Health Stream News Items - Issue 58 - June 2010

Victorian Risk Management Plan Audits

Water businesses in the Australian state of Victoria recently completed the second round of audits required under the Safe Drinking Water Act (2003). In this round 23 of 25 water suppliers and storage managers were found to have complied with the requirements of the Act and associated Regulations, a significant improvement over the compliance rate of 15 out of 25 in the first series of audits. The two businesses which failed to achieve compliance had findings of minor non-compliance relating mainly to:
•  failure to record all actions or documentation in the water business' risk management plan,
•  failure to implement record keeping in line with the frequency requirements in the risk management plan.

A report on the outcomes of the audits can be obtained on request from the Manager Drinking Water Regulation:
Email: David.Sheehan@health.vic.gov.au

Sewage Treatment Change Removes EDC Effects

Scientists speaking at the recent Annual Meeting of the Endocrine Society in San Diego USA have reported that an upgrade from a trickling filter process to an activated sludge process at the Boulder, Colorado wastewater plant has resulted in a dramatic decrease in the feminizing effect of raw effluent on male fish. Dr David Norris of the University of Colorado at Boulder reported that feminizing effects in adult male fathead minnows were seen only after prolonged exposure (28 days) in 100% post-upgrade effluent as compared to 7 days in 50% effluent prior to the upgrade. The sewage plant upgrade was not specifically aimed at improving removal of EDCs (endocrine disrupting chemicals) but was undertaken in response to population growth in the city of Boulder and aging of existing infrastructure.

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