Research Areas > Contaminants > Contaminants of Emerging Concern > Recycled Water Advisory Panel

Project: Advisory Panel for CECs in Recycled Water

Background and Objectives

Constituents/chemicals of emerging concern (CECs) represent a challenging problem for regulators to address, owing to limited scientific knowledge about their sources, fates, and effects. The California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) recently issued a Recycled Water Policy that, among other efforts, attempts to incorporate the most current science on CECs into regulatory policies for use by various state agencies. As a part of this policy, SCCWRP was asked to convene a panel of six experts to provide recommendations to the SWRCB. This "blue ribbon" panel will address the following questions:

1. What are the appropriate constituents to be monitored in recycled water, and what are the applicable monitoring methods and detection limits?

2. What toxicological information is available for these constituents?

3. Would the constituent list change based on level of treatment? If so, how?

4. What are the possible indicators (i.e. surrogates) that represent a suite of CECs?

5. What levels of CECs should trigger enhanced monitoring in recycled, ground or surface waters?

A second, related panel has also been formed to address CECs in coastal and marine ecosystems.

Status

This project was initiated in 2009 with anticipated completion in 2010.

Methods

Six panel members were chosen for their expertise in the following fields: biochemistry, analytical chemistry, civil engineering, epidemiology/risk assessment, ecotoxicology, and human health toxicology. This panel will review the scientific literature regarding CECs in recycled water, and meet periodically between May 2009 and May 2010 to discuss how to answer the key questions. Following the release of their draft report in the spring of 2010, the panel will collect comments from stakeholders, including public interest groups and environmental organizations, and refine their recommendations accordingly. A final report containing recommendations of the panel will be issued to the SWRCB for their consideration in May 2010.

Calendar

Partners

This project is being conducted in collaboration with the State Water Resources Control Board, Department of Public Health, and panel members (below), with stakeholder input from a variety of public and private entities.

Panel members:

• Dr. Paul Anderson - Human Health Toxicologist
• Dr. Nancy Denslow - Biochemist
• Dr. Jörg Drewes - Civil Engineer
• Dr. Adam Olivieri - Epidemiologist/Risk Assessor
• Dr. Daniel Schlenk - Environmental Toxicologist
• Dr. Shane Snyder - Analytical Chemist

Stakeholder Advisors:

• Danielle Blacet (Association of California Water Agencies)
• Jim Colston (Tri-TAC)
• Mark Gold (Heal the Bay)
• Jeff Mosher (National Water Research Institute)
• Toby Roy (San Diego County Water Authority)
• Linda Sheehan (California Coastkeeper Alliance)
• Dave Smith (WateReuse Association)
• Rick Moss (State Water Resources Control Board)
• Gary Yamamoto (California Department of Public Health)