WEF/WERF Getting Prepared for the “New” Pathogen Standards

Sunday, October 19, 8:30 am – 4:30 pm
1 day, 0.6 CEUs

One of the fundamental concerns of WEF’s members is the risk associated with discharged pathogens. Treatment technologies in place today are designed to meet water quality criteria developed more than twenty years ago on the basis of research that may have been incomplete. EPA is working towards the development of new criteria for pathogen exposure that may affect future treatment requirements. Although the new criteria are not expected for up to another five years, research is under way now to inform the development of those criteria. This workshop will provide an overview of ongoing research and prepare utility managers and other attendees to better understand the implications of this research.

The workshop will begin with an overview of the agenda and a discussion of the planned process. This process will emphasize audience opportunities to interact with the speakers through question-and-answer periods after each presentation as well as submittal of questions for consideration during a concluding panel discussion.

The overview will be followed with a primer that refreshes and updates attendees’ understanding of current regulatory issues, such as the standard setting process, assessment and permitting, the principles of total maximum daily loads (TMDLs), and use attainability analyses (UAAs). A complementary science primer will speak to deficiencies in the current (1986) criteria, practicalities of monitoring, quantitative microbiological risk analysis, and current epidemiological approaches

Following the primers, current practice and research will be explored through a series of case studies. Progress reports on research on primary and secondary contact criteria and on pathogen risks associated with peak wet weather flows will help attendees understand the stringent protocols and methodology needed for reliable results. Presentations on the need for UAAs and on the implications of water reuse and other drinking water issues will highlight the importance of getting pathogen science right when preparing new standards.

The workshop will close with overviews from the Water Environment Research Foundation, the AWWA Research Foundation, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency of planned research on pathogen issues. The presenters will then participate in a brief panel session in which they will respond to moderator and audience questions to outline possible implications of current and planned research and of new pathogen standards. The workshop leaders will capture important questions and key points identified in the panel discussion and throughout the day and provide a follow-up communication to workshop participants memorializing these points.

Chair
Adrienne Nemura, LimnoTech

Co Chair
Margaret Stewart, Water Environment Research Foundation

Speakers
James Keating, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Jeffery Soller, Soller Environmental
Claudio Ternieden, Water Environment Research Foundation
Geeja K. Rijal, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago
Christopher S. Crockett, Philadelphia Water Department
Theresa Slifko, Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County
Misha Hasan, AWWA Research Foundation
Shari Barash, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency