The city of Newark, New Jersey, will continue testing residential tap water for the next few weeks to get a read on whether the filters it issued to residents are removing enough lead.
According to the state’s Department of Environmental Protection, 225 homes are being tested, while the remaining 14,000 homes likely to have lead service lines will continue to be given free bottled water in part of an effort that started Aug. 12.
Wisconsin Governor Lays Groundwork for PFAS Mitigation
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers is directing the state’s Department of Natural Resources to work alongside other agencies to mitigate the impact of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination.
Specifically, the governor’s executive order mandates the agencies build a website to inform the public about the possible dangers of PFAS, and work with municipalities to find potential sources of PFAS pollution.
Evers also recently asked the DNR to create PFAS regulatory standards.
Detention Basins Could Catch More Than Stormwater
Everywhere you go there are stormwater detention basins built near large construction projects intended to control the flow of rainwater and runoff. Now, those basins might help in controlling nitrogen runoff into rivers and lakes, according to Lauren E. McPhillips, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at Penn State.
Speaking recently at the annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America in Louisville, Kentucky, she explained that she and colleagues at Cornell University looked at stormwater detention basins in the area around Ithaca, New York.
Controlling runoff from rain and trapping sediment has always been a goal of these ubiquitous basins, but new techniques may make them suitable for removing nitrate from the water as well.
“These basins have always been treated as black boxes looking at water in and percentage efficiency,” said McPhillips. “However, different designs of these basins perform differently, and now we are looking at performance and specific mechanisms for removal of nitrogen.”
Read details about the study here.
