WASDA News Briefs

Since Antiquity, water has represented the very essence of life. Primitive cultures perceived water as a gift from the gods as it rained from the heavens. The most powerful deities worshipped by the ancient Greeks lived in and commanded the waters. In modern times, humans living in industrialized societies have lost touch with the miracle that is water. We turn on the faucet and expect it to be there when we need it. Most Americans take water for granted.

As WASDA members, unlike our neighbors and friends, we appreciate the significance and importance of having a strong and safe water infrastructure. WASDA NewsBriefs are our means to stay on top of key issues and developments concerning this vital industry.

April 2007

"Many of the wars of this (20th) century were about oil, but the wars of the next century will be about water". Thus spoke former World Bank Vice President Ismail Serageldin in 2003. If this statement proves to be accurate, we WASDA members will be key players on a worldwide stage over the next decade. WASDA News Briefs are designed to educate and inform the membership about issues, legislation, events and new products in this ever-more-important industry.

News

"P3 Feature: Airports, Sewers Are Seen as the Next New Frontier"
"L.A. to Turn Sludge From Treated Wastewater Into Energy"
"Reliant Energy Sued, Accused of Polluting Conemaugh River"
"Gray Water's Red Tape"
"Minneapolis Constructs Continent's Largest Pressurized Ultrafiltration System"
"US Drank 9.5 Percent More Bottled Water in '06" unty"

Advocacy / Opinions

"'Coping With Water Scarcity': UN Marks World Water Day"
"Rivers Run Towards 'Crisis Point'"
"Editorial: End the Squabbling Over Metro Area Water System"

Legislative/ Government

"Water-Compact Debate Tests Unity of Great Lakes Region"
"Banned in Chicago ... but Available in Stores"
"Shipping Groups Sue Michigan Over State's New Ballast-Water Law"
"Mayor Says No to Aqua's Bid for Youngstown Water System"
"Development Runoff Fees Debated"
"Suburbs in Flood Regions Plan to Stay Above Water"

P3 Feature: Airports, Sewers Are Seen as the Next New Frontier
Bond Buyer (03/28/07) Vol. 359, No. 32598, P. 12A ; Sanchez, Humberto

Experts say that sewer infrastructure could become the next big thing in long-term lease concession deals in the United States. According to a 2002 assessment by the EPA, a $270 billion shortfall exists between what is now spent on sewer infrastructure improvements and what will be needed through 2019. The San Diego sewer system alone is in need of about $1 billion, while Atlanta's water and sewer systems need up to $3 billion. "We see these numbers and they are quite staggering," says Geoffrey Segal, director of government reform for the Reason Foundation. Privatization could provide cities and counties with the much needed funding. Segal says that sewer more than drinking water infrastructure will appeal to investors. "It is more politically tenable for the private sector to clean dirty water than to provide what comes out of the tap," he says. "It is probable more likely in sewer systems than water systems because of the politics involved." But before privatization can get off the ground, someone will have to be the first to test the waters. "The key is having that first successful project to really open the floodgates and really show people how it can work and that it would work," says Segal. "Once that first city comes in, or once that first sewer system signs the concession deal, it won't be too long before [others follow]." Though no districts are now actively seeking privatization, Jefferson County, Ala., did reportedly explore the possibility. Local news reports say that Goldman Sachs briefed the county commission on a proposal for a private firm to lease 3,100 miles of sewer lines along with 168 pumping stations and nine wastewater treatment facilities under a $4 billion, 99-year agreement.
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L.A. to Turn Sludge From Treated Wastewater Into Energy
Los Angeles Times (04/06/07) P. B3 ; Helfand, Duke

Los Angeles has launched a renewable energy project designed to harness the power-producing potential of wastewater while saving the city money and cutting greenhouse gas emissions. The effort entails the injection of biosolid material left over from treated wastewater into depleted underground oil and gas reservoirs, where the biosolid will be compressed by pressure and high temperatures, creating methane gas that will be captured to power fuel cells. The system, which will cost an estimated $3 million to $4 million to build, is expected to go live by the spring of 2008. Within three years, the system will be fully operational, producing enough electricity to power 3,000 homes. The system, in addition to producing about $2.4 million worth of energy a year, will cut in half the amount of treated solid waste Los Angeles must transport to a city-owned farm, where it is used as fertilizer, saving the city an additional $1.6 million in hauling costs. The initiative could end up serving as a model for other cities. "There is a great deal of interest among researchers, among operators, among other cities and utilities in exploring what can be gained as this operation moves forward," says Alexis Strauss, the EPA's water division director in California.
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Reliant Energy Sued, Accused of Polluting Conemaugh River
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (04/12/07) ; Hopey, Don

PennEnvironment has sued Reliant Energy on claims that Reliant's Conemaugh Generating Station in western Pennsylvania has violated its federal discharge permit under the U.S. Clean Water Act.. According to the suit filed in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh on April 10, Reliant's 37-year-old coal-fired power plant discharges 3 millions gallons of wastewater daily that contains potentially toxic metals such as selenium, manganese, aluminum, boron, and iron at concentrations that often surpass state pollution limits. PennEnvironment wants the court to halt the polluting discharges, which according to Reliant's own data occurred on approximately 200 days since February 2005. The court may also levy a fine of $32,500 for each of the violations. However, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has agreed not to enforce any pollution restrictions until 2011 because existing water pollution technology is unable to eliminate the pollutants. The DEP has called the Conemaugh River an "impaired water body" because of high levels of metals that are particularly toxic to fish.
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Gray Water's Red Tape
Los Angeles Times (03/29/07) ; Yoshihara, Nancy

Los Angeles in 1991 launched a pilot of gray-water reuse at eight homes in response to what was then an ongoing drought. Results of the project helped convince lawmakers to approve gray water for residential use, but just as interest was increasing, the drought was declared officially over, dampening conservation efforts. Today, interest still exists, but those wishing to install gray-water systems for irrigation or other purposes are running into red tape. While the use of gray water for single-family homes in California was approved in 1992, details such as permitting and inspections requirements were left up to local jurisdictions, resulting in a hodgepodge of guidelines. One county, for example, classifies gray-water holding tanks as a septic system though toilets flush to a sewer line and not the holding tanks, leading to jurisdictional issues related to inspection in urban settings since most septic systems are in rural areas and inspection of these systems are handled by mountain and rural inspectors. Furthermore, maintenance and repair of gray-water systems has emerged as an issue. "The installed pilot systems worked until they needed support/maintenance, and once they needed it, years after deployment, the installers were out of business and left no documentation that anyone could find, making maintenance even more difficult," says Andy Lipkis, president of Los Angeles environmental group TreePeople. Perhaps the biggest obstacle to wider use of gray-water systems, or at least the government's encouragement of use, are fears over the impact of gray water on the environment and human health. "The biggest concern is public well-being and public health," says Christine Magar, chairwoman of the American Institute of Architects' L.A. chapter committee on the environment. "With gray water, the concern is what kind of filtration requirements are good enough for nonpotable uses and potable uses. ... If every house has its own gray-water system, who is going to regulate and enforce it?"
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Minneapolis Constructs Continent's Largest Pressurized Ultrafiltration System
Civil Engineering (03/07) Vol. 77, No. 3, P. 20 ; Hansen, Brett

Municipal utility Minneapolis Water Works will replace its sand filtration system with ultrafiltration in order to meet the latest regulatory requirements and meet plant upgrade goals. The Fridley Membrane Filtration Plant (FMFP), which currently employs sedimentation, coagulation, and dual media filtration, will be upgraded once the ultrafiltration design is completed by CH2M Hill. Project manager from CH2M Hill Doug Lubben notes that the design will halve the plant, allowing one side to be shut down for maintenance, while the other continues to soften water and remove viruses, such as Giardia and Cryptosproridum, from water siphoned from the Mississippi River. Lubben indicated that computer modeling will help hydraulic elements perform efficiently in the pressurized membrane filtration process. However, since temperature can affect water properties, additional granular activated carbon filters could be needed in summer and spring months to reduce odor and taste changes in the water. Lubben also reports that in the winter months, the ultrafiltration plant's efficiency will be reduced from the standard capacity of 95 mgd to 75 mgd, which could prompt the utility to use the second half of the facility as a backup to the first.
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US Drank 9.5 Percent More Bottled Water in '06
Water Technology (04/10/07)

Per capita annual consumption of bottled water in the United States increased by over 2 gallons to 27.6 gallons between 2005 and 2006, according to the International Bottled Water Association and the Beverage Marketing Corp. Overall bottled water consumption rose by 9.5 percent to 8.25 billion gallons in the United States. Wholesale revenues from bottled water reached $11 billion, an 8.5 percent increase.
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'Coping With Water Scarcity': UN Marks World Water Day
UN Chronicle (03/29/07)

This year's theme at the U.N.'s World Water Day on March 22 was "Coping With Water Scarcity," reflecting the impact of population growth, unsustainable practices, poor management, pollution, inadequate investment, climate change, and inefficient water use on the world's potable water supplies. Speaking at the event, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said, "The state of the world's waters remains fragile and the need for an integrated and sustainable approach to water resource management is as pressing as ever." The observance featured a panel discussion on transboundary water that included U.S. Department of State senior advisor on water Aaron Salzberg, who noted that water was a source of tension among many nations. Nearly 40 percent of the world's population lives in river basins shared by two or more nations, he said, highlighting the importance of cooperation in river water management. Another focus of talk was climate change, which as it becomes more prevalent, will change the distribution of the world's water, said Christopher Williams of the World Wildlife Fund.
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Rivers Run Towards 'Crisis Point'
BBC News (03/20/07)

In its "World's Top 10 Rivers at Risk" report, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) warns that the world's major rivers are nearing the crisis point due to damn-building, over-extraction for potable supplies, invasive species, climate change, pollution, shipping, and other reasons. "The world is facing a massive freshwater crisis, which has the potential to be every bit as devastating as climate change," says David Tickner, head of the freshwater program at WWF-UK. "We need business leaders and governments to recognize that climate change is not the only urgent environmental issue that needs to be dealt with, and that they need to take notice of this freshwater emergency and act now, not later." The group is urging governments to ensure equitable and sustainable water allocation and industries to implement conservation policies.
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Editorial: End the Squabbling Over Metro Area Water System
Detroit Free Press (04/11/07)

The Detroit-area would be well served by an agreement between the city of Detroit and its suburbs over control of the Detroit-metro water system. Since 1977, when a pollution lawsuit was filed against the system by the federal government, federal Judge John Feikens has had the last word on the system. His efforts to reconcile the city and suburbs have failed thus far. Under the terms of a proposed agreement, the suburbs would decide who represents them on the water board in exchange for payment of a "franchise fee" for use of the system. Such a deal would give the suburbs greater say in water system decisions and thus allay concerns of unfair water rate hikes while giving Detroit much-needed funding to clean up and maintain the system. And of course, control of the system would finally be in the hands of the local government rather than Feikens.
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Water-Compact Debate Tests Unity of Great Lakes Region
Associated Press (04/01/07) ; Flesher, John

After spending four years formulating the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact, the eight states involved in the agreement find themselves contending with their worst enemy, themselves. The agreement, which treats the lakes and associated groundwater as a shared system, was devised to prevent water diversions to regions outside the pact's jurisdiction. It requires each state to adopt water conservation plans and regulate use. In February, Minnesota became the first state to ratify the compact, which has also cleared the Illinois House. Bills have been introduced in Michigan and Indiana but are not close to ratification there. Pennsylvania has not given the matter much attention yet, while in Ohio, approval has been held up by objections posed by state Sen. Tim Grendell (R-Cleveland) over language that says that the Great Lakes water is held in public trust. The lawmaker says this provision would allow governments to confiscate private property without compensation. New York's Senate objected to a provision allowing lawsuits against agencies over failure to enforce the agreement's standards. And in Wisconsin, Waukesha County, which straddles Lake Michigan's drainage area, is seeking an amendment to the compact to prevent any of the eight states from being able to veto diversions to the parts of straddling counties lying outside the drainage area.
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Banned in Chicago ... but Available in Stores
Chicago Tribune (04/04/07) ; Hawthorne, Michael

Despite passage of a 1971 ordinance banning the sale of detergents containing phosphates -- added as water softeners and stain removers -- to reduce the eutrophication of rivers and lakes, enforcement has been nearly nonexistent, leaving dishwashing products containing phosphate levels of up to 20 percent on store shelves. Naturally occurring phosphorus is a vital nutrient for plants, but too much in a lake or river contributes to excessive algae growth that can kill off fish and make drinking water taste sour. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, just one pound of man-made phosphates washed down a drain can lead to the growth of 500 pounds of algae. Lake Erie, the shallowest of the Great Lakes, was once so full of algae that it was left nearly uninhabitable for fish and other animals. Lawmakers in Illinois are now considering legislation that would outlaw all but trace amounts of phosphates in household detergents by July 2010, a move being vigorously opposed by detergent makers, who say phosphate-free products do not sell. While manufacturers did stop making phosphate laundry detergent in 1994, they only agreed to limit concentrations in most dishwashing products to 8.7 percent, though specialty products still contain more. Enforcement of Chicago's ban will not benefit the Great Lakes directly, since Chicago's runoff goes to the Mississippi River. But it could help an area located hundreds of miles away, where Chicago's runoff flows along with phosphate-containing fertilizers that are washed into tributaries across the Midwest to form a "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico. The proposed law in Illinois would not ban phosphates in industrial cleaners and fertilizers. Furthermore, Chicago's Metropolitan Water Reclamation District is not forced to filter out phosphates, though that could change under recent federal and state guidelines.
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Shipping Groups Sue Michigan Over State's New Ballast-Water Law
U.S. Water News (04/01/07)

Four shipping companies, four shipping associations, and one dock company have jointly filed suit in U.S. District Court in Detroit arguing that the Michigan Ballast Water Act is unconstitutional. The act, which went into effect Jan. 1, requires oceangoing vessels docking at Michigan ports to obtain a state permit by either promising not to discharge ballast water in Michigan waters or by installing one of four state-approved technologies designed to sanitize ballast tanks. The measure was enacted to prevent the further intrusion of invasive species into the Great Lakes. Nearly 200 such species have been found in the lakes. They are responsible for an estimated $200 million in ecological and economic losses each year. The zebra mussel alone is blamed for a total of $3.1 billion in damage since being introduced to the lakes through ballast water in 1988. "The ballast water statute places unreasonable burdens on interstate commerce and is clearly excessive in relation to the putative local benefits gained," say the plaintiffs in the suit. "It's disappointing that these groups are choosing to ignore this law that really is designed to keep our Great Lakes protected," counters Michigan Department of Environmental Quality spokesperson Robert McCann.
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Mayor Says No to Aqua's Bid for Youngstown Water System
Youngstown Vindicator (OH) (03/28/2007) ; Skolnick, David

Youngstown, Ohio, Mayor Jay Williams has said thanks but no thanks to an offer by Aqua Ohio to buy or lease the city's water and/or wastewater systems. Aqua Ohio president Walter Pishkur, in a letter to the mayor, wrote that the sale of the water system would generate more than $50 million for the city to use to "fund key community projects." Williams says that a deal would not benefit the city in the long-run and is pursuing the possibility of expanding the city's systems by incorporating into it neighboring communities. Both Aqua and Youngstown are offering to purchase a water-treatment plant in Campbell. While Youngstown's offer is less lucrative up front, it is offering to use Joint Economic Development Systems to boost Campbell's lackluster economic base. This would allow Youngstown to provide economic incentives to businesses in Campbell. Meanwhile, a report on how Youngstown can better leverage its water system as an economic tool is due out in May.
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Development Runoff Fees Debated
Washington Post (03/08/07) P. B4 ; Wiggins, Ovetta

In an effort to curtail pollution in Maryland's Chesapeake Bay, state lawmakers are considering legislation that would force developers to pay runoff fees. The cost would total 25 cents per square foot in designated "smart growth" areas; those who build in rural locales would pay $2 per square foot. But including such features as porous driveways, green roofs, and water filtration systems to reduce runoff could shave 25 percent off the cost.
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Suburbs in Flood Regions Plan to Stay Above Water
Plain Dealer (Cleveland) (03/18/07) P. B6 ; Guillen, Joe

In Ohio, Cuyahoga County's flooding problems continue to worsen as a result of stormwater management issues related to sprawl, and communities bombarded by flood waters are encouraging local governments to act before spring showers inundate the region with more water. With additional funding, some cities are constructing new retention basins, storm sewers, and culverts, but these improvements are not likely to save residents from this year's flooding. According to Cuyahoga River Community Planning Organization's Jane Goodman, both Broadview Heights and North Royalton are prioritizing "the proper places to build things and the proper ways to build things." Rapid urban development overwhelms both natural and man-made drainage systems; the Chippewa Creek watershed, for example, amplifies the velocity and volume of water runoff. In better shape are the flood-prone cities of Strongsville and Brecksville, which have utilized additional city revenue to bolster flood controls and sewer management.
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