The project aims to evaluate what happens when water is taken from the Detroit River and prepared for the community to drink. Researchers will be looking at how impurities such as PFAS compounds, pharmaceuticals, and personal care products are removed in various steps of the process to better understand how to handle new and emerging contamination threats. In addition, they are working to maximize economic benefits to the community, as well as include workforce training and job opportunities.

Sources:
https://wdet.org/2022/07/06/project-aims-to-find-new-ways-to-convert-river-water-into-drinking-water-as-pollutants-evolve/
https://scienmag.com/wayne-state-and-great-lakes-water-authority-to-create-workforce-and-laboratory-center-of-the-future/

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The work is a 10-year culmination of research and development by Jongyoon Han and his group. Han is a professor of electrical engineering and computer science and of biological engineering, and a member of the Research Laboratory of Electronics (RLE).

Rather than using filters, the unit relies on a technique called ion concentration polarization (ICP). Han’s group pioneered the technique more than 10 years ago. The ICP process applies an electrical field to membranes placed above and below a channel of water. The membranes repel positively or negatively charged particles — including salt molecules, bacteria, and viruses — as they flow past. The charged particles are funneled into a second stream of water that is eventually discharged.

The process removes both dissolved and suspended solids, allowing clean water to pass through the channel. ICP does not always remove all the salts floating in the middle of the channel. An electrodialysis process is used to remove remaining salt ions.

The researchers hope to make the device more user-friendly and improve its energy efficiency and production rate through a startup to commercialize the technology.

Sources: 
https://news.mit.edu/2022/portable-desalination-drinking-water-0428
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.1c08466?ref=pdf

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Uranium is an element that has no taste or smell and naturally present in bedrock in many places. Various studies have shown that drinking water with elevated levels of uranium can affect the kidneys over time. Uranium can decay into other radioactive substances, such as radium, which can cause cancer with extensive exposure over a long period of time (U.S. EPA, 2013).

According to the Argonne National Laboratory, uranium exposure can result in both chemical and radiological toxicity. The main chemical effect associated with exposure to uranium and its compounds is kidney toxicity. This toxicity can be caused by breathing air containing uranium dusts or by eating substances containing uranium, which then enters the bloodstream. Once in the bloodstream, the uranium compounds are filtered by the kidneys, where they can cause damage to the kidney cells. Very high uranium intakes (ranging from about 50 to 150 mg depending on the individual) can cause acute kidney failure and death. At lower intake levels (around 25 to 40 mg), damage can be detected by the presence of protein and dead cells in the urine, but there are no other symptoms. At lower intake levels, the kidney repairs itself over a period of several weeks after the uranium exposure has stopped.

The main radiation hazard from uranium occurs when uranium compounds are ingested or inhaled. However, workers in the vicinity of large quantities of uranium in storage or in a processing facility also are exposed to low levels of external radiation from uranium decay products. At the exposure levels typically associated with the handling and processing of uranium, the primary radiation health effect of concern is an increased probability of the exposed individual developing cancer during their lifetime. Cancer cases induced by radiation are generally indistinguishable from other “naturally occurring” cancers and occur years after the exposure takes place. The probability of developing a radiation-induced cancer increases with increasing uranium intakes.

Source: https://web.evs.anl.gov/uranium/guide/ucompound/health/index.cfm

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While the school district has already installed more than 1,300 hydration stations since the 2016-2017 school year, the legislation would set a deadline for completion to meet the goal of 1 station per every 100 students. Currently, the district needs to install approximately 800 more systems.

The requirements under the proposed legislation include that they are made from lead-free materials, have a filter that meets NSF/ANSI standards for removal of lead and other contaminants, and have a filter change indicator. District officials say the hydration stations already installed meet these criteria.

The district invested an initial $1 million into the project in 2017 and received roughly $95,000 last year in a grant from the city’s health department. The district estimates installing the remaining 800 stations will cost an additional $1 million.

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Results of the study indicated that salinization will cause substantial zooplankton mortality. The loss of zooplankton triggered a cascading effect causing an increase in phytoplankton biomass at 47% of study sites. Such changes in lake food webs could alter nutrient cycling and water clarity and trigger declines in fish production.

We depend on freshwater ecosystems for our drinking water. The Great Lakes on the Canada-U.S. border provide drinking water for more than 40 million Americans. According to William Hintz, an assistant professor in the University of Toledo’s Department of Environmental, who conducted the study, “Once salts get into our freshwater supplies, it is difficult or in some cases impossible to get salt out, and high salt concentrations can persist for decades.”

Hintz says, “Policymakers will need to craft environmental legislation that lowers the allowable chloride concentrations in many regions to protect freshwater ecosystems,” Hintz says. De-icing salts significantly reduce car accidents and injuries, so we can’t just give them up overnight. Hintz stresses that if we better understand the sources of salt contamination, we can, in turn, work to protect freshwater lakes from salinization. According to Hints, “This may require better environmental monitoring by scientists, and regulations aimed at reducing salt pollution from multiple human-caused sources.”

Additional source: https://www.inverse.com/science/america-road-salt-hurting-ecosystems-drinking-water

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Results throughout schools vary widely, with much of the lead contamination being tied to old plumbing fixtures like sinks and water fountains. According to Amy Lachance, manager of the state’s drinking water program, there is no money in the state’s budget to fix the high lead level problems, only identify them. Fountains with high lead levels have been decommissioned until the lead levels can be remediated and retested.

According to the CDC, exposure to lead can seriously harm a child’s health, including

• Damage to the brain and nervous system
• Slowed growth and development
• Learning and behavior problems
• Hearing and speech problems

If you think your child has been in contact with lead, contact your child’s healthcare provider. He or she can help you decide whether to have your child tested. A blood lead test is the easiest way to find out if your child has been exposed to lead. Most children with lead in their blood have no symptoms.

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Original sampling last summer showed about 40 wells affected. One well tested 2,200 times the value for the Minnesota Department of Health’s safe drinking water values. According to the MPCA, recently completed resampling of the wells showed no changes to the original results. Gov. Tim Walz has asked that $12 million be included in a bonding bill to connect affect homes to city water at no cost to homeowners.

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Wisconsin will receive $48 million to dedicate towards lead pipe removal, with Milwaukee alone estimating to cost $800 million. Other areas like Newburgh, NY hope to receive funds where some lead service lines are estimated to be 140 years old. In 2022, New York will receive over $400 million for improving water quality from this bill. This includes $115 million for lead service replacement, and over 40 million for addressing contaminants.

All Americans deserve to drink clean water, breathe clean air, and live in healthy homes. However, lead in drinking water pipes, faucets, paint, and walls threatens the health and well-being of American families and children across the country. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and countless experts agree that there is no known safe level of lead in a child’s blood.

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Through tracking down the source of contamination, officials determined the source was coming from the Lehigh County Authority wastewater treatment facility in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The facility was accepting chemical waste from industrial facilities but was not looking for and unable to remove 1,4-Dioxane. In the summer of 2021, they identified Coim USA, a New Jersey chemical producer as the “main contributor” of 1,4-Dioxane (https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/21182222-hus-suspension-20210618). Coim claims it once sent 1,4-Dioxane accidentally to the Lehigh County Authority wastewater facility and denies responsibility for polluting the river, although officials state levels of the toxic chemical declined after the Lehigh County Authority stopped accepting waste from Coim.

This isn’t the first time this chemical has been a concern. A 2014 study from Worcester Polytechnic Institute researched the adsorption effectiveness of 1,4-Dioxane on granular activated carbon with regeneration by titanium dioxide and ultraviolet light. Results suggested that the use of GAC regeneration with a UV photocatalytic reactor and TiO2 nanoparticles was very promising; however, further research should be conducted (https://web.wpi.edu/Pubs/E-project/Available/E-project-042814-140444/unrestricted/MQP_Paper_Final.pdf). 1,4-Dioxane is commonly found in laundry detergent, dish soap, body wash, and shampoo.

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The full study and report is available here: https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/full/10.2105/AJPH.2021.306561

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