The IESWTR applies to filtered water systems using surface water or groundwater under the direct influence of surface water. The rule only applies to systems serving at least 10,000 people. The compliance requirements of the rule are effective January 1, 2002. In Pennsylvania, this rule will provide additional drinking water protection to about 7.3 million people that are served by these large systems.
In May 2001, EPA released a rule governing the process of recycling wastewater generated by the backwashing of drinking water filters. The Filter Backwash Recycling Rule (FBRR) is required by the Safe Drinking Water Act as one method of reducing the risks posed to consumers by waterborne disease-causing organisms that may be present in public drinking water supplies.
LT1ESWTR was the first small system regulation that provides protection against the disease-causing organism Cryptosporidium. In Pennsylvania, the LT1ESWTR is expected to provide additional protection to over 600,000 customers. This rule will applies to about 265 public water systems using surface water or ground water under the direct influence of surface water that each serve less than 10,000 people. Early provisions of this rule took affect in the summer of 2002, but the main provisions becameeffective in 2005.
Regulations for radionuclides in drinking water first became effective in 1976. The revised Radionuclides Rule required implementation for some systems starting in 2005. The rule was revised to improve public health protection by requiring monitoring at all entry points to a drinking water distribution system, to create a new standard for uranium, to change monitoring frequencies, and to create new monitoring requirements for radium-226 and radium-228.
Certain microorganisms in drinking water can cause diseases. The LT2 ESWTR was created to reduce these diseases by requiring suppliers to treat drinking water specifically for Cryptosporidium.
The Stage 2 Disinfectants and Disinfection Byproducts Rule is a new federal regulation (NOTE: Stage 1 is a final federal regulation and was published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin on July 21, 2001). The US Environmental Protection Agency created Stage 2 to supplement existing regulations by requiring drinking water suppliers to meet disinfection byproduct maximum contaminant levels at each monitoring site in the distribution system. This rule seeks to better identify monitoring sites where customers are exposed to high levels of disinfection byproducts. This regulation will reduce byproduct exp
The Groundwater Rule (GWR) requirements became effective December 1, 2009. The GWR applies to all public water systems that serve groundwater. The rule also applies to any system that combines surface and groundwater if the groundwater is provided to consumers without treatment under the surface water treatment rule. In addition, systems purchasing groundwater from another system are required to comply with certain requirements of the rule.
Everyone loves cold water pouring out of their faucets on a hot summer day, as well as hot water flowing out of the showerhead. What is coming out of that faucet, though can be concerning? There is any number of less than healthy man-made chemicals that can reduce the pleasure of freshwater.
Pharmaceuticals: Prescription drugs can get into the water supply when people choose to flush unused medications down the toilet or sink.
Vinyl chloride: This is a cancer-causing material used in making PVC plastic products, as some pipes. It can leach from older PVC piping and it has been found in the drinking water of some communities.
Chemical additives to water: Not all chemicals in water are monitored or regulated, like the common perchlorate and PFOA/PFOS which are chemical cousins of Teflon. These chemicals are found in many of Americans’ tapwater supplies. There has been a push to get PFOA/PFOS regulated in New Jersey.
Lead: Lead is a heavy metal that leaches from lead pipes and plumbing fixtures, as when the water flowing through them is corrosive; water with a pH value below 7.0 is considered acidic. Lead can cause neurological and behavioral problems in children and adverse health effects in adults. While more often an issue in towns and cities with older systems, what is often forgotten is that new brass features and faucets can still have a high amount of lead.
Nitrates: These are a widespread contaminant also known as fertilizer. Runoff from farms or factory farms can go into both surface and groundwater and wind up in drinking water. The EPA (EPA.GOV) set a limit of 10 parts per million for nitrates, which can be harmful to pregnant women and infants.
Getting your water tested yearly can keep you on top of the quality of your water. From historic Jim Thorpe to Stroudsburg keeping your water fresh, refreshing, and free of additives, Spring Rain can help you decide which filtrations system is best for you! Call them today!
Water is a moving target, depending on the water's intended or designated uses. For a water quality problem to exist, the water must be impaired for one or more uses, such as the fresh drinking water supply, fishing, recreation, wildlife habitat, livestock, or irrigation. Whether you live in towns like Jim Thorpe, Stroudsburg, or Tannersville there is a concern for your drinking water. Living in the Poconos, the water is used for many purposes, including fishing, irrigation for fields, livestock, recreational pursuits, and of course the water that flows from your faucets.
Fertilizers and pesticides can impinge (negatively affect) drinking water as a result of either being use too close to private wells as well as affecting the groundwater.
Pesticides can get into groundwater by:
If you have a farm or large garden, make sure that no fertilizer or pesticides are released near any body of water including lakes as pesticides in bodies of water can kill fish. Fertilizers that seep into the groundwater which moves downhill just like surface water can contaminate a well in its path. At issue is that while you know what is occurring on your property, do you know what the surrounding neighbors do on theirs.
It isn’t that fertilizer will reach down into your well to seep into the water, the bigger concern is if the good casings are compromised, and it would allow fertilizer to seep in. Fertilizer that gets into the water can contaminate water with an overabundance of phosphates and nitrates, which make it unsafe for consumption. Fertilizers can seep into waterways or groundwater and can then affect the water used by towns.
The great part about living in the Poconos is the same thing that risks its water supply, most people want to make it a better experience and so explore more.
Ideally, sprayed pesticides will fall directly on the plant, but the soil is the second-best landing place. When pesticides land on the soil, microbes and chemical reactions can break them down. The best place for both pesticides and fertilizer is where it was meant to be placed, on plants. For owners of private wells, there is no oversight, and it is up to the private well owner to ensure the well water is safe.
While public drinking water systems use often specific pesticides like chlorine to kill bacteria, viruses, and other organisms, there are point-of-use devices like charcoal filters and reverse-osmosis treatments that are used to remove or minimize pesticides in drinking water.
Let the experts at Spring Rain help you with the best options at filtering your drinking water to protect it and your family.
If you thought about it, wouldn’t you think that no arsenic in your drinking water is better than any arsenic in your drinking water?
It seems though there are different standards for arsenic in your water.
And they are not all the same levels.
Andrea Drinkard, a spokeswoman for EPA, said the agency distinguishes between the enforcement levels and Maximum Contaminant Limit Goals (MCLGs), as set by the Safe Drinking Water Act. For example, the MCLG for arsenic is zero because there is no level of arsenic in water that is without risk, but the EPA has set 10 micrograms per liter as the enforcement level “in accordance with SDWA requirements that EPA consider the feasibility, costs, and benefits when establishing regulations,” she said.
According to New Jersey Spotlight News, 10/2019, an advocacy group, says some substances top recommended health limits; most samples met standards set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Drinking water supplied by New Jersey utilities between 2012 and 2017 contained 107 contaminants, some of which were at levels that advocates say are harmful to human health, according to a survey published on Wednesday.
Long term exposure to arsenic from drinking water is known to cause cancer and skin lesions. It has also been associated with cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Arsenic can enter the water from natural deposits or from industrial or agricultural deposits. Warren County as well as several other counties along the Delaware River bordering on Pennsylvania are active in agricultural activities including farming.
The advocacy organization called Environmental Working Group which uses data from the state Department of Environmental Protection on drinking water quality at New Jersey’s 579 utilities, as part of its national U.S. Tap Water Database, a biennial report. The latest tally of contaminants was 26 more than in the last report, covering the years 2010-2015, as was released two years ago.
Arsenic is one of 14 contaminants that New Jersey has stricter limits than the EPA, according to the DEP’s Annual Compliance Report for 2018, which describes the different standards that water utilities are required to meet.
Many experts on water safety consider any amount of arsenic in the water to be too much. Unless the contaminated water levels were treated the information is likely the same.
Spring Rain is the company to call to protect your family from contaminated water. It has filtration systems, including reverse osmosis water systems to help you maintain healthy clean water for your family.
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