Safe drinking water may not need to contain a residual disinfectant
This work critically evaluates the current paradigm of water distribution system management and juxtaposes that with the potential benefits of employing UV irradiation, which we hope will catalyze a critical re-evaluation of the current practices in water distribution system management and spur critical research and a new way of thinking about secondary disinfection across the extent of distribution systems. Given the recent advances in UV technology and the efficacy of UV disinfection against all pathogen classes, we now see UV applications for disinfection in many aspects of consumers lives: in water coolers, dishwashers, coffee makers, and disinfection of personal items like gym bags, water bottles, and toothbrushes. Public and regulatory concern over water quality and pathogens, especially the recent interest in building plumbing, calls out for new approaches to disinfection and distribution system management. We envision a new model for secondary disinfection in water distribution systems utilizing emerging germicidal UV LED-based disinfection. UV irradiation in water treatment can achieve high levels of disinfection of all pathogens and minimize or eliminate the formation of regulated disinfection by-products. So why is UV not considered as a secondary disinfectant for distribution systems? In this paper, we lay out the logic as to the benefits and practicality of adding distributed UV treatment to assist in protection of distribution systems and protect water quality for human exposure.
Water utilities face a variety of challenges in meeting future demands under climate uncertainty, addressing aging infrastructure, ensuring water quality, and reducing energy use. The agility of the utility to implement innovative solutions to these challenges depends upon a variety of factors including utility governance and culture, regulatory environment, condition and performance of water infrastructure, and funding mechanisms for system improvements. The consequences of failing to meet these challenges could include environmental degradation, public health risks, and reductions in the level of service customers have come to expect, all at a highly elevated price. Two different types of water utilities are compared in this context: privately owned companies (using UK water companies as examples) and publicly owned utilities (using US municipal utilities as examples). Examples of innovation in the water industry, in the US and UK as well as globally, provide insight into the key barriers and opportunities for change. The successful drivers of innovation in the water industry are shown to include: a supportive culture at the water utility; a regulatory regime that allows or even promotes innovation; the financial ability to undertake research and implement improvements; and crucially, the backing of the public. Ultimately, neither the municipal nor the private model is perfect but the best elements of these could be combined as the basis for an innovative water utility of the future. © 2015 The Author. WIREs Water published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. How to cite this article:WIREs Water 2015, 2:301-313. doi: 10.1002/wat2.1082 INTRODUCTIONG lobal challenges related to water availability, aging infrastructure, ensuring water quality, and energy use reduction will require innovative solutions. Yet, the water sector is considered conservative and risk averse. This paper examines innovation in the water industry from the perspective of a water systems engineer with more than 20 years of experience in developing strategic plans for water utilities, working both in the US and the UK. Two different types of * Correspondence to: v.speight@sheffield.ac.uk water utilities are compared here: privately owned companies (using UK water companies as examples) and publicly owned utilities (using US municipal utilities as examples).Both types of water utilities face similar challenges, with assets that are reaching or have already reached the end of their useful service life and now require replacement or upgrading at a significant cost. To evaluate the potential for innovation and the barriers to achieving change, it is important to consider a variety of factors including water utility governance and culture, regulatory environment, condition and performance of water infrastructure, and funding of system improvements. Examples of innovation in the water industry, in the US and the UK as well as globally, provide insight into the key motivations for change. Ultimately, neither the municipal nor the Focus Articlewires.wiley.com...
We conducted a field study in Corpus Christi, Texas, and Cobb County, Georgia, to evaluate exposure measures for disinfection by-products, with special emphasis on trihalomethanes (THMs). Participants were mothers living in either geographic area who had given birth to healthy infants from June 1998 through May 1999. We assessed exposure by sampling blood and water and obtaining information about water use habits and tap water characteristics. Two 10-mL whole blood samples were collected from each participant before and immediately after her shower. Levels of individual THM species (chloroform, bromodichloromethane, dibromochloromethane, and bromoform) were measured in whole blood [parts per trillion (pptr)] and in water samples (parts per billion). In the Corpus Christi water samples, brominated compounds accounted for 71% of the total THM concentration by weight; in Cobb County, chloroform accounted for 88%. Significant differences in blood THM levels were observed between study locations. For example, the median baseline blood level of bromoform was 0.3 pptr and 3.5 pptr for participants in Cobb County and Corpus Christi, respectively (p = 0.0001). Differences were most striking in blood obtained after showering. For bromoform, the median blood levels were 0.5 pptr and 17 pptr for participants in Cobb County and Corpus Christi, respectively (p = 0.0001). These results suggest that blood levels of THM species vary substantially across populations, depending on both water quality characteristics and water use activities. Such variation has important implications for epidemiologic studies of the potential health effects of disinfection by-products.
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