The American Water Works Association has released its list of products and services to help water utilities manage the safety and security of their utilities and infrastructure, and has offered free seminars, sponsored by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
"Now, more than ever, the security of our water utilities is imperative. AWWA can provide counsel and the tools that will help utility managers and personnel assess, plan, and respond if and when security is threatened," stated AWWA Executive Director, Jack Hoffbur. The EPA-sponsored seminars address terrorism and security in the water industry.
AWWA has also produced a series of videos, books, and manuals that provide water utilities with the guidance they need to protect a community's water supply. Technical information on waterborne pathogens and emergency planning for water utility management help utility managers improve microbial water quality and ward off both natural disasters and human-caused incidents. Critical infrastructure and storage tank safety and security videos enable personnel to detect deliberate acts of aggression and areas of potential vulnerability while protecting the water supply from unwanted intrusion.
Water utility managers and personnel can learn more about these security and preparedness resources on the AWWA website at: www.awwa.org/secureresources.html.
A "water stadium" in the northwest corner of the greater Paris area, is getting wet and wild with a whitewater slalom course. The new stadium uses water diverted from the Cergy-Neuville artificial lake used for sailing and swimming to create a 250 metre-long river.
Four propeller-driven PLS 7121, 300 kW Flygt pumps lift up to 16 cubic metres of water per second to the top of the course, allowing gravity to push it through the winding course at speeds up to five metres per second. The speed of the water can be controlled by the pumps, allowing for high-speed kayaking or slower-paced canoeing and rafting.
Flygt was selected for the job based on its pumping expertise for whitewater courses, most notably showcased at the recent Olympics in Sydney, Australia, and Barcelona, Spain. As in Sydney, Flygt France worked in partnership with engineers from EDF, who developed a system of moveable plastic obstacles that allow the river to take on different configurations.
Are people getting sicker from food today than they were 50 years ago? What may be different are the pathogens. Advances in food processing and environmental engineering in the developed world have minimized threats such as cholera and botulism. New hazards, however, have emerged with imported foods and changes in the scale of food production. The decline in home cooking is also a factor.
Among the bacteria that can make one sick are:
Escherichia coli O157:H7 was first identified as a cause of disease in 1982. This pathogen produces a powerful toxin that causes bloody diarrhea and occasionally kidney failure. Infections are most common through eating undercooked ground beef but can be caused by contaminated drinking water.
Campylobacter jejuni is common in poultry flocks and has become the leading cause of bacterial food-borne disease in the US. Exposure to a small number of microbes can cause illness, but most infected persons recover within a week.
Salmonella enteritidis. Almost any food tainted by infected animal feces will carry Salmonella bacteria. Especially high-risk carriers are chicken and eggs. Infections have leveled off, but an emerging strain shows high rates of drug resistance.
Listeria monocytogenes. Listeria is found in many foods, including soft cheeses and processed meats like hot dogs. It is able to survive refrigeration. Pregnant women, babies, and people with weakened immune systems are most susceptible.
Shigella sonnei. Irrigation water fouled by sewage or manure transfers Shigella to food. The bacteria cause a highly infectious disease that is spread by physical contact. Children in day-care centres are the most vulnerable.
A comprehensive $16-million action plan to strengthen drinking water protection in BC has been announced by Health Services Minister Colin Hansen.
The Drinking Water Action Plan is based on eight key principles for safe drinking water, which focus on preventing contamination, and identifying potential risks and appropriate water-quality improvements. The plan establishes clear accountability for safe drinking water under the leadership of the Minister of Health Services, and provides the provincial health officer with a new mandate and responsibility for drinking water. Drinking water protection officers will be established in all regional health authorities.
The government will establish a groundwater advisory board, as well as a drinking water advisory committee to provide expert technical advice on regulations and standards. Changes will be sensitive to the unique needs of small water systems with fewer than 15 connections. Although small water systems represent the majority of water systems in BC, they only serve 2% of the population.
The direct cost of the action plan is $16 million annually, which will be funded on a cost-recovery basis. Longer-term costs of future infrastructure needs will be identified through the source-to-tap assessments, and cost-recovery options will be developed. The government has already begun $109 million in cost-shared, water-related infrastructure projects, with further projects under consideration.
ONDEO Degrémont, Inc. has been awarded United States Patent Number 6,375,909 for inventing a method to remove mercury and nitrogen oxides from combustion flue gas. Two employees, Ky Dangtran, Ph.D., Senior Principal Engineer, and Troy Holst, Senior Engineer, were the inventors.
In commercial scale studies at the Northwest Bergen County Utilities Authority Wastewater Plant in Waldwick, New Jersey, Dangtran and Holst determined that both mercury and nitrogen oxides can be converted into more soluble ash products through the injection of calcium chloride and through flue gas cooling. Soluble products can then be removed from the combustion flue gas by absorption in a wet scrubber. The technique to capture both hazardous gases is simple and cost-effective.
Contact: info@ondeo-degremont-usa.com.
The Standards Council of Canada (SCC) has granted accreditation to the Canadian Association for Environmental Analytical Laboratories (CAEAL) as a Proficiency Testing (PT) Provider. This followed an evaluation of the Association against the nationally recognized criteria set by the SCC in CAN-P-1593, Guidelines for the Recognition of Proficiency Testing Schemes. The Canadian recognition includes international criteria established by the International Laboratory Accreditation Co-operation (ILAC), in ILAC G13:2000, Guidelines for the Requirements for the Competence of Providers of Proficiency Testing Schemes.
Contact: www.caeal.ca.
The University of Toronto is organizing and hosting the 2002 Education and Research Conference of the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors (AEESP) and American Association of Environmental Engineers (AAEE). This will be held on the St. George Campus, August 10-14.
The theme of the 2002 conference is Integrated Environmental Teaching, Research and Practice: Linking Engineering and Science to Address Complex Problems. There will also be workshops on Saturday, August 10 and Sunday, August 11, and technical tours on Wednesday, August 14.
Over 200 professors and eminent practitioners from across North America are expected to attend.
Detailed information, including the program, are given on the conference web site at: www.ecf.utoronto.ca/apsc/enveng/enviro.
The Government of Canada is proposing to add three cancer-causing air pollutants to the List of Toxic Substances under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) following scientific assessments conducted by Environment Canada and Health Canada. Canadians will have 60 days to comment on the proposal to add the substances to Schedule 1 of CEPA before the government makes a final decision.
The three substances are ethylene oxide, formaldehyde and N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA). Ethylene oxide is used to produce ethylene glycol and in manufacturing other compounds. Formaldehyde is used in the production of resins, and is found in motor vehicle exhaust and tobacco smoke. NDMA is not used in Canada but is released as a by-product of the manufacture of pesticides, rubber tires, and dyes. NDMA has also been detected in drinking water and in automobile exhaust.
All three substances were selected for scientific assessment of their impact on human health and the environment in 1995 by an expert panel that made recommendations for substances to be included on the second Priority Substances List (PSL 2) under CEPA, to determine whether they pose a significant risk to the health of Canadians or the environment.
Contact: www.ec.gc.ca.
Biomasse International Inc. has signed a contract to sell $5 million of steam to J. Ford Inc., a Québec-based specialized pulp and paper producer. J. Ford will purchase steam produced by Biomasse's innovative Waste-to-Energy Process over the next five years.
"This is our first completed contract and represents an extremely important event for us," said Benoît Dufresne, President of Biomasse International Inc. "We have now moved from the development stage to a revenue-producing stage."
Biomasse's Waste-to-Energy Process uses the waste sludge and wood residues from pulp and paper mills to create steam energy in an effective and environmentally-friendly manner. The steam that is generated by burning the waste sludge and wood residues is used to produce heat and/or electrical energy and is sold at a price that is very competitive with the price of steam produced by burning fossil fuels in paper mills. Benefits for the client include the reduction by more than 90% of the amount of solid waste, an increase in total efficiency of existing steam facilities, as well as the elimination of methane emissions associated with landfill and the reduction of the global emission rates of gases responsible for the greenhouse effect.
Contact: www.biomasseint.com.