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Research Topics
- Arsenic
- Chemicals
- Distribution Systems
- Drinking Water
- Microbes
- Pathogens
- Small Systems
- Source Water Protection
- Technology
- Water Quality Management
Arsenic
Arsenic Research - EPA’s research into implementing the new Arsenic Rule is an integrated, multidisciplinary program. It focuses on the development and evaluation of innovative methods and cost-effective technologies for improving the assessment and control of arsenic contamination.
Arsenic Treatment Technologies - EPA initiated the Arsenic Removal Technology Demonstration Program in 2002 to evaluate the performance, reliability, and cost of arsenic removal technologies and their effect on distribution systems. Two rounds of full-scale, commercially ready treatment technology demonstrations across the country provided states and water utility operators with important information about removing arsenic from their drinking water.
Chemicals
Chemicals Research - The Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974 gave EPA the primary responsibility in the federal effort to protect the public's drinking water supply. The 1996 amendments to the Act required EPA to establish a Contaminant Candidate List (CCL), a list of drinking water contaminants to be considered for future regulation. The first CCL was finalized in 1998 and it included, among other contaminants, 50 chemicals.
Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs) - Concerns have been raised regarding the possible presence of EDCs in drinking water. Many of the chemicals identified as potential EDCs may have been introduced from domestic and industrial sewage treatment systems and wet-weather runoff into surface or ground waters used as drinking water sources.
Distribution Systems
Distribution Systems Research - Water distribution systems are large networks of storage tanks, valves, pumps, and pipes that transport finished water to consumers. (Finished water is that which has gone through all the processes in a water treatment plant and is ready for delivery.) Because of their design, water distribution systems include areas of vulnerability where contamination can occur.
Corrosion, Scaling and Metal Mobility Research - Corrosion is the degradation of metal. In water distribution pipelines, valves, and fixtures, it can cause the degradation of our drinking water quality. EPA’s research helps to control corrosion and reduce release of metals into our drinking water distribution systems.
Distribution System Simulators - Two water distribution system simulators are in operation at EPA’s Test and Evaluation Facility in Cincinnati, Ohio. The facility is a multifaceted research center where water treatment and other environmental protection technologies are conceived, designed, and evaluated in the laboratory, and at the bench and pilot plant scales.
Leak Detection - Experimental pipe loops can tell us a lot about in-use water distribution systems. In Edison, New Jersey, EPA's Urban Watershed Research Facility uses 2,500 feet of buried experimental pipe loops (collectively called the Edison Pipeline Test Apparatus) to conduct experiments, such as leak detection analysis, on water infrastructure conveyance systems.
EPANET 2.0 - Developed by EPA's Water Supply and Water Resources Division, EPANET is software that models water distribution piping systems. It is a Windows 95/98/NT/XP program that performs extended-period simulation of the hydraulic and water quality behavior within pressurized pipe networks. English and Spanish versions available.
Drinking Water
Drinking Water Research - Given the wide range of drinking water sources and distribution practices, great care must be taken to ensure that the safest possible drinking water reaches the consumer. EPA's National Risk Management Research Laboratory (NRMRL) studies ways not only to protect and restore our water resources, but also to help transport clean drinking water right to our taps.
Microbes
Microbes Research - Today, our nation’s drinking water supply is one of the cleanest in the world, in part because EPA has set standards for about 90 contaminants in drinking water. Even so, waterborne diseases are still a concern.
Pathogens
Pathogens Research - Small life forms are a big research topic at EPA. Pathogens are tiny organisms, such as bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and viruses, that cause disease. They’re often found in water, frequently as a result of sewage discharges that contain fecal matter, septic tanks that leak, and animal feedlots that create polluted runoff. NRMRL develops scientific assessments and best practices to protect us from exposure to harmful levels of pathogens in drinking water.
Small Systems
Small Systems -
Water distribution systems that serve fewer than 10,000 people are considered to be “small systems.” Small systems face unique challenges when it comes to compliance with the 1974 Safe Drinking Water Act and its major 1996 amendments.
Source Water Protection
Source Water Protection Research - Source water is untreated water from streams, rivers, lakes, or underground aquifers. It is our supply for public drinking water. While some treatment of source water is necessary, the costs of treatment and risks to public health can be reduced by ensuring that this water is protected from contamination.
Geographic Information Systems
- The 1996 amendments to Section 1453 of the Safe Drinking Water
Act require the states to establish and implement a Source Water Assessment
Program. Source water assessment is
intended to provide a strong basis for developing, implementing, and improving
a state's source water protection plan.
Technology
Treatment Technology Evaluation - Research in treatment technology evaluation is focused on several key problems that face the potable water industry today, including corrosion control, the formation and removal of disinfection by-products, and the removal of pathogenic protozoa.
Arsenic Treatment Technology Demonstrations - EPA initiated the Arsenic Removal Technology Demonstration Program in 2002 to evaluate the performance, reliability, and cost of arsenic removal technologies and their effect on distribution systems. Two rounds of full-scale, commercially ready treatment technology demonstrations across the country provided states and water utility operators with important information about removing arsenic from their drinking water.
A Membrane System Design Assistant - A Microsoft Excel spreadsheet assists users in the evaluation of reverse osmosis and nanofiltration water filtration applications. The spreadsheet enables users to perform water analysis and evaluate the analysis for self consistency, charge balance, and carbonate/pH equilibrium.
Environmental Technology Verification (ETV) - EPA's Environmental Technology Verification Program develops testing protocols and verifies the performance of innovative technologies that have the potential to improve the protection of human health and the environment. The program was created to accelerate the entrance of new environmental technologies into the domestic and international marketplaces.
Water Quality Management
Water Resource Adaptation Program (WRAP) - What does the future hold for our water supplies? How can we adapt our water resources to secure water availability and protect water quality in a sustainable environment? The Water Resource Adaptation Program (WRAP) contributes to EPA’s efforts to provide water resource managers and decision makers with the tools they need to adapt water resources (e.g., watersheds and infrastructure) to future climate change and demographic and economic development.