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Topic: Contaminants

  • Phase 2B Report (1,4-dioxane, Cr6, PCE, Uranium, radium, calcium, magnesium, radon, strontium): 

    The Water Quality Research Foundation (WQRF) funded the Contaminant Occurrence Level Study (20192020) to investigate the occurrence of drinking water contaminants at levels that may present potential public health risks despite federal regulatory compliance and the occurrence of aesthetic drinking water analytes impacting the taste, color, and odor of drinking water supplied by public drinking…

  • Phase 2A Report (Alkalinity, chloride, corrosivity, LSI, nitrate, nitrate-nitrite, orthophosphate, total phosphate, and sulfate):

  • Contaminant Level Occurrence Above the MCLG

    The US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) sets a regulatory maximum contaminant level (MCL) or action level and a maximum contaminant level goal (MCLG) for all drinking water contaminants included in the National Primary Drinking Water Regulations (NPDWR). The MCLG is the maximum level of a contaminant in drinking water at which no known or anticipated…

  • Aesthetics Level Occurrence Study (hardness, iron, pH, manganese, disinfection residuals)

  • 2022 Contaminant Forecast

    WQA’s Technical Affairs Director Eric Yeggy talks about his top contaminant and water treatment concerns for 2022 on WQA Radio (WQA’s weekly podcast). 

  • Residential Water Reuse Fact Sheet

    Residential water reuse is a topic of increasing interest. With growing water shortages in the Southwestern United States and other areas, the ability to reuse water onsite as opposed to sending it all to a wastewater treatment facility becomes more and more appealing. Additionally, reuse of water is generally considered to be a part of…

  • Ultraviolet (UV) Light Fact Sheet

    Ultraviolet (UV) light utilizes radiation disrupting cellular DNA to kill microbes but is not utilized for removal of chemical contaminants. This treatment tool is generally used as a final step in reverse osmosis (RO) systems to improve the efficiency of microbe removal originating from the source water or that may grow in the POU system over time.…

  • Reverse Osmosis (RO) Fact Sheet

    Reverse osmosis (RO) is a process where water and contaminants are separated by passage through a thin semipermeable membrane. The membrane creates a barrier between water molecules and chemical or microbial contaminants as high-pressure forces water through the membrane, leaving contaminants behind. RO systems can remove most organics, metals and nitrate but are often used…

  • Ion Exchange Fact Sheet

    Water is the universal solvent that is able to dissolve a little bit of everything it touches. It could, therefore, be said that “pure” water does not exist. Even the most highly processed and purified water still contains trace levels of gases, salts or minerals that have been leached from its containment vessel or absorbed…

  • Granular Activated Carbon (GAC) Fact Sheet

    The use of granular activated carbon (GAC) for water purification became common around the start of the 20th century (1906) when the “activation” process was applied to charcoal (which had been used for centuries). Thermal activation of charcoal greatly improves its pore volume, surface area and structure making it a superb workhorse for water treatment.