THE WATER LINE July 2001   Volume 4, Issue 2

Pinery Wastewater Treatment Plant wins EPA Region 8 Award for Excellence

The District's Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant has won the prestigious EPA Region 8 Award for Excellence in Operations and Maintenance. This award is given to one treatment plant in our size category in the EPA Region 8 Area.

We competed with treatment plants from Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming. We won the Small Advanced Treatment Plant category. Advanced plants operate at the most sophisticated level of wastewater treatment available today.

Our plant treats an average of 600,000 gallons of wastewater per day. Peak flow last year was 820,000 gallons per day. Our sewer collection system includes about 40 miles of pipe.

We were selected for the award because of our consistent high quality of operations as evidenced by the fact that we have had no permit violations in over 10 years, and because of our efforts in several other areas. Our award application highlighted our efforts in; public education, equipment maintenance, collection system maintenance, laboratory management, safety education, pollution prevention, biosolids management, and plant staffing and training.

Our application is now in the hands of the national level judges, competing with applications from all over the country.

Drinking Water and Arsenic

There has been a lot of media attention recently about the levels of arsenic in drinking water. This is because the Bush administration has delayed the implementation of new arsenic standards for drinking water.

The water that we provide to our customers is in compliance with both the existing arsenic standard, and the standard that was proposed by the Clinton administration (our average is 1 part per billion arsenic). Even though we are in compliance with the standards (both existing and proposed), we agree with the AWWA (American Water Works Association) that more study is needed to set a standard that is both protective of human health and not excessively expensive to comply with. Here are some informative facts about arsenic (from American Water Works Association):

•   Arsenic occurs naturally in the environment, being the twentieth most common element in the Earth's crust. Arsenic is also the twelfth most common element in the human body. Arsenic is added to the environment by weathering of rocks, burning of fossil fuels, smelting of ores and manufacturing. It is widely distributed in nature and is mainly transported in the environment by water.
•   Arsenic exposure can cause a variety of adverse effects. The severity of the effect depends on the level of exposure. Acute high-dose oral exposure to arsenic typically leads to gastrointestinal irritations accompanied by difficulty in swallowing, thirst, abnormally low blood pressure, and convulsions. Death may occur from cardiovascular collapse at very high doses.
•   Evidence exists that long-term exposure to high arsenic levels increases the risk of cancer. When exposure is by inhalation, the primary effect is increased risk of lung cancer. When exposure is by ingestion, the clearest effect is increased risk of skin cancer. Evidence also exists that the risk of internal cancer (liver, lung, bladder, and kidney) is also increased through ingestion.
•   For most people, the most significant route of exposure to arsenic is through food. It is a normal component of the diet. Studies by they Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have found that fish and seafood are higher in arsenic content than any other foods and account for the largest contribution to total arsenic intake in the typical adult diet.
•   Ingestion of drinking water can be a source of arsenic exposure. Several national surveys of drinking water systems have found arsenic in 3 to 39 percent of all samples averaging less than 10 ppb.
•   Arsenic concentrations are generally highest in groundwater. Surface water concentrations, although generally low, also may be at levels of regulatory concern.
•   Low levels of arsenic can also be detected in ambient air. However, inhalation is generally not a significant source of exposure for the general public.

Long Term Water Supply Study Underway

The District, along with other water providers in Douglas and Southern Arapahoe County, is working on a joint study with the Colorado River Water Conservation District and Denver Water to examine future sources of water for the area. While we are confident that we have adequate water supplies to serve our existing and future customers, the cost of these supplies continues to increase as the water levels in aquifers drops. The plan we are working on is to take water that is available during wet years and inject it into the aquifers, thereby extending the life of the aquifers, and reducing our pumping costs. We are about halfway through this two-year study and thus far, the results look promising.

Fire Hydrant Testing and Maintenance Underway

The District is in the process of testing the more than 400 fire hydrants that we have. Testing will be completed by the end of July, and the test results will be provided to the Parker and Franktown Fire Departments. Any hydrant not performing to specified levels will be repaired at the same time. Later in the summer we will be painting hydrants that were identified as needing painting. They will be painted safety yellow as requested by the Fire Department. Our goal is to paint 250 hydrants later this summer.

Cherry Creek Reservoir Water Quality

The Water Quality Control Commission adopted a new Control Regulation for managing the water quality in Cherry Creek Reservoir on May 14, 2001. This new regulation replaces the old one and it requires the installation of stormwater detention and water quality ponds in all new development in the Cherry Creek Basin. The regulation also is more restrictive on the discharges from wastewater treatment plants. The primary pollutant of concern is phosphorous, a nutrient that promotes algae growth in the reservoir. The new discharge limit for our wastewater treatment plant is 0.05 mg/L phosphorous which is about one-fourth the natural background of phosphorous in our drinking water. This discharge limit for phosphorous is the most stringent in the country. With our existing treatment plant and technology, we can achieve this new limit most of the time. We will have several years to achieve full compliance and will be making plant modifications during our planned expansion to achieve this new discharge requirement on a consistent basis.

Fats, Oils, and Greases aren't just bad for your arteries and your waistline;

…..they're bad for sewers, too!

Sewer overflows and backups can cause health hazards, damage home interiors, and threaten the environment. An increasingly common cause of overflows is sewer pipes blocked by grease. Grease gets into the sewer from household drains as well as from poorly maintained grease traps in restaurants and other businesses.

Where does the grease come from?
Most of us know grease as the byproduct of cooking. Grease is found in such things as:

• Meat fats
• Lard
• Cooking oil
• Shortening
• Butter and margarine
• Food scraps
• Baking goods
• Sauces
• Dairy products

Too often, grease is washed into the plumbing system, usually through the kitchen sink. Grease sticks to the insides of sewer pipes (both on your property and in the streets). Over time, the grease can build up and block the entire pipe.
Home garbage disposals do not keep grease out of the plumbing system. These units only shred solid material into smaller pieces and do not prevent grease from going down the drain. Commercial additives, including detergents, that claim to dissolve grease may pass grease down the line and cause problems in other areas.

The results can be:

• Raw sewage overflowing in your home or your neighbor's home, an expensive and unpleasant cleanup that often must be paid for by you, the homeowner;
• Raw sewage overflowing into parks, yards, and streets;
• Potential contact with disease-causing organisms; and
• An increase in operation and maintenance costs for local sewer departments, which causes higher sewer bills for customers

What we can do to help?
The easiest way to solve the grease problem and help prevent overflows of raw sewage is to keep this material out of the sewer system in the first place.
There are several ways to do this:

• Never pour grease down sink drains or into toilets.
• Scrape grease and food scraps from trays, plates, pots, pans, utensils, and grills and cooking surfaces into a can or the trash for disposal (or recycling where available).
• Do not put grease down garbage disposals. Put baskets/strainers in sink drains to catch food scraps and other solids, and empty the drain baskets/strainers into the trash for disposal.
• Speak with your friends and neighbors about the problem of grease in the sewer system and how to keep it out. Call your local sewer system authority if you have any questions. (from Water Environment Federation )

Nonpoint Source Pollution: You Are The Key To The Cleanup

What is Nonpoint Source Pollution?
Nonpoint source pollution closes beaches, kills wildlife, poisons drinking water resources, destroys fish and shellfish habitat, and causes dangerous algal blooms. In most cases, this pollution comes from various land use practices, air pollutants, and sewer overflows -- plus daily activities of people like you.

Unlike specific points such as some factory discharge pipes, nonpoint source pollution comes from many different spots. And it's harder to control nonpoint sources of pollution, which include excess farm and lawn nutrients that move throughout the soil into the groundwater or enter local waters directly through runoff during heavy rains; uncontrolled stormwater runoff from construction sites; forestry operations; animal wastes; and even pollutants released directly into the atmosphere. From farmlands to suburban lawns, people use the land in ways that cause nonpoint source pollution.

What Are the Pollutants?
Nonpoint source pollutants include nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus from fertilizers and septic tank systems, sediments from construction and timber harvest sites, pesticides from agricultural lands, salts from winter road treatment, and trace metals and toxic chemicals from inadequately protected landfills. Individually, these pollutants may not be a major concern, but taken as a whole they can result in widespread water quality problems that must be addressed.

The Solution Begins With Us.
Pollution prevention is essential to reducing nonpoint source pollution. Examples of pollution prevention include detention ponds for capturing sediments in stormwater runoff, and buffer strips of vegetation to separate farmed or urban lands from nearby waters. There are also lots of ways you can help cleanup -- see below for ideas.

To reduce nonpoint source pollution, you can:

• Use pesticides and herbicides sparingly on lawns and gardens, and only after considering more natural methods of control.
• Protect shrubs, vines, and other plants that grow along shorelines.
• Seed or mulch areas where soil can wash away.
• Keep toxins such as engine oils, paint thinners, and pesticides out of sewers, septic tanks, and stormwater drains -- use carefully and dispose of them safely (at a household hazardous waste collection site if available in your area).
• Control fertilizer use on lawns and gardens.

• Take public transportation, ride in a carpool, and limit driving when possible to reduce air emissions and oil and gasoline runoff, especially from gas service stations. (Proper car maintenance also helps).

• When changing your car's oil, make sure used oil is collected and not disposed on ground.

Biosolids Update

Keeping up with last year's response to Biosolids is an understatement! The supply we intended to have for the PHA large item pickup day in June, went out the gate about 2 weeks ahead of schedule. The good news is, another batch is being tested and should be ready for distribution by early August. Call Shannon (303-841-2797 ext 39) for up to date reports.

Tap Water Quality

•   Although 80 percent of the world is covered by water, only 1 percent of it is drinkable and accessible.
•   Drinking water comes from either surface water resources (rivers, lakes and streams) or groundwater resources (aquifers).
•   The primary threats to surface water quality are animal waste and runoff pollution from farms, factories, feedlots and suburban communities.
•   The primary threats to groundwater are naturally occurring toxic compounds (arsenic, radon and carcinogenic radionuclides) that enter aquifers after rain percolates through decaying rock, and ineffective septic systems. Excessive rains and flooding can also lead to microbial contamination of groundwater if the floodwaters run through agricultural land where livestock waste is present and then empty into wells.
•   Through the Safe Drinking Water Act, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) has established safe tap water standards for over 80 contaminants, including disease-causing microbes, naturally occurring contaminants and synthetic contaminants like pesticides and fertilizer components. With these standards in place, the USEPA now considers the American tap water supply one of the safest in the world.
•   Disinfection of public water supplies -used commonly in the U.S. since the 1920's-- has been recognized as one of the greatest achievements in public health during the 20th century by the Centers for Disease Control and as one of the greatest engineering feats of the 20th century by the National Academy of Engineering.
•   The most commonly used disinfectant in the U.S. is free chlorine. Chloramines, chlorine dioxide, ozone and ultraviolet light are also used as disinfectants around the country.
•   While filtration and disinfection make water safe for consumption, they do not protect against possible aesthetic shortcomings in tap water, such as unpleasant taste or odor. Home treatment devices, or "point-of-use" devices, often improve the taste and odor of tap water.
•   Home treatment devices can also remove lead, which has been linked to serious neurological and reproductive disorders in humans. Lead leaches into tap water from the pipes and plumbing fixtures of older houses after it has left the community water distribution system.
•   Some community water suppliers have begun supplying home treatment devices for their customers for that purpose. All told, consumers spent $2.2 billion on home treatment devices in 1998, and are projected to purchase over $3 billion worth in 2003.
•   Home treatment devices, if used improperly or inadequately maintained, will trap and provide breeding grounds for bacteria, damaging tap water quality without improving tap water taste or odor.