Water Treatment Optimization for Cyanotoxins - US EPA

1 Office of Water (MS-140) EPA 810-B-16-007 October 2016 Water Treatment Optimization for Cyanotoxins Version i Disclaimer The Standards and Risk Management Division of the Office of Ground Water and drinking Water of the EPA has reviewed and approved this document for publication. This document does not impose legally binding requirements on any party. The information in this document is intended solely to recommend or suggest and does not imply any requirements. Neither the United States Government nor any of its employees, contractors or their employees make any warranty, expressed or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for any third party s use of any information, product or process discussed in this document, or represents that its use by such party would not infringe on privately owned rights.

2 Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use. The intent of this document is to provide Treatment considerations for Water Treatment plant managers, supervisors, and operators faced with harmful algal blooms in their source Water . The approaches presented in this document are not intended to be mandates or directive to any entities. The science on Water Treatment Optimization for Cyanotoxins is still evolving. The Environmental Protection Agency ( EPA) will update this document as more research and information become available. EPA certainly welcomes comments and feedback on the content of this document. The focus of this document is on Water Treatment Optimization for Cyanotoxins .

3 Future versions of this document may include additional information or resources on source Water protection as a strategy for preventing Cyanotoxins in drinking Water sources. For purposes of this document, the term Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) refers to cyanobacteria (sometimes called blue-green algae ) blooms with the potential of producing Cyanotoxins . EPA recognizes that alternative descriptors ( , Harmful Cyanobacteria Blooms [HCBs], cyanoHABs, cyanobacteria HABs [CHABs]) have been used elsewhere but considers HABs a widely used and recognized term. EPA may substitute an alternative term in future updates to this document if consensus builds around such an alternative. Questions concerning this document should be addressed to the following contacts: Thomas Waters, EPA OGWDW, SRMD, Technical Support Center 26 West Martin Luther King Drive, Mail Code 140, Cincinnati, OH 45268 (513) 569-7611, or Alison Dugan, EPA OGWDW, SRMD, Technical Support Center 26 West Martin Luther King Drive, Mail Code 140, Cincinnati, OH 45268 (513) 569-7122, ii Acknowledgements The document was developed by the EPA Standards and Risk Management Division, Technical Support Center (SRMD, TSC), with additional support from the EPA Office of Research and Development (ORD).

4 Thomas Waters, EPA, SRMD, TSC Alison Dugan, EPA, SRMD, TSC Richard Lieberman, EPA, SRMD, TSC Thomas Speth, EPA ORD Gregory Carroll, EPA, SRMD, TSC Review and comment of this document was provided by the following individuals: Matthew Alexander, EPA, SRMD, TSC Steven Wendelken, EPA, SRMD, TSC Glynda Smith, EPA, SRMD, TSC William Adams, EPA, SRMD, TSC Sandhya Parshionikar, EPA, SRMD, TSC Carrie Miller, EPA, SRMD, TSC James Sinclair, EPA, SRMD, TSC Nicholas Dugan, EPA, ORD Ryan Albert, EPA, SRMD, Standards and Risk Reduction Branch (SRRB) Hannah Holsinger, EPA, SRMD, SRRB Katherine Foreman, EPA, SRMD, SRRB Kenneth Rotert, EPA, SRMD, SRRB Lesley D Anglada, EPA, Office of Science and Technology (OST) Phil Oshida, EPA, SRMD Larry DeMers, Process Applications, Inc.

5 Bill Davis, Process Applications, Inc. James Taft, Association of State drinking Water Administrators Darrell Osterhoudt, Association of State drinking Water Administrators Casey Lyon, Oregon Health Authority Amy Little, California State Water Resources Control Board Lloyd Wilson, New York State Department of Health James Hyde, New York State Department of Health Kristin Divris, Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection Heather Raymond, Ohio Environmental Protection Agency Maria Lucente, Ohio Environmental Protection Agency Adam Carpenter, American Water Works Association (AWWA) G. Tracey Mehan, AWWA Steve Via, AWWA Kevin Linder, City of Aurora, Colorado Michael Barsotti, Champlain Water District, Vermont Djanette Khiari, Water Research Foundation iii Table of Contents Abbreviations.

6 V Section 1: Background and Introduction .. 1 Figure 1-1. Multiple barrier concept for Water Treatment Optimization .. 2 Section 2: Understanding source Water to anticipate Treatment needs .. 3 Ambient source Water conditions that favor cyanobacteria proliferation .. 3 Table 2-1. Water quality conditions favorable for cyanobacteria proliferation .. 4 Bloom identification, confirmation, and quantification in source Water .. 4 Indirect cyanobacteria screening methods .. 4 Table 2-2. Source Water quality indicators .. 5 Direct cyanobacteria measurement methods .. 6 cyanotoxin measurement .. 7 Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) .. 7 Table 2-3. Advantages and disadvantages of ELISA for cyanotoxin monitoring .. 8 Liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS).

7 9 Table 2-4. Advantages and Disadvantages of LC/MS/MS for cyanotoxin monitoring .. 9 cyanotoxin toxicity measurement .. 10 Source Water considerations and associated short-term management strategies .. 10 Long-term strategies to prevent or mitigate cyanobacteria blooms in source Water .. 11 Section 3: Treatment options based on source Water quality .. 13 Figure 3-1. Water Treatment decision-tree for Cyanotoxins detected in source Water .. 14 Treatment considerations for intracellular Cyanotoxins .. 15 Figure 3-2. Intracellular cyanotoxin Treatment considerations .. 16 Treatment considerations for extracellular Cyanotoxins .. 18 Figure 3-3. Extracellular cyanotoxin Treatment considerations .. 19 Carbon adsorption .. 20 Membranes.

8 22 Biofiltration .. 22 Oxidation .. 23 Table 3-1. General effectiveness of cyanotoxin oxidation with common Water Treatment oxidants 24 Table 3-2. Microcystin-LR CT 25 Table 3-3. Cylindrospermopsin CT table .. 26 Section 4: Implementing an Optimization approach .. 27 iv Section 5: Conclusions .. 28 References .. 29 Glossary .. 34 Appendix A: Process evaluation for Treatment of intracellular toxins .. A-1 Table A-1. Conventional Treatment facility .. A-1 Table A-2. Membrane Treatment process .. A-7 Appendix B: Process evaluation for Treatment of extracellular toxins .. B-1 Table B-1. Powdered activated carbon (PAC) .. B-1 Table B-2: Granular activated carbon (GAC) .. B-5 Table B-3: High-pressure membranes (reverse osmosis [RO] and nanofiltration [NF]).

9 B-7 Table B-4: Oxidation: Can my facility use oxidation to treat extracellular Cyanotoxins ? .. B-9 v Abbreviations ADDA 3-amino-9-methoxy-2,6,8-trimethyl-10-phe nyldeca-4,6-dienoic acid. An amino acid that is part of the microcystin molecule and is common to a majority of microcystin congeners. AMWA Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies ASDWA Association of State drinking Water Agencies AWOP Area-Wide Optimization Program AWWA American Water Works Association CCP Composite Correction Program CO2 Carbon dioxide DBP Disinfection by-product DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid EBCT Empty-bed contact time ELISA Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay GAC Granular activated carbon HAA5 Haloacetic acids (5 regulated compounds) HAB Harmful algal bloom HESD Health effects support document IFE Individual filter effluent LC/MS/MS Liquid chromatography / tandem mass spectrometry MF Microfiltration MRDL Maximum residual disinfectant level NAWC National Association of Water Companies NF Nanofiltration NOM Natural organic matter NTU Nephelometric turbidity unit.

10 A measure of turbidity. PAC Powdered activated carbon PWS Public Water system RO Reverse osmosis RSSCT Rapid small-scale column test TOC Total organic carbon TTHM Total trihalomethane T&O Taste and odor UF Ultrafiltration USEPA United States Environmental Protection Agency UV Ultraviolet (light), typically used in Water Treatment as an oxidant WRF Water Research Foundation 1 Section 1: Background and Introduction Increasing occurrence and detection of harmful algal blooms (HABs), sometimes referred to as blue-green algae or cyanobacteria blooms, in drinking Water sources pose a variety of challenges to Water Treatment plant managers and operators. In addition to taste and odor issues that may be associated with algal blooms, HABs sometimes produce Cyanotoxins , to which human exposure can result in a host of adverse health effects, including gastroenteritis, and damage to the liver, kidneys, or nervous system ( Environmental Protection Agency, 2015a-f).