, even if that means making do with tap water herself that causes a burning sensation in her stomach.

Algae blooms, which can threaten drinking water and human health, pop up regularly and may increase – November 19, 2021 – Phys.Org – Barges carrying mounds of coal toward St. Louis passed by Starved Rock at a snail’s pace, inching past yellow-orange trees and sandstone canyons. A bald eagle hovered above a path leading hikers toward Lover’s Leap. Near the Starved Rock Lock and Dam, a pinch point along the Illinois River, the water was dull and unremarkable. But the area is home to a problem that taints waters throughout the state: toxic algae blooms.

Clean and clear: Can we produce drinking water without leaving a carbon footprint? – November 17, 2021 – Producing clean drinking water can be highly energy intensive. But in Saudi Arabia, one of the driest places on earth, there’s a growing industry for producing this resource sustainably.

After thinking it had “dodged a bullet,” Pittsboro reports increase in 1,4-Dioxane in drinking water – November 16, 2021 – Just days ago, Pittsboro officials said they considered the town “lucky,” thinking a slug of 1,4-Dioxane from the City of Greensboro had bypassed its water intake on the Haw River. But new test results today have prompted town staff to say they are “concerned by the uptick in concentration in in raw water samples.” Those samples of untreated water from Nov. 12 show levels of the likely carcinogen at 9.8 parts per billion, almost five times the levels in raw water just two days earlier. Treated water, which is sent to homes, contained concentrations of just above 4 ppb.

‘Forever chemicals’ widespread in Mass. surface and ground water, says new report – October 29, 2021 – A new analysis of Massachusetts public water systems by the Sierra Club finds that 70% of communities have detectable levels of the six most dangerous PFAS chemicals in their ground and surface waters. When looking at a wider range of PFAS chemicals, 91% of communities have detectable amounts in their drinking water sources.

Flint water crisis lowered birth weight, Yale study finds – October 28, 2021 – YSPH research related the Flint water crisis to systematic racism. The study found that the crisis worsened birth outcomes, with Black babies disproportionately affected.

Microbiology and Water Security – October 27, 2021 – Water is essential for the continuation of life on Earth, and safe access to sanitary water is vital for our industrialized society. However, water supplies can become easily contaminated, requiring monitoring and action when they become compromised. This article will discuss the relationship between the fields of microbiology and water security.

Toxic ‘forever chemicals’ found in tap water raise questions for scientists – October 19, 2021 – Around 30 different PFAS were found in Miami, Broward and Palm Beach tap , with the highest concentrations detected in samples collected near the Miami International and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International airports. PFAS were also detected in Biscayne Bay and nearby tributary canals.

Biden administration moves to curtail toxic ‘forever chemicals’ – October 18, 2021 – The Biden administration moved Monday to regulate a group of long-lasting, human-made chemicals that pose health risks to millions of Americans, even as they continue to be used in an array of products such as cosmetics, dental floss, food packaging, clothing and cleaning supplies.

The ‘burn scars’ of wildfires threaten the West’s drinking water – October 1, 2021 – The Missoula Current – (KHN) Colorado saw its worst fire season last year, with the three largest fires in state history and more than 600,000 acres burned. But some of the effects didn’t appear until this July, when heavy rain pushed sediment from damaged forests down mountainsides, causing mudslides that shut down sections of Interstate 70 for almost two weeks.

Feeling fatigued, foggy or moody? You could be dehydrated! – September 11, 2021 – Radical Ancestral Health – In our information-saturated world, we seem to learn about a new fad diet almost every week. One day eating too much fat is bad for you and the next day, carbs are the problem. But the most essential nutrient is often ignored: Water

How widespread are PFAS chemicals? CT officials are about to inspect more than 2,400 locations – August 29, 2021 – The CT mirror – Catherine Iino first learned that her small town of roughly 6,000 people might have a problem earlier this spring, Iino, the First Selectwoman in Killingworth, was contacted by state environmental officials in March and informed that several water samples would need to be pulled from the wells that supplied town hall, the volunteer fire station and a nearby garage used by the local public works department.

Climate Change Is Breeding Blue-Green Algae And Costing Kansans To Fix Stinky Water – August 16, 2021 – NPR for Wichita – Algae blooms are increasingly fouling Kansas lakes. The blooms can make the water cities take from those lakes taste and smell bad and force them to spend more money on chemicals to make it taste better.

How water shortages are brewing wars – August 16, 2021 – BBC Future – Unprecedented levels of dam building and water extraction by nations on great rivers are leaving countries further downstream increasingly thirsty, increasing the risk of conflicts.

‘Forever chemicals’ detected in water systems of nearly 2,800 US cities – August 12, 2021 – ABC News

Toxic Threat: The military polluted New Mexico waters and soils with PFAS and is fighting against cleanup of the “forever problem” – August 3, 2021 – Santa Fe Reporter – “There were some incidents where we sprayed foam out for fire prevention visits, and young kids played in it because they thought it was cool, it looked like snow,” he says. Now retired, Ferrara says he unquestioningly believed leadership—during his training and deployments—when they compared that firefighting foam to “soap and water.”

California drought: Dozens of communities are at risk of running out of water – July 31, 2021 – Santa Cruz Sentinel – In Fort Bragg on the Mendocino Coast, city leaders are rushing to install an emergency desalination system. In Healdsburg, lawn watering is banned with fines of up to $1,000. In Hornbrook, a small town in Siskiyou County, faucets have gone completely dry, and the chairman of the water district is driving 15 miles each way to take showers and wash clothes.

Dangerous ‘forever chemicals’ found in drinking water of thousands of Illinois residents – July 30, 2021 – Chicago.Suntimes.Com – More than 100 drinking water systems across Illinois, including some in the Chicago area, have tested positive for measurable levels of harmful contaminants known as “forever chemicals” that are linked to cancer, liver damage, high blood pressure and other health threats.

Drought on the Colorado River: America’s biggest reservoirs on the brink of disaster – July 25, 2021 – TheNationalNews.com – A 22-year drought along the Colorado River that feeds into Lake Powell and nearby Lake Mead, the nation’s two largest reservoirs, has left the bodies of water at their lowest levels in decades. Lake Mead, which sits right outside Las Vegas, is at its lowest level since the 1930s, when the lake was first filled by the Hoover Dam. It currently sits at about 35 per cent of its total capacity. Similarly, Lake Powell is at only 34 per cent capacity. Lake Powell, Lake Mead and the Colorado River are considered the lifeblood of the south-western US, providing water to 40 million Americans and irrigating millions of acres of land used to feed people all over the globe.

Study: No Safe Lead Level in Drinking Water for Patients With CKD – July 26, 2021 – Renal and Urology News – Even low levels of lead in drinking water allowed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) can adversely affect the health of patients with advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD), according to a recent study published in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

Missouri Has Hundreds Of Thousands Of Lead Pipes, Among The Highest In The U.S. – July 25, 2021 – NPR, St. Louis Public Radio – Missouri has some of the highest numbers of lead pipes in the U.S., according to a national report. The Natural Resources Defense Council estimates there are at least 330,000 lead pipes funneling tap water into Missouri homes and other buildings — the sixth-highest of any state in the nation.

Water wells are at risk of going dry in the US and worldwide – July 25, 2021 – Sun Journal – As the drought outlook for the Western U.S. becomes increasingly bleak, attention is turning once again to groundwater – literally, water stored in the ground. It is Earth’s most widespread and reliable source of fresh water, but it’s not limitless.

Forever chemicals: California unveils health goals for contaminated drinking water – July 22, 2021 – CBS8.COM – SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California took a major step today towards regulating dangerous “forever chemicals” in drinking water by proposing new health limits for two of the most pervasive contaminants.  State environmental health officials recommended goals of one part per trillion and less — a minuscule amount 70 times smaller than the federal government’s non-binding guideline for drinking water nationwide.

UConn Researcher Performing Collaborative Research Assessing City Water Systems Resilience – June 15, 2021 – UCONN Today – City governments throughout the U.S. face significant financial stress. Financial stress arises from the combination of increased demands for critical city services — including drinking water, education, and fire protection — and the decline of revenues needed to support them.

Salt Water Intrudes On Household Wells and Septic Systems – June 14, 2021 – Eco RI News – Saltwater intrusion — the creep of seawater into private wells, freshwater aquifers and septic systems — is a growing problem in Rhode Island. As sea levels rise, more frequent and intense rains fall and storm surge reaches farther inland, more wells and septic systems are being put at risk of contamination and inundation.

Scientists removing phosphate contamination in water with sponge filtering – June 14, 2021 – ABC Denver 7 – EVANSTON, Ill. — Phosphorus is an essential nutrient. Every living organism on the planet requires it and there is no synthetic substitute. Half the world’s food supply is fertilized by its chemical derivative – phosphate. And we’re running out. Add to that, phosphate runoff in streams and lakes is causing toxic algae blooms killing aquatic life, and you find the catch-22.

Toxic man-made chemicals that end up in the environment highlight regulation challenges – May 27, 2021 – News-Medical.net – Researchers at the University of New Hampshire have conducted two of the first studies in New England to collectively show that toxic man-made chemicals called PFAS (per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances), found in everything from rugs to product packaging, end up in the environment differently after being processed through wastewater treatment facilities–making it more challenging to set acceptable screening levels.

Dead snakes and mice, toxic sludge: How pathogens go unnoticed in America’s water towers – May 21, 2021 – USA Today – Many water towers have been left to fester, sometimes making people sick. Federal EPA has been looking into uniform regulations for years.

Drinking water does more than keep your body hydrated – May 20, 2021 – Philly Voice – Drinking enough water every day is good for your overall health. So says the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and a wide range of experts.  Hydration is one of the most basic, simple and inexpensive parts of a healthy lifestyle. And while water is the predominate and perhaps most effective source of the fluids your body needs, there are others as well.

Corn Waste Finds New Purpose in Water Treatment Studies – April 27, 2021 – Science Times – Corn remains the top agricultural product in the US. However, almost half of the harvest ends up in waste, especially after the kernels have been harvested – but a new study might offer another purpose for these discarded parts.

Millions of Groundwater Wells Could Run Dry – April 27, 2021 – Scientific American – Millions of drinking wells around the world may soon be at risk of running dry. Overpumping, drought and the steady influence of climate change are depleting groundwater resources all over the globe, according to new research. As much as 20% of the world’s groundwater wells may be facing imminent failure, potentially depriving billions of people of fresh water.

Toxic tap water: California needs $4.6 billion to fix failing infrastructure – April 14, 2021 – The Fresno Bee – The State Water Resources Control Board this month released the first-ever drinking water needs assessment, showing that approximately 620 public water systems and 80,000 domestic wells are at-risk of failing to provide a sufficient amount of drinking water that meets basic health standards.

Road Salts and Other Human Sources Are Threatening World’s Freshwater Supplies – University of Maryland – When winter storms threaten to make travel dangerous, people often turn to salt, spreading it liberally over highways, streets and sidewalks to melt snow and ice. Road salt is an important tool for safety because many thousands of people die or are injured every year due to weather related accidents. But a new study led by Sujay Kaushal of the University of Maryland warns that introducing salt into the environment—whether it’s for de-icing roads, fertilizing farmland or other purposes—releases toxic chemical cocktails that create a serious and growing global threat to our freshwater supply and human health.

Report sets path toward clean drinking water for all Californians – April 12, 2021 – UCLA Newsroom – A new study (PDF) published by the California State Water Board and supported by UCLA research identifies a risk for failure among a significant portion of the state’s small and medium-sized public water systems. The report is the first comprehensive analysis of how clean water is provided in California, and it estimates how much it would actually cost to deliver safe water to every resident.

Saving Clean Drinking Water…With Math! – April 7, 2021 – USC Veterbi – School of Engineering – USC Viterbi researchers develop innovative new method to analyze how shifts in the earth affect drinking water supply.

Early life exposure to chemical group PFAS increases cardiometabolic risk through adolescence – April 6, 2021 – The Brown Daily Herald – Early exposure to compounds known as Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances — also referred to as PFAS — can lead to cardiometabolic defects later in life, according to a study led by University researchers. The study was one of four nominated as papers of the month by the National Institute of Environmental Health Science last month.

UI researchers: Thousands of Iowans, including children, are being exposed to unsafe levels of lead in water – April 9, 2021 – Des Moines Register -Thousands of Iowans, especially children, are being exposed to high levels of lead in their drinking water, a threat that should push Iowa lawmakers to increase testing and lower how much lead the state allows, University of Iowa researchers said Tuesday.

An indication of the severity of the threat: One in five infants in Iowa is born with elevated levels of lead, said Michelle Scherer, a University of Iowa civil and environmental engineering professor, pointing to a 2017 study of blood samples from newborns.

PFAS In Landfills In MN Is Warning Alarm For Waste Management – March 26, 2021 – The National Law Review – We have previously written about the impact to waste management companies from ever-increasing scrutiny over PFAS issues in the media and scientific community, at the government level, and within litigation circles. A very recent notice out of Minnesota that almost every closed landfill in the state of Minnesota has detectable levels of PFAS, with over half of them having PFAS levels exceeding the state’s drinking water guidance values, only reinforces our cautionary words.

MIT Engineers Make Low-Cost Filters From Tree Branches to Purify Drinking Water – March 26, 2021 – Scitechdaily.com – MIT engineers have been investigating sapwood’s natural filtering ability, and have previously fabricated simple filters from peeled cross-sections of sapwood branches, demonstrating that the low-tech design effectively filters bacteria.

In Florida city, a hacker tried to poison the drinking water – February 8, 2021 – AP News – A hacker gained entry to the system controlling the water treatment plant of a Florida city of 15,000 and tried to taint the water supply with a caustic chemical, exposing a danger cybersecurity experts say has grown as systems become both more computerized and accessible via the internet.

Georgia to test 800 schools for lead in drinking water – December 12, 2020 – AJC.COM – The plan is to test every source of drinking water in 800 schools statewide, with an estimated 40 faucets in each school. Preliminary estimates forecast that the tests will find problematic levels of lead in 2.5% of the 32,000 faucets statewide, requiring retesting.

Much Of California’s Water Wells Are Contaminated With Chromium-6. Could A Costly Fix Be Coming? – December 10, 2020 – Capradio – Testing has found the contaminant in thousands of drinking water wells across California. Water in all but seven counties is contaminated with chromium-6, a chemical that can cause cancer, kidney, and liver problems, and is expensive to remove for already-stressed water systems and ratepayers.

Colorado student, scientist named Time’s ‘Kid of the Year’ – December 5, 2020 – Phys.org – A 15-year-old Colorado high school student and young scientist who has used artificial intelligence and created apps to tackle contaminated drinking water, cyberbullying, opioid addiction and other social problems has been named Time Magazine’s first-ever “Kid of the Year.”

Millions of Americans still get their drinking water from lead pipes – December 5, 2020 – The Economist – Over a century has passed since the dangers of consuming lead became widely known. Ingesting even small quantities damages young brains and may raise the risk of heart problems. Yet residents of Chicago—and many other cities—still mostly swig from taps fed by lead pipes. About 400,000 lead service lines connect to the mains in the Windy City, linking about four in five of all houses there. One study of nearly 3,000 homes, two years ago, found two-thirds had elevated levels of lead in their water.

Ultrasensitive transistor for herbicide detection in water – December 1, 2020 – Science Daily – A new polymer-based, solid-state transistor can more sensitively detect a weed killer in drinking water than existing hydrogel-based fluorescence sensor chips. The details were published in Chemistry-A European Journal.

Well Water Throughout California Contaminated With ‘Forever Chemicals’ – November 20, 2020 – Capradio.org – In the weeks before the coronavirus began tearing through California, the city of Commerce made an expensive decision: It shut down part of its water supply. Like nearly 150 other public water systems in California, the small city on the outskirts of Los Angeles had detected “forever chemicals” in its well water.

‘Forever chemicals’ found in Chesapeake seafood and Maryland drinking water – November 17, 2020 – Bay Journal – More testing has found so-called “forever chemicals” in a striped bass, blue crab and oyster from the Chesapeake Bay, as well as in drinking water from household taps in Maryland’s Montgomery County.

Chemical injected in town’s drinking water called ‘an environmental injustice’ – November 16, 2020 – Phys.org – Residents of a small town that injected an unapproved chemical into their drinking water for 10 years want the chemical manufacturer and South Carolina health regulators to pay for exposing them to the unauthorized water additive.

1,4-Dioxane: Another forever chemical plagues drinking-water utilities – November 8, 2020 – C&EN ACS – 1,4-Dioxane is an unwanted by-product occurring in small amounts in shampoos, detergents, and cleaning products. It has also contaminated some communities’ drinking water.

Doubts about safety of Flint’s water 6 years after crisis – October 29, 2020 – Phys.Org – The Michigan state website stops short of calling Flint’s water “safe to drink” but says the supply “meets very high standards,” while  say the  has “stabilized” and shows low lead levels.

New Report Finds Nitrate Pollution In Drinking Water May Cost Wisconsin Up To $80M In Medical Expenses – WPR – Nitrate pollution in drinking water is linked to negative health outcomes that are costing people in Wisconsin anywhere between $23 million and $80 million each year in medical expenses. That’s according to a new report published this week in the journal Environmental Monitoring and Assessment.

Online platform launched to report drinking water concerns in Michigan – October 26, 2020 – NBC News – LANSING, Mich. – The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) has launched an online tool to report drinking water concerns.

After the Blaze: How Wildfires Can Impact Drinking Water – October 16, 2020 – NC State University – Much of the precipitation that falls within a forest is intercepted by the tree canopy and forest floor. But high-intensity wildfires can remove vegetation and reduce the ability of soils to take up water, leading to an increase in runoff that can transport vast quantities of ash, nutrients, sediments, heavy metals and toxins into streams, rivers and downstream reservoirs used for drinking water supplies.

Progress in water treatment earns accolades for engineering researchers – October 15, 2020 – Arizona State University – Sharma is analyzing drinking waters from across the U.S. to understand the occurrence of more hazardous byproducts, particularly those that contain bromide and iodide. She also seeks to determine their sources and how water utilities can mitigate byproduct formation.

It’s 2020 and Somehow These 6 U.S. Cities Don’t Have Clean Drinking Water – October 8, 2020 – Fodors.com – We don’t talk about this enough and we should—water is essential, so if we don’t have it, we die. ­But, if we have it, and it’s filled with toxic chemicals, we die. We found the six U.S. cities with some of the most contaminated drinking water, and a few resources you can turn to to help.

Brain-eating amoeba in water supply spurs Texas city to declare disaster after boy, 6, dies – September 28, 2020 – Fox News – A city in Texas issued a disaster declaration Saturday after a brain-eating amoeba was found in water supplies, weeks after a 6-year-old boy died after contracting the microbe. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality warned the Brazosport Water Authority on Friday night of the potential contamination of its water supply with Naegleria fowleri, a brain-eating amoeba.

Testing for lead in children declines in NC during coronavirus pandemic – September 27, 2020 – The Fayette Observer – The coronavirus pandemic has resulted in thousands of families skipping or delaying well-child visits to pediatricians, where many children would have been tested for lead poisoning or received vaccinations.

Erin Brockovich says US is now in a water crisis far worse than people realize – September 15, 2020 – The Hill -Amid a global pandemic and protests against police brutality, Erin Brockovich is trying to get America to pay attention to yet another issue: water.

“We are in a water crisis beyond anything you can imagine. Pollution and toxins are everywhere, stemming from the hazardous wastes of industry and agriculture. We’ve got more than 40,000 chemicals on the market today with only a few hundred regulated. We’ve had industrial byproducts discarded into the ground and into our water supply for years. This crisis affects everyone – rich or poor, black or white, Republican or Democrat. Communities everywhere think they are safe when they are not,”

Lawmakers want tougher rules on PFAS – September 14, 2020 – The Fayetteville Observer – Rep. Pricey Harrison would welcome new maximum contaminant levels for certain types of PFAS, but she worries that industries would just switch to another PFAS compound, resulting in a game of whack-a-mole.

Embattled Delray Beach city manager fires back against allegations, questions safety of city’s drinking water – August 10, 2020 – WPTV – DELRAY BEACH, Fla. — Not once, but twice did Delray Beach resident John Stilley read the complaint embattled and suspended City Manager George Gretsas sent to the city. “My family drinks this water, my grandchildren drink this water, and I’m highly concerned about it,” he said. Gretsas claims he “discovered that the safety of the drinking water in Delray Beach has been compromised.”

Erin Brockovich Wants to Know What You’re Drinking – September 2020 Issue – The Atlantic – Twenty years after her moment in the Hollywood spotlight, the famed water-safety activist has not slowed down.

Utilities Want to Use EPA Chemicals Law to Protect Drinking Water – August 10, 2020 – Bloomberg Law -A pair of water associations are teaming up to urge the EPA to use all its regulatory tools to safeguard drinking water as it decides whether to allow new chemicals into U.S. commerce.

The Association of State Drinking Water Administrators (ASDWA), which represents state, tribal, and territorial water agency officials, recently joined the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies, which represents publicly owned metropolitan drinking water suppliers, to routinely flag their concerns about new chemicals to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Toxic ‘Forever’ Chemicals Pose Risks to Rhode Islanders – July 27, 2020 – Eco RI News – The Rhode Island Department of Health tested for PFAS last year. The agency tested every major drinking-water supply in the state and the water in every school that had its own well. In all, 87 percent of Rhode Islanders had their primary source of water tested. The results showed that PFAS are in a significant portion of the state’s drinking water — they were detected in 44 percent of the locations tested — and that more than 40 percent of the schools tested had levels above the new recommended standard of 20 parts per trillion (ppt). The Environmental Protection Agency originally issued a 70 ppt health advisory level, but since then a growing number of public-health officials and some states are pushing for levels of 20 ppt or lower.

Advocates, State Lawmakers Raise Concern About New York Drinking Water Quality – July 14, 2020 – WAMC.ORG  – State legislators, local elected officials, residents from impacted communities, and environmental advocates assembled on Zoom to call on Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Department of Health to set stringent standards for three toxic chemicals that have polluted drinking water across the state: PFOA, PFOS, and 1,4-dioxane.

Researchers create global arsenic-in-groundwater maps to highlight threats – May 22, 2020 – Phys.org – A pair of researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology has created a global map that highlights areas where there are likely dangerous levels of arsenic in groundwater. In their paper published in the journal Science, Joel Podgorski and Michael Berg describe combining data from a variety of sources to train a machine learning algorithm to highlight possible hot spots on a global map. Yan Zheng, with Southern University of Science and Technology has published a Perspective piece outlining the work by the research pair in the same journal issue.

Even One Sugar-Sweetened Beverage a Day May Increase A Woman’s CV Risk – May 21, 2020 – Physician’s Weekly – California Teachers Study shows higher risks of CVD, revascularization, and stroke. In women enrolled in the California Teachers Study, drinking one or more servings per day of a sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) was associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD), revascularization, and stroke, according to study results presented in the Journal of the American Heart Association. In addition, consumption of fruit drinks and caloric soft drinks was also positively associated with CVD and increased the risk of CVD by 42%.

How much water do we really need to drink? – May 14, 2020 – CNN – Here’s some welcome news: Water can work wonders for your health. The humble liquid comprises about 60% of our body weight and allows our internal organs to perform at their best. Water regulates our body temperature, keeps our joints lubricated and carries nutrients to our cells. Water also provides moisture to skin, ensuring a bright and radiant glow.

Remote community trials technology that makes water ‘out of thin air’ – May 7, 2020 – ABC News Australia – A trial to shore up the supply of drinking water in a remote Central Australian community will soon get underway, involving hydropanels that make water “out of thin air”.

How the EPA has left Americans exposed to lead in drinking water – May 4, 2020 – Northern Public Radio – The toxin has been buried for years. Across the country, lead pipes are still carrying water into millions of homes, more than 30 years after they were banned. They’re tucked underground, out of sight and, for most Americans, out of mind, relics of an earlier time. But these aging conduits are still a risk for tens of millions of people. A new data analysis by APM Reports shows that those pipes may be leaching significantly more lead into Americans’ tap water than government monitoring has revealed.

The pandemic has exposed America’s clean water crisis – April 17, 2020 – Vox – Millions live without access to clean water in the US — and the coronavirus has left them in further turmoil.

Caledonia chlorine producer meeting increased demand from nervous water plant operators – April 9, 2020 – Livingston County News – CALEDONIA – JCI Jones Chemical, a bulk producer of chlorine and bleach products, is leveling off production after a few weeks of water treatment plant operators placing larger and more frequent orders amid concerns of running out of cleaning and disinfection chemicals during the coronavirus pandemic.

Here’s the latest count of suspected bases with toxic “forever chemicals” in the water – April 6, 2020 – Marine Times – Cancer-linked per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, collectively known as PFAS, have been confirmed at 328 sites, according to Pentagon data analyzed by EWG. and are suspected on about 350 more Defense Department installations and sites.

New law mandates Indiana schools test for lead contamination – March 30, 2020 – The Washington Times – INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – Drinking water fountains and taps at public and private schools in Indiana will be required to be tested for lead contamination by 2023 under a new state law.

Detroit water activists urge Gov. Whitmer to provide free water stations during the coronavirus pandemic – March 23, 2020 – Detroit Metro Times – Hand washing is an important practice to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, but it’s a measure that thousands of Michiganders are unable to do in their own homes.

Blasting ‘forever’ chemicals out of water with a vortex of cold plasma – February 11, 2020 – Phys.org, Drexel University – Researchers from Drexel University have found a way to destroy stubbornly resilient toxic compounds, ominously dubbed “forever chemicals,” that have contaminated the drinking water of millions across the United States.

Experts criticize EPA Lead and Copper Rule revisions – February 11, 2020 – The Hill – Experts and advocates on Tuesday criticized the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed rule to combat lead in the water supply, calling for the agency to require that service lines containing lead be replaced. Pediatrician Mona Hanna-Attisha, who helped publicize the Flint, Mich., water crisis, said a plan based solely on health protection would eliminate lead from service lines and maximize corrosion control so children are not exposed to it.  “We’re never supposed to expose a child to lead,” Hanna-Attisha added during a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing.

What’s in North Carolina Drinking Water? – February 7, 2020 – Duke Today – Faculty report on potential contaminants in the state’s drinking water — and how they are helping us get a handle on the problem

Chemical found in drinking water linked to tooth decay in children – February 6, 2020 – Science Daily – Children with higher concentrations of a certain chemical in their blood are more likely to get cavities, according to a new study. Researchers found that higher concentrations of PFAS were associated with greater tooth decay in children.

Petition asks EPA help on tainted drinking water – January 18, 2020 – The Register-Guard – Oregon regulators have failed for three decades to curb nitrate contamination in drinking water sources near Eastern Oregon’s large dairies and feedlots. Now, eight state and national health and environment groups are asking the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to step in and take emergency action.

‘Forever chemicals’ in Orange County drinking water to force widespread well closures – January 17, 2020 – The Orange County Register – The Orange County Water District, which serves 2.5 million county residents, expects to see nearly a third of the 200 groundwater wells in its service area shut down by year’s end because of the presence of toxic PFAS, a chemical family linked to cancer, liver and kidney damage, low birth weight and other health problems.

Map: 100 Pa. schools found lead in their drinking water. Here’s how they responded. – January 13, 2020 – Pennsylvania Capital Star –  Water at more than 100 buildings in 32 school systems across Pennsylvania had unsafe levels of lead in the 2018-2019 school year, according to a list the Pennsylvania Department of Education published in late November.

Lawmakers Unveil $10M Plan To Clean Up Water In Wisconsin – January 8, 2020 – Wisconsin Public Radio – A bipartisan group of lawmakers rolled out more than a dozen new bills Wednesday aimed at improving and promoting water quality in Wisconsin.  The lawmakers have worked together for about a year on a water quality task force, which held 14 hearings across the state. The 13 proposals, which will cost a total of roughly $10 million, are the result of hearing testimony from experts, administration officials and Wisconsin residents.

Capitol Watch: Plan to rid water of toxins inches ahead – December 14, 2019 – The Washington Times – New York is inching closer to joining a handful of states trying to make sure that public water supplies don’t contain two industrial chemicals found in some non-stick pots and pans, paint strippers, stain resistant clothing and firefighting foams.

Massachusetts issues new standards for ‘forever chemicals’ in water supply – December 13, 2019 – Boston Globe – Amid growing concerns about toxic chemicals in the water supply, state regulators Friday announced significant new limits on the human-made compounds in drinking water and approved new requirements ordering polluters to clean up contaminated soil and ground water.

What you need to know about PFAS or ‘forever’ chemicals – November 27, 2019 – ABC News – The head of the Environmental Protection Agency says the government is working “aggressively” to develop more regulations on a type of chemicals known as PFAS or “forever chemicals.”

27 Virginia Beach schools fail lead level tests in water – November 6, 2019 – NBC News Now – Virginia Beach City Public Schools said water testing at several of its schools came back with lead levels above the state and federal limits. VBCPS said over summer, it focused testing on 33 of its schools that had been constructed during or before 1986.  While most results came back below the threshold, 61 drinking and food-prep sources in 27 of those schools came back with lead levels greater than 15ppb, or what the industry refers to as “actionable levels.”

Is Canada’s tap water safe? Thousands of test results show high lead levels across the country – November 4, 2019 – Global News – Hundreds of thousands of Canadians could be consuming tap water laced with high levels of lead leaching from aging infrastructure and plumbing, a large collection of newly released data and documents reveals.

Microplastics in water: no proof yet they are harmful, says WHO – October 14, 2019 – The Guardian – Microplastics are increasingly found in drinking water, but there is no evidence so far that this poses a risk to humans, according to a new assessment by the World Health Organization.

Can you get cancer from tap water? New study says even ‘safe’ drinking water poses risk – September 19, 2019 – USA Today – In a peer-reviewed study published in the journal Heliyon Thursday, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) found that 22 carcinogens commonly found in tap water – including arsenic, byproducts of water disinfectants and radionuclides such as uranium and radium – could cumulatively result in over 100,000 cancer cases over the span of a lifetime.

These 90 Army posts have contaminated drinking water – September 11, 2019 – Military Times – As a Pentagon task force looks into unsafe drinking water on its installations, a new list of Army posts has been added to the roster of bases where per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances have been found in ground water as recently as this year.

Legislators note slow progress on state’s water quality management law -September 10, 2019 – NJTV News – Lawmakers expressed disappointment Tuesday with the response to the state’s new water quality management law during a hearing in Trenton that took place as Newark residents are drinking bottled water and homeowners across the state have water safety concerns.

How to address America’s lead crisis and provide safe drinking water for all – September 3, 2019 –  The Conversation – Since the Flint drinking water crisis erupted five years ago, Americans have realized that many cities and towns struggle to ensure safe water. Currently residents of Newark, New Jersey are drinking bottled water after the city realized lead filters it handed out had failed.

University Park Residents Furious As Concerns About Lead In Water Persist Through Labor Day Weekend – September 2, 2019 – CBS Chicago – Many families in the south suburb still can’t trust their running water. And they have been going without safe, lead-free running water all summer, but never saw this continuing all the way into Labor Day weekend.

How the Newark water crisis unfolded – August 15, 2019 – CNN -Residents and officials in Newark, New Jersey, are trying to determine exactly when lead began leaching into the water supply. It’s a vital question, since lead contamination in water can damage a child’s health. Even low levels of lead have been linked to serious, irreversible damage to developing brains. For this reason, experts say that there is no safe level of lead in drinking water.

Active pharmaceutical ingredients can persist in the environment – July 24, 2019 – Phys.Org – Homeowners who rely on private wells as their drinking water source can be vulnerable to bacteria, nitrates, and other contaminants that have known human health risks. Because they are not connected to a public drinking water supply, the homeowners are responsible for ensuring that their own drinking water is safe.

Here’s an updated map of military sites where DoD found cancer-causing chemicals in the drinking water – July 14, 2019 – Military Times – An environmental advocacy group has identified 58 more military sites where levels of harmful chemicals used in firefighting foam have been detected in groundwater or drinking water sources, from Elmendorf Air Force Base and Fort Richardson, Alaska to Fort Eustis, Virginia.

Chesapeake states grapple with ‘forever chemical’ contaminating drinking water – July 15, 2019 – Bay Journal – Not long ago, Nathan Volpi began wondering about the safety of the tap water that he, his wife and two young children had been drinking for years.

U.S. Drinking Water Supply Is Mostly Safe, But That’s Not Good Enough – May 29, 1019 – MSUToday, Michigan State University – Most Americans take clean drinking water for granted as a convenience of modern life. The United States has one of the world’s safest drinking water supplies, but new challenges constantly emerge.

New Hampshire sues 3M, DuPont, other chemical companies – May 29, 2019 – The Wichita Eagle – New Hampshire has sued eight companies including 3M and the DuPont Co. for damage it says has been caused by a class of potentially toxic chemicals found in pizza boxes, fast-food wrappers and drinking water.

Report: 20+ contaminants threaten NY drinking water – May 28, 2019 – News10 ABC – ALBANY, N.Y. (NEXSTAR) – A report from the New York Public Interest Research Group Fund is raising questions about drinking water in New York State.

Scientists Dig Into Hard Questions About The Fluorinated Pollutants Known As PFAS – April 24, 2019 – Vermont Public Radio – Scientists are ramping up research on the possible health effects of a large group of common but little-understood chemicals used in water-resistant clothing, stain-resistant furniture, nonstick cookware and many other consumer products.

Chemical spilled into creek just one of eight Cleveland Water EPA violations – April 24, 2019 – News 5 Cleveland – An exclusive 5 On Your Side Investigation has found what the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency is calling a “history of non-compliance” that could pose an “unacceptable risk” to health and “reliable delivery of safe drinking water.”

New York City to pass water tank reforms – April 7, 2019 – City & State NY – In a striking rebuke of city health officials, the New York City Council plans to pass seven new laws tightening oversight and regulation of thousands of rooftop drinking water tanks, citing evidence of contamination, widespread neglect, and lax oversight by agency officials, city legislators told City & State.

One in five residents get contaminated tap water. NJ is ordering companies to clean it up – March 25, 2019 – NorthJersey.com, USA Today – Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration has ordered five companies responsible for widespread pollution of drinking water systems to spend millions of dollars to assess the extent of contamination and eventually clean up the pollution.

U.S. schools “failing to protect their kids” from lead in drinking water – March 22, 2019 – CBS News – U.S. schools are not doing enough to protect students from drinking water contaminated with lead, according to a new report out from the Environment America Research & Policy Center and U.S. PIRG Education Fund. The report found “a pattern of widespread contamination of drinking water” at schools nationwide.

Elevated lead levels at thousands of Md. schools prompts bill for better water quality – March 7, 2019 – WTOP -Children go to school to learn — not to face brain-harming levels of lead exposure. State lawmakers are working this year to expand upon legislation passed two years ago that shined a light on elevated lead levels in the drinking water at thousands of Maryland schools.

Study links water contamination to poor infant health – February 19, 2019 – Yale Daily News – Using Flint, Michigan as a test case, a recent Yale research study establishes a link between contaminated water supplies and poor infant health at birth, especially in infants born to economically disadvantaged families.

The Risks of Water Insecurity – February 15, 2019 – Scientific American – “Water insecurity,” shorthand for problems with the quantity, quality or reliability of water, can be found in almost every corner of the U.S., from Alaska to Florida.

Acting Head Of EPA Pressured To Look Into Threats Against Long Island Drinking Water – February 4, 2019 – CBS New York – There was a push Monday for the feds to reverse course and issue drinking water standards to protect public health. Many Long Island residents fear toxic chemicals are seeping into the fragile water supply, CBS2’s Jennifer McLogan reported. Experts say the drinking water is threatened by the unregulated and highly toxic man-made chemical 1,4-dioxane. It is found in detergents, manufacturing solvents and firefighting foam.

Farms, More Productive Than Ever, Are Poisoning Drinking Water in Rural America – January 18, 2019 – The Wall Street Journal – One in seven Americans drink from private wells, which are being polluted by contaminants from manure and fertilizer

Elevated Nitrate Levels Found in Millions of Americans’ Drinking Water – January 17, 2019 – Yale Environment 360 –  Public water systems serving more than 5.6 million Americans contain concentrations of nitrate at levels found to cause health problems, including cancer and birth defects, according to a new study published in the journal Environmental Health. Systems serving Hispanic populations tended to have the highest levels of nitrate in drinking water.

Florida officials delayed telling residents about tainted water, emails show – January 4, 2019 – Tampa Bay Times – OCALA — Linda Lawson thought little of drinking the water from the decades-old well in her backyard, less than half a mile down the road from the Florida State Fire College in Ocala. That changed when her daughter-in-law answered to state workers knocking on her door one afternoon. They came to test the water, a worker said.

‘Not a problem you can run away from’: Communities confront the threat of unregulated chemicals in their drinking water – January 2, 2019 – The Washington Post –  The day this small town told its residents to stop drinking the water, Jennifer and Justin Koehler decided to sell their white clapboard house and move their two children elsewhere. Sara and Matt Dean, who had relocated several years earlier from Chicago, started worrying about the health of their young son and the baby arriving soon.

Cornell expertise helps deliver clean, safe water to NYC – November 27, 2018 – Cornell Chronicle – Millions of times each day, New Yorkers turn on the faucet, relying on water supplied from about 125 miles away in the Catskill Mountains. The New York City Department of Environmental Protection is charged with getting clean water from the mountains to the city, and it taps Cornell expertise to help keep the city’s award-winning water pristine – and affordable.

Treatment for lead in drinking water is evolving. Will the U.S. EPA catch up? – November 21, 2018 – Chemical & Engineering News – Tap water from Green Bay, Wis., never exceeded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s lead action level until 2011, when concentrations of the brain-damaging metal suddenly spiked to over 25 ppb. EPA requires drinking water utilities to take steps to cut lead when amounts rise above 15 ppb.

CFPUA expects to reduce PFAS levels in drinking water by end of month – November 15, 2018 – WILMINGTON, NC (WECT) – One day after the Environmental Protection Agency released its first-ever toxicity assessment GenX in our drinking water, the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority said it is implementing a temporary solution to reduce PFAS levels at its Sweeney Water Treatment Facility.

SC says injecting chemical into drinking water was safe. Researcher skeptical – November 15, 2018 – The State – COLUMBIA –Despite criticism from a nationally known scientist, S.C. regulators say the chemical injected into a small town’s drinking water without federal approval likely did not make anyone ill during the 10 years it was used.

Study examines costs, benefits of clean water measures – November 15, 2018 – Cornell Chronicle – The U.S. has invested $140 per person per year – or more than $1.9 trillion – since 1960 to decrease pollution in rivers, lakes and other surface waters. According to a pair of new studies, this investment in clean water is working, but questions remain about whether the benefits outweigh the costs.

‘What did we do?’ Families anxious about chemicals found in tap water – August 16, 2018 – CNN – It’s been about three weeks since Tammy Cooper last drank water from her tap. That’s when she saw a warning on Facebook for residents of her small Western Michigan town to stop drinking the water.

CDC taps Virginia Tech researchers to study antibiotic resistance in water – November 7, 2018 – Becker’s Hospital Review – The CDC awarded two contracts to faculty at Blacksburg, Va.-based Virginia Tech Nov. 5, to study the effects of antibiotic resistance in recycled water and plumbing.

Amy Pruden, PhD, and Marc Edwards, PhD, both professors in the Charles Edward Via Jr. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech, will conduct their research over the next year.

Lead found at Boise’s Fairmont Jr. High; officials now checking 27 other schools – October 17, 2018 – KIVI – BOISE – Water tested at Fairmont Junior High School in Boise has registered positive for elevated levels of lead, according to the Boise School District.

Desalination process could yield fresh water from Permian’s produced water – October 15, 2018 – Midland Reporter- Telegram – Oil and gas producers, awash in water produced alongside crude oil, continue seeking ways to better manage the supply. The amount of water produced with the crude “is so high you can’t possibly use it all for future development,” said Sue Snyder, chief operating officer of Enviro Water Minerals.

US drinking water supply is at risk from deteriorating pipes – September 22, 2018 – Washington Examiner –  As prospects fade for bipartisan infrastructure legislation, a new report highlights the dire consequences to public health and safety that will result from continued deterioration of the nation’s underground water networks.

Beset by over 300,000 water main breaks each year, America’s underground water pipes are showing the effects of age and chronic corrosion. “The signs of distress surface daily as water mains break causing floods and service disruptions,” the study notes. “The loss of service is more than an inconvenience, causing significant economic and social disruptions.”

More Water, Mom? H2O Is Top Kids’ Beverage in U.S. – September 13, 2018 – HealthDay –  U.S. kids are drinking far more water than sodas and fruit drinks, health officials say.  A new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds that water accounts for almost half of kids’ total beverage consumption.

Lead Found in Thousands of NYC School Water Fixtures – September 12, 2018 – NYC Patch – More than 12,000 water fixtures in New York City schools were recently found to have elevated levels of lead — and more than 1,100 have not been completely fixed, the Department of Education said Tuesday.

Water coolers replace school drinking fountains in Detroit – September 4, 2018 – FOX News/AP – Thousands of Detroit public schools students were told Tuesday to drink from district-supplied water coolers or bottled water on the first day of classes, after the drinking fountains were shut off because of contaminants in some water fixtures.

As Climate Warms, Algae Blooms In Drinking Water Supplies – September 3, 2018 – NPR – The vague warning jolted citizens in and around Salem, Oregon to attention on May 29. “Civil Emergency in this area until 1128PM,” read the text message alert. “Prepare for action.” It was a ham-handed message — one that left some wondering if an attack was imminent. In fact, the danger officials wanted to warn them about wasn’t coming from the sky. It was coming from their taps.

New tests identify contaminated drinking water in minutes, not weeks –  August 30, 2018 Rex Merrifield, Horizon: The EU Research & Innovation Magazine – Speedy, affordable water tests that can be used in on location and even run continuously will help scientists identify disease-causing bacteria in under an hour and potentially reduce the spread of common illnesses such as diarrhoea, which kills an estimated 842,000 people every year.

Detroit to shut drinking water to all schools after lead found – August 29, 2018 – Reuters – Detroit authorities on Wednesday ordered drinking water shut off at all 110 city public schools pending further testing after elevated levels of lead and copper were found in water at more than a dozen buildings.

NC science panel: Health goal for GenX in drinking water is right – August 20, 2018 – The Fayetteville Observer/AP – RALEIGH — A state science panel said Monday that state health officials were right to set a health target for a little-studied industrial chemical found in drinking water at a level 500 times lower than the manufacturer proposed.

How chemicals can make their way into an area’s groundwater supply – August 21, 2018 – ClickOrlando.com – Florida had the 2nd highest amount residents affected by contamination in 2015. When the groundwater supply in two Brevard County cities tested positive for cancer-causing chemicals, residents demanded answers. Primarily about how the chemicals found their way into the water supply at all, and how their presence would affect living in the area.

CMS found lead in water at 27 schools. Dozens more are untested. Should you worry? – August 13, 2018 – Charlotte Observer – This is bound to set off alarms in homes across the county: When Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools ran lead tests on drinking fountains and sinks at 58 schools last fall, 27 had unacceptably high levels of the dangerous element that can be found in older plumbing.

White House called toxins contamination ‘PR nightmare’ – August 13, 2018 – AP News – HORSHAM, Pa. (AP) — Lauren Woeher wonders if her 16-month-old daughter has been harmed by tap water contaminated with toxic industrial compounds used in products like nonstick cookware, carpets, firefighting foam and fast-food wrappers. Henry Betz, at 76, rattles around his house alone at night, thinking about the water his family unknowingly drank for years that was tainted by the same contaminants, and the pancreatic cancers that killed wife Betty Jean and two others in his household.

Deadly toxins in water supply a ‘wake up call’ for US authorities – August 7, 2018 – Newsweek – The swimmers and kayakers of Oregon are no strangers to algae. In recent years, warnings of infestations in ponds and lakes have become routine. When an early-summer algal bloom developed on Detroit Lake near Salem this May, state and city officials knew exactly what tests to run and advisories to issue.

Drugged waters – how modern medicine is turning into an environmental curse – August 6, 2018 – United Nations Environment – As the world’s population expands and we become wealthier, drugs and chemical-based care products become more prevalent. While pharmaceuticals are essential for human health and well-being, less is known on the effects they have on the freshwater sources on which we depend for our existence, and their impact on human health and biota.

Lead contamination in schools’ drinking water worse than previously thought – August 6, 2018 – MultiBriefs – Lead contamination in U.S. schools is more pervasive than previously thought, new water testing results from 20 states say. The data was published in an interactive map by Environment America and U.S. PIRG in June.

Is there a new water crisis in Michigan? – July 31, 2018 – CNN – On Sunday, Michigan’s lieutenant governor called a state of emergency for Kalamazoo County due to water contaminated with chemicals at more 20 times the threshold set by the US Environmental Protection Agency. It’s yet another site on a growing list of those around the state contaminated with the chemicals PFAS or PFOA.

Off your mental game? You could be mildly dehydrated. – July 30, 2018 – NPR – “We find that when people are mildly dehydrated they really don’t do as well on tasks that require complex processing or on tasks that require a lot of their attention,” says Mindy Millard-Stafford, director of the Exercise Physiology Laboratory at Georgia Institute of Technology. She published an analysis of the evidence this month, based on 33 studies.

Watchdog says lack of EPA oversight helped cause ‘catastrophic’ Flint water crisis – July 22, 2018 – CNN – A report from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of the Inspector General strongly criticizes the local, state and federal government’s response to the Flint water crisis in 2015 and 2016.

Water shouldn’t make Americans sick – it will cost $105 billion to ensure it doesn’t.  – July 19, 2018 – The Hill – The American Society of Civil Engineers gives the nation’s drinking water infrastructure a D grade. There are 240,000 water main breaks across the country each year, and 6 billion gallons of treated water are lost each year to leaking pipes. An estimated $105 billion is needed to upgrade our country’s drinking water and wastewater systems. We also need to protect and restore our rivers. Nationally, rivers provide more than two-thirds of our drinking water supplies. Healthy rivers, wetlands and floodplains are natural infrastructure, vital to our safety and economy.

Study: Water softeners partly to blame for Minn.’s salty lakes, streams – July 15, 2018 – MPR News – Most efforts to reduce chloride levels in Minnesota lakes and rivers have focused on salt used to keep roads and highways clear of ice. But a new study from the University of Minnesota found that home water softeners are sending a significant amount of salt into the environment.

North metro Denver groundwater contaminated with PFCs is flowing into a drinking-water system that supplies 50,000 residents – July 13, 2018 – The Denver Post – Drinking-water well tests in north metro Denver have detected perfluorinated chemicals contamination at levels up to 32 times higher than a federal health advisory limit, forcing utility officials to dilute the tainted supply before it reaches people.

This is exactly how much water you need to drink in a day. – June 26, 2018 – MSN Lifestyle, Ashley Oerman, Cosmopolitan – Real talk on that whole eight glasses a day thing. Although you may prefer wine, water makes up roughly 60 percent of your body, where it seriously pulls its weight: It helps transport nutrients to your cells, moves waste out of your body, and plays an important role in respiration and energy metabolism, according to the National Academy of Sciences’s Institute of Medicine.

Does your school have lead in its drinking water? – Interactive map: San Diego County schools that had lead in their drinking water – July 5, 2018 – The San Diego Union-Tribune – Eleven schools in San Diego County had unsafe levels of lead in drinking water last year, according to new data from the California State Water Resources Control Board, and more test results are expected soon as schools adhere to new legislation.

OSU-Cascades prof gets $2 million grant for water research – July 2, 2018 – KTVZ – BEND, Ore. – A researcher at Oregon State University-Cascades will lead a team working on turning salt water into drinking water as part of a $21 million national effort.

Chemicals found in local water prompt new alerts to customers.   – June 19, 2018 – Dayton Daily News – Potentially dangerous chemical compounds detected for the first time in area drinking water prompted Dayton and Montgomery County to notify their customers. The discovery also prompted a warning from an independent expert.

Nebraska Environmental Trust awards grant to NU/Nebraska Water Center to research nitrate mitigation – June 18, 2018 – Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute, University of Nebraska – The Nebraska Environmental Trust recently awarded $85,000 to the University of Nebraska Board of Regents to fund a new research project, “Novel approaches for controlling nitrate leaching and protecting Nebraska groundwater,” conducted by the Nebraska Water Center, part of the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute. This is the first year of award with a potential for second-year funding totaling $79,306.

Michigan Enacts Toughest Lead Rules in U.S. After Flint Crisis – June 15th, 2018 – Associated Press – Michigan on Thursday began enforcing the nation’s strictest rules for lead in drinking water, a plan that eventually will result in replacing all 500,000 lead service pipes statewide in the wake of the contamination of Flint’s supply.

EPA Sets June PFAS Event in New Hampshire – June 14, 2018 – WAMC Northeast Public Radio – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is inviting Vermonters to attend a regional summit on unregulated PFAS chemicals later this month in New Hampshire. Following a summit in Washington D.C. in May, the EPA has scheduled a two-day event in Exeter, New Hampshire to hear from people affected by PFAS chemicals.

Oregon Health Authority to Require Testing for Cyanotoxins in Drinking Water – June 5, 2018 – Statesman Journal – The Oregon Health Authority will soon require routine testing of water sources for toxins like those discovered in Salem’s drinking water.

Washington State to Test Drinking Water for PFAS Contamination Linked to Firefighting Foam – May 21, 2018 – The Seattle Times – The Washington Department of Health plans to test several hundred water systems in the state for trace contamination of more than a dozen chemicals found in some firefighting foams.

Boil Water Notice Issued in Fort Lauderdale following Water Main Break – CBS Miami – Folks in and around Downtown Fort Lauderdale are dealing with the effects of a water main break.

EPA Gives $1.9 Million to Researcher to Find Lead in Water – April 25, 2018 – CNN – The EPA has awarded the Virginia Tech researcher who first identified lead in water systems in Flint, Michigan, and Washington, DC, with a $1.9 million grant to study other American cities where lead-tainted water is suspected — but where residents are struggling to get help from their governments.

Florida Bill Allows Sewage Dumping in Drinking Water Aquifers – March 12, 2018 – Miami New Times – Miamians get nearly all of their drinking water from the Biscayne Aquifer, a clean source of natural H2O that stretches underground from the southern tip of the state north to Palm Beach County.

Why are Texas’ smaller utilities not cleaning up drinking water? – January 22, 2018 – The Texas Tribune – Dozens of small and rural utilities in the state have for years provided water that contains illegal levels of radiation, lead and arsenic. Lack of resources is largely to blame — but there’s more to it than that.

EPA News Release: EPA Seeks Input from State Partners on Lead and Copper Rule – December 14, 2017  – EPA – WASHINGTON  — Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sent letters to state partners on forthcoming proposed regulatory revisions to the existing Lead and Copper Rule (LCR). These changes are intended to not only improve the protection of public health, but the effective implementation of the rule as well.

West Michigan school gets bottled water amid tests for hazardous chemicals – October 17, 2017 – ROCKFORD, Mich. (AP) (10/12/2017) – Officials are shutting off drinking fountains and providing bottled water at a middle school in western Michigan as they test water for possible hazardous chemicals from a decades-old tannery waste dump site nearby.

Energy drinks ‘health risk’ claim prompts reaction from CBA – September 27, 2017 – FOODBEV Media – The Canadian Beverage Association (CBA) has defended the industry’s record on advertising sports drinks and energy drinks to children, after the Canadian Paediatric Society (CPS) labelled them “potential risks for the health of children”.

Test Results Show Cleveland Water Could Bring Health Problems to Residents – September 12, 2017 – KRMG – The water in Cleveland, Oklahoma, could pose a major health risk for those drinking it.

Experts Warn of Hurricane Harvey Drinking Water Health Risks – August 30, 2017 – W&WD – Rescue efforts continued as Tropical Storm Harvey battered southeast Texas and southwest Louisiana. Health officials are warning residents of the health dangers they could face as floodwaters rise and drinking water supplies are compromised in the wake of the hurricane-turned-tropical storm.

HALF of America’s black and Hispanic citizens are dehydrated because they don’t have access to chemical-free water, Harvard study reveals – August 11, 2017  -Mail Online- Black and Hispanic adults in the US have higher rates of dehydration than whites due to a lack of access to safe, clean tap water, researchers say.

Officials find evidence of E. coli at hydration station at U.S. Open – June 16, 2017 – ESPN.com News – Health officials said evidence of E. coli bacteria was found at a hydration station at the Erin Hills golf course, site of the U.S. Open in Erin, Wisconsin.

Fecal microbes found in 60 percent of sampled Kewaunee County wells – June 15, 2017 – HNG News, The Star – Tests show waste from Kewaunee County’s 97,000 head of cattle contaminates majority of wells.

What You Should Know About Drinking Water (but Probably Don’t) – June 1, 2017 – NBC News, Better – Everything you need to know about the most essential part of your daily diet.

Virginia public schools will be required to test drinking water for lead – May 22, 2017 – Waterworld – A new law will require public schools in Virginia to test their drinking water sources for lead beginning next month.

Access to drinking water around the world – in five infographics  – March 17, 2017 – The Guardian – Billions of people have gained access to clean and safe drinking water since 1990, but data show that huge inequalities remain

Unsafe Levels of Lead Found in Nearly 10 Percent of Drinking Water Faucets Tested in City Schools – February 6, 2017 – Spectrum News NY 1 – Unsafe levels of lead have been found in the drinking water from nearly 10 percent of the faucets tested in city schools. Nearly every school tested had at least one faucet with tainted water, the result of old pipes and plumbing fixtures. NY1’s Lindsey Christ filed the following report.

America’s Lead Crisis Continues: Steps to protect your family – January 24, 2017 – KTBS News – Flint, Mich.; Chicago Ill.; St. Joseph, La. Growing concerns about the quality of our drinking water has a lot of people on edge.

Investigations reveal startling scope of lead in drinking water – December 20, 2016 – PBS Newshour  – Flint is not alone in having a lead contamination problem. Two recent news investigation find two startling numbers. A Reuters investigation of lead levels in blood found nearly 3,000 areas in the country with contamination levels higher than those in Flint.

Where have high levels of lead been found in drinking water? This map will show you – November 21, 2016 – PIX11 NEWS – Almost 200 water systems in New York and New Jersey have exceeded the federal action level for lead in drinking water during the past 3 to 4 years, according to data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Flint water crisis prompts lead testing in Massachusetts schools – November 7, 2016 – South Coast Today
– More than 99 Massachusetts school buildings across at least 22 communities have tested positive for elevated lead levels since June, when the state launched a new grant program to help schools test their water.

For Weight Loss, Water Beats Diet Soda – October 20, 2016 – The New York Times
– Researchers put 81 overweight women with Type 2 diabetes on the same weight-control diet, except that half drank diet beverages five times a week after their main meal at lunch, while the other half substituted plain water. The study is in Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism.

Tests show drinking water contamination above EPA advisory level in Gadsden area– September 20, 2016 – WHNT News
– The Alabama Department of Public Health announced that more systems have tested above the EPA threshold for safe drinking water, when it comes to PFC contamination. A news release from the department says two tests from the Gadsden Water Works and Sewer Board tested above EPA advisory levels.

Lead Tests on New York City Schools’ Water May Have Masked Scope of Risk – August 31, 2016 – New York Times
– According to the city, every water outlet in each school was turned on fully for two hours the night before the samples were taken — a practice known as pre-stagnation flushing that cleans most soluble lead and lead particles from pipes and thus reduces lead levels temporarily.

New Study Shows High Potential for Groundwater to be Corrosive in Half of U.S. States – July 13, 2016 – USGS NEWS – A new U.S. Geological Survey assessment of more than 20,000 wells nationwide shows that untreated groundwater in 25 states has a high prevalence of being potentially corrosive. The states with the largest percentage of wells with potentially corrosive groundwater are located primarily in the Northeast, the Southeast, and the Northwest.

CDC: Flint water crisis “entirely preventable” – June 25, 2016 – CBS News – Analysis of blood samples from young children from Flint, Mich., shows they had much more lead in their blood after the city began using local drinking water in an effort to cut costs, a new U.S. government study reveals.

At least 33 US cities used water testing ‘cheats’ over lead concerns – June 2, 2016 – The Guardian – Guardian investigation reveals testing regimes similar to that of Flint were in place in major cities including Chicago, Boston and Philadelphia

Lead in Portland Public Schools’ drinking water – May 31, 2016 – NBC News – Recent tests that showed high levels of lead in water at two Portland schools raised questions about when Portland Public Schools learned about the contamination and why school leaders waited so long to tell parents about the issue.

Elizabeth schools failed to report lead in drinking water to parents for three years – April 4, 2016 – New York’s PIX11 – Elizabeth Public Schools never told parents about drinking water tests in 2013 that turned up positive for lead in 12 school buildings.

Students Reveal How They Broke the Lead Contamination Case in Flint, Mich. – March 1, 2015 – Scientific American – Officials criticized them as bogus “magicians,” but making data transparent caused residents to demand action

Emails Reveal Early Suspicions of a Flint Link to Legionnaires’ Disease – February 4, 2016 – The New York Times – Michigan state officials were aware of an increase in Legionnaires’ disease cases and a possible tie to Flint’s troubled water supply at least 10 months before Gov. Rick Snyder informed the public of the situation last month, newly obtained emails show.

Millions of Americans may be drinking poisoned water – January 26, 2016 – msn.com  – Water tests are being manipulated in “every major U.S. city east of the Mississippi,” an anonymous source intimately familiar with lead and copper regulations told The Guardian.

Flint’s drinking water crisis: 5 things to know – January 19, 2016 – USA Today – The state of Michigan downplayed and largely ignored the immediate complaints about the smell, color and taste of the water in 2014. Here’s what you need to know about how the public health crisis has evolved…