Despite an earlier denial, Ohio EPA has confirmed that C8 has broken through local filtration systems on at least six occasions.
On June 6, The Anchor reported that C8 was still making its way into some local water supplies even after the installation of filtration systems intended to remove the unregulated manmade substance. C8, also known as PFOA or perfluorooctanoic acid, became a source of controversy in the Mid Ohio Valley when it was detected in six local water supplies – leading to a class action lawsuit against DuPont and a landmark health study intended to determine whether or not exposure may cause human disease.
In response to the public health concern, DuPont constructed industrial scale filtration systems for the impacted water districts based on carbon filtration – meaning that the efficiency of the filtration is dependent upon timely and fresh change outs of carbon filtration material.
Despite the installation of technology intended to reduce the concentration of C8 in local water supplies to non detectable levels, sampling results obtained from the EPA in May revealed that small but measurable amounts were breaking through some of the filtration systems – an indication that in some locations carbon change outs are not being performed frequently enough to prevent breakthroughs.
Read the full story at The Anchor:
http://www.theanchornews.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1188:special-report-oepa-acknowledges-c8-filtration-breakthroughs&catid=2:community-news&Itemid=15
Showing posts with label filtration. Show all posts
Showing posts with label filtration. Show all posts
Monday, June 25, 2012
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
C8 Detected in Filtered Water
Despite the installation of technology meant to filter C8, very small amounts can still be found dripping from the taps of households served by some Mid Ohio Valley water systems.
Sampling results obtained from the EPA reveal that small but measurable amounts of the controversial manufacturing chemical routinely break through some of the filtration systems. DuPont has provided the means to reduce the concentration of C8 to non detectable levels, but the court mandated process lacks regulatory oversight.
Read the story here:
http://www.theanchornews.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1176:web-extra-c8-detected-in-filtered-water&catid=2:community-news&Itemid=15
Sampling results obtained from the EPA reveal that small but measurable amounts of the controversial manufacturing chemical routinely break through some of the filtration systems. DuPont has provided the means to reduce the concentration of C8 to non detectable levels, but the court mandated process lacks regulatory oversight.
Read the story here:
http://www.theanchornews.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1176:web-extra-c8-detected-in-filtered-water&catid=2:community-news&Itemid=15
Thursday, March 12, 2009
EPA Limits C8 in MOV Drinking Water
The EPA is tightening the restriction on C8 in drinking water.
The federal agency issued a consent order today lowering the action level for the manufacturing chemical in public water supplies to 0.4 parts per billion. That’s down from the 0.5 parts per billion prescribed by the agency in 2006. The consent order was prompted by a recent provisional health advisory for C8 - the first of its kind from the EPA.
The new action level is intended to reduce levels of PFOA exposure for people who live in the Mid Ohio Valley near DuPont Washington Works while the EPA completes research and a risk assessment on the chemical's impact on public health.
The new order means that DuPont will have to perform additional testing of surrounding areas to insure that public and private water systems do not contain C8 levels exceeding 0.4 parts per billion.
The federal agency issued a consent order today lowering the action level for the manufacturing chemical in public water supplies to 0.4 parts per billion. That’s down from the 0.5 parts per billion prescribed by the agency in 2006. The consent order was prompted by a recent provisional health advisory for C8 - the first of its kind from the EPA.
The new action level is intended to reduce levels of PFOA exposure for people who live in the Mid Ohio Valley near DuPont Washington Works while the EPA completes research and a risk assessment on the chemical's impact on public health.
The new order means that DuPont will have to perform additional testing of surrounding areas to insure that public and private water systems do not contain C8 levels exceeding 0.4 parts per billion.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
C8 Lingers in LHWA Distribution System
The Little Hocking Water Association mailed a notice to all its members informing them that C8 is still being detected in the distribution system despite the installation of a filtration plant to remove the manufacturing substance from drinking water supplies.
The new treatment plant went online a little more than two months ago around the beginning of November. Since that time, the carbon filtration material has already been changed out once.
LHWA says that the filtration plant appears to be working, but C8 remains in the distribution system because of past accumulations. Though water leaving the treatment facility is testing nondetect for C8, the chemical is being detected at levels ranging from 19 to 73 parts per trillion at various places throughout the distribution system.
The notice says until the water association has reliable data that establishes that C8 has been eliminated from the distribution system, consumers may be drinking or otherwise using water containing C8 – and doing so at their own risk of possible health effects.
Read Callie's story on WMOA
The new treatment plant went online a little more than two months ago around the beginning of November. Since that time, the carbon filtration material has already been changed out once.
LHWA says that the filtration plant appears to be working, but C8 remains in the distribution system because of past accumulations. Though water leaving the treatment facility is testing nondetect for C8, the chemical is being detected at levels ranging from 19 to 73 parts per trillion at various places throughout the distribution system.
The notice says until the water association has reliable data that establishes that C8 has been eliminated from the distribution system, consumers may be drinking or otherwise using water containing C8 – and doing so at their own risk of possible health effects.
Read Callie's story on WMOA
Friday, November 30, 2007
C8 Still in the LHWA System
In response to test results received today, DuPont has consented to continue to provide bottled water for Little Hocking Water Association customers by reimbursement only. The details of the program will be made available on Monday.
Today's results confirm that the C8 has not yet been purged completely from the system.
Today's results confirm that the C8 has not yet been purged completely from the system.
LHWA asks DuPont to Continue Bottled Water Program in Light of New Test Results
The Little Hocking Water Association is asking DuPont once again to continue to foot the bill for bottled water for their customers until tests prove that a new filtration plant is successfully removing detectable levels of C8 from the water.
The bottled water program was put in place in the fall of 2005 after Dr. Edward Emmett found levels of C8 in Little Hocking people were 40 to 60 times higher than the general public. Prior to the release of Emmett's findings, the water association had been negotiating with DuPont for an alternative supply of water outside the scope of the class action lawsuit filed against the corporation in Wood County.
So far, DuPont has spent $3 million providing bottled water for most of Little Hocking's 12,000 customers. Company officials say the program is at an end. But, the water association is urging them to continue it for a while longer.
Robert Griffin is the general manager of the Little Hocking Water Association:
"Even though purging is not complete, DuPont apparently intends to end the bottled water program on November 30," Griffin said. "We are continuing to urge DuPont to fund the bottled water program at least until next week, when we have more results from tests that were taken this Tuesday by DuPont at the request of the U.S. EPA."
Griffin is asking customers to pay attention to test results, which will be the true test of the filtration system's effectiveness.
"Test results received by LHWA Wednesday night indicate that purging is still necessary," Griffin said.
He said one tank had C8 levels that were three times greater than the U.S. EPA's action level of 0.50 parts per billion. That level was negotiated by the EPA with DuPont. Other test results received on Wednesday night showed that areas of the system that have already been purged still contain levels of C8 well above the carbon change-out "trigger" of 15 parts per trillion.
“It is important to get as much data as possible before the bottled water program ends, because, as we said on November 2, we want to be able to confirm for our customers that the system as designed and constructed by DuPont will effectively remove the higher concentrations of C8 found in LHWA’s water," Griffin said.
He said those test results could become available as early as today.
The bottled water program was put in place in the fall of 2005 after Dr. Edward Emmett found levels of C8 in Little Hocking people were 40 to 60 times higher than the general public. Prior to the release of Emmett's findings, the water association had been negotiating with DuPont for an alternative supply of water outside the scope of the class action lawsuit filed against the corporation in Wood County.
So far, DuPont has spent $3 million providing bottled water for most of Little Hocking's 12,000 customers. Company officials say the program is at an end. But, the water association is urging them to continue it for a while longer.
Robert Griffin is the general manager of the Little Hocking Water Association:
"Even though purging is not complete, DuPont apparently intends to end the bottled water program on November 30," Griffin said. "We are continuing to urge DuPont to fund the bottled water program at least until next week, when we have more results from tests that were taken this Tuesday by DuPont at the request of the U.S. EPA."
Griffin is asking customers to pay attention to test results, which will be the true test of the filtration system's effectiveness.
"Test results received by LHWA Wednesday night indicate that purging is still necessary," Griffin said.
He said one tank had C8 levels that were three times greater than the U.S. EPA's action level of 0.50 parts per billion. That level was negotiated by the EPA with DuPont. Other test results received on Wednesday night showed that areas of the system that have already been purged still contain levels of C8 well above the carbon change-out "trigger" of 15 parts per trillion.
“It is important to get as much data as possible before the bottled water program ends, because, as we said on November 2, we want to be able to confirm for our customers that the system as designed and constructed by DuPont will effectively remove the higher concentrations of C8 found in LHWA’s water," Griffin said.
He said those test results could become available as early as today.
Monday, November 5, 2007
Little Hocking Filtration Plant Complete
Despite treatment plant, clean water still weeks away for residents
(Athens News, November 5, 2007)
The Little Hocking Water Association now has a filtration plant designed for the purpose of removing the contaminant C8. But, that doesn't mean it's time for the 12,000 southeast Ohio residents served by the association to begin drinking water straight from the tap.
The granular-activated carbon-filtration plant went online around 11 last Thursday evening. But it's expected to take a few weeks to flush the system and make sure the treatment facility is properly working.
"We want people to still avail themselves of the bottled water," advised Little Hocking general manager Robert Griffin.
The water association serves customers in parts of eight townships in western Washington County and two townships (Rome and Troy) in Athens County.
The water association is asking DuPont to continue to pay for bottled water for six weeks while the system is purged, and sampling has made sure that the filtration is effectively removing C8. Griffin said the pipes and tanks are currently full of contaminated water.
A statement released by the company on Friday indicates it intends to continue to provide the alternative water - but for only four weeks. "We want to be able to confirm for our customers that the system as designed and constructed by DuPont will effectively remove the higher concentrations of C8 found in (the) water," Griffin said.
The filtration method has been used in less-contaminated water districts, but it's unknown how well it will perform on Little Hocking water, which is the most C8-contaminated public-water system in the nation.
DuPont first made the bottled-water program available in September 2005 in response to Dr. Edward Emmett's August 2005 release of findings indicating that people who drank water from the Little Hocking Water Association had C8 levels 60 to 80 times higher than expected in the general population. The small, rural public water supply became contaminated as a result of manufacturing processes at DuPont Washington Works near Parkersburg, W.Va.
While more than 96 percent of the U.S. population has C8 in their blood, the federal Environmental Protection Agency has estimated the average for most people at 5 to 9 parts per billion. Emmett's University of Pennsylvania study detected levels ranging from 5 parts per billion to 4,000 parts per billion in folks from Little Hocking. All together, they exhibited a median level of 340 parts per billion. Emmett concluded that area residents should consider using an alternative source of water for drinking, cooking and tooth brushing.
The EPA's Science Advisory Board calls C8, also known as PFOA or perfluorooctanoic acid, a "likely carcinogen."
Even so, DuPont officials say four weeks is plenty of time to flush the pipes and confirm test results.
"Lab results have shown that the system is performing as designed," said Washington Works plant manager Bill Hopkins. "We're pleased that treated water is now flowing in the LWHA system."
The statement said that DuPont will continue the bottled water program through Nov. 30.
Griffin said the water association and DuPont will test samples to verify that C8 has been removed from the water. He said they will share the results with their customers as soon as they become available.
The filtration plant is designed with a special food-grade carbon material that must be changed out before it becomes saturated in order to remain effective. The Little Hocking plant has two lead beds of carbon and two lag beds. The C8 levels are tested after water goes through each cycle, and the carbon must be changed out when sampling detects 15 parts per trillion coming out of the lead bed. That's to make sure that the C8 has been reduced to the point where it can no longer be detected in the finished water.
(Athens News, November 5, 2007)
The Little Hocking Water Association now has a filtration plant designed for the purpose of removing the contaminant C8. But, that doesn't mean it's time for the 12,000 southeast Ohio residents served by the association to begin drinking water straight from the tap.
The granular-activated carbon-filtration plant went online around 11 last Thursday evening. But it's expected to take a few weeks to flush the system and make sure the treatment facility is properly working.
"We want people to still avail themselves of the bottled water," advised Little Hocking general manager Robert Griffin.
The water association serves customers in parts of eight townships in western Washington County and two townships (Rome and Troy) in Athens County.
The water association is asking DuPont to continue to pay for bottled water for six weeks while the system is purged, and sampling has made sure that the filtration is effectively removing C8. Griffin said the pipes and tanks are currently full of contaminated water.
A statement released by the company on Friday indicates it intends to continue to provide the alternative water - but for only four weeks. "We want to be able to confirm for our customers that the system as designed and constructed by DuPont will effectively remove the higher concentrations of C8 found in (the) water," Griffin said.
The filtration method has been used in less-contaminated water districts, but it's unknown how well it will perform on Little Hocking water, which is the most C8-contaminated public-water system in the nation.
DuPont first made the bottled-water program available in September 2005 in response to Dr. Edward Emmett's August 2005 release of findings indicating that people who drank water from the Little Hocking Water Association had C8 levels 60 to 80 times higher than expected in the general population. The small, rural public water supply became contaminated as a result of manufacturing processes at DuPont Washington Works near Parkersburg, W.Va.
While more than 96 percent of the U.S. population has C8 in their blood, the federal Environmental Protection Agency has estimated the average for most people at 5 to 9 parts per billion. Emmett's University of Pennsylvania study detected levels ranging from 5 parts per billion to 4,000 parts per billion in folks from Little Hocking. All together, they exhibited a median level of 340 parts per billion. Emmett concluded that area residents should consider using an alternative source of water for drinking, cooking and tooth brushing.
The EPA's Science Advisory Board calls C8, also known as PFOA or perfluorooctanoic acid, a "likely carcinogen."
Even so, DuPont officials say four weeks is plenty of time to flush the pipes and confirm test results.
"Lab results have shown that the system is performing as designed," said Washington Works plant manager Bill Hopkins. "We're pleased that treated water is now flowing in the LWHA system."
The statement said that DuPont will continue the bottled water program through Nov. 30.
Griffin said the water association and DuPont will test samples to verify that C8 has been removed from the water. He said they will share the results with their customers as soon as they become available.
The filtration plant is designed with a special food-grade carbon material that must be changed out before it becomes saturated in order to remain effective. The Little Hocking plant has two lead beds of carbon and two lag beds. The C8 levels are tested after water goes through each cycle, and the carbon must be changed out when sampling detects 15 parts per trillion coming out of the lead bed. That's to make sure that the C8 has been reduced to the point where it can no longer be detected in the finished water.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Calgon Take Me Away!
Yesterday morning I was privileged to be able to observe a changeout of carbon material at one of the filtration plants DuPont built for a local water system. It was a fascinating process.
This particular changeout was for the Tuppers Plains Chester Water District. It is one of just three in operation, though two more are under construction.
Filtration by means of granular activated carbon is dependent upon periodic changeouts of fresh material in order to maintain effectiveness. For the existing systems, that has meant a changeout every few months.
The material is manufactured by Calgon - the same company that makes bath products and those "Calgon take me away" ads from the late 70s or early 80s. Note the enormous truck. There were two onsite - one to remove the old carbon and one to install the new stuff.
The trucks back up to the filtration plant and hook up a series of hoses to the tanks inside. Water is added to the dry carbon material and then it is fed into the recently emptied chambers.
The granular activated carbon attracts PFOA, but the method is not terribly efficient. The process takes the amount of the C8 in the delivered water down to nondetectable levels.
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