Cost Effective Approaches for Control of Multiple Constituents of Emerging Concern (CECs): WRF #5171

Summary: With rapidly evolving regulatory drivers, the geographical diversity in state-level limits imposed, and lack of information on holistic management strategies there exists a critical need to develop an integrated risk-based CEC management framework to guide both watershed managers and regulators with quantitative data to help make informed decisions. This Water Research Foundation-funded study aims to elucidate the impacts of various CEC management approaches, typically implemented in potable reuse schemes, on ecological and human health-related risk reduction. This goal will be achieved by developing a decision framework for utilities aimed at identifying holistic, watershed-wide, cost-effective approaches to address multiple CECs. A summary of the comprehensive literature review on 'state of knowledge' on emerging trends related to CEC monitoring and treatment, as well as evolving regulatory drivers in the US will be presented. Additionally, trends related to CEC management from meta-analysis of data gathered from nation-wide practitioner surveys will be shared with the audience. Lastly, a comprehensive treatability database under development will watershed-wide CEC management. Learning objectives: The following are some key learning objectives: 1.Summary of existing federal and state-specific regulations/guidelines in the US for CEC management in drinking water, wastewater and water reuse applications. 2.Discussion on gaps in existing regulatory framework and future recommendations. 3.Overview of risk-based screening protocols for selection of candidate CECs, and, 4.Review of removal efficiencies (biological and physio-chemical) for established treatment barriers commonly incorporated in conventional (baseline) and advanced wastewater treatment and reuse applications. Full presentation description: Detection of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) in impacted drinking water supplies in various parts of the world has triggered efforts to establish and prioritize regulatory frameworks that improve CEC monitoring and control in watersheds. This study aims to elucidate the impacts of various management approaches such as industrial source tracking and control, advanced wastewater treatment, advanced drinking water treatment, stormwater, and focused agricultural run-off best management practices on ecological and human health-related risk reduction. The research team is partnering with multiple municipalities, academicians, regulators, and industry leaders across the country to document existing drivers, practices, and outcomes related to the management of multiple CECs in watersheds. The proposed technical approach consists of the following tasks: (1) extensive literature review for state of knowledge assessment on monitoring and treatment of CECs and evolving regulatory drivers, (2) conducting national utility surveys to qualitatively and quantitatively assess watershed-wide CEC monitoring efforts in the US, (3) development of a risk-based framework using CEC occurrence data, treatment barriers and water quality end goals, and, (4) utilizing stakeholder-driven multi-criteria decision analysis to develop quantitative metrics to guide utilities towards selection of most efficient and cost-effective alternatives for the management of CECs in watersheds. Utilities are often faced with budgetary constraints with capital improvements related to rehab of aging infrastructure which often supersede research initiatives in the absence of well-structured and transparent decision frameworks. This study aims to identify gaps and address roadblocks in current and future regulatory drivers related to CEC management. The resulting risk registry and quantitative metrics will provide information to our targeted audience; WRF utility subscribers, watershed managers and regulators, to enable informed decision-making on how best to utilize a risk-based framework to determine viable and most cost-effective approaches to manage CECs. This presentation will provide a comprehensive evaluation of the impacts of various management approaches such as industrial source tracking and control, advanced wastewater and drinking water treatment, stormwater, and focused agricultural run-off best management practices on ecological and human health-related risk reduction. Through this presentation, an overview of the findings on existing CEC occurrence and treatment, screening protocols, management strategies and evolving regulatory drivers will be provided. In particular, this proposed presentation will cover an extensive literature review conducted on state of knowledge assessment on monitoring and treatment of CECs and evolving regulatory drivers. The roadblocks identified in current and future regulatory drivers related to CEC management will be outlined and addressed.