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Centers for Disease Control investigators found the deadly amoeba Naegleria fowleri in the tap water of two Louisiana residents who died from primary amoebic meningoencephalitis in 2011. These are the first cases in the US that have been linked to N. fowleri in household plumbing served by municipal water. According to the Food and Drug Administration, Some tap water contains low levels of organisms, such as bacteria and protozoa, including amoebas, which may be safe to swa...llow because stomach acid kills them. But these ‘bugs’ can stay alive in nasal passages and cause potentially serious infections. The CDC believes the two victims were exposed when flushing their sinuses with salt water. The FDA has issued a warning against using untreated tap water when irrigating one's sinuses, and urged consumers to use boiled, distilled, or filtered water instead.

Raytheon has received approval for a plan to clean up a toxic waste spill that has polluted groundwater in St. Petersburg for the past thirty years. The spill occured at a manufacturing plant under a previous owner. Raytheon's plan is to drill hundreds of wells to boil the groundwater under the site and vaporize the contaminants. The cleanup effort is projected to take ten years to complete.

The Western Municipal Water District in Riverside County approved the expansion of the West Riverside Wastewater Treatment Plant. The expansion will increase the capacity of the facility by over 5 million gallons per day, which will be used to recharge groundwater supplies. Michele McKinney Underwood, a Western spokeswoman, called the wastewater recycling project, "a way to be more locally reliable and not just dependent on imported water sources."

Cadiz has been trying to sell groundwater from the Mojave desert to Southern California cities for 15 years. The environmental impact report for the project was accepted last week by the Santa Margarita Water District in Orange County. Santa Margarita also agreed to buy one-tenth of the project's proposed annual yield. If it goes ahead as planned, Cadiz's project would supply drinking water to 100,000 homes. Cadiz is still waiting for permission from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which is concerned about the presence of carcinogenic hexavalent chromium in the aquifer.

New research suggests that the greatest threat posed to drinking water safety by fracking could be from disposal of wastewater generated by the fracking process, rather than by direct contamination of groundwater.

The Pepacton Reservoir, which normally provides New York City with a quarter of its drinking water, was re-connected to the city's distribution system last week. It had been closed to drain and repair leaking fuel tanks that contained 3200 gallons of diesel fuel and gasoline. The Department of Environmental Protection believes that the tanks were left behind when the reservoir was built in 1954, but does not know why.

The EPA announced yesterday that it has completed its sampling of water from private homes in Dimock, PA. The sampling program was undertaken based on concerns regarding contamination from nearby hyrdaulic fracturing, or "fracking", operations. However, the EPA did not detect elevated levels of any of the contaminants studied.

24 million gallons of spilled jet fuel have contaminated an aquifer in Albequerque, and are making their way towards the wells that serve as the city's primary source of drinking water.

A plan to sell groundwater from the Mojave desert to the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California hit a roadblock when testing showed that the water contains levels of chromium-6 that are 750 times higher than the public health goal in California.

A study by the US Geological Survey found high levels of nitrate in 25 percent of the Upper Santa Ana Watershed, high levels of perchlorate in 11 percent of the of the aquifer system, and moderate levels in a further 53 percent. This aquifer system is used to provide drinking water to the Inland Empire. The study attributed the contaminants to human-related activities.

The City of Redlands has begun work on an $8.5 million improvement project to bring its surface water treatment plant into compliance with EPA regulations for disinfection by-products. Assistant utilities director Chris Diggs explained that, "when organics - (or the) carbon - come in contact with chlorine these certain acids are formed. And these acids are carcinogenic, so we're modifying the way the plant operates to reduce as much of (those) organics as possible."

Ohio will be providing free tests for arsenic in the drinking water of private well owners. The State plans to use this data to identify areas where groundwater contains dangerously high levels of arsenic. It's also a good reminder to anyone who gets their water from a private well of the importance of having that water tested on a regular basis!

Happy Independence Day from apiqe!