The drinking water flowing from the tap in your home is mandated by the government to be pure and free from harmful byproducts.
But what happens when a system in Pennsylvania — especially a small public one — is found be in violation of regulations? It turns for assistance to the only centers of their type in the Commonwealth, located at Penn State Harrisburg.
Drawing from a wealth of resources, Penn State Harrisburg has become the lead institution in Pennsylvania committed to assisting systems overcome their financial, technological and training challenges to provide pure drinking water to customers.
The college’s undergraduate and graduate environmental programs unique to the region, extensive faculty research and the two centers on campus all contribute to the effort.
One of the challenges facing public water systems — large and small — is the elimination of possibly harmful disinfection byproducts (DBPs) in order to comply with requirements. Through his ongoing research and writings, Yuefeng Xie, professor of environmental engineering, has assumed a lead role in the Penn State Harrisburg School of Science, Engineering and Technology’s outreach efforts to assist providers of drinking water across the Commonwealth and beyond.
Xie is co-director of the Environmental Training Center (ETC) and the Small Public Water Systems Technology Assistance Center (SPWSTAC) on campus, supported by the state Department of Environmental Protection and the federal Environmental Protection Agency. The ETC is the only one of its kind in Pennsylvania and the SPWSTAC is only one of five throughout the nation.
The main emphasis of the ETC is on educating and assisting the state’s water supply operators on a myriad of topics with more than 2,000 receiving instruction each year. SPWSTAC, with support from the EPA, enables Xie and fellow faculty members and students to undertake water-related research.
"More than 9,000 of Pennsylvania's public water systems serve fewer than 3,300 persons," Xie notes. "These systems — classified as small by the Environmental Protection Agency — face unique financial and operational challenges."
The Blacklick Valley Municipal Authority in Western Pennsylvania is one of those small systems which turned to Penn State Harrisburg when it was faced with a dilemma. A small system which purchases water from a supplier and distributes it to 900 customers, Blacklick was found to be in violation of DBP regulations and faced a formidable financial challenge to rectify the situation. Mike Pisarcik, the system’s manager and operator, turned to Penn State Harrisburg, the ETC and Xie for help.
"For a year, they took samples once a month to figure out what to do," Pisarcik says. "At their suggestion, we implemented an aeration system in our 75,000-gallon holding tank with 20 diffusers sending air through the tank. That suggested process has lowered our levels to acceptable."
He continues, "With them (ETC and Penn State Harrisburg), I could not have done it. Even the DEP asked how I did it. In conclusion, it works."
"I am passionate about small water systems. They do not have the technology at their disposal or the financial resources," Xie comments in reference to facilities such as Blacklick. “They need the most help when they are found to be in violation. Since their discovery, DBPs have become one of the major driving forces in drinking water regulations, research, and water utility operations throughout the world. The list of DBPs has grown from just a few to an increasing long list of compounds, making compliance difficult for system operators.”
The American Water Works Association says, "Over the past several years, a handful of studies also have shown a possible link between high levels of DBP in tap water and adverse effects on reproductive health, including low birth weight and miscarriage."
The U.S. EPA also reports that "several DBPs have been linked to cancer in lab animals, and as a result has some of these DBPs regulated. However, there are many more that have still not been identified and tested for toxicity or cancer effects." Current research such as that being conducted by Xie centers on identifying these byproducts and then developing methods to control them.
To consolidate valuable information for researchers, trainers and system operators, Xie has co-edited "Disinfection Byproducts in Drinking Water: Occurrence, Formation, Health Effects, and Control," published by the American Chemical Society. The volume documents the latest DBP research findings.
He is now completing work on his third book, "Drinker’s Guide to Water Treatment." Xie says this one will target "the non-scientific community using lay language to explain very scientific processes."