New Report by Michigan Environmental Agency is a Valuable Resource for WRRFs
IDs Industrial Sources of PFAS

According to a new report from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) entitled Michigan Industrial Pretreatment Program (IPP) PFAS Initiative - Identified Sources of PFOS to Municipal WWTPs -- the major sources of perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) sources to water resources recovery facilities (WRRFs) in Michigan were landfills that accepted industrial wastes, metal finishers with a history of fume suppressant use, and contaminated sites associated with industries or activities with PFOS usage.  An EGLE spokesperson said other PFOS sources found by the Department included centralized waste treaters, paper manufacturing/ packaging, commercial industrial laundries, chemical manufacturers, and sewers contaminated with Aqueous Film Forming Foam (AFFF) using in fire fighting.  In addition, the report states:

The report could be an invaluable resource for Industrial Pretreatment Programs and PFAS source reduction.  For more information about EGLE’s IPP Initiative, go to its website.

EPA Funds Major Research Projects on PFAS

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced grant awards to study PFAS impacts in rural communities and agricultural operations and improved wastewater treatment methods to remove PFAS from water and biosolids that may be used for agricultural purposes. These grants were mandated by Congress to advance understanding of the occurrence, fate and transport of PFAS in the environment.  EPA will provide a total of $4,793,718 in funding to three universities for these PFAS studies.

Purdue University will receive about $1.6 million for its proposed research study to be led by Dr. Linda Lee.  This project, which NEBRA supported and will play a minor in, will evaluate PFAS occurrence and fate in rural water supplies and agricultural operations in order to inform management strategies. For a much more detailed article about this project featuring Dr. Lee, check out Treatment Plant Operator magazine. 

About $1.5 million in EPA funds will go to Indiana University which teamed up with Research Triangle Institute and the University of Southern California.  Professor Gibson MacDonald will lead a team to develop a modeling approach for predicting PFAS occurrence in private wells.  This project will employ citizen scientists to collect data.  The project title is Predicting and Communicating PFAS Exposure Risks from Rural Private Wells. The third EPA grant will go to a team from the University of Georgia and Georgia Tech to study Improved Methods to Manage PFASs for Small Water and Wastewater Treatment Systems in Rural Areas.

WBE Continues to Evolve and Aid in COVID Response

In its August regulatory update, the National Association of Clean Water Agencies provided some great information about the status of the Wastewater-Based Epidemiology (WBE) work going on at water resource recovery facilities all across the nation.  WBE is of great interest to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Centers for Disease Control and these federal agencies continue to be actively involved, along with state health departments, in developing standardized methods and identifying critical utilities to participate in the wastewater testing efforts.  NACWA reports that the federal Department of Homeland Security also has an interest in WBE.

Although there continues to be a few research gaps preventing the widespread effective use of WBE -- understanding individual fecal shedding rates is one -- WBE is being used all over to detect the SARS-CoV-2 virus in a community’s wastewater which is working as an early indicator of an upcoming outbreak.  As students return to college campuses, WBE is being used to proactively monitor the health of its students to prevent COVID breakouts.  In two prominent cases, the University of Arizona and the University of Utah were able to detect and contain an outbreak in student dormitories. Utah estimates that 80% of its residents are being monitored for COVID-19 using WBE.   

The National Science Foundation is funding the Research Coordination Network on SARS-CoV-2 wastewater surveillance. The Network, which held its kickoff meeting on September 2nd, will address the remaining critical research questions around using WBE to warn of COVID outbreaks.  According to NSF, “the goal of the Research Coordination Network is to connect interested researchers and individuals to rapidly advance the science of SARS-CoV-2 wastewater surveillance.”

NACWA Continues Support for EPA's Biosolids Procurement Designation  

In comments filed on July 6, the National Association of Clean Water Administrators continued its support of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency maintaining the existing Comprehensive Procurement Guideline Designations (CPG) and Recovered Materials Advisory Notice (RMAN) recommendations for landscaping products, which includes compost made from recovered organic materials like biosolids.  NACWA has supported this designation since 2003 when biosolids were first proposed to be added under CPG V and the corresponding RMAN V. Under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Section 6002, EPA must follow established requirements for the procurement of products containing recovered materials. This effort leverages the purchasing power of the federal government and further encourages the ongoing support and market for the land application of biosolids. Read the full story in the Clean Water Current. Courtesy of NACWA.