The Benefits of a Resilient Water Treatment Plant for Complying with DBP and PFAS Regulations?

The USEPA is on its way to finalizing the first-ever compliance requirements for controlling per and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water. The revision process for the Microbial and Disinfection By Product (MDBP) Rule cluster will also be taking shape by that time. Draft regulations for PFAS will be finalized by the end of 2023. It is widely expected that the regulation will intend to limit the occurrence of toxic PFAS compounds to single-digit parts per trillion levels. Limiting concentrations to at or below laboratory analytical methods is also a possibility. The MDBP regulations are currently being deliberated by an advisory committee to the National Drinking Water Advisory Council (NDWAC). Those deliberations are expected to be completed within the next year. EPA will subsequently be required to publish revisions to these rule clusters by 2027 or 2028. It is uncertain at this point how these rules will change; however, it is expected that the regulations will focus on maintaining disinfectant residuals throughout the water systems and regulate additional DBPs, particularly brominated DBPs. The combined effect of these rules will be the need for water systems to look towards additional protective treatment techlogies such as granular activated carbon (GAC) adsorption, ion exchange (IX), and reverse osmosis (RO). These techlogies, while t in widespread use at present, are used by many water systems. This presentation will assess the ability of various types of water treatment systems to comply with current regulations as well as comply with these future regulatory changes. The audience will be able to learn the benefits of a resilient water treatment system. They will also learn about what makes a water treatment system resilient in the face of evolving regulations. After this session, participants will be able to:
• Articulate the drivers for PFAS Rule and MDBP Rule Revisions.
• Explain the benefits of resilient and robust water treatment processes.
• Identify the treatment techlogies needed for complying with PFAS and MDBP Rules.