{"title":"PFAS Surrogates for Monitoring Adsorption Column Saturation in GACs and Ion-Exchange Resins","authors":"Ehsan Banayan Esfahani, Fatemeh Asadi Zeidabadi, Tanya Fernandes, I-Heng Chan, Madjid Mohseni","doi":"10.1002/aws2.70067","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/aws2.70067","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <p>This study identified per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) surrogates to benchmark granular activated carbons (GACs) and ion-exchange resins (IXRs) for drinking water treatment. Three GACs and two IXRs were evaluated using isotherm, kinetic, and rapid small-scale column tests with 16 PFAS (C3–C8) across five classes. IXRs outperformed GACs in adsorption affinity (Freundlich constant, K<sub>F</sub> = 50.0 vs. 11.8), maximum adsorption capacity (qmax = 116.3 vs. 30.0 μg/g), and kinetics (pseudo-first-order kinetic constant, k1 = 0.0019 vs. 0.0008 min<sup>−1</sup>) due to combined hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions. IXRs exhibited substantially greater PFAS adsorption, with saturation occurring beyond ~130,000 BVs, compared with < 40,000 BVs for GACs. PFBA exhibited the earliest breakthrough; PFOA also broke through early among regulated PFAS. Average BV50 followed FASAs>FTSAs>PFSAs>>PFECAs>PFCAs for GACs and PFSAs>FASAs>PFECAs≈FTSAs>PFCAs for IXRs. Elevated DOC reduced GAC BV50 by 17% but had < 8% impact on IXRs. Inorganic anions reduced IXR BV50 by up to 52%.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":101301,"journal":{"name":"AWWA water science","volume":"8 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-10-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/aws2.70067","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149205839","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Madison R. Ferrebee, Youngshin Cho, Sophia M. Dalke, Ben Ma, Natalie M. Hull, Karl G. Linden
{"title":"Utilizing UV LED Disinfection to Decrease Pseudomonas aeruginosa Biofilm Formation in Drinking Water Systems","authors":"Madison R. Ferrebee, Youngshin Cho, Sophia M. Dalke, Ben Ma, Natalie M. Hull, Karl G. Linden","doi":"10.1002/aws2.70066","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/aws2.70066","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Opportunistic pathogens (OPs), such as <i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i>, can form biofilms and proliferate in drinking water distribution systems (DWDS) and building premise plumbing even in the presence of a disinfectant residual and are responsible for the largest number of deaths attributable to waterborne disease in the United States. There is a need for strategies to prevent biofilm formation and therefore the sustained occurrence of OPs throughout DWDS. This study demonstrates how UV LED disinfection (282 nm, 50 mJ/cm<sup>2</sup>) before entering a distribution system or at a building's point-of-entry can delay the start of detectable biofilm formation for up to 6 days and significantly reduce the concentration of biofilm-bound cells for up to and beyond 8 days compared to untreated controls. Biofilm growth after UV LED disinfection was evaluated on different materials (PTFE, CPVC, and Cu) and under different carbon nutrient conditions (19 mg/L TOC, 100 μg/L C, 250 μg/L C). PTFE supported the highest biofilm growth, followed by CPVC, while Cu supported the least. UV pre-treatment reduced downstream biofilm formation by 0.33–2.42 log CFU/coupon (53.0%–99.6%) on CPVC surfaces over 5–8 days, with more realistic drinking water carbon conditions (100 or 250 μg/L C) increasing efficacy compared to heightened carbon conditions (19 mg/L TOC). These results inform how UV LEDs could be implemented within drinking water infrastructure to aid in biofilm and OP control.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":101301,"journal":{"name":"AWWA water science","volume":"8 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-10-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149205563","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Anthony Kennedy, Kyle Hay, Steven Shiokari, Christopher Corwin
{"title":"Conditions for Evaluating PAC Against GAC to Control PFAS in Drinking Water","authors":"Anthony Kennedy, Kyle Hay, Steven Shiokari, Christopher Corwin","doi":"10.1002/aws2.70068","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/aws2.70068","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Activated carbon is expected to be widely applied to meet perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanoic sulfonic acid (PFOS) maximum contaminant levels (MCL) of 4 ng/L in drinking water. Theoretical dose ratio relationships suggest powdered activated carbon (PAC) should become more favorable than granular activated carbon (GAC) as removal requirements decrease. Accordingly, PAC and GAC were evaluated at bench-scale under realistic conditions across six different public water systems using surface water as their source water. Observed trends generally followed an increase in PAC favorability as removal requirements decreased, but not as exaggerated as theory suggested. A linear relationship developed between common PAC and GAC products identified an inflection point at ~43% PFOA and PFOS removal and was used to develop adsorbent cost relationships based on varying their relative unit costs. Non-cost factors were also presented that may influence adsorbent selection more than their relative doses.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":101301,"journal":{"name":"AWWA water science","volume":"8 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-10-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/aws2.70068","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149145925","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nathan MacArthur, Juliette Kaplan, Christian Mathews, Chad Seidel
{"title":"Responding to Post-Wildfire Water System VOCs and SVOCs","authors":"Nathan MacArthur, Juliette Kaplan, Christian Mathews, Chad Seidel","doi":"10.1002/aws2.70060","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/aws2.70060","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The 2021 Marshall Fire burned 593 properties within the City of Louisville, CO, and over 1,000 properties total. Responding to fire impacts on the drinking water system, Louisville developed a sampling and flushing recovery plan to address volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs). Of the 882 samples collected and 94,469 individual VOC and SVOC analyses conducted, 528 (0.56%) analyses were above the method reporting limit, and 31 of those (0.03%) exceeded an MCL. VOC analysis alone captured 85% of all detections and captured 100% of all MCL exceedances. Benzene was not a comprehensive surrogate for the presence of all VOCs detected in Louisville. Flushing reduced fire-related contamination below health limits in Louisville's distribution system. After one flush, > 95% of samples were below the MCL; all samples were below the MCL after a second flush. Key findings are summarized for water systems preparing for and responding to wildfires.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":101301,"journal":{"name":"AWWA water science","volume":"8 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-09-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/aws2.70060","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148993952","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Yukun Jin, Manmeet W. Pannu, Anthony M. Miller, Meghanne Tighe, Alyssa Wicks, Megan H. Plumlee, Graham F. Peaslee
{"title":"PIGE to Measure AOF Reveals Limited PFAS Removal by Adsorbents in Water","authors":"Yukun Jin, Manmeet W. Pannu, Anthony M. Miller, Meghanne Tighe, Alyssa Wicks, Megan H. Plumlee, Graham F. Peaslee","doi":"10.1002/aws2.70063","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/aws2.70063","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Rapid, gravity-driven solid-phase extraction (SPE) using graphitized activated carbon felt (GACF) followed by Particle-Induced Gamma-ray Emission (PIGE) spectroscopy is useful for aqueous per/poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) screening via measurement of Adsorbable Organic Fluorine (AOF, reporting limit: 100 ppt as F). Moderately high dissolved organic content may compete for PFAS binding sites on the GACF, and inorganic fluoride may result in AOF overestimation due to PIGE's lack of selectivity. Here, sample pre-treatment with Fenton's reagent and acidification improved method performance by mitigating matrix interferences. The modified method was used to rapidly screen AOF in > 200 surface-, recycled-, and ground-water samples from Orange County, California. Comparison to LC–MS/MS measurements indicated that GACF/PIGE captured substantial additional organic fluorine not measured by targeted methods. GACF/PIGE tests revealed limited removal of AOF by commercial PFAS adsorbents from groundwater in a drinking water treatment application. The current data collected on ultra short chains are insufficient to determine their relative contribution to the total measured AOF and requires further investigation.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":101301,"journal":{"name":"AWWA water science","volume":"8 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-09-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148942614","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Andrew P. Pennock, John Bridgeman, William H. Pennock, Monroe Weber-Shirk
{"title":"Determining Reactor Velocity Gradient Distribution for Baffled Hydraulic Flocculator Design","authors":"Andrew P. Pennock, John Bridgeman, William H. Pennock, Monroe Weber-Shirk","doi":"10.1002/aws2.70065","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/aws2.70065","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The Camp number has been used extensively in flocculation modeling and has historically been used in flocculator design. Despite its prevalence, the Camp number tends to overestimate the average local velocity gradient encountered in flocculators. To address this disparity, a dimensionless correction factor, <span></span><math>\u0000 <semantics>\u0000 <mrow>\u0000 <msub>\u0000 <mi>Π</mi>\u0000 <mi>G</mi>\u0000 </msub>\u0000 </mrow>\u0000 <annotation>$$ {varPi}_G $$</annotation>\u0000 </semantics></math>, is determined for various flocculators. This study uses computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations conducted with the Reynolds stress method (RSM) to determine <span></span><math>\u0000 <semantics>\u0000 <mrow>\u0000 <msub>\u0000 <mi>Π</mi>\u0000 <mi>G</mi>\u0000 </msub>\u0000 </mrow>\u0000 <annotation>$$ {varPi}_G $$</annotation>\u0000 </semantics></math>, the ratio of the average local velocity gradient to the Camp and Stein velocity gradient from the energy dissipation rate of the flow. Theoretically, <span></span><math>\u0000 <semantics>\u0000 <mrow>\u0000 <mn>0</mn>\u0000 <mo>≤</mo>\u0000 <msub>\u0000 <mi>Π</mi>\u0000 <mi>G</mi>\u0000 </msub>\u0000 <mo>≤</mo>\u0000 <mn>1</mn>\u0000 </mrow>\u0000 <annotation>$$ 0le {varPi}_Gle 1 $$</annotation>\u0000 </semantics></math>, with larger values indicating a more uniform local velocity gradient distribution. The channel depth to baffle spacing ratio, <span></span><math>\u0000 <semantics>\u0000 <mrow>\u0000 <msub>\u0000 <mi>Π</mi>\u0000 <mrow>\u0000 <msub>\u0000 <mi>H</mi>\u0000 <mi>e</mi>\u0000 </msub>\u0000 <mo>/</mo>\u0000 <mi>S</mi>\u0000 </mrow>\u0000 </msub>\u0000 <mo>=</mo>\u0000 <mn>4.08</mn>\u0000 </mrow>\u0000 <annotation>$$ {varPi}_{H_{mathrm{e}}/S}=4.08 $$</annotation>\u0000 </semantics></math>, is estimated to produce the most uniform mixing, with <span></span><math>\u0000 <semantics>\u0000 <mrow>\u0000 <msub>\u0000 <mi>Π</mi>\u0000 <mi>G</mi>\u0000 </msub>\u0000","PeriodicalId":101301,"journal":{"name":"AWWA water science","volume":"8 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-09-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148942611","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Simplified Linear Dose-Response Models for Low-Dose QMRAs","authors":"Katherine Crank, Emily Clements, Daniel Gerrity","doi":"10.1002/aws2.70064","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/aws2.70064","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <p>This study analyzes widely used dose-response (DR) models from potable reuse quantitative microbial risk assessments (QMRAs) to identify the low-dose ranges where the log<sub>10</sub>-transformed probability of infection and pathogen dose exhibit a linear relationship. Target pathogens include norovirus, adenovirus, enterovirus, <i>Cryptosporidium</i>, and <i>Giardia</i>. This study (i) defines the low-dose linear range for each DR model, (ii) extracts slope and intercept parameters via regression, and (iii) shows that municipal drinking water risk thresholds fall within these ranges. This promotes low-dose risk estimation transparency, reproducibility, and accessibility for utility decision making, regardless of the underlying complexity of the DR model. Also, this study shows that within the low-dose ranges relevant to potable reuse, commonly used DR models exhibit linear relationships with a slope of ~1. Therefore, each 10-fold reduction in pathogen concentration, equivalent to one log reduction value (LRV), reduces risk by a corresponding order of magnitude. Finally, the outputs from the various DR models are separated by relatively constant risk differentials, thereby reducing the need for complex DR-based sensitivity analyses when conducting potable reuse QMRAs.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":101301,"journal":{"name":"AWWA water science","volume":"8 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-08-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/aws2.70064","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148860226","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Eric S. Peterson, Benjamin D. Stanford, William Raseman, Caroline Russell, Chad Seidel, Gretchen Bruce
{"title":"Response to Dr. Cotruvo's Letter to the Editor","authors":"Eric S. Peterson, Benjamin D. Stanford, William Raseman, Caroline Russell, Chad Seidel, Gretchen Bruce","doi":"10.1002/aws2.70062","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/aws2.70062","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":101301,"journal":{"name":"AWWA water science","volume":"8 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-08-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148848599","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jacira Rosa Soares, Charles D. Spellman Jr., Irene Andreu, Joseph E. Goodwill
{"title":"Oxidation of Manganese(II) With Ferrate Revisited: The Overlooked Role of Hardness Cations","authors":"Jacira Rosa Soares, Charles D. Spellman Jr., Irene Andreu, Joseph E. Goodwill","doi":"10.1002/aws2.70059","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/aws2.70059","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Manganese (Mn) is a concern for some groundwater-sourced drinking water systems. Ferrate (Fe(VI)) is a promising alternative oxidant for Mn treatment, but particle formation during Mn(II) oxidation is not well understood under realistic groundwater conditions with high hardness (> 180 mg/L) and low natural organic matter (< 1 mg/L NOM). This study evaluated the influence of calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), and NOM on particles resulting from Fe(VI) oxidation of Mn(II) in natural and synthetic waters. Increasing Ca and Mg shifted the particle size distribution to the micron-scale (> 0.7 μm). In low-hardness matrices (< 9 mg/L as CaCO<sub>3</sub>) and no NOM, suspensions remained largely nano-scale (i.e., retained by 30 kDa ultrafilter). Particle surface charge measurements showed that Ca, and to a lesser extent Mg, decreased the magnitude of negative surface charge, consistent with cation-driven destabilization and aggregation. NOM impeded this effect, increasing the Ca/Mg concentrations required to form larger particles to > 200 mg/L as CaCO<sub>3</sub>. An in situ continuous-flow experiment (CFE) using natural groundwater showed this behavior can be leveraged to remove Mn using an operationally simple Fe(VI) oxidation and cartridge filtration approach.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":101301,"journal":{"name":"AWWA water science","volume":"8 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-07-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/aws2.70059","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148617003","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Data-Driven Assessment of Water Meter Errors for Replacement Planning","authors":"Kunyi Li, Jinliang Gao, Zhaoshun Wang, Wenyan Wu, Huizhe Cao, Jiajia Song, Wei Qiu, Xiaoyu Zhu","doi":"10.1002/aws2.70058","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/aws2.70058","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Accurate water metering is essential for reducing non-revenue water (NRW) and supporting sustainable urban water management. This study proposes a data-driven framework for assessing water meter performance and supporting replacement planning by integrating advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) data with semi-supervised learning. Using case studies from two Chinese cities, an apparent metering error (AME) metric was developed by combining flow-dependent error curves with actual usage patterns. A neural network model, trained on 136 mechanical meters and applied to 140,000 residential meters, showed that aging meters systematically under-register water use (AME: −6% to −2%), mainly because of low-flow measurement failures and prolonged service duration. Results indicate that optimized replacement strategies can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and operating costs compared with conventional practices. The proposed framework provides a scalable approach for utilities to improve apparent loss assessment and meter replacement planning.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":101301,"journal":{"name":"AWWA water science","volume":"8 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-07-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148615597","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}