Boil Water Notices in the U.S., 2012-2014
This study is the first comprehensive database of the cause for boil water notices (BWN) issued in the 155,000 documented public water systems in the United States. The study concludes most BWN’s (53%; n=11,131) were issued as a precaution for the possibility of microbial contaminants due to leaks or breaks in a water main.
The report concludes that due to the randomization of these events, an appropriate risk management method that could be utilized is point-of-use or point-of-entry water treatment certified for microbiological reduction. Steps for proper sanitization of treatment equipment after a BWN event is available for members in the WQA Knowledge Base.
Click here for a copy of the Executive Summary. Members may download the electronic toolkit of the study here and access the full report here.
The report concludes that due to the randomization of these events, an appropriate risk management method that could be utilized is point-of-use or point-of-entry water treatment certified for microbiological reduction. Steps for proper sanitization of treatment equipment after a BWN event is available for members in the WQA Knowledge Base.
Click here for a copy of the Executive Summary. Members may download the electronic toolkit of the study here and access the full report here.
Reduction of Effluent Chloride Study The final report of this study is available on Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District's (MMSD) website. The study can be used as a model approach in areas struggling with chloride discharge.
The final conclusions were that on average, softener optimizations could reduce the concentration of chlorides by 27% while replacement with systems meeting 4,000 grains/lb. salt efficiency could reduce the concentration of chlorides by 47%. WQA members can find articles regarding softener optimization for efficiency in the WQA Knowledge Base and download the electronic toolkit here. |
Environmental Impact StudyThis study was undertaken to investigate the effect home ion-exchange water softeners may have on the performance of onsite septic tanks.
The data indicate that the use of efficiently operated water softeners (at or above ~3000 gr/lb salt efficiency) improves septic tank performance, while the use of very inefficient home softeners (at or below ~1000 gr/lb salt efficiency) may have a negative effect on solids discharge to the drain field.
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Softened Water Benefits Study (Energy and Detergent Savings)
This independent study tested devices fed with softened and unsoftened water under controlled laboratory conditions designed to accelerate the waterside scaling in the device and quantify the performance efficiency.
For clothes washing, the study investigated stain removal with varying levels of water hardness, detergent dose, and temperature. For dish washing, the study included tests for removing difficult soils and spot and film evaluation with varying levels of water hardness and detergent dose.
For clothes washing, the study investigated stain removal with varying levels of water hardness, detergent dose, and temperature. For dish washing, the study included tests for removing difficult soils and spot and film evaluation with varying levels of water hardness and detergent dose.
- Click here to download the executive summary as a PDF.
- Click here to download the full report as a PDF (WQA members only).