In October 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the final Lead and Copper Rule Improvements (LCRI) to strengthen efforts to reduce lead exposure in drinking water. The final LCRI builds upon the previous lead and copper rules and includes key provisions proposed by the agency in November 2023. The rule is effective Dec. 30...
Does your drinking water come from lead pipes, also known as service lines? Chances are more likely if your house was built before 1950. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates more than 96,000 lead service lines in Iowa, potentially exposing many homes to lead depending on the materials and methods used for plumbing. The EPA's lat...
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the first-ever nationwide, legally enforceable drinking water standard for per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). This rule represents the most significant step under EPA's PFAS strategic roadmap, addressing PFAS pollution and protecting the public from potential PFAS hazards. The EPA a...
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recently proposed revisions to the National Primary Drinking Water Regulation (NPDWR) to limit lead exposure. The proposed Lead and Copper Rule Improvements (LCRI) simplifies the 2022 Lead and Copper Rule Revisions (LCRR) and include provisions for efficient implementations by water systems to...
A municipal solid waste landfill (MSWLF) is a dedicated land area or excavated site that receives nonhazardous solid waste from households and industries. An MSWLF may also receive nonhazardous sludge and conditionally exempt small quantity generator waste. These landfills safely isolate waste from the environment with clay and geotextile liners to...
From salting your driveway to blowing grass clippings into the street, there are plenty of things we do to affect our stormwater system. That's why the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency takes steps to regulate and monitor shared water systems. They do that through MS4 permits, which are short for Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems. These...
The key objective of drinking water treatment and water filtration is to prevent water-borne illnesses and help communities access safe drinking water. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates approximately 155,000 public water systems that provide drinking water to 90% of the country's population. The agency requires utilities to c...
There's no lack of rain in Libertad, Peru, but there is a shortage of clean, usable water. This Village, deep in the Peruvian Amazon Rainforest, is home to monkeys, iguanas, piranhas and native Peruvians whose ancestors once lived on these lush riverbanks. This region gets 112 inches of rain every year, so much so that it even rains daily during th...
Various Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS chemicals) are commonly used in industrial, commercial and consumer products. These manufactured substances are also called forever chemicals because of their resistance to heat, water and oil, which hinders their natural degradation. When PFAS chemicals leach into water through landfills, industria...
Around 2.2 million miles of underground pipes support the drinking water infrastructure system in the United States. The aging water system, however, requires upgrades in thousands of communities across the nation to prevent water main breaks and a daily loss of billions of gallons of treated water. If you are a municipal leader, it can be challeng...
Are you familiar with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Lead and Copper Rule Improvements (LCRI)? What are the implications for lead and copper rule revisions?How do the revisions help protect your community from lead exposure in drinking water? Since its 1991 publication, the Lead and Copper Rule (LCR) has undergone several revisions,...
In 2020, Wisconsin Department of Health Services reported 9,600 children younger than 16 were poisoned by lead. The same year, the Public Service Commission estimated the number of lead service lines statewide at 173,052. Since then, community leaders have raised the priority levels on lead service line replacement projects to mitigate the threat o...
The phrase "orphaned wells" describes approximately 3.5 million oil or gas wells abandoned by fossil fuel organizations across the U.S. Disconnected because of viability, bankruptcy or neglect, these wells have no legal owners, operators or responsible parties to plug and restore them. Orphaned wells pose serious threats to human and environmental ...
Note: This blog post was updated to reflect legislation that passed in July 2023. Illinois has more lead service lines than any other state in the nation, with a number the National Resources Defense Council estimates to be anywhere from 700,000 to 1.4 million. Although the state banned lead service line installation in 1986, antecedent lines...
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) manages state water quality standards to ensure all surface waters are swimmable and fishable and that municipal leaders can use water resources to the fullest capacity for public benefit. Under authority delegated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the state DNR administers the Public ...
A 2020 Yale Environment Review article calls attention to declining drinking water distribution systems across the United States and notes leaking pipes lose up to 6 billion gallons of water daily. Because most U.S. water infrastructure was developed in the 1900s with an estimated lifespan of 100 years, malfunctions like leaking pipes, pump breakdo...
According to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) 2021 Annual Drinking Report, more than 98% of the state's public water systems comply with all health-based standards. The Wisconsin DNR implements the state's drinking water program, which includes municipal community water systems, other-than-municipal community water systems, nontr...
The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a grant program yesterday to create a Lead Service Line Inventory that will help communities meet requirements outlined in the Lead Service Line Replacement and Notification Act. Because Illinois has more lead water pipes than any state in the U.S., this is another step toward helping mun...
With more than 2,800 contaminated sites in 50 states, public concern about per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination has grown, yet a great deal about these so-called "forever chemicals" remains unknown. Faced with such uncertainty, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has set no formal limits on a moving target like PFAS d...
Earlier this year, the Wisconsin Natural Resources Board (NRB) approved state drinking water standards for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perflourooctane sulfonate (PFOS) — the two most common chemicals known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). The state NRB standards precede federal PFAS standards the U.S. Environmental Protection Ag...
