WATER INDUSTRY FEATURES, INSIGHTS, AND ANALYSIS
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Pretreatment Systems Enable Complete And More Economical PFAS Solutions
For operators looking to optimize their PFAS removal systems, controlling the presence of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) offers an approach to minimizing operational costs due to granular activated carbon (GAC) reactivation and ion exchange media change-out.
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What Utilities Don't Know About GAC Reuse For PFAS
For utilities building PFAS treatment systems, thermal reactivation of spent granular activated carbon (GAC) may sound like the obvious answer. However, service provider availability and location, specific media acceptance criteria including quantity thresholds, restrictions on GAC type and condition, and regulatory uncertainty can all determine whether reuse is a viable option.
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PFAS Funding Is Flowing — But Does The Water Sector Have Enough People To Deliver It? For several years, the PFAS conversation has centered on treatment options, testing, and funding. Those factors still matter, but they are no longer the primary constraint. Most utilities already understand the treatment routes available to them; the real challenge now is moving from technical possibility to operational performance, and that depends entirely on people.
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The Cost Of Waiting: Utilities Face A Narrowing PFAS Compliance Window For years, the water industry's PFAS conversation centered on monitoring, testing, and regulatory anticipation. Today, that phase is largely over.
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D.C. Circuit Upholds EPA's Hazardous Substance Designation For PFOA, PFOS
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit recently rejected industry challenges to the EPA's designation of PFOA and PFOS as hazardous substances under CERCLA, leaving the agency's April 2024 rule fully intact. While the case centered on the EPA's authority to make the designation, its practical significance for water utilities is simpler: the liability concerns that have accompanied the rule since its adoption remain unresolved.
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How Donner Summit PUD Cut Backwash Water Use By 45% With Ultrasonic Algae Control
Recurring algal blooms severely compromise water treatment efficiency, clogging filters and wasting finished water through frequent backwashing. Targeted ultrasonic suppression controls raw water algae growth at the source, significantly improving influent turbidity and lowering operational costs.
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SRP-Funded Technology Provides Affordable PFAS Testing For Homeowners
Widespread chemical contamination leaves many small water systems without viable testing options.Discover how an innovative, plant-based extraction method delivers affordable, highly accurate screening to identify complex contaminants and protect public health.
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The Enzyme Bottleneck: Why Conventional Lake Management Is Failing — And What The Science Says About Genuine Bio-Dredging For decades, the dominant framework for assessing and managing lake health has been built around surface water measurements: chlorophyll-a, total phosphorus, water clarity, and the composite Trophic State Index derived from them. These metrics are familiar, standardized, and widely accepted. They are also, according to a growing body of peer-reviewed literature, measuring the wrong part of the lake.
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Ozone Off-Gas: What It Reveals About System Efficiency, Safety, and Design
Learn how ozone off-gas impacts system efficiency, safety, and performance, and why monitoring and management are critical for optimized water treatment operations.
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UK Reservoirs, Water Shortages, And Legionella Risks Is there a clear link between a less plentiful water supply and an increase in Legionella in our domestic water systems?
VIEWS ON THE LATEST REGS
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The U.S. EPA is testing a new procedural strategy to remove four PFAS drinking‑water limits from ongoing litigation, asking the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to invalidate those limits on the grounds that the EPA itself committed a procedural misstep when issuing the 2024 PFAS rule.
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Despite renewed public concern over fluoride and cognition, the National Toxicology Program’s findings focus on high‑fluoride groundwater conditions — not the controlled levels used in U.S. drinking water systems. Understanding that distinction is critical for utilities navigating policy questions and community expectations.
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In this Q&A, Dr. Elke Süss of Metrohm addresses the urgent need for haloacetic acid testing in response to “one of the most significant updates to EU drinking water monitoring in recent years.”
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With the U.S. EPA's PFAS rules now in place, utilities are finding themselves with a growing number of questions regarding how to treat these chemicals, the potential costs, and much more. For answers, Water Online's chief editor, Kevin Westerling, hosted an Ask Me Anything session featuring Ken Sansone, Senior Partner at SL Environmental Law Group; Kyle Thompson, National PFAS Lead at Carollo Engineers; and Lauren Weinrich, Principal Scientist at American Water.
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A Q&A to explain and resolve issues confronting water suppliers as they endeavor to comply with the monitoring requirements of federal PFAS regulations.
MORE WATER INDUSTRY FEATURES
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This white paper explores how advanced biological technologies — including MBBR, IFAS, SBR, and MBR systems — are transforming wastewater management in this sector.
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Learn how real-time monitoring with PAT enhances process control, shortens development timelines, and supports the shift toward continuous manufacturing in biopharmaceutical production.
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Achieving EPA compliance for electronic pretreatment reporting requires meeting Cross-Media Electronic Reporting Rule standards. Following a clear five-step application path ensures electronic submissions maintain legal enforceability equal to traditional paper signatures.
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Read about three of the most pressing wastewater challenges utilities face today and how Stratmoor Hills, Key West Resort Utilities, and Beijing Water Group are using advanced treatment and reuse to overcome them.
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Learn why advanced oxidation processes are critical for treating 1,4-dioxane and how ozone-based systems can improve contaminant destruction and water quality.
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Ozone output doesn’t guarantee performance. Learn how mass transfer efficiency determines how much ozone dissolves, drives treatment results, and impacts energy use and system design.
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Climate change is expanding source water variability beyond historical limits, forcing treatment plants to design for wider conditions—and making digital planning essential for resilient infrastructure decisions.
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Long-standing myths about GAC reactivation are being increasingly challenged, revealing performance, cost, and sustainability benefits many utilities may have overlooked.
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Evaluating Powdered Activated Carbon through site-specific performance testing allows water utilities to optimize chemical dosing based on real-world efficacy rather than upfront price, preventing costly operational strains and ensuring reliable contaminant removal.
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Industrial pollution increasingly threatens clean groundwater. Learn how UV advanced oxidation permanently destroys resilient micropollutants like 1,4-dioxane and VOCs at the molecular level, while simultaneously providing robust pathogen disinfection without chemical byproducts.
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Calgon Carbon’s AquaKnight GC systems are designed from the top down to improve flow, adsorption, and media life.
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Learn why GAC alone may fall short in PFAS treatment — and how utilities can future-proof performance with multi-barrier strategies that tackle short-chain compounds, regulatory shifts, and rising operational risks.
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Learn five essential best practices to maintain a sterile incubator shaker environment, from routine cleaning and humidity control to advanced HEPA filtration for reliable results.
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Health Canada is tightening foreign action reporting expectations. MAHs need to understand what the updated draft guidance means for their compliance and monitoring processes now.
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A DWTP client in Alaska detected elevated PFAS contamination levels in two groundwater wells supplying drinking water to 85 service connections. PFAS concentrations are provided in Table 1, where combined concentration of EPA PFAS6 was detected at 490 to 810 ppt.
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Beaverton Water Division’s transition to Kamstrup AMI and acoustic leak detection is modernizing meter reading, reducing infrastructure costs, improving leak identification, and streamlining operations as deployment progresses.
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Learn how ECI consultants radically reduced costs and wastes while improving working conditions and ensuring compliance using 900 Series Monitor/Controllers.
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Excipients are essential to parenteral formulations, which help protect APIs, enhance stability, and ensure safety. Learn how strategic excipient selection can optimize drug performance and patient outcomes.