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.

June 2007



"Florida's Lake Okeechobee Hits Record Low Due to Drought"
"Researchers Develop Low-Cost, Low-Energy Desalination Process"
"Live Tapping Method Takes Pain Out of Pipe Surgery"
"NCSD Mulls Feasibility of Desalination Plant"
"Calpine to Pump Up the Geysers Geothermal Project"
"New Unattended Water Sensor Capable of 24/7 Detection of Toxins, Bacteria in Water Supplies"



"Coke Aims to Improve Water Recycling"
"Keep Sewage Out of Iowa's Waters"
"Editorial: San Jose Sewer Fees Must Rise to Catch Up to Costs"



"U.S. Adopts Limits on Clean Water Law Enforcement"
"Judge Rules Against Water System"
"SAWS Drafting Plans for a Possible $150 Million Desalination Project"
"Securing Chlorine Supply Urged"
"Water Agencies Will Try to Bring on Rain"
"Cleanup Costs Recoverable, Court Rules"

Florida's Lake Okeechobee Hits Record Low Due to Drought
U.S. Water News (06/01/07)

Water levels in Lake Okeechobee, one of the largest freshwater lakes in the United States, have dropped to a record low of 8.94 feet, threatening water supplies for 5 million area residents. The lake, whose average water level at this time of year is about 13 feet, is tapped as a reservoir when water wells from groundwater aquifers get too low during dry periods. Rainfall over the lake has been so low as to qualify for a drought, a once in 100 years regional event. Only 40 inches of rain have fallen over the region over the past year and a half, half the typical amount. The drought conditions have exposed vegetation at the bottom of the lake. A fire started in the dried-out vegetation has led to a 23-square-mile fire that is not yet fully contained. The drought has forced water use restrictions in 13 counties as well as the closure of four coastal wells to prevent saltwater contamination.
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Researchers Develop Low-Cost, Low-Energy Desalination Process
Deming Headlight (NM) (05/31/07)

Engineers at New Mexico State University (NMSU) have developed an inexpensive water desalination system that converts saltwater into potable water 24 hours a day. In addition, its energy requirements are so low that it can run using the waste heat of an air conditioning system. A prototype made on the NMSU campus produces enough clean water to supply a four-person household, according to Nirmala Khandan, an environmental engineering professor in NMSU's department of civil engineering. Conventional methods of desalination such as reverse osmosis or electrodialysis have been energy-intensive, but NMSU project, sponsored by the state's Water Resources Research Institute, seeks to use low-grade heat such as solar energy or waste heat. Khandan says the system's process makes distillation of saltwater possible at temperatures of about 45 degrees to 50 degrees Celsius, compared to temperatures of 60 degrees to 100 degrees Celsius required by traditional distillation methods. By harnessing the natural effect of gravity and atmospheric pressure, a vacuum is created that helps evaporate and condense water. A pair of 30-foot vertical tubes are linked by a horizontal tube, and the barometric pressure of the water columns create a vacuum. NMSU's prototype is fueled by a solar panel and features a thermal energy storage device that lets the system operate 24 hours day by using stored solar energy at night.
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Live Tapping Method Takes Pain Out of Pipe Surgery
Engineering News-Record (06/11/07) Vol. 258, No. 21, P. 15 ; Van Hampton, Tudor

The presence of a massive high-pressure water main underneath O'Hare International Airport in Chicago was thought to be an impediment to the airport's runway expansion plans. However, the city found a way to shift the massive pipe without impacting the region's water supply. The city opted to use hot-tapping, which involves drilling out a portion, inserting a plug, and redirecting the flow of water while working on the main line. Commonly used by oil and gas firms, the approach is also being used for water and wastewater pipelines. The city tapped into the water main underneath the airport so it could move approximately 4,900 feet of the 90-inch diameter concrete pipe to enable the construction of a new runway. The tapper allowed the city to continue to supply water to several suburbs; a specialty contractor supplanted the water main with a 48-inch diameter steel bypass, restoring full capacity in May. O'Hare agreed to a $5.8 million contract with T.D. Williamson (TDW) to undertake the hot tap, representing the firm's highest bulkhead forces the company's gear had ever dealt with, at 1.6 million pounds. TDW relied on a hydraulic power pack to insert a customized, folding plug head that was fitted inside the main line. To isolate forces, TDW covered parts of the pipe with 12-foot thick concrete "thrust blocks" from Stanley Consultants.
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NCSD Mulls Feasibility of Desalination Plant
Santa Maria Times (CA) (05/17/07) ; Cralley, Todd

The Nipomo Community Services District in San Luis Obispo County, California, is mulling the use of a desalination plant to provide drinking water to Nipomo. The district's board of directors was given an educational presentation on May 16 by Boyle Engineering on the two leading types of desalination used in the United States. One is electrodialysis reversal, which is typically used to treat brackish water, and the other is reverse osmosis for treating sea water. Ernie Kertinen of Boyle Engineering said if the district were to use water from the Pacific Ocean, the reverse osmosis process would be most suitable. But such a plant would need to process 3 million gallons of water per day to produce 3,000 acre-feet of potable water daily; construction costs alone would reach $11 million to $16 million while yearly operating and upkeep would cost up to $3.3 million. Additional costs would include purchasing beachfront property, running a pipeline, and conducting environmental impact assessments. The cost to operate a reverse osmosis plant would largely depend on the amount of electricity needed to drive the large pumps that force water through the plant's osmosis membranes. These membranes are tightly wound and housed in 8-inch diameter by 20-foot cartridges. A 3-million-gallon-a-day plant could have between 150 and 200 cartridges. Kertinen added that each membrane lasts for eight years to 10 years on average.
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Calpine to Pump Up the Geysers Geothermal Project
Los Angeles Times (05/31/07) P. C1 ; Douglass, Elizabeth

To feed California's growing demand for cleaner energy, Calpine is planning to expand its geothermal operations. At a cost of $75 million for its first year of operation, Calpine's Geysers geothermal project is designed to meet a legislative mandate to lower greenhouse gas emissions and have utilities derive more of the power they produce from renewable energy sources such as wind, water and sun. Southern California Edison recently heeded that call by signing a new 10-year contract with Calpine that would supply 225 Mw of geothermal power from the Geysers. The five-year expansion will include installing more water-injection systems to replenish existing wells, renovating or replacing steam turbines, drilling as many as 80 new wells, and cooling towers and generators on several existing power plants. As much as 80 Mw would be added to the current output of 725 Mw. News of the expansion drew praise from California Public Utilities Commissioner Timothy A. Simon on Wednesday. "I'm very excited and really proud of Calpine…and I'm really encouraged that they're taking the lead in such as critical area," said Simon. "They're a critical part of the energy economy."
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New Unattended Water Sensor Capable of 24/7 Detection of Toxins, Bacteria in Water Supplies
Science Daily (05/16/07)

Sandia National Laboratories and Tenix Investments have developed a method for monitoring water-based pathogens, and it has undergone successful testing. Their unattended water sensor (UWS) is a conglomerate of water pumps, tubes, and reservoirs. The UWS can analyze samples by using fluorescent dyes and chemical buffers, among other diagnostic instruments, to provide a sample analysis in only 12 minutes. The UWS can detect protein toxins as botulinum and SEB in water. It is slated to expand its capabilities to include E. coli and protozoan detection. The National Research Council's Water Science and Technology Board says in its report that "biological monitoring devices are essential to assess the type and extent of contamination in a suspected water security event."
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Coke Aims to Improve Water Recycling
Wall Street Journal (06/06/07) P. A10 ; Batson, Andrew

In response to accusations that Coca Cola's operations deplete excessive amounts of water, the company is taking steps to address the matter, especially in developing nations. Coca Cola consumed 290 billion liters--about 75 billion gallons--of water globally in 2006. In India, a Coca Cola plant in Kerala has been closed for two years due to residents' hostility. But E. Neville Isdell, the company's chairman and chief executive, said authorities have determined there is no evidence that the plant actually drained groundwater. He asserted that over the past five years, Coca Cola has reduced its water consumption to 2.5 liters for every liter of final product, down from 3.1 liters. The firm hopes to eventually become water-neutral, much in the same way companies are trying to be carbon neutral to fight global warming. "I really believe that water is the next carbon," said Carter Roberts, U.S. president of WWF, which is working with Coca Cola on the firm's water conservation efforts. Coca Cola intends to give $20 million to WWF over several years to help it launch global projects that will include measuring how much water is being saved or reclaimed. The projects will be conducted in such places as the Yangtze River in China and the Rio Grande River in North America. Coca Cola also intends to boost recycling and water treatment to sufficiently clean the water it uses to be safe enough for fish populations or farm use.
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Keep Sewage Out of Iowa's Waters
Des Moines Register (IA) (05/13/07)

Though wastewater-treatment plants in Iowa have permission to "bypass" untreated and partially treated waste into waterways during heavy rains when facilities are unable to handle water flows, hundreds of incidents of water bypasses unrelated to rainfall have been reported by plants over the past five years, typically a result of an aging system and poor maintenance. These latter bypasses are illegal, yet the government rarely enforces its own regulations regarding them. The highest number of annual enforcement actions imposed by the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) in recent years was eight. "It has been recognized that there has not been enough action, and that we need to do more," says DNR director Rich Leopold. The department can impose maximum penalties of $10,000 per incident for illegal bypasses, but this editorial piece argues that such fines should be a last resort to leave money available for necessary upgrades to prevent future bypasses. The article urges lawmakers to step in and provide communities with the funding necessary to fix their aging treatment systems. Des Moines' plan to separate storm and sanitary sewers is expected to cost at least $230 million and take 25 years to complete. DNR meanwhile is exploring new ways to reduce the cost of treatment and will step up enforcement of bypassing rules. "Wastewater-treatment plant bypasses contribute a small portion of the pollution dirtying Iowa's waters ... but most of the time there's no excuse for them," says the article. "It's disgusting that Iowa has tolerated this for so long."
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Editorial: San Jose Sewer Fees Must Rise to Catch Up to Costs
San Jose Mercury News (CA) (05/25/07)

Under former Mayor Ron Gonzales, San Jose resisted raising storm sewer rates for residents. Now, the city council will consider raising the rate by 9 percent to help fund infrastructure repairs and upgrades, which this editorial piece supports wholeheartedly, noting that failure of the sewer system is a threat to public health. "People always want government to do more with less," reads the article. "But some repairs just have to get done, as anyone who's had a sewer failure at home can attest. And for these important systems, having property owners pay the costs is the right thing to do."
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U.S. Adopts Limits on Clean Water Law Enforcement
Reuters (06/05/07) ; Lambert, Lisa

Forced to clarify coverage of the Clean Water Act due to the U.S. Supreme Court's failure to do so, the EPA and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have drafted new guidelines that restrict the act's applicability to waterways large enough to be used by boats that transport commerce and the wetlands adjacent to them. Other tributaries will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis. Last year, the Supreme Court could not come up with a final ruling regarding the act's jurisdiction, with four justices interpreting the law to cover only navigable waters like lakes and rivers and the bodies of water connected to them and four others saying the act had a broader reach. Justice Anthony Kennedy did not join either side. Democratic lawmakers, angered by the Supreme Court's failure, have introduced a measure that would drop the word "navigable" from the act, thus ensuring it covers watersheds.
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Judge Rules Against Water System
Los Angeles Times (05/26/07) ; Boxall, Bettina

Environmentalists have won yet another legal battle in their war against California's massive pumping of water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to cities in Southern California and Central Valley farms. A U.S. District Court judge has ruled that management of the state's water system is illegally endangering fish, particularly the native delta smelt. "I think it certainly demonstrates we need to take a pretty hard look at what we're doing to this system and find other ways of meeting water needs than 'Let's pump the delta dry,'" says Andrea Treece, associate attorney for Earthjustice, which won the ruling on behalf of a coalition of environmental and sport-fishing groups. "I don't think anyone is trying to get the pumps shut down. They're trying to save a species." In another case this spring, a state judge threatened to end pumping from the delta after ruling that the California Department of Water Resources failed to receive proper authorization for pumping under the state's Endangered Species Act. The water diversion project is one of the largest in the world.
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SAWS Drafting Plans for a Possible $150 Million Desalination Project
San Antonio Business Journal (06/05/07)

In a bid to keep up with local demand for water, the San Antonio Water System is seeking suggestions from water experts on how to proceed with a desalination project to convert the region's brackish groundwater into potable water. The San Antonio-area sits atop an estimated 400 million acre-feet of brackish groundwater. The water utility's aim is to desalinate up to 22,000 acre-feet a year. The water would augment supplies from the Edwards Aquifer.
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Securing Chlorine Supply Urged
Newsday (06/13/07) ; Eisenberg, Carol

U.S. water plants and waste-treatment facilities that do not fall under new federal chemical-security rules should nonetheless get serious about securing their chemical supplies from terrorism, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said June 12. Water facilities that fail to secure their supplies of chlorine and other chemicals leave themselves open to potentially severe liabilities, not to mention lost lives, Chertoff said. "You're on the hook because you're going to have to do this yourselves because the consequences of ignoring risks...will be quite severe," Chertoff said. Chertoff's comments came during a briefing to industry leaders. Chertoff and the DHS are focusing on chlorine because terrorists in Iraq are increasingly using the chemical during truck bombings. The DHS has taken the initiative to provide security advice, security grants, and real-time intelligence to water plant operators, said Robert Stephan, assistant secretary of homeland security for infrastructure protection. There are about 3,000 wastewater-treatment and drinking-water plants in the United States that store more than 2,500 pounds of chlorine gas, according to Environmental Protection Agency records. A spate of chlorine thefts and attempted chlorine thefts at California water-treatment facilities several months ago is probably not related to terrorism, said Stephan.
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Water Agencies Will Try to Bring on Rain
Bakersfield Californian (05/30/07) ; Geluso, James

Three, possibly four, water districts receiving potable supplies from the Kern River basin in California will band together in a bid to seed clouds to make up for less than normal snowmelt. Atmospherics Inc. of Fresno has been tapped to seed clouds moving from the Gulf of California into the upper part of the Kern River watershed. The service has been provided for decades during winter months to initiate snowfall. This would be the first time it is attempted in the summertime. Regional snowmelt is less than a third of normal. This year is on track to be the 11th driest since records began to be taken 105 years ago.
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Cleanup Costs Recoverable, Court Rules
Washington Post (06/12/07) P. A8

The U.S. Supreme Court in U.S. vs. Atlantic Research ruled that businesses do not first have to be sued under the federal Superfund law in order to file suit against third parties to recoup environmental cleanup costs. The case centered on a voluntary cleanup effort run by Atlantic Research related to rocket propellant seepage into soil and groundwater in Arkansas during a U.S. government project to retrofit rocket motors. The firm, once the cleanup was completed, sued the federal government to recoup some of the cleanup costs. The U.S. Justice Department argued that the firm could not recoup the costs because it had cleaned up the pollution voluntarily and had not been sued under the Superfund law. The Supreme Court disagreed with that requirement. Federal data indicates the U.S. government is the largest polluter in the nation with over $300 billion in liabilities.
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