COVER STORY
In an ideal world, everyone plays by the rules and water sources are free of contaminants and unwanted matter.
But, as we know, not all members of society use best judgment and common sense all of the time — for some, not even
some of the time.
“We don’t have rules and regulations because people behave themselves,” remarks Neil Weaver, who is the presi-
dent/CEO of ABA Water Systems. “We have regulations because some people don’t play by the rules.”
And, depending on your area of the country, new regulations can be considered strict and aggressive, but many feel these
are needed and overdue.
By Richard DiPaolo
Editorial Director
Water Technology®
MORE INFORMATION
For more information on this topic,
go to www.watertechonline.com
and enter keyword(s): Regulations
or EPA.
Corp. “Currently these are present in only low concentrations, but there are health con- cerns with the presence of two key contami- nants: Steroids and antibiotics. Steroids can cause hormone disruption of fish and antibi- otics in our water supply could lead to dis- ease-resistant strains of bacteria, which can reduce the effectiveness of drugs currently on the market.” “Emerging contaminants, such as phar- maceuticals in water, represent an area of new discovery and resultant research asso- ciated with their impact on the communi- ty,” says Craig S. Johnson, who is the pres- ident for BioVir Laboratories Inc. “Dealers should take the time to read the latest avail- able research findings and tailor their sales efforts towards solving potential contami- nation problems.” And, while a perfect POU/POE system Emerging issues on the regulation horizon? Dealers and water treatment professionals can no longer argue that they haven’t been warned. In last year’s release of the US Environmental Protection Agency’s third “contaminant candidate list” (CCL) — a record of certain substances that are not cur- rently regulated for safe drinking water, but the federal government can consider for future regulation — 116 substances were identified. CCL 3, as the updated list is titled, includes inorgan- ic chemicals, organic chemicals and living organisms that point-of-use (POU)/point-of-entry (POE) water treatment dealers should be at least mindful of. While the discovery of emerging contaminants (ECs) is nothing new, the technology used to identify these substances is constantly improving and health effects are being realized. “Emerging contaminants is the presence of hazardous materials or mixtures in our water supplies,” says Diane Meyer, marketing manager for Val-Matic Valve & Mfg.
