EPA Continues with Arsenic Review
Water Matters!
Water Matters! was the theme of a rally at the steps of the U. S.
Capitol on Wednesday, June 20. The event was part of
the national American Water Works Association (AWWA)
convention in Washington, D. C. Christie Whitman, director of
the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, addressed the
group, which had gathered to let legislators and policymakers
know how important water is. Minnesota Section AWWA
members had the chance to spread that message a little earlier
in the day at a lunch with members of the state’s Congressional
delegation. Representative Betty McCollum and Senator Mark
Dayton (below) were among those who spoke and listened to
the Minnesota contingent.
The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is
proceeding with a review of the costs, benefits, and health
issues associated with a revised maximum contaminant level
(MCL) for arsenic.
Last January, the EPA published a final rule that set an
MCL of 10 parts per billion in drinking water and allowed
public water systems five years to come into compliance.
However, in March the EPA announced it would reassess
the scientific and cost issues. In doing so, it delayed the
effective date of the rule until February 22, 2002, while
retaining the 2006 compliance date.
Minnesota has a number of public water systems that will
be affected by the forthcoming arsenic rule. The Minnesota
Department of Health (MDH) recommends that these
systems begin to consider ways to meet the new standard
before the 2006 compliance date.
Upcoming Certification Exam Dates
September 27, Redwood Falls
October 2, New Ulm
October 17, Nashwauk
October 23, Brooklyn Center
October 24, Winona
October 31, Collegeville
December 6, Thief River Falls
See calendar on back page for more details
Fall 2001
Volume Nine/1
Inside:
Initial Drinking Water Institute Held
School News
Buffalo Lake Arsenic Plant
Training News
See page 3 for registration information
Northwest School
AWWA Telconference
The 2001 Northwest District Water Operators School will
be held at the Best Western on Hwy. 32 in Thief River Falls
from Tuesday, December 4 to Thursday, December 6.
Registration for the school is $75 ($90 after November 21
or at the door).
A block of guest rooms is being held until November 4 at a
special rate of $50 plus tax per room for one person and $60
plus tax for two rooms. Call the Best Western at
218/681-7555 and mention American Water Works
Association to get the special rate.
Participants will receive 16 credit hours for their
participation. A tentative agenda for the school is below.
This fall’s American Water Works Association (AWWA)
Satellite Teleconference, Distribution System Repair,
Replacement, and Maintenance, will be held Thursday,
November 1 from 11:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. (with registration
beginning at 10:30). The downlink locations will be the
Hennepin County Technical College, 9000 Brooklyn
Boulevard in Brooklyn Park, Memorial Union Hall on the
campus of the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks,
and Lake Superior College, 2101 Trinity Road in Duluth.
Participants will receive 4 contact hours.
Registration will be $65 by October 25 and $85 after
October 25, or at the door. All AWWA members will receive
registration information in the mail.
Tuesday, December 4
AWWA Offers One-Day Seminars
8:30-noon
• Surface and Groundwater Source Protection
• Plant Operations
• Water for People
or
The Minnesota Section of American Water Works
Association (AWWA) is conducting a pair of one-day training
seminars. The first session, Well Maintenance and Design,
will be held Wednesday, September 12 at the Best Western
The Falls Inn in Fergus Falls. The following Wednesday,
September 19, Winter Maintenance and Operation will be
presented at the Holiday Inn Express in St. Cloud. The cost
of each seminar is $50 for registrations made more than three
weeks in advance ($60 for later registration) and includes
lunch. The sessions will run from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.,
with registration beginning at 8:00. Participants will receive 6
credit hours for their attendance.
• Exam Prep—Math
1:00-4:00
• Directional Boring
• Meters
• Leak Detection
• Electrical Safety
or
Other Schools
• Exam Prep—General Operations
A number of one-day schools are being held around the
state this fall. They include:
Wednesday, December 5
8:15-noon
Operator Breakfast
District Business Meeting—Brian Johnson, Chair
Featured Speaker—Senator LeRoy Stumpf
• Southwest Water Operators School, Community
Center, Redwood Falls, Thursday, September 27
• Suburban Superintendents School, Brooklyn Center
West Fire Department, Tuesday October 23
Product Exposition
1:00-4:00
Hands-on Sessions at Thief River Falls Water Plant
• Chemical Feed Equipment
• Leak Detection
• Hydrants
• Meters
• Directional Boring
• Electrical Safety
• Southeast Water Operators School,
Wednesday, October 24
Winona,
• Central Water Operators School, St. John’s University,
Collegeville, Wednesday, October 31
Thursday, December 6
The way to succeed is to
double your failure rate.
8:00-noon
• Cuba
• Certification and Operator Ethics
• Water Sampling
• Fluoride
• Rules and Regulations
or
• Certification Exams (at 10:00)
—Thomas J. Watson
IBM Corporation Founder
2
REGISTRATION FORM FOR AWWA ONE-DAY SEMINARS
Well Maintenance and Design, September 12, 2001, Best Western The Falls Inn, Fergus Falls. Fee: $50 ($60 after August
22 or at the door).
Winter Maintenance and Operation, September 19, 2001, Holiday Inn Express, St. Cloud. Fee: $50 ($60 after August 29
or at the door).
Name
Address
City
Zip
Day Phone
Employer
Please enclose the appropriate fee. Make check payable to Minnesota AWWA. Mail this form and fee to Minnesota
AWWA, 26 E. Exchange Street, St. Paul, Minnesota 55101.
REGISTRATION FORM FOR TELECONFERENCE AND FALL SCHOOLS
You may combine multiple fees on one check if more than one person is attending a school; however, please make a copy of
this form for each person. Questions regarding certification, contact Cindy Cook at 651/215-0751. Questions regarding
registration, contact Jeanette Boothe at 651/215-1321.
AWWA Teleconference: Distribution System Repair, Replacement, and Maintenance,
November 1, 2001. Fee: $65 ($85 after October 25 or at the door).
Check location you wish to attend:
____ Hennepin County Technical College, Brooklyn Park, Minnesota
____ University of North Dakota, Grand Forks
____ Lake Superior College, Duluth, Minnesota
Southwest School, September 27, 2001, Community Center, Redwood Falls. Fee: $20 ($25 at the door).
Northwest School, December 4-6, 2001, Best Western, Thief River Falls. Fee: $75 ($90 after November 21 or at the
door).
Check here if you would like to receive an exam application. (Applications must be submitted at least 15 days
prior to the exam.)
Check here if you would like to receive a study guide.
Name
Address
City
Zip
Day Phone
Employer
Please enclose the appropriate fee. Make check payable to Minnesota AWWA. Mail this form and fee to Public Water
Supply Unit, Minnesota Department of Health, 121 East Seventh Place, Suite 220, P. O. Box 64975,
St. Paul, Minnesota 55164-0975.
Registration for the following schools must be directed to the person listed:
October 23, 2001, Suburban Utilities Superintendents School, Brooklyn Center West Fire Department. Fee: $25. Send to
Carol Blommel, City of Apple Valley, 14200 Cedar Avenue S., Apple Valley, Minnesota 55124-8546 (checks payable to
SUSA).
October 25, 2001, Central Water Operators School, St. John’s University, Collegeville. Contact Dick Nagy, 320/234-4222.
October 27, 2001, Southeast Water Operators School, Winona. Contact Paul Halvorson, 507/292-5193.
3
Buffalo Lake Treats for Arsenic
The plant was designed with the primary goal of arsenic
removal. Construction began with the well drilling in 1999.
The old well is now used as a backup, and the well that
previously had been used as a backup was sealed.
Construction of the plant also commenced, and it went
on-line in March 2000.
The treatment consists of an aeration tower to remove the
gas, a detention basin, chemical addition of ferric chloride,
and a pressure filter. It differs somewhat from the arsenic
removal plant in nearby Hector, according to Public Works
Director Dave Kienitz. Hector uses potassium permanganate
as an oxidant while Buffalo Lake uses chlorine as an oxidant.
Hector also has a gravity filter.
Kienitz says they were also having a problem with the filter
losing media. “We lost a lot of media and had to do a raw
water analysis to figure out
what was going on and how
much chlorine we’re
supposed to be using,” he
said.
Responding to
complaints of a chlorine
smell from residents in one
section of town, the system
investigated and found that
there wasn’t a high free chlorine level but that the total
chlorine was high. “By adding chlorine, we ended up making
chloramines,” Kienitz explained. “So we add sodium
bisulfate to dechlorinate.” Because of the ammonia, they are
trying to keep the total chlorine residual to 1 ppm.
The treatment has been effective at eliminating the carbon
dioxide and reducing the iron to .1 ppm, and it has lowered
the arsenic. However, arsenic levels are still at round 30 ppb,
and Kienitz knows they have to bring them down more. He
says they have an agreement that requires the filter supplier
to get the arsenic down to 10 ppb. They may add potassium
permanganate to the filter media as an oxidant and, if
necessary, might try a different media.
Kienitz adds that the filter supplier wants to bring the iron
level down even more and that, by doing so, they hope to see
the arsenic levels drop further.
As the drinking-water world awaits the final rule revision
on arsenic, water utilities are taking steps to address the more
stringent standard that will be adopted. The current
maximum contaminant level (MCL) for arsenic is 50 parts
per billion (ppb). None of the public water systems in
Minnesota exceeds that level. However, it has been known
for some time that the MCL is going to be significantly
lowered, probably to between 2 and 20 ppb.
In 1992, the central Minnesota community of Hector
became the first in the state to install treatment to reduce
arsenic levels. Since that time, others have followed,
including the water system in nearby Buffalo Lake, a town of
about 750 people. Like Hector, Buffalo Lake is in an area
where measurable amounts of naturally occurring arsenic are
not unusual.
Buffalo Lake’s previous
system consisted of a well
and the addition of fluoride,
phosphates, and chlorine.
The phosphates were to
sequester iron, which is at
2.3 parts per million (ppm)
in the raw water. The
arsenic level was between 46
and 48 ppb, below the existing standard (albeit barely) but
well above the MCL proposed for the new arsenic rule. In
addition to the arsenic, Buffalo Lake also wanted to address a
problem with gas in the water—carbon dioxide at the well—
and some aesthetic concerns.
City residents overwhelmingly passed a referendum in
November 1998 to drill a new well and build a treatment
plant, which would be funded entirely by user fees. Around
this time, the Minnesota Department of Health created the
Drinking Water Revolving Fund, intended to provide belowmarket-rate loans to water systems to make capital improvements necessary to maintain compliance with drinking water
standards. Buffalo Lake applied for funds for a new well and
treatment plant. The first year, they received the funds for
the well but not the plant. They applied again the following
year and received funding for the treatment plant.
The Buffalo Lake Water Treatment Plant is one of the first arsenic-removal facilities for drinking water in Minnesota.
4
Drinking Water Institute Gets Off the Ground
With the participation of the Science Museum of
Minnesota, the Minnesota Section American Water Works
Association (AWWA) Education Committee held its first
Drinking Water Institute for teachers in June at the Eden Prairie
Water Plant.
Designed to teach teachers about drinking water and how
to teach it in their classrooms, these Institutes are part of an
initiative by the Education Committee to eventually having an
ongoing group of high-school graduates in Minnesota who are
well versed on drinking water by virtue of having had
curriculum on the subject as a key part of their education at
several different grade levels. The committee believes that
this type of knowledge will benefit everyone by having people
who know the value of water and using it wisely and why
legislation supporting drinking water is important.
Those from the drinking water profession—including Dan
Boyce of East Grand Forks Power and Light, John Thom of
SEH, Inc., and Bruce Olsen of the Minnesota Department of
Health, in addition to Jarrod Christen of Detroit Lakes and a
group of students who organized a water festival in that city—
covered the basic content on drinking water. Lee Schmitt,
director of teacher education for the Science Museum of
Minnesota, worked with the teachers on ways to develop
inquiry-based curriculum on the topic. Local science
teachers John Olson and Marty Davis also led the teachers in
water activities.
One of the highlights of the initial Drinking Water Institute was
a presentation by fourth-grade students who had organized a
water festival in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota. Believing that the
highest level of learning is to be able to teach, the students
presented their philosophies, experiments, and knowledge with
a multi-media presentation.
On the final day of the three-day Institute, water
superintendents from the areas where the teachers are from
came in to explain some of the specific aspects and
features of water supply and treatment in their communities.
Teachers began writing an action plan on how to introduce
drinking-water education into their classroom and will return
for a follow-up session on October 27 to report on what they
have done. Teachers who participate in the entire Institute,
including the follow-up day, will receive two college credits or
an equivalent stipend.
The initial Institute was funded by contributions made by
the Minnesota Department of Health and the Minnesota
Section AWWA as well as the Metro, Northeast, Northwest,
Central, and Southeast Districts of Minnesota AWWA. The
districts have pledged a certain amount of money from each
registrant at their water schools to be directed to the youth
education program.
The Minnesota Section Education Committee will now seek
contributions from others, including commercial organizations,
to fund future Drinking Water Institutes.
Teachers took part in water activities, this one to demonstrate
the difference between karst and non-karst watersheds.
Waterline Available On-Line
Subscribers now have the option of
receiving the Waterline by mail or by being
alerted via e-mail to the posting of the
current issue of the Waterline on the
Minnesota Department of Health web page,
or both.
If you wish to get the e-mail alert, please
contact Noel Hansen at:
[email protected]
Past issues of the Waterline, going back to
the beginning of 1997, are now on the MDH
web page at:
http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/eh/
profinfo.html
Waterline
Published quarterly by the
Drinking Water Protection Section, Minnesota Department of Health
Editor: Stew Thornley
Dick Clark
Staff:
Jeanette Boothe
Noel Hansen
To request this document in another format,
call 651/215-0700; TDD 651/215-0707 or toll-free through the
Minnesota Relay Service, 1/800/627-3529 (ask for 651/215-0700).
Past issues of the Waterline (in PDF format) are available at:
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5
CALENDAR
Water Operator Training
Minnesota Section, American Water Works Association
*October 23, Suburban SuperintenSeptember 12, Well Maintenance and
Design, The Falls Inn, Fergus Falls. dents School, Brooklyn Center West Fire
Contact Stew Thornley, 651/215-0771, Department. Contact Mark Hartfiel,
763/585-7103.
or Scott Franzmeier, 651/290-6285.
*October 24, Southeast Water
September 19, Winter Maintenance
and Operation, Holiday Inn Express, St. Operators School, Winona. Contact Paul
Cloud. Contact Stew Thornley, 651/215- Halvorson, 507/292-5193.
*October 31, Central
Water
0771, or Scott Franzmeier, 651/290-6285.
*September 27, Southwest Water Operators School, St. John’s University,
Operators School, Community Center, Collegeville. Contact Dick Nagy,
Redwood Falls. Contact John Blomme, 320/234-4222.
*December 4-6, Northwest Water
507/537-7308.
Annual Conference, October 3-5, Operators School, Best Western, Thief
Radisson Hotel, St. Paul. Contact Scott River Falls. Contact Stew Thornley,
651/215-0771.
Franzmeier, 651/290-6285.
American Water Works Association Research Foundation
September 19, Distribution System Water Quality Conference, Radisson South,
Bloomington. Contact Karla Peterson, 651/215-0761, or Jeanette Boothe,
651/215-1321.
American Water Works Association Teleconference
November 1, Distribution System Repair, Replacement, and Maintenance,
Brooklyn Park, Duluth, and Grand Forks. Contact Stew Thornley, 651/215-0771.
*Schools/meetings marked with an asterisk include a water certification exam.
To be eligible to take a certification exam, applicants must have hands-on
operations experience at a drinking water system.
Minnesota Rural Water Association
Contact Kyle Kedrowski,
1/800/367-6792.
August 7, Well Drilling, Monticello.
September 12, Potassium Permanganate for Iron, Manganese, and Arsenic
Removal, Hector.
September 26-27, Exam Prep,
St. Cloud.
October 1, Operation & Maintenance,
Lonsdale.
*October 2, Operation &
Maintenance, New Ulm.
October 3, Operation & Maintenance,
Princeton.
October 4, Operation & Maintenance,
Maple Grove.
*October 17, Operation & Maintenance, Nashwauk.
October 24, Securing Financing for
Small Systems, Detroit Lakes.
October 25, Securing Financing for
Small Systems, St. Cloud.
December 4, Winterizing Your Water
System, Rochester.
December 5, Winterizing Your Water
System, St. Cloud.
For an up-to-date list of events, check the MDH web site at:
http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/eh/dwp/pws/dwopcert/wat_op_sched.html
Minnesota Department of Health
121 E. 7th Place Suite 220
P. O. Box 64975
St. Paul, Minnesota 55164-0975
ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED