WaterWorld Weekly: April 14, 2011

The following is a transcript of the April 14, 2011, edition of the WaterWorld Weekly newscast.

• Radiation prompts Philly to boost water testing, treatment

• SAWS snags state pipe-tapping championship

• Water agencies threaten suit over sucker

• Worker killed in water tunnel accident

• US professor wins Water Prize

[story1]

The Philadelphia Water Department is stepping up testing procedures and reviewing its treatment technology after federal officials found radioactive iodine in the city's drinking water.

Over the last few weeks, several states have reported varying levels of Iodine-131 in drinking water, but the amount found at Philly's Queen Lane treatment plant is the highest of the 23 sites in 13 states where the particles have been found.

City officials say that although the levels are elevated, they don't pose a health threat. They also pointed out that the radiation may not be related to Japan's Fukushima leaks. Iodine turned up in Philadelphia's tap water last summer.

Environmental officials are trying to identify the source. In the meantime, carbon has been added at the Queen Lane plant as a "cautionary measure".

[story2]

With AWWA's ACE 11 less than 8 weeks away, the anticipation is building for one of the most captivating ACE events: the pipe tapping contest.

If last week's performance by San Antonio Water Services is any indication, it will certainly be a lively and exciting competition.

SAWS men's and women's teams showed off their skills at Texas Water in Dallas last week -- both of them walking away state champs and garnering a spot in the national competition in June.

The men's team, which has won five state championships, worked like a well-oiled machine, blowing away their competition with a final time of 1:43.

The team includes Cooperman Sid Luna, Cranker Lupe Paredes, and Starman Monico Munoz.

The SAWS women's team captured their state win with a time of 3:42. They are Cooperman Regina Robledo, Cranker Yolanda Garcia, and Starman Leslie Morales.

Both teams will move on to compete in the national event, hoping to unseat reigning 2010 national champs Birmingham Water Works men's team and Honolulu Board of Water Supply women's team.

[story3]

Water agencies in California have formally warned the US Fish and Wildlife Service that they will sue the agency if it does not rescind its final rule regarding the endangered Santa Ana Sucker, which expanded the fish's critical habitat area.

The twelve water agencies, serving nearly 3 million residents in San Bernardino and Riverside counties, say that they are already successfully conserving the fish and that the agency's rule would hinder that progress and destabilize regional water supplies.

They are particularly concerned about disruption of flood control, water conservation and groundwater recharge efforts affecting most of western Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

Fish and Wildlife has 60 days to respond.

[story4]

An accident at the site of a water tunnel construction project in Webster, New York, has claimed a man's life.

The worker, part of a five-man crew, was hit and killed by a small locomotive hauling debris out of the tunnel more than 100 feet below the bottom of Lake Ontario.

The tunnel will serve as the main artery of a $150 million water-treatment plant that will supply an estimated 50 million gallons of water a day when it's finished in 2013.

[story5]

Last month, the Stockholm Water Prize was awarded to US zoology professor Stephen Carpenter for his work on eutrophication.

According to the Stockholm Water Prize Nominating committee, Carpenter exhibited "outstanding leadership in setting an ecological research agenda, integrating it into a socio-ecological context, and in providing guidance for the management of aquatic resources."

The King of Sweden will present the Stockholm Water Prize to Professor Carpenter in Stockholm in August, at a royal award ceremony during World Water Week.

For WaterWorld magazine, I'm Angela Godwin. Thanks for watching.

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